Evolution of language: An empirical study at eBay Big Data Lab.

The evolutionary theory of language predicts that a language will tend towards fewer synonyms for a given object. We subject this and related predictions to empirical tests, using data from the eBay Big Data Lab which let us access all records of the words used by eBay vendors in their item titles, and by consumers in their searches. We find support for the predictions of the evolutionary theory of language.

Increased hedgehog signaling in postnatal kidney results in aberrant activation of nephron developmental programs.

Hedgehog (Hh) is a core signaling pathway implicated in fundamental processes during embryonic kidney development. We previously found that loss-of-function mutations in the transcription factor GLIS2, a putative vertebrate ortholog of Drosophila Ci, cause nephronophthisis type 7 in humans and mice. Kidney tubular cells in Glis2-knockout mice acquire mesenchymal phenotype, but the cellular mechanisms of this transition are unknown.

Nephrocystin-3 is required for ciliary function in zebrafish embryos.

Nephronophthisis (NPHP) is the most frequent genetic cause of end-stage renal failure in the first three decades of life. It is characterized primarily by renal cysts with extrarenal involvements of the eye and brain. Ten recessive genes responsible for NPHP have been identified by positional cloning.