Debunking the Myth: Should Pierre Robin be Credited for Defining the Pierre Robin Sequence?

The Pierre Robin Sequence is a rare craniofacial malformation that invariably combines retrognathism, glossoptosis, and upper airway obstruction, with a prevalence ranging from 1 in 8000 to 1 in 14,000 newborns. Although formally described by the French physician Pierre Robin in 1923, older and even ancient as far back as the Babylonian times, descriptions have been identified. Dr Pierre Robin's perspicacity lay in putting up a treatment for the patients presenting those symptoms.

Reconstructing the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes.

Understanding the origin of eukaryotic cells is one of the most difficult problems in all of biology. A key challenge relevant to the question of eukaryogenesis is reconstructing the gene repertoire of the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA). As data sets grow, sketching an accurate genomics-informed picture of early eukaryotic cellular complexity requires provision of analytical resources and a commitment to data sharing.

Evolution of promoter-proximal pausing enabled a new layer of transcription control.

Promoter-proximal pausing of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is a key regulatory step during transcription. Despite the central role of pausing in gene regulation, we do not understand the evolutionary processes that led to the emergence of Pol II pausing or its transition to a rate-limiting step actively controlled by transcription factors. Here we analyzed transcription in species across the tree of life.