Associations between forensic loci and expression levels of neighboring genes may compromise medical privacy.

A set of 20 short tandem repeats (STRs) is used by the US criminal justice system to identify suspects and to maintain a database of genetic profiles for individuals who have been previously convicted or arrested. Some of these STRs were identified in the 1990s, with a preference for markers in putative gene deserts to avoid forensic profiles revealing protected medical information. We revisit that assumption, investigating whether forensic genetic profiles reveal information about gene-expression variation or potential medical information.

Genome editing in the unicellular holozoan suggests a premetazoan role for the Hippo pathway in multicellular morphogenesis.

Animal development is mediated by a surprisingly small set of canonical signaling pathways such as Wnt, Hedgehog, TGF-beta, Notch, and Hippo pathways. Although once thought to be present only in animals, recent genome sequencing has revealed components of these pathways in the closest unicellular relatives of animals. These findings raise questions about the ancestral functions of these developmental pathways and their potential role in the emergence of animal multicellularity.

A prototype for cartographic human body analysis.

A cartographic-oriented model uses algebraic map operations to perform spatial analysis of medical data relative to the human body. A prototype system uses 3D visualization techniques to deliver analysis results. A prototype implementation suggests the model might provide the basis for a medical application tool that introduces new information insight.