Category Archives: association genetics

Mapping genomes and navigating behavior for wildlife conservation

Posted on 11 Apr, 2017 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Virginia Aida wrote this post as a final project for Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Science Communication course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is currently evaluating a potential pharmacotherapy in traumatic brain injury and anticipates graduating with her MS in summer 2017.  Although she … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, association genetics, bioinformatics, blogging, conservation, domestication, evolution, natural history | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Still ruffling feathers after all these years: Darwin's finches and a molecular view of adaptive radiation

Posted on 31 Oct, 2016 by Kelle Freel

One of the many lovely things about molecular ecology is its ability to shine new light on old stories. The well-known case of Darwin’s finches is a classic example of adaptive radiation. These finches demonstrate a clear instance where over time, … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, association genetics, evolution, genomics, Molecular Ecology, the journal, population genetics, RNAseq, selection, speciation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Conifer convergence

Posted on 17 Oct, 2016 by Reid Brennan

Convergent local adaptation is typically studied within a species or between closely related species. In these cases, it is perhaps not unexpected to observe parallel evolution due to common genetic variation, constraints, etc. Convergence between species is somewhat less studied, … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, association genetics, genomics, plants, selection, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

STITCH, in time, could save a lot of array design

Posted on 12 Jul, 2016 by Jeremy Yoder

A new algorithm for processing DNA sequence data, STITCH, could lower costs for studies of genetic variation within species by reconstructing, or “imputing”, the sequences of individual samples within a larger dataset. The ongoing proliferation of high-throughput (or, ugh, “next … Continue reading →

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New insight into the genetic basis of industrial melanism

Posted on 9 Jun, 2016 by Reid Brennan

The evolution of coloration in peppered moths during the industrial revolution is one of the most well known examples of natural selection in action. Part of the appeal of the system is the apparent simplicity. The once-abundant light colored morph … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, association genetics, genomics, mutation, selection | Leave a comment

Steelhead in a random forest: identifying the genetic basis of migration

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Reid Brennan

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been quite successful in identifying variants associated with various phenotypes (I suppose there is some debate surrounding this statement. For an interesting, if dated, discussion look here). While most of this work was originally conducted … Continue reading →

Posted in association genetics, bioinformatics, conservation, genomics, next generation sequencing | Leave a comment

Searching for heroic MHC genes in the fight against fungal takeover

Posted on 6 Apr, 2016 by Rob Denton

Frogs have been disappearing all around the world in the past few decades. The reasons for these declines have been complex, but one of the biggest players is a nasty disease with an even nastier-sounding name: chytridiomycosis. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is the … Continue reading →

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Veritas Genetics offers $999 (human) genome sequences

Posted on 3 Mar, 2016 by Jeremy Yoder

Veritas Genetics, a company co-founded by Harvard University geneticist George Church* announced today that it will sequence your genome for less than $1,000. One dollar less, specifically. Up to now, “personal genome” services like 23andMe have used methods that don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in association genetics, bioinformatics, genomics, medicine, next generation sequencing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

A different perspective on genetic architecture

Posted on 1 Mar, 2016 by Reid Brennan

As an ecological geneticist, I’m constantly reminded how much we don’t understand about the genetic nature of adaptive variation. Sure, we have lots of examples of genes/pathways/regions that seem to be responsible for adaptation, but we don’t really know if … Continue reading →

Posted in association genetics, evolution, genomics, mutation, quantitative genetics, theory | Leave a comment

Environmental association analyses: a practical guide for a practical guide

Posted on 2 Sep, 2015 by Rob Denton

Obtaining extensive SNP data for your organism of choice isn’t such a feat these days, but actually matching that breadth of data with appropriate analyses is still a challenge. Fortunately, there has been an avalanche of new methods to make … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, association genetics, methods, Molecular Ecology, the journal | Tagged | 1 Comment