Today's Scandinavians are not descended from the people who came to Scandinavia at the conclusion of the last ice age but, apparently, from a population that arrived later, concurrently with the introduction of agriculture. This is one conclusion of a new study straddling the borderline between genetics and archaeology, which involved Swedish researchers and which has now been published in the journal Current Biology.

In a study published in the September 24th issue of Nature, an international team describes how they harnessed modern genomic technology to explore the ancient history of India, the world's second most populous nation. The new research reveals that nearly all Indians carry genomic contributions from two distinct ancestral populations. Following this ancient mixture, many groups experienced periods of genetic isolation from each other for thousands of years. The study, which has medical implications for people of Indian descent, was led by scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad, India together with US researchers at Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.

An international team, led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the National Eye Institute, has discovered gene variants for glaucoma in a black population. The finding could lead to future treatments or a cure for this disease, which leads to blindness in two million Americans each year.

Looking at the genetic makeup of cattle to determine their value is nothing new. An examination of a small sample of hair or blood can reveal if a calf has any genetic diseases that will lower the market price. Now, a team of clinicians and diagnosticians and genetic researchers at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine are looking to test those calves earlier ... before they are born ... even before their mother is pregnant.

Researchers at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have revealed the process by which proteins with a tendency to cause conformational diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy, familial amyloidotic cardiomyopathy, etc. finally end up causing them. Researchers have carried out an analysis of their 3D structure and studied why these proteins finally become toxic although they are correctly folded, an indicator that they are functioning correctly. The answer can be found in the separation of the proteins, which under normal conditions are found in groups of two or more, caused by a genetic mutation in their composition. Researchers believe this discovery, published recently in the journal PLoS Computational Biology, could also be the cause of other diseases of unknown origins.

UBC researchers have helped developed a cheaper, faster way to compile draft genome sequences that could advance the fight against mountain pine beetle (MPB) infestation and improve cancer research. Current sequencing methods have a variety of advantages and disadvantages--including the cost involved. Dr Steven Jones and colleagues at UBC, the BC Cancer Agency and Simon Fraser University have combined cutting edge hardware with novel software to compile genome sequences at a fraction of the cost of previous methods. The technique is outlined in the current issue of the journal Genome Biology.

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar have mapped a draft version of the date palm genome, unlocking many of its genetic secrets. "We have generated a draft DNA sequence and initial assembly of the date palm using the most advanced technology," says Joel Malek, director of the Genomics Laboratory at WCMC-Q. Genetic information about the date palm is extremely valuable to researchers who are working to improve fruit yield and quality and to better understand susceptibility and resistance to disease.