Equi-Different There’s something special about grey horses (six Lipizzaners pictured). They’re born with a distinct coat colour, but speckling and dappling begins soon after birth, progressing to near white as years go by. This all-over grey is caused by mutation in a gene called STX17. It’s been selected for because it brings beauty. But it’s accompanied by a beast – at 15-years most greys will have melanoma [a skin cancer]. And a proportion also develops vitiligo [skin depigmentation] – a condition that may be linked with melanoma in some people. STX17 is activated in the melanoma tumours of grey horses, suggesting its involvement in the cancer. With the possibility of the noble grey as a disease model, STX17 mutation was sought in human melanomas. It wasn’t apparent; but understanding the complex equine genetic linkage between hair colour, melanoma and vitiligo may yet yield clues to the human disease. Written by Lindsey Goff — Ino Curik, University of Zagreb, Croatia Johann Sölkner, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Austria Originally published under a Creative Commons Attribution license Published in PLoS Genetics 9(2): e1003248
Pop-upView Separately

Equi-Different

There’s something special about grey horses (six Lipizzaners pictured). They’re born with a distinct coat colour, but speckling and dappling begins soon after birth, progressing to near white as years go by. This all-over grey is caused by mutation in a gene called STX17. It’s been selected for because it brings beauty. But it’s accompanied by a beast – at 15-years most greys will have melanoma [a skin cancer]. And a proportion also develops vitiligo [skin depigmentation] – a condition that may be linked with melanoma in some people. STX17 is activated in the melanoma tumours of grey horses, suggesting its involvement in the cancer. With the possibility of the noble grey as a disease model, STX17 mutation was sought in human melanomas. It wasn’t apparent; but understanding the complex equine genetic linkage between hair colour, melanoma and vitiligo may yet yield clues to the human disease.

Written by Lindsey Goff

—

Source: bpod.mrc.ac.uk

Hand of Time This glove might not be suitable winter wear, but it has the potential to reveal how your brain evolved. Around 2.5 million years ago, early man was wielding sharp stones as his most sophisticated tool. The progression from these rocks to the carefully crafted handmade axes some million years later represented a huge technological leap. The ‘data glove’ shown here tells us just how great a leap it was. Fitted with tiny sensors, it records the precise movements required to complete a physical task. Scientists asked a craftsman to faithfully replicate the two ancient tool-making techniques while wearing the glove. The resulting data revealed how intellectually demanding the tasks were, and support the belief that a huge boost in brain-power was needed to progress from rock to axe. These detailed data about our movements cast light on how our brain and body work together. Written by Anthony Lewis — Aldo Faisal Photograph by Tempest van Schaik Imperial College, London
Pop-upView Separately

Hand of Time

This glove might not be suitable winter wear, but it has the potential to reveal how your brain evolved. Around 2.5 million years ago, early man was wielding sharp stones as his most sophisticated tool. The progression from these rocks to the carefully crafted handmade axes some million years later represented a huge technological leap. The ‘data glove’ shown here tells us just how great a leap it was. Fitted with tiny sensors, it records the precise movements required to complete a physical task. Scientists asked a craftsman to faithfully replicate the two ancient tool-making techniques while wearing the glove. The resulting data revealed how intellectually demanding the tasks were, and support the belief that a huge boost in brain-power was needed to progress from rock to axe. These detailed data about our movements cast light on how our brain and body work together.

Written by Anthony Lewis

—

Source: bpod.mrc.ac.uk