Combating Infectious Diseases with Next-generation Sequencing

Dr Anne Marie Lennon of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, describes a new way to detect eight common types of cancer (esophagus, stomach, colon, pancreas, liver, breast, lung, and ovarian) using a simple blood test. The technique combines genetic indicators with blood protein markers to identify these cancers earlier than ever before, while avoiding false positives.

Postdoctoral research scholar Lilian Matallana spends a lot of time rockin' around the Christmas tree! Find out how Dr Matallana works to create a more desirable Christmas tree by examining the genetic makeup of Fraser firs.

The glow of glowing fish comes from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria. The GFP gene from Aequorea victoria was transferred to a zebrafish, where it is expressed in the muscle cells of the zebrafish. Interestingly creating glowing fish for pets wasn't the original purpose of the experiment. Instead these glowing fish were designed to sense toxins in the environment.