Word: variants
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...What would be far more useful, however, is to know individual patients’ exact genomes. Why? First, it would allow physicians to screen patients’ entire genome for gene variants that predispose us for certain diseases—instead of ordering a volley of individual (read: expensive) tests for different disorders. Women who carry a gene variant known to increase breast cancer risk, for example, would be able to begin mammograms earlier in life. Second, it would allow physicians to personalize medical treatments. In a few cases, this is already possible. The breast cancer drug Tamoxifen is much...
...problem of racism in American discourse is typified by the N-word outburst of comedian Michael Richards followed by his abject apology, the French variant is altogether more toxic. The latest outrage came from second-string TV personality and self-appointed social commentator Pascal Sevran, whose recently published book included the obscenely racist idea that the "black [penis] is responsible for famine in Africa." Elaborating in a newspaper interview, Sevran said, "Africa is dying from all the children born there" to parents supposedly too sexually undisciplined or dumb to realize they could not feed them all. The answer...
...game. It is also used as communion wine in local Protestant churches. Color: cheerful Beaujolais red Nose: syrupy Palate: once the initial blast of pure alcohol wears off, succulent blueberry POLTSAMAA TOMMU '94-'96 Black currant that's been maturing for a decade. This and an aged apple variant are prestige wines served on special occasions. Color: dark and opaque red, like a strong Hungarian vintage Nose: smoky black currant Palate: first impression is similar to port. Then the earthy aftertaste kicks in, and lingers disagreeably KIRSISUUDLUS (Cherry Kiss) A blend of black currants with a dash of cherry aroma...
...speech and language, evolved within the past 200,000 years--after anatomically modern humans first appeared. By comparing the protein coded by the human FOXP2 gene with the same protein in various great apes and in mice, they discovered that the amino-acid sequence that makes up the human variant differs from that of the chimp in just two locations out of a total of 715--an extraordinarily small change that may nevertheless explain the emergence of all aspects of human speech, from a baby's first words to a Robin Williams monologue. And indeed, humans with a defective FOXP2...
Then, in 2004, a team led by Hansell Stedman of the University of Pennsylvania identified a tiny mutation in a gene on chromosome 7 that affects the production of myosin, the protein that enables muscle tissue to contract. The mutant gene prevents the expression of a myosin variant, known as MYH16, in the jaw muscles used in biting and chewing. Since the same mutation occurs in all of the modern human populations the researchers tested--but not in seven species of nonhuman primates, including chimps--the researchers suggest that lack of MYH16 made it possible for our ancestors to evolve...