Although the evidence is still limited, a growing body of research suggests music may have beneficial effects for diseases such as Parkinson’s.
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Goldfish genome lends insight into their origin and domestication
Eggfish (Left) and Wen goldfish (Right). Wen goldfish sport a fancy tail and a dorsal fin, whereas Egg goldfish have an egg-shaped body but no dorsal fin.
Considered the same species as crucian carp, modern goldfish have been subjected to more than a millennium of strong artificial selection for coloration, eye style, and other aesthetic features. Duo Chen, Qing Zhang, Weiqi Tang, Zhen Huang, Gang Wang, et al. (pp. 29775–29785) report the goldfish genome sequence and pinpoint genomic regions subjected to selection during approximately 1,000 years of breeding. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that the goldfish, Carassius auratus, originated from two different progenitor species, and a whole genome duplication was introduced before the goldfish diverged from the common carp, around 13–16 million years ago. The copies provided by this genome duplication may have enabled artificial selection for traits such as fin shape, while shielding goldfish from deleterious mutations in essential genes. The authors resequenced 185 different goldfish varieties, including prized ornamental lines, and 16 wild crucian carp. Additionally, the authors identified a tyrosine protein kinase receptor as a candidate causal gene for a trait exemplifying classic Mendelian inheritance in goldfish, namely the transparent mutant, which is thought to have been recorded as early as 1579. According to the authors, the genome sequences could enable the use of goldfish as a model for examining natural mutations, artificial selection, and domestication. — T.H.D.
Mercury from human activity in deep-sea animals
Mercury is a pollutant that is toxic to the nervous system, accumulates in fish consumed by humans, and is found both in the atmosphere and on land. Relatively little is known about mercury levels, sources, …
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