Features

NHGRI Scientists Study Ancient Dog Breed

New Guinea Singing Dogs May Hold Clues to Human Vocalization

BY NATALIE HAGEN, NCATS

The New Guinea singing dog, whose harmonious wolf-like howls sound eerily like whale songs, was thought to have been extinct in the wild for some 50 years. But researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute confirmed that this breed still roams the New Guinea Highlands and that studying them may yield clues to how human vocalization developed.

Resistance to the Plague May Be a Double-Edged Sword

The Bubonic Plague Has Made Its Evolutionary Mark on the Human Genome

BY ETHAN SMITH, NINR

Evolutionary pressure to survive the bubonic plague may have selected for genetic mutations that protect certain Mediterranean populations from being infected by the infamous Yersinia pestis, the bacterium behind the plague. But evolution isn’t perfect. Being able to survive the plague may also be the reason for today’s prevalence of another ancient disease—familial Mediterranean fever (FMF)—National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) researchers recently reported.

10th Annual Women Scientists Advisors Scholars Symposium

BY FRANCES FERNANDO NICHD

Ever since 2011, the outstanding research achievements of NIH women postdocs have been recognized at the Annual Women Scientists Advisors (WSA) Scholars Symposium. On October 5, 2020, postdoctoral fellows Alix Warburton (NIAID) and Ida Fredriksson (NIDA) presented their work. They had been selected as WSA scholars from among the 95 women recipients of the 2020 Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE).

COVID-19 Timeline at NIH (September–October 2020)

COVID-19 Research and Activities at NIH

Highlights of the COVID-19-related activities that were going on at NIH in September and October.

Joan Steitz’s WALS Lecture on Viral Noncoding RNAs

Taking RNA from Historic Origins to Modernity