Microbial laboratory evolution in the era of genome-scale science

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The field of molecular genetics has now provided new technology to discover causes, mechanisms and targets for the development of treatments for even the complex inherited disorders, such as schizophrenia and other major…

Scientific research has shifted from studies conducted by single investigators to the creation of large consortia. Genetic epidemiologists, for example, now collaborate extensively for genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The effect has been a…

Software evolution has been traditionally associated with the idea of changing the code of a system, or system's component. It is universally accepted that software must be continually changed to remain satisfactory in use and evolution is often…

Genomics and molecular biology have developed at an ever increasing pace over the last decade. Building on the achievements of the Human Genome Project, and aided by advances in sequencing and information technology, groundbreaking discoveries in…

Genetic variant associations and advances in research technologies are generating an unprecedented volume of genomic data. Whole-genome sequencing will introduce even greater depth to current data sets and will propel medical research and…

In the postgenome era, medical science should aim at elucidating the physiological functions as well as pathophysiological roles of genetics in a variety of diseases. The latter is especially important in clinical medicine for investigating the…

The rate of meiotic recombination varies markedly between species and among individuals. Classical genetic experiments demonstrated a heritable component to population variation in recombination rate, and specific sequence variants that contribute…

We address recent developments in the area of laboratory, or directed evolution, with a focus on enzymes and on new methodologies of generic potential. We survey three main areas: (i) library making techniques, including the application of…

Metabolic engineering serves as an integrated approach to design new cell factories by providing rational design procedures and valuable mathematical and experimental tools. Mathematical models have an important role for phenotypic analysis, but can…

The exploitation of microorganisms in industrial, medical, food and environmental biotechnology requires a comprehensive understanding of their physiology. The availability of genome sequences and accumulation of high-throughput data allows gaining…