Beetle-Mania - Solutions Magazine, Summer 2008 - Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

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	Beetle-Mania Why did sequencing the genome of the red flour beetle create such a buzz... at least in the science community? Because a better understanding of the beetle could help us fight the pest—which destroys millions of dollars worth of grain stored in flour mills—and help us figure out how organisms (including humans) develop. A red flour beetle The beetle serves as a model for studying the genetics of development—much like scientists study fruit flies to understand how genes can affect the ways in which organisms grow, said Stephen Richards, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center, which was part of the international consortium that published the genetic sequence in the April 24, 2008, issue of the journal Nature. "Since beetles are the most diverse and successful animals on earth, this is an important milestone in evolutionary biology," said Dr. Dick Beeman, a research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service in Manhattan, Kan. The sequencing effort took the talents of 100 scientists from 14 countries. The three-year project sped along, buoyed by the high through-put sequencing that is a hallmark of the BCM Genome Sequencing Center, which has led the sequencing efforts for the human genome as well as several model organisms.		Search all issues: Features Treatments on the Horizon: Chapter and Verse on a Brain Killer Keeping Teen Dads Involved Fellow Travelers: The Human Microbiome Project Explores how our Bodies Co-exist with 1 Trillion Foreign Cells Two Brains are Better than One Spotlight Science as a Way of Life DeBakey Takes the Gold Caring for Community at Home and Abroad Injecting a Little Scientist in Every Doctor Designing a Building in the Eyes of a Researcher Laser Treatments Best Left up to Doctors Briefs Falls in Elderly Indicate Illness Gut-wrenching Facts on Colic Findings may Increase Survival after Injuries Some Like it Hot! Structure of Receptor for Chili Pepper and Pain Revealed Beware of Drinking Margaritas in the Sun Beetle-Mania Development/Alumni BCM Family Participates in Fundraising Campaign BCM Alums take D.C. Fellowships Seed Funding Leads to Breakthroughs Father, Daughter Team up for Health Care Steps to Discovery and Innovation

	Volume 4, Issue 2, Summer 2008



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Last modified: October 7, 2008