Melanoma Genome Sequence Shows PREX2 as a Significantly Mutated Gene
Berger, Hodis et al., Nature
A team led by investigators at the Broad Institute reports having sequenced the genomes of 25 metastatic melanomas and matched germline DNA, through which it identified a "wide range of point mutation rates," and PREX2 as a significantly mutated gene in melanomas.
A Separate Pot
Over at Future Pundit, Randall Parker says the scientific community "should be concerned that biomedical research funding is under [the] control of older scientists that younger scientists spend much of their career working for." Because investigators now receive their first independent funding at a later age on average than they did even a decade ago, "they spend their younger years as grad students and (poorly paid) postdocs. This puts their research directions much more under the control of (older) professors who run labs and have grants flowing to them," Parker says. To combat that, he suggests that funding agencies "set aside a substantial portion of research funding for younger scientists." When it comes to "funding … people most likely to make big breakthroughs," he adds, "a bucket of money for under 35s would help matters."