Jessica Fahey

TL;DR: The National Institutes of Health Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) Program is a multiinstitutional effort to identify and sequence a cDNA clone containing a complete ORF for each human and mouse gene.

TL;DR: Comparison of the sequence of the MGC clones to reference genome sequences reveals that most cDNA clones are of very high sequence quality, although it is likely that some cDNAs may carry missense variants as a consequence of experimental artifact, such as PCR, cloning, or reverse transcriptase errors.

TL;DR: Striking heterogeneity in amino acid sequences of synthetic enzymes with very similar functions is found that supports horizontal gene transfer rather than stepwise mutagenesis as a mechanism for capsule variation, and suggests that the evolutionary pressure toward antigenic variation exerted by acquired immunity is counterbalanced by a survival advantage conferred by conserved structural motifs of the GBS polysaccharides.

TL;DR: Using an integrated approach, this experimental paradigm provides a powerful new method for the identification of epigenetically silenced genes with potential function as tumor suppressors, biomarkers for disease diagnosis and detection, and therapeutically reversible modulators of critical regulatory pathways important in glioma pathogenesis.