November 2010 Archives

Paul Gepts will be the speaker at this week's Department of Anthropology colloquium on Friday, December 3.  The title of his presentation is "Past and Current Human Effects on Crop Biodiversity: Multiple Domestications and Trait Selections."  The colloquium will begin at 3:30 p.m. in 202 Carpenter Building. 

All are welcome.  Please plan to attend.

Mark Shriver is currently conducting an online facial perception study and is asking for your participation.  The purpose of this research study is to assess the ability of observers to perceive the effects of genes on human facial features.

Additional information can be found at: http://www.anthro.psu.edu/projects_labs/biolab/shapes/shapes.html

Nathan Craig was recently named Fine Outreach for Science Fellow. November 11-13, Nathan Craig will attend the Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging for Science.

Glenn Davis Stone (Washington University) will be the speaker at this week's Department of Anthropology colloquium on Friday, November 12.  The title of his presentation is "Genetically Modified Crops: Micro vs. Macro."  The colloquium will begin at 3:30 p.m. in 202 Carpenter Building. 

All are welcome.  Please plan to attend.

Ken Weiss will deliver the Distinguished Lecture for the Biological Anthropology section of the American Anthropological Association at the Association's annual meeting in New Orleans on November 19.  

Lecturer Brianne Beisner recently had a paper accepted for publication in the "Social Networks in Primates" special issue of the American Journal of Primatology. The article is titled: "Effects of natal male alliances on aggression and power dynamics in rhesus macaques".

Dr. Jingchuan Xing, a postdoctoral researcher in the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Utah will be presenting a lecture titled, "Human Genomic Variation: Population History, Mobile DNA Elements, and Disease" on Monday, November 15 at 4:00 p.m. in 112 Chambers Building.

Please plan to attend.  Everyone is welcome!

Xing_flyer.doc

Susan Toby Evan's latest book, Ancient Mexican Art at Dumbarton Oaks, was recently honored by a reception at Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard University's research facility in Washington, D.C.  

 

Dr. Bernardo Lemos, a research associate in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University will be presenting a lecture titled, "Y variants tip the chromatin balance" on Monday, November 8 at 4:00 p.m. in 22 Deike Building.

Please plan to attend.  Everyone is welcome!

Lemos talk flyer.doc

Graduate student Logan Kistler won the first place prize in the 2010 SEAC Student Paper Competition at the Southeastern Archaeological (SEAC) Annual Meeting held from October 27-30 in Lexington, Kentucky.  His paper was entitled, "Ancient DNA Analysis Confirms a Local Origin of Domesticated Chenopod in Eastern North America".   The first place prize included a trove of recent and new books on Southeastern archaeology.    

Adjunct research associate Neus Martínez-Abadias recently published work from the Richtsmeier Lab in Developmental Dynamics.  Title: Beyond the Closed Suture in Apert Syndrome Mouse Models: Evidence of Primary Effects of FGFR2 Signaling on Facial Shape at Birth

Neus Martínez-Abadías, Christopher Percival, Kristina Aldridge, Cheryl A. Hill, Timothy Ryan,Satama Sirivunnabood, Yingli Wang, Ethylin Wang Jabs, and Joan T. Richtsmeier

Apert syndrome is a congenital disorder caused mainly by two neighboring mutations on fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2). Premature closure of the coronal suture is commonly considered the identifying and primary defect triggering or preceding the additional cranial malformations of Apert phenotype. Here we use two transgenic mouse models of Apert syndrome, Fgfr21/S252W and Fgfr21/P253R, to explore variation in cranial phenotypes in newborn (P0) mice. Results show that the facial skeleton is the most affected region of the cranium. Coronal suture patency shows marked variation that is not strongly correlated with skull dysmorphology. The craniofacial effects of the FGFR2 mutations are similar, but Fgfr21/S252W mutant mice display significantly more severe dysmorphology localized to the posterior palate. Our results demonstrate that coronal suture closure is neither the primary nor the sole locus of skull dysmorphology in these mouse models for Apert syndrome, but that the face is also primarily affected.

Developmental Dynamics 239:3058-3071, 2010. VC 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Grant support: R01DE018500, 3R01DE18500-02S1, 2008 BP A 00170