The 2011 Vision and Change document called for undergraduate STEM majors to have an authentic research experience during their undergraduate careers(Holm, Carter, & Woodin, 2011). There is evidence that research experiences help to increase retention and persistence in STEM (Estrada et al., 2016). One of the biggest challenges of this charge at a PUI (Primarily Undergraduate Institution) is capacity: there are often too few faculty and too many majors, making it impossible to provide traditional mentored research experiences for every student. One way to address this issue is through the implementation of Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs), which embed authentic hypothesis-driven research projects within a credit-bearing undergraduate (usually laboratory) course. This provides a mechanism for one faculty member to provide authentic research experiences for many (20-30) students all at once.
Students who participate in CUREs show gains in psychosocial metrics similar to those students who participated in traditional undergraduate summer research experiences (Shaffer et al., 2014). Additionally, CUREs can reduce the entrance barrier to research for first-generation, historically minoritized, and non-traditional students. Despite all these advantages, there are barriers of entry to CURE implementation:
Designing a project that can address an authentic research hypothesis and be collaboratively investigated by a large group of undergraduate researchers within the confines of a teaching laboratory course (typically once a week for 3 hours).
Ensuring that students who take the CURE have experiences and exposures to topics and techniques typically covered in more traditionally taught laboratory courses.
The facilities, equipment, and funding available to undertake a large-scale research endeavor.
A significant time investment and skills required to develop an effective CURE that can be broadly implemented.
Institutional support for the implementation of CUREs.
The Fly-CURE
The Fly-CURE is a national CURE that simultaneously addresses many of these issues. Fly-CURE was started at the University of Detroit Mercy in 2012 and is based on a genetic screen in Drosophila looking for conditional regulators of developmental signaling, cell growth control, and cell division (Kagey, Brown, & Moberg, 2012). In each class section of the Fly-CURE, students work on a novel mutant from the genetic screen. Throughout the semester the students name their mutant; characterize the mosaic phenotype; genetically map the location of the mutation; sequence potential candidate genes; and present their work in written and oral formats.
Overview of Fly-CURE Curriculum
In 2014, the Fly-CURE began to expand to the other institutions. The pilot implementation of the Fly-CURE at the University of Evansville provided evidence that this project could be successfully expanded across the country, dramatically increasing the number of undergraduate STEM majors impacted by this project. Initially, 7 institutions participated in an expanded pilot and in 2021, the Fly-CURE was awarded an NSF IUSE grant to expand the project to 20 institutions. The goals of this grant are to assess the impact of this experience on student attitudes towards science and on key learning objectives in genetics.
Currently, the Fly-CURE is being taught at sixteen institutions including PUI’s, a CC, and MSI’s. Faculty implementers have a wide range of previous fly experience: some run their own Drosophila research lab, while others had no prior experience with Drosophila before this project. To date, over 500 undergraduate researchers have contributed to the mapping of 14 novel Drosophila mutants, and 6 research papers describing this work have been published with 358 student co-authors across institutions (i.e. (Bieser et al., 2019)).
Bieser K, et al. 2019 Micropublications
Adapting to the COVID-19 Pandemic
When traditionally delivered college courses and labs became disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fly-CURE pivoted to create materials that allowed for different modes of implementation. Faculty taught the Fly-CURE in person, as a hybrid course, or as a fully online virtual CURE. To accommodate hybrid and virtual courses, Fly-CURE faculty collaborated to create virtual datasets of fly crosses typically viewed in person for students to analyze virtually. For other methods, some faculty created videos performing wet-lab protocols for students to continue participation in the project from home. Our assessment data found that students who analyzed virtual datasets were able to map and characterize a novel Drosophila mutant as successfully as those in traditional in-person labs. Our adaptation provides a model for other CURE and inquiry-based undergraduate laboratory courses to generate virtual/online modules of data analysis. The use of virtual datasets not only accommodated differential instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also provides a model for providing virtual research experiences for under-resourced institutions and training materials for new faculty implementers.
Fly-CURE being taught during the COVID-19 pandemic
Looking Forward
As the Fly-CURE project expands to additional institutions, we have incorporated the expertise and experiences of Fly-CURE faculty to continue improving and expanding the scope of the Fly-CURE project. For example, faculty have added whole genome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis, behavioral assays, and CRISPR analysis of the original mutants found in the genetic screen. We hope to continue to utilize these mutants to bring new techniques and ask new research questions within the classroom setting. Faculty are also conducting new genetic screens and collaborating with the Drosophila community to establish a large pool of mutants for future study by Fly-CURE students.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Fly-CURE, please reach out to one of the Co-PIs:
Kayla Bieser, Nevada State College, kayla.bieser@nsc.edu
Jacob Kagey, University of Detroit Mercy, kageyja@udmercy.edu
Joyce Stamm, University of Evansville, js383@evansville.edu
Alysia Vrailas-Mortimer, Illinois State University, admorti@ilstu.edu
Reference:
Bieser, K., Sanford, J., Saville, K., Arreola, K., Ayres, Z., Basulto, D., . . . Kagey, J. (2019). Genetic mapping of shn(E.3.2) in Drosophila melanogaster. MicroPubl Biol, 2019. doi:10.17912/micropub.biology.000118
Estrada, M., Burnett, M., Campbell, A. G., Campbell, P. B., Denetclaw, W. F., Gutierrez, C. G., . . . Zavala, M. (2016). Improving Underrepresented Minority Student Persistence in STEM. CBE Life Sci Educ, 15(3). doi:10.1187/cbe.16-01-0038
Holm, B., Carter, V. C., & Woodin, T. (2011). Vision and change in biology undergraduate education: Vision and change from the funding front. Biochem Mol Biol Educ, 39(2), 87-90. doi:10.1002/bmb.20502
Kagey, J. D., Brown, J. A., & Moberg, K. H. (2012). Regulation of Yorkie activity in Drosophila imaginal discs by the Hedgehog receptor gene patched. Mech Dev, 129(9-12), 339-349. doi:10.1016/j.mod.2012.05.007
Shaffer, C. D., Alvarez, C. J., Bednarski, A. E., Dunbar, D., Goodman, A. L., Reinke, C., . . . Elgin, S. C. (2014). A course-based research experience: how benefits change with increased investment in instructional time. CBE Life Sci Educ, 13(1), 111-130. doi:10.1187/cbe-13-08-0152
I would occasionally hear hints of something so transgressively bizarre that it made my head spin: cancer cells were having sex
Dr Kat Arney
In the latest episode of the Genetics Unzipped podcast, we’re exploring groundbreaking discoveries about the secret sex lives of cancer cells, and what it means for our understanding of tumour growth, evolution and treatment. Dr Kat Arney tells the story of how we discovered cancer cells were having sex, plus we look into why female tumours and male tumours act so differently.
If you enjoy the show, please do rate and review on Apple podcasts and help to spread the word on social media. And you can always send feedback and suggestions for future episodes and guests to podcast@geneticsunzipped.com Follow us on Twitter – @geneticsunzip
In a recent ‘Call to Arms’ essay (2019 Dev. Cell; 50:132) John Wallingford, plenary speaker for the BSDB/BSCB Joint Spring Meeting 2022, urged us to “tell [our] stories” at this exciting time for our field. As one (among many) evangelists, I penned a monograph about weird animals called ‘Animal Anomalies’ for Cambridge University Press. The etiologies of their sundry abnormalities reveal how normal pathways get misrouted by mutations. For example, Siamese cats cross their eyes after pigment defects deflect retinal axons, and frog eggs give rise to Siamese twins after artificial egg rotation establishes a secondary organizer. With the conference coming up, I wanted to thank John and offer this book for others who wish to popularise developmental biology at a time when the public is sorely lacking in their grasp of science in general. Readers of the Node can get 20% off with the link www.cambridge.org/9781108819749 and enter the discount code ‘ANOMALIES’.
The high-throughput perturbation of long non-coding RNA reveals functional features in stem cells and across cell-types Chi Wai Yip, Chung-Chau Hon, Kayoko Yasuzawa, Divya M. Sivaraman, Jordan A. Ramilowski, Youtaro Shibayama, Saumya Agrawal, Anika V. Prabhu, Callum Parr, Jessica Severin, Yan Jun Lan, Josée Dostie, Hiromi Nishiyori-Sueki, Michihira Tagami, Masayoshi Itoh, Fernando López-Redondo, Tsukasa Kouno, Jen-Chien Chang, Joachim Luginbühl, Masaki Kato, Mitsuyoshi Murata, Wing Hin Yip, Xufeng Shu, Imad Abugessaisa, Akira Hasegawa, Harukazu Suzuki, Ken Yagi, Takeya Kasukawa, Michiel de Hoon, Piero Carninci, Jay W. Shin
3D post-implantation amniotic sac organoids from Chialastri, et al.
Dynamic regulation and requirement for ribosomal RNA transcription during mammalian development Karla T. Falcon, Kristin E.N. Watt, Soma Dash, Ruonan Zhao, Daisuke Sakai, Emma L. Moore, Sharien Fitriasari, Melissa Childers, Mihaela E. Sardiu, Selene Swanson, Dai Tsuchiya, Jay Unruh, George Bugarinovic, Lin Li, Rita Shiang, Annita Achilleos, Jill Dixon, Michael J. Dixon, Paul A. Trainor
DE-NOVO HEMATOPOIESIS FROM THE FETAL LUNG Anthony K. Yeung, Carlos Villacorta-Martin, Jonathan Lindstrom-Vautrin, Anna C. Belkina, Kim Vanuytsel, Todd W. Dowrey, Alexandra B. Ysasi, Vladimir Vrbanac, Gustavo Mostoslavsky, Alejandro B. Balazs, George J. Murphy
High-resolution episcopic microscopy (HREM) images of whole mouse hearts from Ross, et al.
Lem2 is essential for cardiac development by maintaining nuclear integrity Jacob A. Ross, Nathaly Arcos-Villacis, Edmund Battey, Cornelis Boogerd, Emilie Marhuenda, Didier Hodzic, Fabrice Prin, Tim Mohun, Norman Catibog, Olga Tapia, Larry Gerace, Thomas Iskratsch, Ajay M. Shah, Matthew J. Stroud
Molecular Signatures and Cellular Diversity During Mouse Habenula Development Lieke L. van de Haar, Danai Riga, Juliska E. Boer, Youri Adolfs, Thomas E. Sieburgh, Roland E. van Dijk, Kyoko Watanabe, Nicky C.H. van Kronenburg, Mark H. Broekhoven, Danielle Posthuma, Frank J. Meye, Onur Basak, R. Jeroen Pasterkamp
Single-Cell Multi-Omic Roadmap of Human Fetal Pancreatic Development de la O Sean, Zhe Liu, Han Sun, Shengyang K. Yu, Daniel M. Wong, Emily Chu, Sneha A. Rao, Nicolas Eng, Gabriel Peixoto, Jacquelyn Bouza, Yin Shen, Sarah M. Knox, Aaron D. Tward, Anna L. Gloyn, Julie B. Sneddon
MITI Minimum Information guidelines for highly multiplexed tissue images Denis Schapiro, Clarence Yapp, Artem Sokolov, Sheila M. Reynolds, Yu-An Chen, Damir Sudar, Yubin Xie, Jeremy L. Muhlich, Raquel Arias-Camison, Sarah Arena, Adam J. Taylor, Milen Nikolov, Madison Tyler, Jia-Ren Lin, Erik A. Burlingame, Human Tumor Atlas Network, Young H. Chang, Samouil L Farhi, Vésteinn Thorsson, Nithya Venkatamohan, Julia L. Drewes, Dana Pe’er, David A. Gutman, Markus D. Herrmann, Nils Gehlenborg, Peter Bankhead, Joseph T. Roland, John M. Herndon, Michael P. Snyder, Michael Angelo, Garry Nolan, Jason R. Swedlow, Nikolaus Schultz, Daniel T. Merrick, Sarah A. Mazzilli, Ethan Cerami, Scott J. Rodig, Sandro Santagata, Peter K. Sorger
Reproducibility metrics for CRISPR screens Maximilian Billmann, Henry N. Ward, Michael Aregger, Michael Costanzo, Brenda J. Andrews, Charles Boone, Jason Moffat, Chad L. Myers
Doing great science depends on teamwork, whether this is within the lab or in collaboration with other labs. However, sometimes the resources that support our work can be overlooked. In our new series, we aim to shine a light on these unsung heroes of the science world. The fifth article in the series is by Dr Cátia Moutinho (co-founder of the Single-Cell Ninjas) who describes the work of the Single-Cell Ninjas
The Single-Cell Ninjas platform aims to share knowledge about single-cell technology with the scientific community. It was created by Dr Cátia Moutinho and Dr Luciano Martelotto, experts in this field. Twitter, LinkedIn and their website are their communication tools towards their community. Find out more in the following article.
BACKGROUND
Figure1: The Single-Cell Ninjas Platform Logo.
The first single-cell sequencing paper was published in 2009. The possibility of studying each individual cell that constitutes a biological tissue has catapulted single-cell technologies at the forefront of biomedical research leading to rapid molecular and technological advances in the field. However, to perform a single-cell analysis, it is essential to properly plan for your experiment to be cost and time effective. Yet, this can be a big challenge and a source of uncertainty. The doubts mainly arise from: 1) which of the available commercial options to choose, 2) which sample preparation is optimal for the type of sample used, and 3) the upstream steps to go for. All these questions stem from the fact that having individual cells in suspension is vital for any single-cell experiment. Of course, this means that sample preparation protocols optimized for bulk experiments do not usually work for single-cell procedures. On top of that, single-cell experiments are awfully expensive and can blow the budgets of most of the labs.
THE BEGINNING Experiencing firsthand, all kinds of challenges in our single-cell research groups motivated us to come up with a platform for sharing our knowledge and expertise with all single-cell users. The aim is to demystify and make the single-cell field accessible for everyone. We noticed that sometimes tiny tips, which are often absent from protocols, could make a huge difference between failure and success of experiments. Based on this, we have created The Single-Cell Ninjas, as a science education and communication platform.
THE GOAL The Single-Cell Ninjas project was created as a platform where everyone is welcome to ask whatever questions they have, whenever they have. People should remember that one day we were in their shoes, and that our knowledge mainly comes from a history of failed experiments, ideas and information shared with other researchers. If it was not for all the troubleshooting, frustrations, and mistakes we have made through our journeys, we would not have been here today! And since our platform’s cornerstone is “sharing is caring”, we want to share the ways we -and others- managed to overcome failures in single-cell experiments saving our communities both time and money.
THE PROCESS Harnessing the power of simple, yet effective, tools like: Twitter, LinkedIn, a website, we managed to build the Single-Cell Ninjas community. In one year, we have obtained 2000+ Twitter followers, and 300+ subscribed members. Yet, we believe mere numbers are not a real measure of success, but is instead the impact of our project in helping researchers with their experiments and contributing to the advancement of science. The outstanding feedback we have had from our community encouraged us to move forward.
AVAILABLE TOOLS On a daily basis, through @SC_ninjas Twitter account, we share publications, troubleshooting tips or single-cell related questions that we believe are useful for our community. On our website you will find different types of scientific tools, like Q&A sessions or technology talks, ‘must-read’ publications, and others. We also send regular notifications through email to be sure that our community members do not miss any talks in the field. Other available tools include our free scientific consultations for researchers. Here, we advise researchers on sample preparation, experimental planning, on how to find the proper technical resources, and other aspects of single-cell analysis. Finally, we share different protocols tested by us on Protocols.io. So, if you follow our Single-Cell Ninjas Protocols.io workspace, you will be able to access all our tested protocols.
THE FUTURE Given the great impact our platform is making, we are continuously looking to develop new educational tools for our community. Yet, we do have other commitments, and other professional projects. So, our short-term plan is to expand the Single-Cell Ninjas team with adding a few new collaborators.
One of our future goals is to use our knowledge to help more under-represented countries, utilising our language skills to produce Spanish and Portuguese content . These are the countries where education and science are far from being properly funded.
THE CO-FOUNDERS
Figure 2: The Single-Cell Ninjas Co-Founders.
Cátia Moutinho (PhD) is a biologist by training with a PhD in Biomedicine and a master’s degree in Clinical Trials and Medical Affairs. Her expertise in cancer genetics and epigenetics is founded on comprehensive experience in the wet-lab and in-depth knowledge and skills in single-cell technologies. Cátia began her professional career in Portugal (IPATIMUP, Porto) and worked in Spain for more than 10 years (CNIO, IDIBELL and CNAG). She then moved to Sydney, Australia where she led an outstanding team that focuses on technology development for single-cell genomics. She was also the Associate Director at Garvan-Weizmann Centre for Cellular Genomics, Garvan Medical Research Institute (GWCCG-Garvan Institute). Currently she resides in Porto, Portugal where she is the co-founder of “The Single-Cell Ninjas” and “Advice for Life Scientists” platforms. Besides, she is a scientific consultant for different single-cell companies.
Luciano Martelotto (PhD) is originally a cell and molecular biologist with a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology and a PhD in Biological Sciences and post-doctoral training in cancer genomics and single cell sequencing technologies. Luciano’s diverse background extends across a wide range of scientific fields including plant genetics, microbiology, cancer biology and genomics. He has worked in Argentina, Australia, and the United States. He wasn the head of the Single Cell Innovation Laboratory (SCIL) at The University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research (UMCCR) within the Victoria Comprehensive Cancer Centre (AUS), and the scientific director of the Single Cell Core (SCC) Laboratory at Harvard Medical School (HMS), Department of Systems Biology. Luciano is currently the head of the Single Cell Spatial Omics Laboratory in South Australia ImmunoGenomics Cancer Centre (SAIGENCI), University of Australia.
Thanks for reading our article! Please share it if you think it will be useful for someone else. 😉
Disease Models & Mechanisms has launched its latest Special Issue ‘The RAS Pathway: Diseases, Therapeutics and Beyond‘, which was guest edited by Donita Brady and Arvin Dar. In the accompanying Editorial, the guest editors summarize this collection and discuss the potential impact of the articles within this evolving area of research.
Guest editors Donita C. Brady (Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania) and Arvin C. Dar (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)
All articles in this Special Issue are freely available to read and share.
The RAS superfamily of small GTPases includes over 150 members that generally function as molecular switches and regulators of cellular communication, linking cues from the cell surface to changes in gene expression. These proteins have prominent roles in cancer, but have also been implicated in other diseases, including Mendelian disorders referred to as RASopathies and non-neoplastic cerebral disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
2022 marks the 40th anniversary of the initial discovery of RAS mutations in human cancers. Over this time, RAS family members – in particular K-RAS due to the prevalence of the mutants – have been intensively studied and have captivated scientists from a range of disciplines.
The story of RAS from human genetics through to the first direct inhibitors represents a long and winding road of discovery that has been greatly accelerated by a focused community. However, we are likely only at the tip of the iceberg. Under the surface, much remains to be understood about different RAS family members and about targeting the dysregulated pathways with therapeutic interventions. This Special Issue of Disease Models & Mechanisms was thus conceived to collate cutting-edge research on the roles of RAS in cancer and developmental disorders, and on approaches to treat and modify the disease course in model systems.
Browse this rich collection here and share it with your colleagues!
Please register for this upcoming event and consider joining the ISRB! Click on the poster for more information. The deadline for speaker abstract submission is March 15th – Scientist at all levels are invited to apply.. (No Ratings Yet) Loading...
Read on for our news roundup of the past month, with an emphasis on what has caught our eyes from our twitter feed.
#ScienceForUkraine – many labs are offering internships for scientists suffering in the conflict in Ukraine. For more information check out the tweet below:
— Ulrike Endesfelder/uendesfelder.bsky.social (@UEndesfelder) February 27, 2022
#Single-CellSequencing – what would Darwin think of single-cell sequencing? And would his grant be funded?
If Darwin went on his voyage of the Beagle today his research would've ended with a t-SNE of the bird specimens that he collected instead of a theory of evolution
#preLights turns 4!! And to help them celebrate we hosted a joint event on ‘Promoting yourself as an ECR’ on Wednesday 23 February. The recordings from the event and our panellists answers to the questions that we didn’t have time to address will be available soon. Thanks to everyone involved, especially our panellists, Maria Abou Chakra, Pablo Sáez and Sarvenaz Sarabipour.
#DiversityinScience – one of the landmarks we are celebrating at our ECR event, is the 2nd birthday of the Node Network. It was launched to help promote diversity in selection of reviewers, panellist and speakers for event in developmental and stem cell biology. Read the interesting twitter thread from Michelle Facette on why she thinks it is important.
Why is it important we feature Black and Indigenous scholars for things like keynote positions at International conferences? I want to earnestly speak to why *I* think it is important. I am not speaking for anyone else. These are some reasons and expectations that I have. (1/n)🧵
#preprints – why do you preprint, or not? – Check out the thread started by Prachee Avasthi to find out the views from the twitterverse:
Settle an argument for me: What prevents a greater proportion of scientists from preprinting? Lack of info, fear/distaste of sharing work prior to peer review, perceived lack of benefit/reward/credit, what else? Muting replies so I can work, but thanks in advance! 🙏
Our first DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) day! The concept: a full day for reading up to date science and whatever is on your reading list, as a lab, with food 🥐
Note to self: next time, instead of sitting in front of the laptop for 6 hours with nothing to show for it other than 3 badly written sentences that do not even connect, accept it's a bad writing day, close the laptop and go do something else. #phdlife@PhDVoice
If you would like to contribute to our ‘Developing news’ blog, please get in touch at thenode@biologists.com. If you are interested in writing preLights, you can find more information here.
Launched in 2020, FocalPlane is a curated and centralised platform for the microscopy community to share news and techniques, discuss issues relevant to the field and read about the latest research and events. We are now looking for an enthusiastic and motivated person with fresh ideas and a willingness to learn to join us to develop and maintain this site.
Core responsibilities of the position include: • Creating and commissioning content for FocalPlane, including writing posts and soliciting content from the academic community, societies, companies and other organisations • Providing user support and ensuring site functionality on a day-to-day basis • Providing creative and practical input into the development of the site • Maintaining and developing the site’s presence on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram • Representing Journal of Cell Science and FocalPlane at relevant conferences
Essential skills: • PhD in a relevant scientific field, ideally with experience of microscopy • Familiar with current trends and hot topics in microscopy and image analysis • Willingness to grow and develop knowledge of microscopy • Demonstrable ability to write for an online audience and/or produce social media content • Clear understanding of the online environment as it applies to scientists • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills • Strong networking abilities online and in person
Desirable: • Experience with additional media (e.g. video or podcasting) • Experience with WordPress • Contacts within the microscopy community
This is an exciting opportunity to further develop this hub for the microscopy community – in a similar vein to the Company’s established community site for developmental biologists, the Node – and to engage with relevant people at all levels: academics, developers, facilities, institutes and companies. The Community Manager will work alongside an experienced in-house team, including the Executive Editor of Journal of Cell Science. Additional responsibilities may be provided for the right candidate.
The Company of Biologists exists to support biologists and inspire advances in biology. At the heart of what we do are our five specialist journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open. All are edited by expert researchers in the field, and all articles are subjected to rigorous peer review. We believe that the profits from publishing the hard work of biologists should support scientific discovery and help develop future scientists. Our grants help support societies, meetings and individuals. Our workshops and meetings give the opportunity to network and collaborate.
Applicants should send a CV along with a covering letter that summarises their relevant experience, and in particular any specific microscopy/image analysis skills. Please also include links to any online activities, salary expectations, and details about why you are enthusiastic about this opportunity. Applications and informal queries should be sent by email to recruitment@biologists.com by 18 March 2022.
We may request written tests in advance of any interview. Applicants should be eligible to work in the UK.
23,000 year old fossilised human footprints from White Sands National Park, Image courtesy of National Parks Service
If these dates are correct, it means people must have gotten into North America sometime before 25,000 years ago. And that opens up this whole new avenue of exploration and understanding in both the archaeological record and genetics.
It really makes for a whole new story.
Professor Jennifer Raff
In the latest episode of the Genetics Unzipped podcast, we’re looking at a genetic history of the Americas. We chat with Jennifer Raff about her new book, Origin: The Genetic History of the Americas, covering the controversies surrounding how humans first migrated to the continent. plus Krystal Tsosie tells us about some of the modern day issues about how Native American genomes are used in genetic research.
If you enjoy the show, please do rate and review on Apple podcasts and help to spread the word on social media. And you can always send feedback and suggestions for future episodes and guests to podcast@geneticsunzipped.com Follow us on Twitter – @geneticsunzip