A cornucopia of genomes

A report on the Plant and Animal Genome XIV Conference, San Diego, USA, 14-18 January 2006.     

AACR Annual Meeting 2008: autophagy in the forefront of cancer research

The 2008 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting was held in San Diego, CA, April 12-16, 2008 (http:// www.aacr.org/home/scientists/meetings--workshops/annual-meeting-2008.aspx). More than 17,000 scientists from 60 countries participated in this meeting that was organized by AACR, the oldest and largest organization in the world focused on cancer research. The scientific presentations included more than 6,000 abstracts and 500 invited talks on new and significant discoveries in basic, clinical, and translational cancer research. Autophagy, as pertaining to tumorigenesis and response to anticancer therapies, was undoubtedly a "hot topic" in this meeting. An educational session, a forum, a minisymposium and several other talks dispersed in different sessions had a strong focus on autophagy. All autophagy-related presentations were very well attended and stimulated lively discussions, clearly indicating that the scientific community is greatly interested in this rapidly-progressing area of research.     

Cell Cycle Regulation

Drosophila researchers met in sunny San Diego for the 49th annual meeting of The Genetics Society of America. It was cold outside and even colder inside. Like last year, ‘Mitosis, Meiosis and Cell Division’ was no longer a session. Instead, we searched out and covered talks and posters in ‘Cell Division and Growth Control’, ‘Gametogenesis’, ‘Cytoskeleton and Cell Biology’ and ‘Genome and Chromosome Structure’. We split up for maximal coverage and re-grouped later for the Workshop on Cell Cycle and Checkpoints. We apologize in advance for the brevity or omission of some reports.     

Advances in genome studies: the PAG 2010 conference

An overview is provided of the advances in plant, animal and human genome studies by summarizing the contents of seven plenary lectures presented at the Plant and Animal Genome (PAG) meeting in January 2010. The area of biology covered was wide and reflected the nature of this fast moving science.     

Swine Genome Sequencing Consortium (SGSC): a strategic roadmap for sequencing the pig genome

The Swine Genome Sequencing Consortium (SGSC) was formed in September 2003 by academic, government and industry representatives to provide international coordination for sequencing the pig genome. The SGSC's mission is to advance biomedical research for animal production and health by the development of DNAbased tools and products resulting from the sequencing of the swine genome. During the past 2 years, the SGSC has met bi-annually to develop a strategic roadmap for creating the required scientific resources, to integrate existing physical maps, and to create a sequencing strategy that captured international participation and a broad funding base. During the past year, SGSC members have integrated their respective physical mapping data with the goal of creating a minimal tiling path (MTP) that will be used as the sequencing template. During the recent Plant and Animal Genome meeting (January 16, 2005 San Diego, CA), presentations demonstrated that a human-pig comparative map has been completed, BAC fingerprint contigs (FPC) for each of the autosomes and X chromosome have been constructed and that BAC end-sequencing has permitted, through BLAST analysis and RH-mapping, anchoring of the contigs. Thus, significant progress has been made towards the creation of a MTP. In addition, whole-genome (WG) shotgun libraries have been constructed and are currently being sequenced in various laboratories around the globe. Thus, a hybrid sequencing approach in which 3x coverage of BACs comprising the MTP and 3x of the WG-shotgun libraries will be used to develop a draft 6x coverage of the pig genome.     

A festival of cell-cycle controls.

The second biennial Salk Cell Cycle meeting convened on 22 June 2001 in San Diego, California. Organized by Tony Hunter and Susan Forsburg of the Salk Institute, the five-day conference was highlighted by enlightening science and plenty of San Diego sunshine. Presentations covered a broad range of contemporary cell-cycle topics, ranging from regulation of DNA replication and mitosis to DNA damage recognition and checkpoint control.     

Plant and animal genomes achieve functionality

A report on the conference 'Plant and Animal Genomes XIII', San Diego, USA, 15-19 January 2005.     

Hand preference behaviors shared by two groups of captive bonobos

Fourteen bonobos (Pan paniscus) from the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park were focally observed at different times of day for all right, left, and bi-manual behaviors which occurred naturally in the two settings. A total of 36,288 behaviors were recorded. There were 17,762 (49%) right-handed behaviors, 14,080 (39%) left-handed behaviors, and 4,446 (12%) bilateral behaviors. Based onz-scores (p<.05), 11 individuals were significantly right-biased, 2 individuals were significantly left-biased, and 1 was right biased, but not significantly. Age, sex, and environmental factors are discussed.     

Bridging genomics technology and biology

A report on the UK Genome Science Meeting, held at the University of Nottingham, UK, 2–4 September 2013.This year’s newly named UK Genome Science Meeting was the fourth edition of what was previously known as the UK Next Generation Sequencing Meeting. The renaming reflects technological developments that continue to redefine the meaning of next generation sequencing, and the fact that high-throughput sequencing is now a common tool in the scientific community. Indeed, an enormous diversity of topics was presented at this compact 3-day meeting, ranging from evolving technologies and bioinformatics, through to evolutionary genomics, metagenomics and clinical applications, amongst others. The meeting succeeded in portraying how, in relatively few years, new sequencing technologies have revolutionized the way we do basic research in just about every subject area, and are quickly making their way through translational research, and into the clinic and field.     

Long‐term proximity relationships in a captive social group of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

To visualize long‐term social relationships among 12 gorillas in a captive breeding group at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, San Diego, CA, the multidimensional scaling (MDS) procedure was applied to proximity (within 5 m) values collected in five different periods over 2.5 years. The resulting two‐dimensional representations clearly show that in samples taken during this 2.5‐year period, the silverback male was surrounded by five adult females, while three infant or young juvenile females, gathered in a body, remained between the silverback male and adult females. Some adult females maintained proximity to the silverback male more frequently than other adult females throughout the five periods. Unlike mountain gorillas in the wild, females with dependent offspring did not tend to stay near the silverback male more frequently than other females, and related females did not tend to spend more time near each other than non‐related females. Three older juvenile or young adult males were plotted the furthest from the silverback male, with gradual changes with increasing age. The usefulness of the MDS procedure, which can be used to visualize easily and clearly the social relationships among individuals, is discussed from the viewpoint of the management of breeding groups of captive gorillas. Zoo Biol 20:197–209, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Consistency of captive giraffe behavior under two different management regimes

Long‐term animal behavior studies are sometimes conducted at a single site, leading to questions about whether effects are limited to animals in the same environment. Our ability to make general conclusions about behavior is improved when we can identify behaviors that are consistent across a range of environments. To extend Veasey and colleagues' ([1996b] Anim Welf 5:139–153) study, I compared not only activity budgets but also social behavior of an all‐female group of giraffe at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore (MZiB) to those previously observed in breeding groups at The San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park (SDZWAP; Bashaw et al. [2007] J Comp Psychol 121:46–53). Morning activity budgets and the maintenance of social relationships were consistent across groups. MZiB female giraffe interacted more frequently and the identity of animals that formed the strongest relationships was less predictable than at SDZWAP. Results support earlier findings that captive giraffe maintain social relationships and suggest that studies of giraffe social relationships and activity are generalizable across a range of captive conditions. Zoo Biol 30:371–378, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

An ocean full of BARRELS: Barrels XXVI meeting report

The 26th annual Barrels meeting was convened on the campus of the University of California San Diego, not far from the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The meeting focused on three main themes: the structure and function of the thalamic reticular nucleus, the neurovasculature system and its role in brain metabolism, and the origins and functions of cortical GABAergic interneurons. In addition to the major themes, there were short talks, a data blitz, and a poster session which highlighted the diversity and quality of the research ongoing in the rodent whisker-to-barrel system.     

Cell cycle regulation

Drosophila researchers met in sunny San Diego for the 49(th) Annual Meeting of The Genetics Society of America. It was cold outside and even colder inside. Like last year, 'Mitosis, Meiosis and Cell Division' was no longer a session. Instead, we searched out and covered talks and posters in 'Cell Division and Growth Control', 'Gametogenesis', 'Cytoskeleton and Cell Biology' and 'Genome and Chromosome Structure'. We split up for maximal coverage and re-grouped later for the Workshop on Cell Cycle and Checkpoints. We apologize in advance for the brevity or omission of some reports.     

Effects of age at pairing on reproduction in captive California condors (Gymnogyps californianus)

The lack of breeding behavior seen in some pairs of adult California condors, Gymnogyps californianus, is of great concern for the captive breeding program. One possible cause for absent or delayed breeding in what are otherwise seemingly compatible animals is inbreeding avoidance behavior. To examine this possibility, housing and reproduction records were examined for all adult California condors. The influence of housing on reproduction of birds that had been exclusively paired for at least one full breeding season was examined with linear regression, and the age of females at the age of exclusive pairing was shown to have a significant influence on fertility, which increased with increased age at pairing. Behavioral data from adult pairs at the San Diego Wild Animal Park corroborated these findings, as mounts and copulations were observed at significantly lower frequencies in pairs that had been formed when the female was less than two years old. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Genome studies at the PAG 2011 conference

The contents of the plenary lectures presented at the Plant and Animal Genome (PAG) meeting in January 2011 are summarized in order to provide some insights into the advances in plant, animal and microbe genome studies as they impact on our understanding of complex biological systems. The areas of biology covered include the dynamics of genome change, biological recognition processes and the new processes that underpin investment in science. This overview does not attempt to summarize the diversity of activities that are covered during the PAG through workshops, posters and the suppliers of cutting-edge technologies, but reviews major advances in specific research areas.     

Barrels XXIII: Barrels by the shore

The 23rd annual Barrels meeting was held on the University of California, San Diego campus and highlighted the latest advances in the whisker-to-barrel pathway and beyond. The annual meeting brought together investigators from a dozen countries to present their data in posters and short talks. The meeting focused on several themes, first the barrel system was used as a model to study the consequences that result from alterations in the normal pattern(s) of development. A second session focused on what happens to whisker information once it leaves the layer IV barrel. A third session addressed issues of coding within the barrel system and a final session highlighted the latest advances in the engineering of transgenic mouse lines. The meeting highlighted the utility of the barrel system to study cortical circuitry in the normal and pathological state.     

Management and husbandry of ruffed lemurs,Varecia variegata,at the San Diego Zoo. I. Captive population,San Diego Zoo housing and diet

The captive history of the ruffed lemur is presented with concentration on taxonomy, captive population and husbandry of the San Diego Zoo population. At the conclusion of 1985, the living population of black and white ruffed lemurs numbered 358; red ruffed lemurs totaled 125. The San Diego Zoo population, established between 1965 and 1970, began with two pairs of each subspecies. Intensive breeding at the Primate Propagation Center resulted in the birth of 135 black and white ruffed lemur infants and 95 red ruffed lemur infants as of January 7, 1986. Housing specifications are presented for the off-exhibit 96-unit breeding facility, describing enclosure size, material, nest box composition, and enclosure furniture. The diet is described, which emphasizes high-protein, high-fiber foods and leaves.     

Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics 2016: The Antibody Society's annual meeting,December 11–15, 2016, San Diego,CA

Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics, the largest meeting devoted to antibody science and technology and the annual meeting of The Antibody Society, will be held in San Diego, CA on December 11-15, 2016. Each of 14 sessions will include six presentations by leading industry and academic experts. In this meeting preview, the session chairs discuss the relevance of their topics to current and future antibody therapeutics development. Session topics include bispecifics and designer polyclonal antibodies; antibodies for neurodegenerative diseases; the interface between passive and active immunotherapy; antibodies for non-cancer indications; novel antibody display, selection and screening technologies; novel checkpoint modulators / immuno-oncology; engineering antibodies for T-cell therapy; novel engineering strategies to enhance antibody functions; and the biological Impact of Fc receptor engagement. The meeting will open with keynote speakers Dennis R. Burton (The Scripps Research Institute), who will review progress toward a neutralizing antibody-based HIV vaccine; Olivera J. Finn, (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine), who will discuss prophylactic cancer vaccines as a source of therapeutic antibodies; and Paul Richardson (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), who will provide a clinical update on daratumumab for multiple myeloma. In a featured presentation, a representative of the World Health Organization's INN expert group will provide a perspective on antibody naming. “Antibodies to watch in 2017” and progress on The Antibody Society's 2016 initiatives will be presented during the Society's special session. In addition, two pre-conference workshops covering ways to accelerate antibody drugs to the clinic and the applications of next-generation sequencing in antibody discovery and engineering will be held on Sunday December 11, 2016.