In our latest work on the origin of eukaryotes published in a special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (link to full issue) compiled and edited by Professor Martin Embley and Dr Tom Williams, we advocate a ‘domain-free’ view of the history of life. Debates about whether there should be two domains…
So I took to the stage to talk about evolution and mass extinction for the TEDx DCU event in 2015. It was pitched for the general audience and was really good fun. It is a real challenge to get these concepts across and not bore people to death ! I am not sure I have…
It was freezing and there was a northerly wind whipping through DCU campus but that wasn’t going to keep us from smiling ! We had a double celebration in our group today with the graduation of Dr Andrew Webb and Dr Kathryn McRae photographed here with our president Prof Brian Mac Craith. Kathryn was supervised…
“Evolution of sweet taste perception in hummingbirds by transformation of the ancestral umami receptor” Baldwin et al Science 2014 Why study birds to understand sensory perception? Birds are a group of therapod dinosaurs that evolved during the mid Mesozoic era (~150 million years ago). They represent one of the most diverse extant vertebrate clades…
Our research was featured in the Irish times today (5th November 2014). I think it is wonderful to bring fundamental research to the general audience. The business of understanding life and how it works underpins all of our therapies and treatments for the future … this is where it all begins … http://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/great-scientific-mysteries-the-researchers-puzzle-it-out-1.1964445
Dr Mark Lynch graduates with his PhD from DCU today the 5th November 2014. Jointly supervised by Professor Christine Loscher and Dr Mary J. O’Connell. Huge congratulations on a job well done !;-)
Today we published a manuscript that summarises the current knowledge of the evolutionary history of the cellular life forms on the planet. This is not an easy task and involved evaluating a lot of manuscripts to see what they had to say on the matter. Fortunately, there are many different kinds of data that can be…
Abstract Background: miRNA profiling performed in myogenic cells and biopsies from skeletal muscles has previously identified miRNAs involved in myogenesis. Results: Here, we have performed miRNA transcriptome profiling in human affinity-purified CD56+ myoblasts induced to differentiate in vitro. In total, we have identified 60 miRNAs differentially expressed during myogenic differentiation. Many were not known for being differentially…
[dropcap style=”normal or inverse or boxed”]H[/dropcap]ow are mammals related to one another ? This question has puzzled biologists for decades. In our most recent publication we describe how, using sequence data and sophisticated phylogenetic models, we have resolved this issue. Our analysis shows that the root of the placental mammal phylogeny is the common ancestor…
