Monthly Archives: December 2007

Hidden species present conservation challenge; a new Journal of Biology minireview

DNA studies are revealing the true extent of hidden or ‘cryptic’ biodiversity. Cryptic species are difficult to distinguish morphologically but the importance of what is revealed by DNA data is discussed in a recent minireview for Journal of Biology by Luciano Beheregaray and Adalgisa Caccone. The minireview highlights two recent papers that challenge the commonly… Read more »

Biology

Karen Beemon & 2007 Retrovirology Prize

A few days ago, Retrovirology announced Prof. Karen Beemon from Johns Hopkins University as the 2007 winner of the M. Jeang Retrovirology Prize.  Since Retrovirology’s  announcement, several news sites (see below) have picked up this information.  Some of these sites are listed below.  In addition to a cash award, Dr. Beemon also received the crystal… Read more »

Biology

Hot paper in BMC Bioinformatics

A 2006 article from BMC Bioinformatics has just been highlighted as a Hot Paper by Thomson Scientific’s Essential Science Indicators. "Quantitative prediction of mouse class I MHC peptide binding affinity using support vector machine regression (SVR) models" by Darren Flower of the Jenner Institute and Tongbin Li of the University of Minnesota qualified for Hot… Read more »

Biology

Karen Beemon wins the 2007 M.Jeang Retrovirology Prize

It was announced today that Dr Karen Beemon has been awarded the third annual M.Jeang Retrovirology Prize. Dr Beemon, Professor and Chair of the Biology Department, Johns Hopkins University, will receive a $3000 cheque and a crystal trophy, and is interviewed in an article published today in Retrovirology. The M.Jeang Retrovirology Prize, awarded annually, recognises… Read more »

Biology

Parasites & Vectors; a new open access journal now accepting submissions

We are pleased to announce a new, broad-focus journal, Parasites & Vectors.  Overseen by Editor-in-Chief Chris Arme, Parasites & Vectors is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal dealing with the biology of parasites, parasitic diseases, intermediate hosts and vectors.  Manuscripts addressing broader issues, for example economics, social sciences and global climate change in relation to… Read more »

Biology

Warner Greene Named President of the Academic Alliance

Retrovirology’s editorial board member Warner C. Greene, MD PhD, director of Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) has been appointed President of the Academic Alliance Foundation (AAF), an organization dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases in Africa by establishing and supporting programs of training, prevention and care. Read more about the Academic Alliance… Read more »

Biology
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Darwin's Surprise

Science writer Michael Specter recently wrote a thoughtful piece in the New Yorker about human endogenous retroviruses.  For those readers who are interested in reading more about the origins of endogenous retroviruses, you can consult Robin Weiss’ article "The discovery of endogenous retroviruses" published in Retrovirology, October 2006.

Biology