Regulation of Hemocytes in Drosophila Requires dappled Cytochrome b5

A major category of mutant hematopoietic phenotypes in Drosophila is melanotic tumors or nodules, which consist of abnormal and overproliferated blood cells, similar to granulomas. Our analyses of the melanotic mutant dappled have revealed a novel type of gene involved in blood cell regulation. The dappled gene is an essential gene that encodes cytochrome b5, a conserved hemoprotein that participates in electron transfer in multiple biochemical reactions and pathways. Viable mutations of dappled cause melanotic nodules and hemocyte misregulation during both hematopoietic waves of development. The sexes are similarly affected, but hemocyte number is different in females and males of both mutants and wild type. Additionally, initial tests show that curcumin enhances the dappled melanotic phenotype and establish screening of endogenous and xenobiotic compounds as a route for analysis of cytochrome b5 function. Overall, dappled provides a tractable genetic model for cytochrome b5, which has been difficult to study in higher organisms

How Can Sound Help Us to Better Understand Early and Medieval China?

Technologies like sonar or ultrasound demonstrate that sound can contribute to society in ways that are not easily visible. In this video, NOA HEGESH explores the notable role that sound played in early and medieval China in areas as diverse as the calendar, weights and measures and prognostication. Identifying and translating relevant texts and artifacts before situating them in context, Hegesh highlights the ways that sound as understood in relation to concepts like qi and yin and yang helped to underpin the power held by the Emperor and his ruling dynasty in this period of Chinese history