Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

The Bold and the Beautiful: a Neurotoxicity Comparison of New World Coral Snakes in the Micruroides and Micrurus Genera and Relative Neutralization by Antivenom

Coral snake envenomations are well characterized to be lethally neurotoxic. Despite this, few multispecies, neurotoxicity and antivenom efficacy comparisons have been undertaken and only for the Micrurus genus; Micruroides has remained entirely uninvestigated. As the USA's supplier of antivenom has currently stopped production, alternative sources need to be explored. The Mexican manufacturer Bioclon uses species genetically related to USA species, thus we investigated the efficacy against Micrurus fulvius (eastern coral snake), the main species responsible for lethal envenomations in the USA as well as additional species from the Americas. The use of Coralmyn® coral snake antivenom was effective in neutralizing the neurotoxic effects exhibited by the venom of M. fulvius but was ineffective against the venoms of Micrurus tener, Micrurus spixii, Micrurus pyrrhocryptus, and Micruroides euryxanthus. Our results suggest that the Mexican antivenom may be clinically useful for the treatment of M. fulvius in the USA but may be of only limited efficacy against the other species studied