News

In an effort to expose local children to the wonders of science, the Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit made a trip to Kunigami to take about 30 children on an ant and termite adventure.

Noriyuki Satoh and researchers have found the first genomic evidence for a common deuterostome ancestor – bringing together a diverse lineage of animals ranging from humans to sea stars.

As we grow, an intricate choreography of genetic controls begins to differentiate our cells, turning some genes off and others up to full-blast, eventually yielding fully-formed animals. Researchers at OIST are working to learn more about this choreography.

In a paper published yesterday in Science, a team of researchers that includes OIST's Nick Luscombe shows that the long-accepted view of how male fruit flies manipulate their genes’ activity should be revised. Their finding shows how cells use a single, crucial regulator to change the activity of large numbers of genes at the same time.

The Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, led by Evan Economo, uses classic tools of taxonomy—as well as genomic sequencing and computer modeling—to study how species evolve, move around, and adapt to their environments.

Professor Alexander Mikheyev of the Ecology and Evolution Unit and his collaborator Professor Steven Aird are studying snake venom to better understand the stories it tells.

A team led by Nicholas Luscombe has answered a key question about the mechanism of genetic mutation and evolution. His new study shows that living things are able to tightly guard their most valuable genes, while leaving others more vulnerable to chance mutations.

The OIST Marine Genomics Unit, in collaboration with Japanese research groups including from the University of Tokyo and Mikimoto Co., Ltd., has completed the first decoding of the genome of the Japanese pearl oyster.