Not Exactly Pocket Science is a set of shorter write-ups on new stories with links to more detailed takes. It is meant to complement the usual fare of detailed pieces that are typical for this blog.
Spongebob’s genome reveals the secrets of building an animalSponges
are animals but, outside of children’s cartoons, they’re about as different from humans as you can imagine. These immobile creatures lie on the very earliest branch on the animal family tree. They have no tissues or organs – their bodies are made of just two layers of cells, twisted and folded into simple shapes. But despite this simplicity, the first complete sponge genome tells us a lot about what it takes to build an animal. The genome was sequenced from an Australian species called Amphimedon queenslandica
by a large team of scientists led by Mansi Strivastava from the University of California, Berkeley. It tells us ...
