Lean Bacon And A Domesticated DNA Parasite

Here is a molecular biology discovery that we can chalk up to our increasing love of lean bacon: "ZBED6, a Novel Transcription Factor Derived from a Domesticated DNA Transposon Regulates IGF2 Expression and Muscle Growth", in PLoS Biology. If you're a bacon lover, you may not realize how much your culinary satisfaction is intertwined with genetics. The drive to breed leaner pigs has led to the search for genetic variants that affect muscle mass and fat deposition in pigs. Some years back, in order to find such genetic variants, a Swedish research group crossed European Wild Boars and Large White domestic pigs. read more

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