Barsh Lab
Greg Barsh, M.D., Ph.D. (read bio)
Faculty Investigator/Mark C. Smith Investigator
Research areas:
- Color variation to explorefundamental aspects of gene action, development, complex traits, evolution
- Forward genetic analysis of skin color and pigment-type switching in laboratory mice
- Biology of melanocortin signaling
- Genetic architecture of human pigmentary variation
- Biology and evolution of color patterns in mammals
Information for the science community can be found by going to the personal webpage Barsh Lab.
NPR features HudsonAlpha's involvement in cat coloration study
News Outlet:
NPR
Date published:
September 20, 2012
At this point it's just an interesting hypothesis, but it's possible that understanding cat coloration could help scientists understand resistance to infectious diseases.
Here's the connection. Stephen O'Brien and colleagues at a variety of institutions including the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Ala., and Stanford University in California have worked out some of the genetic pathways that explain why "some cats are spotted, some cats have stripes, some cats have what we call blotches, and other cats don't have any of that, they just have a black or a lion-like color," says O'Brien.
How the cat got his blotches
As any cat lover knows, distinct patterns of dark and light hair color are apparent not only in house cats but also in their wild relatives, from cheetahs to tigers to snow leopards. Researchers at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and Stanford University, along with colleagues around the world, today reported new genetic findings that help to understand the molecular basis of these patterns in all felines.
