The Tracker rather likes the headline over the LATimes story by Mary Engel today: “Rhinovirus strains’ genome decoded: cold cure-all is unlikely.” No false hopes there for an exit from the most common sniffles. And if the hygiene theory of immune system toughness is right, we’re probably better off. The fully charted genomes have, as one suspects every serious viral contagion specialist could have told you they would, such diversity among their 15 types that they offer few common avenues to treatment. Or, as Engel advises, don’t toss out the chicken soup yet. It’s rather difficult however to avoid another cliche (which Engel does, but the Tracker won’t): the achievement is nothing to sneeze at. Can’t hurt, new research avenues will open, etc. Researchers at the Univ. of Maryland School of Medicine and with the J. Craig Venter Institute led the study and have it this week in the AAAS’s Science magazine.

A second and more broadly intellectually satisfying – if practically near-useless – genome is in the news so we’ll run two lists of stories a bit farther below. It belongs to our distant yet close kin, the Neanderthal. The McClatchy Newspaper chain’s Robert S. Boyd tempts readers in with a little vignette starting “It was an unfortunate accident, but a lucky break for modern science. About 38,000 years ago , a Neanderthal man living in what’s now Croatia broke his left arm…..” At least one other story says it was a woman. Either way, the compensating overgrowth of bone in his/her right arm created enough tissue mass to preserve a smidgen of DNA, it appears. That, combined with smaller samples from other specimens, made the work possible.

The news is that Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Inst. for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and a multinational team presented their draft genome at the AAAS meeting in Chicago, an event accompanied by a AAAS press release issued also in Croation, German, Russian, and Spanish. Plus, press conferences in Chicago and Leipzig. In truth, this is lots of ink for a progress report on a project given heavy, previous coverage. But the two genomes do have an odd resonance. These Homo Neanderthalensis folks could as appropriately be called Homo rhinohumongous. They had big noses. And no Kleenex. Maybe human rhinoviruses evolved some of their biodiversity in their magnificent ice-age schnozzes? Nobody covers that obvious angle!   Below are further samplings of coverage.

RHINOVIRUS STORIES :

• Baltimore Sun – Kelly Brewington :  University of Maryland researchers map genetic codes for cold virus ;
• Best Hed Prize : LiveScience – Andrea Thompson : Common Cold DNA Deciphered, Congestion Continues ;
• NYTimes – Nicholas Wade : Cure for the common cold? Not yet, but possible ; Accurate, tricky word with a wide stance, that “possible.” Means maybe. Are more maybes than actualities. Therefore possible probably means probably not.
• Canwest News Services (via Montreal Gazette) – Sharon Kirkey : Effective cold treatment possible in 5 years: Study ; there it is again – possible.
• Bloomberg – John Lauerman: Cure for Common Cold May Result From Virus DNA Search ; Ah, “may.” Same meaning as possible.
• AP: Lauren Neergaard : Nothing to sneeze at – decoding the common cold ;
• Chicago Tribune – Trine Tsouderos : Researchers crack code of common cold ; Y’know something? If a person with a bad cold reads that aloud it sounds like “…crack code of common code”   !  ;

Grist for the Mill:

J. Craig Venter Inst. Press Release ;  U. Md. Sch. of Medicine Press Release ;

NEANDERTHAL/NEANDERTAL STORIES:

• NPR Morning Edition Christopher Joyce ; Interesting contrast in the on line text story, and the broadcast linked to it. For instance, the text says this partial genetic map me help show why H. Sapiens left its cousin “in the evolutionary dust.” The Tracker heard no such phrase in the audio link.
• Reuters – Julie Steenhuysen : Scientists get first draft of Neanderthal genome ;
• BBC – James Morgan : Neanderthals ‘distinct from us’ ; Focuses on a gene linked to speech, and implications that however different they were, they may have talked.
• New Scientist – Ewen Callaway : First draft of Neanderthal genome is unveiled ;
• Telegraph (UK) Richard Alleyne: AAAS: Neanderthal man takes step closer to roaming the earth after genetic breakthrough ; Oh my. Does this reporter (or his editor) really believe the cloning-of-an-extinct-species angle is the smartest one here? He even throws in the mammoth as a plausibility argument. Oh my. The bulk of the story is well-reported, by the way. And this angle certainly captures a few more eyeballs.
• NYTimes – Nicholas Wade : Scientists in Germany Draft Neanderthal Genome ; Oh. See previous bullet. Wade, too and with the help of a source at Harvard, dives deeply and credulously into the notion of revivifying the species once its eventual, complete genome is done. C’mon, what are the odds of a Neandertal II in our or our children’s lifetimes? Born from a chimp, yet. Getting the epigenetic throttles on gene expression right has to be a tough nut to crack. Or is it just me? Pääbo said it is impossible. The Tracker’s gotta think about this…
• USA Today – Dan Vergano : Draft of Neanderthal’s genetic blueprint revealed ;
• Guardian – Ian Sample : Scientists unravel Neanderthal genome / Extraordinary feat will shed light on what it means to be human ;
• MIT Technology Review – Lauren Gravitz : Nenanderthal Genome Unraveled / Scientists announce the first complete draft of our closest relative’s genome ; No, not complete – about 63 percent the story says. Despite that hed, the story is sober, complete, and clear.
• Deutsche Welle : Scientists Decode Majority of Neanderthal Man’s Genome ; Truly great illus with this one. ;
• Nat’l Geographic News – Mason Inman: Neanderthal Genome “First Draft” Unveiled ;
• Science News – Tina Hesman Saey : First Rough Draft Of Neandertal Genome Released; One of the few to spell it with a t, not a th. And calling it a rough draft is smart. And she says this specimen was female. Very thorough story overall.Grist for the Mill:

AAAS Press Release ; Roche 454 Life Sciences Press Release ;

-CP

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