Rachel J Dutton

Animal venoms are complex mixtures of mainly toxin proteins and peptides that can broadly interfere with host physiology. While toxins are the most well-characterized proteins in venoms, there is evidence that molecules facilitating toxin activity are present as well. We decided to search for toxin-like or toxin proteins with extra accessory domains with interesting functions (especially toxin-facilitating functions).

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is the exchange of DNA between an organism and another organism that is not its offspring. It can lead to the rapid acquisition of novel functional traits in the recipient species, leaving distinctive genomic patterns behind in the process. While not all HGT events are maintained in a genome or lead to adaptive benefit, looking for patterns of HGT across a diverse array of organisms is one way we can survey for functional novelty.

It wasn’t that long ago that “retail” referred to a local store run by one person who understood every aspect of the business and managed everything by hand. Yet, retailers in general and drug retailers specifically have seen rapid and explosive growth, both geographically and in the complexity of their product offerings and services. Multinational businesses now oversee hundreds of stores that offer thousands of products, with more locations and more products being added almost daily.