• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.98-104
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• 2014

Approximately 45% of the human genome is comprised of transposable elements (TEs). Results from the Human Genome Project have emphasized the biological importance of TEs. Many studies have revealed that TEs are not simply "junk" DNA, but rather, they play various roles in processes, including genome evolution, gene expression regulation, genetic instability, and cancer disposition. The effects of TE insertion in the genome varies from negligible to disease conditions. For the past two decades, many studies have shown that TEs are the causative factors of various genetic disorders and cancer. TEs are a subject of interest worldwide, not only in terms of their clinical aspects but also in basic research, such as evolutionary tracking. Although active TEs contribute to genetic instability and disease states, non-long terminal repeat transposons are well studied, and their roles in these processes have been confirmed. In this review, we will give an overview of the importance of TEs in studying genome evolution and genetic instability, and we suggest that further in-depth studies on the mechanisms related to these phenomena will be useful for both evolutionary tracking and clinical diagnostics.

• ALGAE
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2006

Genomic data is accumulating in public database at an unprecedented rate. Although presently dominated by the sequences of metazoan, plant, parasitic, and picoeukaryotic taxa, both expressed sequence tag (EST) and complete genomes of free-living algae are also slowly appearing. This wealth of information offers the opportunity to clarify many long-standing issues in algal and plant evolution such as the contribution of the plastid endosymbiont to nuclear genome evolution using the tools of comparative genomics and multi-gene phylogenetics. A particularly powerful approach for the automated analysis of genome data from multiple taxa is termed phylogenomics. Phylogenomics is the convergence of genomics science (the study of the function and structure of genes and genomes) and molecular phylogenetics (the study of the hierarchical evolutionary relationships among organisms, their genes and genomes). The use of phylogenetics to drive comparative genome analyses has facilitated the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of genes, gene families, and organisms. Here we survey the available genome data, introduce phylogenomic pipelines, and review some initial results of phylogenomic analyses of algal genome data.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.230-238
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• 2013

Many other human species appeared in evolution in the last 6 million years that have not been able to survive to modern times and are broadly known as archaic humans, as opposed to the extant modern humans. It has always been considered fascinating to compare the modern human genome with that of archaic humans to identify modern human-specific sequence variants and figure out those that made modern humans different from their predecessors or cousin species. Neanderthals are the latest humans to become extinct, and many factors made them the best representatives of archaic humans. Even though a number of comparisons have been made sporadically between Neanderthals and modern humans, mostly following a candidate gene approach, the major breakthrough took place with the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome. The initial genome-wide comparison, based on the first draft of the Neanderthal genome, has generated some interesting inferences regarding variations in functional elements that are not shared by the two species and the debated admixture question. However, there are certain other genetic elements that were not included or included at a smaller scale in those studies, and they should be compared comprehensively to better understand the molecular make-up of modern humans and their phenotypic characteristics. Besides briefly discussing the important outcomes of the comparative analyses made so far between modern humans and Neanderthals, we propose that future comparative studies may include retrotransposons, pseudogenes, and conserved non-coding regions, all of which might have played significant roles during the evolution of modern humans.

• ALGAE
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.137-154
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• 2016

Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have revolutionized many areas of biological research due to the sharp reduction in costs that has led to the generation of massive amounts of sequence information. Analysis of large genome data sets is however still a challenging task because it often requires significant computer resources and knowledge of bioinformatics. Here, we provide a guide for an uninitiated who wish to analyze high-throughput NGS data. We focus specifically on the analysis of organelle genome and metagenome data and describe the current bioinformatic pipelines suited for this purpose.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.12 no.spc
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• pp.1-69
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• 2023

This study aims to establish a comprehensive, synthetic inventory system for the fauna and flora of Dokdo Island, Republic of Korea, which has been conducted by a specialized research group consisting of more than 50 experts. The research was conducted over five years(2015-2019) and supported by the National Institute of Biological Resources, Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea. All possible publications on the fauna and flora of Dokdo Island over the last 68 years from 1952 to 2020 were reviewed. As a result, 1,302 species were found on Dokdo Island during the study period. An updated list of 1,963 species was created. This is expected to be of great help for the conservation and national publicity of important indigenous biological resources of Dokdo Island.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.691-707
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• 2015

This study aims to develop biology teachers' education program based on argumentation activity about core concepts of evolution and to analyze the characteristics of core concepts of evolution learned during the program. The eight core concepts of evolution in this study were variation, heritability of variation, competition, natural selection, adaptation, differential reproductive rate of individuals, changes in genetic pool within a population, and macroevolution. The performances of teachers participating in the program were compared before and after argumentation activities; consisting of seven sessions on the eight core concepts of evolution. The process of the program was specially designed by learning cycle model for teacher education, consisting of seven phases: identification of the task, production of a tentative argument, small group's written argument, share arguments with the other groups, reflective discussion, final written argument, and organization by an instructor. Participants in the study were two pre-service biology teachers and four in-service biology teachers. The results suggest that biology teachers reduced the teleological explanation for biological evolution and improve its adequacy after the intervention. Teachers lacked the opportunity to discuss variation, heritability of variation, competition, and macroevolution because science textbooks lack information on the concepts of biological evolution. The results of this study suggest that because the argumentation program developed for teachers helps to improve understanding the concepts of evolution and to reduce inadequate conceptions in biology, teacher education programs using argumentation activity and eight core concepts of evolution will play a role for efficient evolution education for biology teachers.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea CI
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.59-68
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• 2005

A novel immunotronic approach to fault detection in hardware based on symbiotic evolution is proposed in this paper. In the immunotronic system, the generation of tolerance conditions corresponds to the generation of antibodies in the biological immune system. In this paper, the principle of antibody diversity, one of the most important concepts in the biological immune system, is employed and it is realized through symbiotic evolution. Symbiotic evolution imitates the generation of antibodies in the biological immune system morethan the traditional GA does. It is demonstrated that the suggested method outperforms the previous immunotronic methods with less running time. The suggested method is applied to fault detection in a decade counter (typical example of finite state machines) and MCNC finite state machines and its effectiveness is demonstrated by the computer simulation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.3-4
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• 2017

Recent advances in genome sequencing technologies have enabled humans to generate and investigate the genomes of wild species. This includes the big cat family, such as tigers, lions, and leopards. Adding the first high quality leopard genome, we have performed an in-depth comparative analysis to identify the genomic signatures in the evolution of felid to become the top predators on land. Our study focused on how the carnivore genomes, as compared to the omnivore or herbivore genomes, shared evolutionary adaptations in genes associated with nutrient metabolism, muscle strength, agility, and other traits responsible for hunting and meat digestion. We found genetic evidence that genomes represent what animals eat through modifying genes. Highly conserved genetically relevant regions were discovered in genomes at the family level. Also, the Felidae family genomes exhibited low levels of genetic diversity associated with decreased population sizes, presumably because of their strict diet, suggesting their vulnerability and critical conservation status. Our findings can be used for human health enhancement, since we share the same genes as cats with some variation. This is an example how wildlife genomes can be a critical resource for human evolution, providing key genetic marker information for disease treatment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1996.06c
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• pp.947-952
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• 1996

The effect of fluctuating temperature on the respiration of vegetables has been investigated. Spinach was selected as the experimental material because of its high respiratory activity and kept under the condition that temperature changed alternately at low and high levels every 4 hours. The low-high level temperature combination was set in $1-10^{\circ}C,{\;}1-20^{\circ}C{\;}and{\;}1-30^{\circ}C$. Respiration was evaluated in terms of quantity of $CO_2$ evolved from spinach. The evolution rate of $CO_2$ was determined by a change in its concentration. The evaluation rate of $CO_2$ followed closely the temperature change. In the temperature combinations at $1-10^{\circ}C{\;}and{\;}1-20^{\circ}C$, the relationship between $CO_2$ evolution rate and temperature was found to be able to express by Arrhenius law, while at $1-30^{\circ}C$, it did not obey the law.

• Proceedings of the Zoological Society Korea Conference
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• 2003.08a
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• pp.114.3-114
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• 2003

No Abstract, See Full Text