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Human Chromosome 21
Michael D. Wilson, et al.
Science 322, 434 (2008);
DOI: 10.1126/science.1160930
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REPORTS
1.1 × 1018 and 1.5 × 1018 kg. With the photo- References and Notes Ciencia (Spain), National project n. AYA2005-07808-
metrically derived nominal size of r = 54 km for 1. W. J. Merline et al., in Asteroids III, W.F. Bottke Jr., C03-03. J.L.M. was partially supported by grant
A. Cellino, P. Paolicchi, R.P. Binzel, Eds. (Univ. of Arizona NNX07AK68G from the NASA Planetary Astronomy
each component (assumed albedo of 0.16), the Press, Tucson, AZ, 2002), pp. 289–312. program. This research used the facilities of the Canadian
density of 2001 QW322 (Fig. 2B) is probably 0.8 2. K. S. Noll, W. M. Grundy, E. I. Chiang, J. L. Margot, Astronomy Data Centre operated by the National
to 1.2 g cm−3. This is a little higher than that of S. D. Kern, in The Solar System Beyond Neptune, Research Council of Canada with the support of the
comparably sized outer solar system bodies A. Barucci, H. Boehnhardt, D. Cruikshank, A. Morbidelli, Canadian Space Agency. The Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope is operated by the National Research Council of
[figure 5 of (13); 0.6 to 0.8 g cm−3]. Our nominal Eds. (Univ. of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ, 2008),
pp. 345–363. Canada, the Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers of
albedo of 0.16 is approximately double that esti- 3. J. L. Margot, M. E. Brown, C. A. Trujillo, R. Sari, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of
mated from optical and thermal infrared photom- J. A. Stansberry, Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 37, 737 France, and the University of Hawaii. Observations at
etry for similar-size KBOs (14, 15) but about a (2005). Palomar Observatory are carried out under a
4. J. J. Kavelaars, J.-M. Petit, G. Gladman, M. Holman, IAU collaborative agreement between Cornell University and
factor of 2 below that of (58534) Logos/Zoe ( p = the California Institute of Technology. Observations made
Circ. 7749, 1 (2001).
0.37 T 0.04) (2), which is of comparable size. 5. W. J. Merline et al., Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 32, 1017 with European Southern Observatory Telescopes at the La
Estimated density from eqs. S2 and S3 is propor- (2000). Silla or Paranal Observatories under program IDs
tional to the assumed albedo to the power of 3=2. 6. B. Gladman, B. G. Marsden, C. Van Laerhoven, in The 069.C-0460, 071.C-0497, 072.C-0542, 074.C-0379,
Solar System Beyond Neptune, A. Barucci, H. Boehnhardt, 075.C-0251, and 380.C-0791. The Gemini Observatory is
Halving our palbedo
ffiffiffi would increase our radius
D. Cruikshank, A. Morbidelli, Eds. (Univ. of Arizona Press, operated by the Association of Universities for Research
estimates by 2 and decrease the estimated den- Tucson, AZ, 2008), pp. 43–57. in Astronomy, under a cooperative agreement with NSF
sity by a factor of 2 =2 = 2.8, below the range of
3
7. See supporting online material text. on behalf of the Gemini partnership: NSF (US), the
published densities (13) for such small bodies. 8. J.-M. Petit, O. Mousis, Icarus 168, 409 (2004). Science and Technology Facilities Council (UK), the
Species-Specific Transcription in
2001 QW322 and our nominal albedo, we find
that the lifetime of this binary is 0.3 to 1 billion
years, which is two to three times shorter than the
previous estimate. This finding implies one of
two things: (i) Either 2001 QW322 was created Mice Carrying Human Chromosome 21
with its current mutual orbit early in the history of Michael D. Wilson,1* Nuno L. Barbosa-Morais,1,2* Dominic Schmidt,1,2
the solar system, in which case it is one of the few Caitlin M. Conboy,3 Lesley Vanes,4 Victor L. J. Tybulewicz,4 Elizabeth M. C. Fisher,5
survivors of a population at least 50 to 100 times Simon Tavaré,1,2,6 Duncan T. Odom1,2†
larger, or (ii) this is a transitory object, evolving
because of perturbation from interactions with Homologous sets of transcription factors direct conserved tissue-specific gene expression, yet
smaller KBOs, from a population of more tightly transcription factor–binding events diverge rapidly between closely related species. We used
bound binaries. Asserting this latter hypothesis hepatocytes from an aneuploid mouse strain carrying human chromosome 21 to determine, on a
would require better orbital statistics for moder- chromosomal scale, whether interspecies differences in transcriptional regulation are primarily
ately large KB binaries (separation of 1 to 2′′). directed by human genetic sequence or mouse nuclear environment. Virtually all transcription
For the likely mutual-orbit parameters, the factor–binding locations, landmarks of transcription initiation, and the resulting gene expression
average orbital speed is 〈v〉 ≃ 0:85 m/s or a mere 3 observed in human hepatocytes were recapitulated across the entire human chromosome 21 in the
km hour−1, a slow human walking pace. An ob- mouse hepatocyte nucleus. Thus, in homologous tissues, genetic sequence is largely responsible for
server standing on one of the components (a very directing transcriptional programs; interspecies differences in epigenetic machinery, cellular
precarious situation, as the gravity is only 0.02 m/s2 environment, and transcription factors themselves play secondary roles.
or nearly 600 times smaller than on Earth) would
see the other component subtend an angle of only igher eukaryotes are organized collec- binding to DNA in a sequence-specific manner
3 arc min, which corresponds to a pinhead seen at
arm’s length. The existence of the other com-
ponent would not be in doubt, however, because
H tions of different cell types, each of
which is created from differential tran-
scription of a common genome (1). Evolutionar-
(1–3). These proteins typically recognize short
consensus motifs, often between 6 and 16 nu-
cleotides, found at high frequency throughout a
when viewed at full phase it would be as ily conserved sets of tissue-specific transcription genome. How transcription factors discriminate
luminous as Saturn seen from Earth, and it would factors establish each cell's transcription during among nearly identical motifs is poorly under-
move perceptibly from week to week. development and maintain it during adulthood by stood, although chromatin state, cellular environ-
Surface Sites for Engineering On the basis of this conjecture, methods such
as statistical coupling analysis (SCA) quantita-