Is it wrong if I use the word race? Aspergillus
Under freedom of speech, anybody is free to use any words. Even if they
Antonis Rokas
do not correspond to scientifically identifiable entities, races are a component of our psychological
What is Aspergil us? Aspergil us is a
asexual spore-forming structure to the aspergil um, an instrument for sprinkling holy water, although some modern
Where can I find out more?
Two asexual fruiting bodies of the filamentous
Ahn, S.M., Kim, T.H., Lee, S., Kim, D., Ghang,
fungus Aspergillus oryzae after 3 days of
H., Kim, D.S., Kim, B.C., Kim, S.Y., Kim,
growth on potato dextrose agar stained with
W.Y., Kim, C., et al. (2009). The first Korean
Vybrant-DiO and Lysotracker Red dyes. The
genome sequence and analysis: full genome
round cells at the tips are the asexual spores
sequencing for a socio-ethnic group. Genome
Aspergil us species are morphological y
of the fungus (courtesy of Jonas King and
Barbujani, G., and Colonna, V. (2010). Human
questions. Trends Genet. 26, 285–295.
Harpending, H., and Rogers, A. (2000). Genetic
differentiation. Annu. Rev. Genomics Hum.
Hunley, K.L., Healy, M.E., and Long, J.C. (2009).
How does Aspergil us reproduce?
The global pattern of gene identity variation
It’s complicated! The Aspergil us life
sexual spore-forming structure, in which
reveals a history of long-range migrations,
the two nuclei in each cel fuse to form a
implications for biological race. Am. J. Phys.
Jakobsson, M., Scholz, S.W., Scheet, P., Gibbs,
J.R., VanLiere, J.M., Fung, H.C., Szpiech,
most Aspergil us species lack a known
Z.A., Degnan, J.H., Wang, K., Guerreiro,
R., et al. (2008). Genotype, haplotype and
copy-number variation in worldwide human
populations. Nature 451, 998–1003.
Johansson, I., Yue, Q.Y., Dahl, M.L., Heim, M.,
genes in several additional ones, suggest
Säwe, J., Bertilsson, L., Meyer, U.A., Sjöqvist,
F. and Ingelman-Sundberg, M. (1991). Genetic
analysis of the interethnic difference between
Chinese and Caucasians in the polymorphic
metabolism of debrisoquine and codeine. Eur.
J. Clin. Pharmacol. 40, 553–556. What have we discovered from
Jorde, L.B. (2008). Human genetic diversity.
studying Aspergillus in the lab?
In: Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (ELS).
(Chichester: John Wiley & Sons). DOI:
Research on Aspergil us has greatly
10.1002/9780470015902.a0005079.pub2.
Kaessmann, H., Wiebe, V., Weiss, G., and Pääbo,
S. (2001). Great ape DNA sequences reveal
same cel , continuing to divide mitotical y eukaryotic primary and secondary
humans. Nat. Genet. 27, 155–156.
Krimsky, S. and Sloan, K., editors (2011). Race
Livingstone, F. B. (1962). On the nonexistence of
human races. Curr. Anthropol. 3, 279–281.
development. The birth of Aspergil us
Mayr, E. (1947). Systematics and the Origin
Aspergil us hyphae can enter the sexual
of Species, 3rd edn. (New York: Columbia
Pigliucci, M. and Kaplan, J. (2003). On the
concept of biological race and its applicability
two mating types, differ between species of the gene, whose experiments laid
to humans. Philosophy Sci. 70, 1161–1172.
Tishkoff S.A. and Kidd, K.K. (2004). Implications
that are obligate outcrossers (also known the foundation of the concept of the
for ‘race’ and medicine. Nat. Genet. 36(11
opposite type) and species that also are
capable of self-fertilization (homothal ic;
value of Aspergil us concerns the
Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via
Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy. 2Philosophy
Program, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue,
of Garrod’s classic “inborn errors of
Current Biology Vol 23 No 5
genetic errors in tyrosine/phenylalanine
Aspergil us’ ability to grow using any
Hibernation Fritz Geiser
bil ions of dol ars in crop yield losses.
In addition to A. flavus, several otherAspergil us species are opportunistic
Aspergil us research, and in the last
diversity of hosts. For example, A.
decade, smal international meetings that fumigatus is the leading cause of
are affectionately known as ‘Asperfests’,
spores in individuals with compromised multiday torpor predominately
Can you tel me something good about Aspergil us? Because a great deal of
the food eaten by Aspergil us, and more
opportunistic pathogens. A. fumigatus
as we will see in this primer, it is used
competitors. For example, Aspergil us
caused by Aspergil us sydowi on sea
niger is the near exclusive producer of
citric acid, a preservative widely used in
several different industries as wel as a
flavor enhancer of a variety of foods and
beverages. The ability of A. niger, as well As biotic (e.g., the emergence of
as of certain other Aspergil us species,
fungal infections) and abiotic (e.g.,
the nickname ‘cel factories’. Another
diseases) factors continue to shape the be challenged by anthropogenic
Aspergil us product is lovastatin, the
cholesterol-reducing smal molecule that potential hosts, Aspergil us’ proclivity
isolated from Aspergil us terreus. But
the most iconic and tasty Aspergil usWhere can I find out more?
products are courtesy of Aspergil us
Gibbons, J.G., and Rokas, A. (2013). The function
and evolution of the Aspergil us genome. Trends
oryzae, Japan’s ‘national fungus’ — the
capacity of this organism to turn starch-
Latge, J.-P., and Steinbach, W.J. (2008). Aspergil us
rich grains, like rice and soy beans, into
fumigatus and Aspergil osis (ASM Press,
Osmani, A., and Goldman, G.H. (2008). The Aspergil i:
Genomics, Medical Aspects, Biotechnology, and
Research Methods (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL).
Eastern drinks and sauces, like the rice
Penalva, M.A. (2001). A fungal perspective on human
inborn errors of metabolism: alkaptonuria and
beyond. Fungal Genet. Biol. 34, 1–10.
Samson, R.A., and Varga, J. (2007). Aspergil usHow about something bad?
Systematics in the Genomics Era. Stud. Mycol.,
Aspergil us’ penchant for making
Scazzocchio, C. (2009). Aspergil us: a multifaceted
genus. In Encyclopedia of Microbiology (3rd
edition), M. Schaechter, (Boston, MA: Academic
Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt
University, VU Station B# 35-1634, Nashvil e,
A cool advantage
Editorial it time to ditch this fixation? Martin Livingston MD, FRCPsych Professor Cunningham Owens, in his paper com- cacy. The differences between drugs usually lie in side-paring older and newer antipsychotics in this issueeffect profiles, often the key factor in drug selection. (Antipsychotics: is it time to end the generation game?,see pages 48–50), has drawn several important c
How To Steal Code Inventing The Wheel Only Once Much is said about ‘‘standing on other people’s shoulders, not their toes’’, but infact the wheel is re-invented every day in the Unix/C community. Worse, often it is re-invented badly, with bumps, corners, and cracks. There are ways of avoiding this: someof them bad, some of them good, most of them under-appreciated and under-used.
Is it wrong if I use the word race? 
Current Biology Vol 23 No 5