http://www.mdpi.com/journal/genes Latest open access articles published in Genes at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/genes/ http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/1/1/9/ In this review, we discuss findings from studies carried out over the past 20+ years that document the occurrence of asymmetric introgressive hybridization in a plant clade. In particular, analyses of natural and experimental hybridization have demonstrated the consistent introgression of genes from Iris fulva into both Iris brevicaulis and Iris hexagona. Furthermore, our analyses have detected certain prezygotic and postzygotic barriers to reproduction that appear to contribute to the asymmetric introgression. Finally, our studies have determined that a portion of the genes transferred apparently affects adaptive traits. http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/1/1/9/ Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 CET Genes 2010-03-15 1 1 Review 9 22 2073-4425 Asymmetric Introgressive Hybridization Among Louisiana Iris Species 2010-03-15 doi: 10.3390/genes1010009 Arnold Tang Knapp Martin http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/1/1/4/ Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) hold great promise for the therapeutic treatment of human diseases, but their functional similarity, their stability and especially the mechanism underlying their derivation are not yet clearly explained. [...] http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/1/1/4/ Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 CET Genes 2010-03-09 1 1 Editorial 4 8 2073-4425 The Secret Lives of Pluripotent Cells: There and Back Again 2010-03-09 doi: 10.3390/genes1010004 Paolo Cinelli http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/1/1/1/ Genes have been in the scientific vocabulary for a hundred years. The term "gene" was proposed by the Danish plant scientist Wilhelm Johannsen in the first decade of the 20th century. For Johannsen, the gene remained an abstract concept, "free of any hypothesis" [1], but others were already pointing to chromosomes as the likely location of genes. The science of genetics was born at that time, and genes were rapidly connected with mutations, with patterns of inheritance, with development, with quantitative traits, with evolution and with biochemical pathways. All this was achieved without knowledge of the physical nature of genes, but this changed in mid-century with the discoveries of molecular biology. DNA was revealed as the genetic material, and the mechanisms were elucidated by which the information was encoded, and propagated, and linked to the phenotype. However, the concept of a "gene" did not become clearer. Quite the reverse, as the units of mutation, of recombination, of inheritance, of expression, of regulation, etc. did not necessarily coincide. [...] http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/1/1/1/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CET Genes 2009-11-02 1 1 Editorial 1 3 2073-4425 Genes: an Open Access Journal 2009-11-02 doi: 10.3390/genes1010001 J. Peter W. Young