Latest posts
Shades of blue and green
Hans Zauner - February 21, 2025
A new genomic analysis of the blue peafowl and its endangered green sister species provides insights into unwanted hybridization between these closely related birds, which may pose a risk to conservation efforts. The authors of a new GigaScience article also show that a mutation in one specific gene, EDNRB2, causes a unique white plumage variant […]
World Pangolin Day: Protecting the world’s most trafficked mammal with genomics
Hans Zauner - February 15, 2025
Today is World Pangolin Day! To celebrate the occasion GigaScience presents a new article, adding two chromosome-scale genome sequences and in-depth genomic analyses. Pangolins are cute, but the reason why it’s important to draw regular attention to these scaly mammals is more sober: Pangolins are the most trafficked wild mammals in the world, with more than […]
Publish Peer-Reviewed Protocol Papers with Protocols.io and GigaByte
Scott Edmunds - January 30, 2025
This week we are pleased to announce and highlight new updated additions to our long-running collaboration with protocols.io, linked to our first paper with a peer-reviewed protocol featuring a “Peer-reviewed method” badge on protocols.io. Alongside the addition of new functionality in protocols.io to submit protocols as method papers to GigaByte. The new GigaByte paper presents […]
Plant and Animal Genomes (PAG) 32nd annual conference
Chris Hunter - January 22, 2025
The 32nd Plant and Animal Genomes (PAG) Conference 2025 was a whirlwind of fascinating talks and innovative research! As in previous years (see previous blog posts here & here), the event spanned 5 complete days, this time the organisers reporting 2349 registered attendees from 64 countries. The top 5 represented countries were (highest number of […]
Sex chromosome madness in the iconic echidna
Hans Zauner - January 10, 2025
This week we published a new, high-quality genome sequence of one of Australia’s most iconic animals, the short beaked echidna. The almost gapless genome sequence of this egg-laying mammal helps researchers to track genomic reshuffling events that gave rise to a perplexing sex determination system. At first glance they may be mistaken for a weird-looking […]
Crossing the Open Science Streams: Cassyni X Sciety (and GigaByte) FTW
Scott Edmunds - January 8, 2025
Innovation + Integration = Cassyni X Sciety As an Open Science publisher, we’ve written extensively on our aims to think and act wider to better address the UNESCO Open Science Recommendation. Particularly the key pillars of “Open Engagement of Societal Actors” and “Open Dialogue with other Knowledge systems” where we need to improve the inclusiveness […]
Round three for GigaByte’s vectors of human disease series
Scott Edmunds - December 23, 2024
TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases hosted at the World Health Organization (WHO), GBIF and GigaScience Press have announced a third call for authors to submit Data Release papers on vectors of human disease for inclusion in a thematic series published in GigaByte Journal. Round three builds on the first […]
Urban fruits, 3D printed frog legs and gapless genomes: 2024 was wild
Hans Zauner - December 14, 2024
It’s December again, and our teams of editors and curators are busy with the many submissions we receive at this time of year. Scientists are eager to clear their desks before a well-earned break and it’s time for the annual GigaBlog ritual: Looking back at the year that was at GigaScience Press. Citizen Science 2024 […]
Continuing Journeys in Space: Human Cell Atlas Asia and Our Spatial Omics Series
Scott Edmunds - November 30, 2024
Human Cell Atlas Asia 2024: A Spatial Omics Odyssey The GigaScience Press Cross Journal (GigaScience and GigaByte) series on “Spatial Omics: Methods and Application” continues to receive and publish submissions. Promoting and providing a home for cutting edge research in new field taking large-scale data-rich biological and biomedical research into new dimensions. This month new […]
A visit from the Oriental Stork
Hans Zauner - October 23, 2024
This week in GigaScience we published a new genomic analysis of the endangered Oriental Stork, bringing good news: The population’s genetic health is still surprisingly strong, with high genetic diversity and low levels of inbreeding. Climate change, forest wildfires, hunting and the expansion of agriculture, industry and other human activities threaten the Oriental Stork (Ciconia […]