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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is one of the most common disorders in children, often disrupting not only the early years but also adulthood. Yet, the genes that underlie it remain unknown. To accelerate understanding the genetics of this disorder, Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. has pledged $4.6 million through the Gerstner Family Foundation to launch a bold new program focused on genomic studies of ADHD.

Ranking as one of the leading types of cancer, claiming nearly 50,000 lives each year in the United States alone, colorectal cancer represents a huge clinical burden. For this reason, researchers have long pursued a deeper understanding of how this cancer type develops and grows. Recent advances in the technology of whole genome sequencing, in which a tumor’s complete genetic sequence is determined and compared with that of normal tissue, are yielding surprising new findings underlying the genetics of colorectal cancer.

About 340 million years ago, a diminutive vertebrate did something unprecedented: she laid her eggs on dry land. Today, not having to rely on the water to produce offspring may not seem like such a big deal – mammals carry their embryos to term and birds and other reptiles lay their eggs on land – but before organisms evolved the amniote egg, four-legged life was water-bound. Laying eggs on terra firma has allowed reptiles and mammals to thrive in new environments across the world.