Research Highlights.

The article presents information on new researches in genetics. Researcher Yang Shi and colleagues reported the first evidence for a histone demethylase enzyme lysine-specific demethylase 1, demethylates methylated histone lysine residues by an oxidation reaction and generates unmodified lysine and formaldehyde. LSD1 is similar in sequence to metabolic amine oxidases but localizes to the nucleus and associates with repressive chromatin complexes. Also the population-specific gene dose of CCL3L1, encoding a chemokine that is a ligand for the major coreceptor for HIV virus CCR5, is correlated with an individual's susceptibility to infection as well as progression to disease.