The scientific and public health benefits of mandatory data-sharing mechanisms must be actively demonstrated. To this end, we manually reviewed 2724 data access requests approved between June 2007 and August 2010 through the U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database of genotypes and phenotypes (dbGaP). Our analysis demonstrates that dbGaP enables a wide range of secondary research by investigators from academic, governmental, and nonprofit and for-profit institutions in the United States and abroad. However, limitations in public reporting preclude the tracing of outcomes from secondary research to longer-term translational benefit.

Hybridization can be an important evolutionary force by generating new species and influencing evolution of parental species in multiple ways, including introgression and the consequences of hybrid vigor. Determining the ecological processes underlying evolution in hybrid zones is difficult however because it requires examining changes in both genotypic frequencies over time and corresponding ecological information, data that are rarely collected together. Here, we describe genetic and ecological aspects of a hybrid zone between the Eastern Fence Lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, and the Florida Scrub Lizard, Sceloporus woodi, occurring over at least 23 generations. The hybrid zone, discovered greater than 35 years ago using morphological characters, originally consisted of nearly even proportions of parental species and hybrids. Now, using genetic markers (species-diagnostic mtDNA sites and 6 nDNA microsatellite loci across a total of n = 117 individuals), we confirm not only that hybridization occurred but also that subsequent backcrossing has resulted in highly introgressed hybrids, with many hybrids containing mitochondrial DNA from one species on a nuclear DNA background of the other. Ecological aspects explaining these shifts in genetic composition include female mate choice, changes in habitat associated with secondary succession, and, most strongly, a hierarchy of male territorial advantage-ecological mechanisms likely to be involved in the emergence and disappearance of many animal hybrid zones. Our results suggest that genetic assimilation is not a significant threat to either species and that rather transient hybrid zones such as this may serve to increase genetic diversity and are candidates for causing genetic discordance in phylogeographic analyses.

Genetics is increasingly becoming a part of modern medical practice. How people think about genetics' use in medicine and their daily lives is therefore essential. Earlier studies indicated mixed attitudes about genetics. However, this might be changing. Using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) as a guideline, we initially reviewed 442 articles that looked at awareness, attitudes, knowledge, and perception of risks among the general and targeted recruitment populations. After fitting our criteria (from the last 5 years, conducted in the USA, non-provider populations, quantitative results reported, and assessed participants 18 years and older), finally 51 eligible articles were thematically coded and presented in this paper. Awareness is reported as relatively high in the studies reviewed. Attitudes are mixed but with higher proportions reporting positive attitudes towards genetic testing and counseling. Self-reported knowledge is reasonably high, specifically with the effects of specific programs developed to raise knowledge levels of the general and targeted recruited populations. Perception of risk is somewhat aligned with actual risk. With the reasonable positive reports of genetic awareness and knowledge, there is similar positive attitude and perception of risk, supporting the need for continued dissemination of such knowledge. Given interest in incorporating community participation in genomic educational strategies, we provide this review as a baseline from which to launch community-specific educational supports and tools.