A Week in PLoS

What with all the traveling, I am behind with all the PLoS-related news. So, let me put it all together in one post here.
In the Media
There is a very nice article in New York Times about the launch of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases and a nice article about Open Access in The Journal Times (hat-tip: Jonathan).
Also see commentary from the blogosphere: Introduction at The Modest Proposal blog and The End of Advertising as we know it on Elearnspace.
PLoS ONE
Last week, when I made my picks, I forgot to point out a very interesting paper from the Ross lab: Molecular Variation at a Candidate Gene Implicated in the Regulation of Fire Ant Social Behavior
The latest Journal Club is ongoing – please chime in with your questions, ratings and comments. And let me know if you want to do one of these on one of the ONE papers in the nearest future.
Drosophila genomes
Many years ago, when the Human Genome race was still ongoing, I was saying that the genomics revolution will really start only once we are capable of sequencing and comparing many genomes of closely related species. Now, I am happy to announce that 12 additional species of Drosophila (melanogaster and pseudoobscura were done before) have been sequenced and published in Nature. Jonathan, RPM and RPM again comment on it. In addition to the genomes themselves, about 40 papers are in the process of being published that take the new genomics data and do additional analyses. PLoS published a few of those papers in PLoS Biology, PLoS Genetics and PLoS ONE:
Population Genomics: Whole-Genome Analysis of Polymorphism and Divergence in Drosophila simulans
A sex-ratio Meiotic Drive System in Drosophila simulans. I: An Autosomal Suppressor
A sex-ratio Meiotic Drive System in Drosophila simulans. I: An Autosomal Suppressor
Gene Family Evolution across 12 Drosophila Genomes
Fine-Tuning Enhancer Models to Predict Transcriptional Targets across Multiple Genomes
Rampant Adaptive Evolution in Regions of Proteins with Unknown Function in Drosophila simulans
PLoS Blog
There are several new posts on the PLoS Blog that are awaiting your comments…
More exciting stuff next week…