STR Abacus

Cover art proposal

Nature, 589, p. 246–250, 2021

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Patterns of de novo tandem repeat mutations and their role in autism. Ileena Mitra, et al.

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The paper discusses a connection between a higher number of mutations at short tandem repeats (STRs) and the likelihood of Autism Spectrum Disorder. 

In the proposed cover art, an abacus is depicted as a metaphor for the counting process of  STR units. DNA strains / rods where more beads have been counted (or moved to the left)  are highlighted in ochre, indicating a higher number of repeat copies of the STR within that genome. 

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2021