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Genetics and Health

Archive for the ‘DNA profiling’ Category

February 15th, 2008

Childhood cataract gene identified

 
Genetic material has been analyzed from members of a large Swiss family, the majority of whom suffered from auto-somal dominant juvenile cataract.  From the DNA, researchers at ETH Zurich and the University Zurich identified the chromosomal location and exact molecular defect in the coding region of the gene responsible for the type of childhood cataract. Until now, no […]

By Elaine -- 0 comments

February 13th, 2008

Visigen Biotechnologies announce $1,000 genome

 
First there was Knome at $350,000 per genome sequenced, then HeliScope announced the $70K genome and now Visigen Biotechnologies have announced they have the capability of delivering the holy grail … the $1,000 genome … and by 2010.
Have a look at how they propose to achieve this.
http://visigenbio.com/technology_movie_streaming.html
Visigen Biotechnologies quote: “The technology platform detects the interaction […]

By Elaine -- 1 comment

February 12th, 2008

‘Junk DNA’ may hold key to the evolution of complex organisms

 
‘Junk DNA’ could hold the key to the evolution of complex organisms . Vertebrates, animals that possess a backbone, are the most anatomically and genetically complex of all organisms, but explaining how they achieved this complexity has perplexed scientists since the conception of evolutionary theory.
A study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,USA, claims to […]

By Elaine -- 0 comments

February 11th, 2008

7 new prostate cancer risk factors identified

  
Prostate cancer
(Picture courtesy of BBC)
UK scientists have found seven new sites in the human genome that are linked to men’s risk of developing prostate cancer.   Dr Ros Eales and Prof Doug Easton  from The Institute of Cancer Research and University of Cambridge respectively, found one gene called MSMB which could possibly be used in screening […]

By Elaine -- 0 comments

February 5th, 2008

Scientists create ‘three parent’ embryo

 
Scientists from Newcastle University, UK led by Professor Patrick Chinnery, have created an embryo with three separate parents.  The team believe the technique could help to eradicate a whole class of hereditary diseases, including some forms of epilepsy and ensure women with genetic defects do not pass the diseases on to their children.
Ten severely deformed embryos, left […]

By Elaine -- 0 comments

February 2nd, 2008

Exercise, telomeres and looking years younger!

 
Human chromosomes (grey) capped by telomeres (white)
We all know the benefits of regular exercise but scientists now have proof that it can really make you look younger! Telomeres, regions of highly repetitive DNA at the end of a linear chromosome shorten over time.  The shortening of telomeres is strongly correlated with ageing and it is […]

By Elaine -- 0 comments

February 1st, 2008

deCode uncovers genetic variants driving male-female evolutionary changes

 
Scientists from deCODE genetics have reported the discovery of two common, single-letter variants in the sequence of the human genome (SNPs) that regulate one of the principle motors of evolution. Versions of the two SNPs, located on chromosome 4p16, have a genome-wide impact on the rate of recombination - the reshuffling of the genome that […]

By Elaine -- 1 comment

January 28th, 2008

‘Telepathic’ genes

 
New research has shown evidence that genes have the ability to recognize similarities in each other from a distance, without any proteins or other biological molecules aiding the process. This discovery could explain how similar genes find each other and group together in order to perform key processes involved in the evolution of species.
According to […]

By Elaine -- 2 comments

January 27th, 2008

Artificial life close to being created by J Craig Venter

Micrograph images of synthetic Mycoplasma genitalium 
J Craig Venter and his team at the J Craig Venter Institute Rockville, Md. Venter continue to expand our horizons of what constitutes life.  They have built, from scratch, a synthetic chromosome containing all the genetic material needed to produce a primitive bacterium - this is considered a giant step toward the creation […]

By Elaine -- 1 comment

January 22nd, 2008

GEN2PHEN web based project to capture health & disease genetic knowledge

The EU funded GEN2PHEN project plans to internationally orchestrate the electronic gathering and use of data that show how gene sequences (’genotypes’) contribute to individual differences in disease, drug response, and other characteristics (’phenotypes’). These relationships (usually in the form of “genotype-phenotype” information stored in scattered databases) are deemed to become essential for future prognosis, […]

By Elaine -- 0 comments