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Genetics and Health

Archive for the ‘DNA’ Category

February 24th, 2008

‘Out of Africa’ - 3 studies trace human global migration

 
Papers published in Nature and Science this week support the previously held theory that humans originated in East Africa, migrating outward until they reached all parts of the globe. But the genetic work from these studies brings a new level of precision to human migration studies, with each group finding subtle and intriguing details that shed light on different aspects of […]

By Elaine -- 2 comments

February 24th, 2008

“My Aspartame Experiment” by Victoria Inness-Brown

Molecular structure of Aspartame 
I recently wrote an article on my first hand research experience on the potential carcinogenicity of Aspartame - the artificial sweetener used in thousands of everyday products, particularly diet products. It was titled “Aspartame is safe … really!”
One of www.geneticsandhealth.com readers  author Carol Guilford sent me the following interesting link to a piece of […]

By Elaine -- 20 comments

February 16th, 2008

Genetic adaptations to surviving a cold climate linked to diabetes, obesity and heart disease

 
Our early human ancestors originated from a hot, humid climate where natural selection focused on dispersing heat.  As humans migrated to colder climates there would have been evolutionary pressure to adapt to their new settings by boosting the processes that produce and retain heat.
Genes involved in energy metabolism are therefore likely to be central to heat and cold […]

By Elaine -- 0 comments

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 10th, 2008

deCode discovers cousin marriages bear more offspring

 
deCode has analysed its 200 year old Icelandic genealogical database and found that the closer the kinship of the couple the more children they are likely to have. This study provides the most comprehensive answer yet to the longstanding question of how kinship affects fertility in humans.
For example, for women born between 1800 and 1824, those […]

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 3rd, 2008

Blue eyed people have a single, common ancestor

 
Nature constantly ”shuffles” our genes around in our genome, creating a genetic cocktail of human chromosomes and trying out different changes as it does so.  Some of these changes represent neither a positive nor a negative mutation or a competitive advantage.  One such ’shuffle’ is eye color.
Originally we all had brown eyes.  Then about 6-10,000 years […]

By Elaine -- 8 comments