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Genetics and Health

Archive for the ‘Population genetics’ Category

April 20th, 2008

Flu resevoir in Southern Asia source of flu virus evolution and dispersal

H3N2 flu virus (Courtesy www.primidi.com) 
Each year, somewhere between five and 15 percent of the world’s population becomes infected during influenza A epidemics. These flu outbreaks are linked to as many as a half a million deaths annually, according to WHO. While vaccinations can be effective, influenza viruses often evolve so rapidly that creating effective vaccines […]

By Elaine -- 0 comments

March 6th, 2008

Michael J Fox Foundation offers their Parkinson’s data to world

(Image courtesy of CIMA http://www.cima.es/areas1_neuro/areas1_neuro_english.html) 
Data from one of the first genome-wide association studies (GWAS), which focused on Parkinson’s diseases and was funded in part by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF), is now being made available to researchers through the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Center for Biotechnology […]

By Elaine -- 0 comments

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 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 14th, 2008

Valentines Day, genes, smoking and heart disease!

 
Valentine’s Day  - the special day we get loved up and girls get the flowers, chocolates and meals out that we crave for the remaining 364 days of the year!!
When you smokers reach out for that post-intimacy ciggie, best check out your genes to make sure it won’t be your last puff.
New evidence emerges from […]

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

Celebrate 150 years of Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory

 
12th February is the 199th birthday of Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) and the 150th birthday of his theory of evolution.  Darwin’s subsequent book titled ‘The Origin of Species’ still holds relatively firm in this modern age.
Today, Darwin’s groundbreaking work on the origin of species forms the basis of modern evolutionary biology and is at the heart of biomedical research.
Evolution happens […]

By Elaine -- 4 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