Monthly Archives: March 2012

Newswise The first atlas of the surface of the human brain based upon genetic information has been produced by a national team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the VA San Diego Healthcare System. The work is published in the March 30 issue of the journal Science. The atlas reveals that the cerebral cortex the sheet of neural tissue enveloping the brain is roughly divided into genetic divisions that differ from other brain maps based on physiology or function. The genetic atlas provides scientists with a new tool for studying and explaining how the brain works, particularly the involvement of genes. Genetics are important to understanding all kinds of biological phenomena, said William S. Kremen, PhD, professor of psychiatry at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and co-senior author with Anders M. Dale, PhD, professor of radiology, neurosciences, and psychiatry, also at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. According to Chi-Hua Chen, PhD, first author and a postdoctoral fellow in the UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry, If we can understand the genetic underpinnings of the brain, we can get a better idea of how it develops and … Continue reading →

Public release date: 28-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Raymond MacDougall macdougallr@mail.nih.gov 301-402-0911 NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute Farmers in the highlands of southern Ethiopia scratch out a subsistence living from the region's volcanic red clay. The soil supports the farms, but fine-grained, volcanic rock particles in the dirt threaten the farmers and their families. Continual exposure of bare feet to the volcanic soil causes 1 in 20 people to develop a painful inflammation of the lower extremities that, over time, leads to foot disfigurement. Doctors call it podoconiosis. The locals call it mossy foot. And those affected suffer social stigma as well as debilitating discomfort. Now, researchers think they know why some 4 million people in at least 10 countries worldwide develop this incapacitating condition. One-fifth carry genetic variants that cause their immune system to react to the volcanic dust. This disease-producing response, triggered by exposure from the lack of shoes, provides a dramatic example of the interaction between genes and the environment. Writing in the March 29, 2012 New England Journal of Medicine, an international team that includes researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, describes the … Continue reading →

Newswise A hidden and never before recognized layer of information in the genetic code has been uncovered by a team of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) thanks to a technique developed at UCSF called ribosome profiling, which enables the measurement of gene activity inside living cells including the speed with which proteins are made. By measuring the rate of protein production in bacteria, the team discovered that slight genetic alterations could have a dramatic effect. This was true even for seemingly insignificant genetic changes known as silent mutations, which swap out a single DNA letter without changing the ultimate gene product. To their surprise, the scientists found these changes can slow the protein production process to one-tenth of its normal speed or less. As described today in the journal Nature, the speed change is caused by information contained in what are known as redundant codons small pieces of DNA that form part of the genetic code. They were called redundant because they were previously thought to contain duplicative rather than unique instructions. This new discovery challenges half a century of fundamental assumptions in biology. It may also help speed up the industrial production of proteins, which … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2012) A hidden and never before recognized layer of information in the genetic code has been uncovered by a team of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) thanks to a technique developed at UCSF called ribosome profiling, which enables the measurement of gene activity inside living cells -- including the speed with which proteins are made. By measuring the rate of protein production in bacteria, the team discovered that slight genetic alterations could have a dramatic effect. This was true even for seemingly insignificant genetic changes known as "silent mutations," which swap out a single DNA letter without changing the ultimate gene product. To their surprise, the scientists found these changes can slow the protein production process to one-tenth of its normal speed or less. As described March 28 in the journal Nature, the speed change is caused by information contained in what are known as redundant codons -- small pieces of DNA that form part of the genetic code. They were called "redundant" because they were previously thought to contain duplicative rather than unique instructions. This new discovery challenges half a century of fundamental assumptions in biology. It may also help speed up … Continue reading →

Public release date: 29-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Elizabeth Lynch elynch@marchofdimes.com 914-997-4286 March of Dimes Foundation CHARLOTTE, NC -- A long-time clinician and researcher on Marfan syndrome who helped identify the syndrome's genetic cause and a potential treatment will be honored by the March of Dimes. Harry (Hal) Dietz, MD, the Victor A. McKusick Professor of Institute of Genetic Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, will receive the March of Dimes/Colonel Harland Sanders Award for Lifetime Achievement in the field of genetic sciences. Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson, senior vice president for Research and Global Programs of the March of Dimes, will present the award to Dr. Dietz today during the annual Clinical Genetics Meeting of the American College of Medical Genetics at Charlotte Convention Center. Marfan syndrome is an inherited connective tissue disorder that affects about 1 in 5,000 people. The syndrome is caused by a genetic defect which causes overgrowth of the body's long bones and affects the tissue that strengthens the body's structures, including the skeletal system, cardiovascular system, eyes, and skin. Those who have the syndrome tend to be tall with arms … Continue reading →