Category Archives: Genetics

A scientist from The University of Manchester has hit upon an innovative way to control greenflies which infest our gardens and farms. Dr Mouhammad Shadi Khudr, discovered that living lacewing insects- which are used as a way to biocontrol greenflies are also effective after they have died. Dr Khudr, an evolutionary ecologist based at the University's Division of Evolution and Genomic Sciences, discovered how genetic variations in greenflies' respond to the fear of predation by lacewing known as aphid lions. The greenflys' genetic variation and life history influenced how they responded to traces of their predator. He hit upon the discovery while looking at how different lineages of one species of greenfly responded to lacewings on a crop. Even though each greenfly line had a distinct way of responding to the exposure to the traces of the aphid lion they all suffered from dramatic reduction in their reproduction, he says. Dr khudr designed and lead the collaborative research, which was funded by the Freie Universitt Berlin (Free University of Berlin). The research is published in the journal Scientific Reports today. He said: "Whether alive or dead, lacewings make it more difficult for aphids to reproduce. "The smell and visual impact … Continue reading →

With the usual mix of anticipation and apprehension, Kaitlyn Johnson is getting ready to go to her first summer camp. She's looking forward to meeting new friends and being able to ride horses, swim and host tea parties. She's also a little nervous and a little scared, like any 7-year-old facing her first sleepaway camp. But the wonder is that Kaitlyn is leaving the house for anything but a medical facility. Diagnosed with leukemia when she was 18 months old, her life has been consumed with cancer treatments, doctors' visits and hospital stays. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common cancer among young children, accounting for a quarter of all cancer cases in kids, and it has no cure. For about 85% to 90% of children, the leukemia can, however, be effectively treated through chemotherapy. If it is not eliminated and comes back, it is, more often than not, fatal. Rounds of chemotherapy can buy patients time, but as the disease progresses, the periods of remission get shorter and shorter. "The options for these patients are not very good at all," says Dr. Theodore Laetsch, a pediatrician at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. When Kaitlyn's cancer wasn't controlled … Continue reading →

Genes carry the information that make you you. So it's fitting that, when sequenced and stored in a computer, your genome takes up gobs of memoryup to 150 gigabytes. Multiply that across all the people who have gotten sequenced, and you're looking at some serious storage issues. If that's not enough, mining those genomes for useful insight means comparing them all to each other, to medical histories, and to the millions of scientific papers about genetics. Sorting all that out is a perfect task for artificial intelligence. And plenty of AI startups have bent their efforts in that direction. On August 3, sequencing company Veritas Genetics bought one of the most influential: seven-year old Curoverse. Veritas thinks AI will help interpret the genetic risk of certain diseases and scour the ever-growing databases of genomic, medical, and scientific research. In a step forward, the company also hopes to use things like natural language processing and deep learning to help customers query their genetic data on demand. It's not totally surprising that Veritas bought up Curoverse. Both companies spun out of George Church's prolific Harvard lab. Several years ago, Church started something called the Personal Genomics Project, with the goal of sequencing … Continue reading →

George Frey | AFP | Getty Images A lab technician at Myriad Genetics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Thousands of people are getting genetic tests, for everything from their cancer risk to their likelihood of passing on a disease to a child. But many doctors aren't adequately trained to interpret these results, or tell patients how to act on them. And genetic counselors -- who do have that knowledge -- are in short supply. There are only about 4,000 genetic counselors in the country today. That's one for every 80,000 Americans. That means some patients have to wait months to get a consultation. Start-up Clear Genetics, which launches this week after raising $2.5 million in financing, is trying to make genetic expertise more widely available. The start-up has developed a conversational chatbot to guide a user through their results, collect information and review options for genetic testing, and answer questions about things like whether the test will be covered by insurance. If there's a need for additional support, the patient can then schedule a consultation with a human expert via video or in-person. "We're finding that it's working really well with patients," said Moran Snir, Clear Genetics' CEO, who was … Continue reading →

DURHAM Millions of people die every year from dehydration as a result of exposure and illness. In humans, even the most minor dehydration can compromise the kidneys causing lifelong, irreparable issues or even death. However, some animals living in desert environments are able to survive both acute and chronic dehydration. While these animals, like cactus mice, have evolved over time to deal with environmental stressors like dehydration, researchers at the University of New Hampshire have found its not the physical makeup that is helping them survive, but rather their genetic makeup. Initially, we thought that maybe their kidneys are structurally different from people, but theyre not, said Matt MacManes, assistant professor of genome enabled biology at UNH and lead author of the study. However, when exposed to acute dehydration, no kidney injury was apparent, which would definitely be the case for humans exposed to similar levels of dehydration, suggesting their genes may be whats preventing widespread kidney damage. The kidney is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to dehydration, continues MacManes. The exciting outcome of this research is that the molecular toolkit of the cactus mouse has orthologues, or related genes, in humans. These provide the potential … Continue reading →

THE NEWS that researchers have carried out the first known attempt to create genetically modified human embryos is another signpost in an astounding revolution unfolding before our eyes. This is not the first breakthrough nor will it be the last, but it should serve as a reminder an unmistakable one that this realm of scientific inquiry, manipulating the tiny building blocks of life, demands caution as well as enthusiasm and encouragement. The latest effort, led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health & Science University, with researchers from South Korea, China, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California and others, involved editing the DNA of single-cell embryos with CRISPR-Cas9, a tool for genome engineering that is much simpler, faster and cheaper than earlier methods, and which has sparked an explosion of interest in possible applications. According to a report published Wednesday in the journal Nature, the researchers were able to demonstrate that it is possible to safely and efficiently correct defective genes that cause inherited diseases. The embryos they modified were not allowed to develop for more than a few days and were not implanted in a womb. In earlier research in China, the modified DNA was taken up by … Continue reading →

The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine announced Aug. 4 that Indian American Madhuri Hegde of Waltham, Mass.-based PerkinElmer Inc. was elected to its board of directors. "We are delighted that Dr. Hegde has been elected to the ACMG Foundation Board of Directors. She has vast experience in genetic and genomic testing and is a longtime member of the college and supporter of both the college and the foundation," said Dr. Bruce R. Korf, president of the ACMG Foundation, in a statement. Hegde, who will serve a two-year renewable term, joined PerkinElmer in 2016 as vice president and chief scientific officer of global genetics laboratory services. She is also an adjunct professor of human genetics in Emory Universitys human genetics department. Previously, Hegde served as the executive director and chief scientific officer at Emory Genetics Laboratory in Atlanta, Ga.; professor of human genetics and pediatrics at Emory University; and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicines Department of Human Genetics in Houston, Texas. Additionally, Hegde has served on a number of scientific advisory boards for patient advocacy groups including Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, Congenital Muscular Dystrophy and the Neuromuscular Disease Foundation. She earned her doctorate from the University of … Continue reading →

For one week this summer, students from local high schools came together to study genetics in Project GENES, and even take a look at their own genes. The project, supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, involves students from Gray Stone Day School, Independence High School and Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology in hands-on activities, labs and field trips involving DNA. These students recently met for a residential camp at Pfeiffer University, where biology professors Dane Fisher and Laura Reichenberg guided them through genetics investigations. Our goal is to do STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] outreach to high school students, with a focus on students underrepresented in science, Reichenberg said. We collaborate with their high school science teachers and the teachers recruit students each year. The students recruited take part in Project GENES for one year. Fisher and Reichenberg visit their high schools for DNA modules that increase in complexity, then the students come together for the summer camp, where they put in practice what they have learned. Theyre basically isolating their own DNA. They get to amplify one of their own genes, Reichenberg said. Students run tests on their PTC gene, a gene that determines a persons ability … Continue reading →

What happened Shares of Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ:MYGN), a company focused on genetic testing, rose more than 26% in June, according to data fromS&P Global Market Intelligence. Investors can credit the gains to a trio of positive announcements. First, Myriad announced results from a 2,000-patient study using its myRisk Hereditary cancertest. Data from the study showed that 50% of breast cancer mutationsare missed with current testing guidelines and that 34% of these mutations were notpredicted by family history. This data helped to demonstrate the clinical advantages of the using company's test and could help to spur demand. Image source: Getty Images. Second, Myriad said that 17 health insurance plans have decided to cover the company's EndoPredict breast cancer test. Those 17 plans represent more than 35 million lives and bring the company's private pay coverage total up to109 million lives. Finally, the company reported clinical results from its phase 3 OlympiAD trial with partner AstraZeneca. Data from the trial showed that Myriad's BRACAnalysis CDx companion test helped to identify patients with BRCA-mutated HER2-metastatic breast cancer. Physicians then used that identification to treat patients with either AstraZeneca's drug olaparib or standard chemotherapy. The data showed that using olaparib led to a meaningfulgain … Continue reading →

With herd averages approaching 40,000 lb of milk per cow and the single lactation record nearly double that, it begs the question: Are we approaching the genetic limits of milk production. In a word: No, say Kent Weigel, a geneticist with the University of Wisconsin and Chad Dechow, a geneticist with Pennsylvania State University. We really arent, says Weigel. The same question was asked 40 years ago when Beecher Arlinda Ellen produced 55,561 lb of milk in a 365-day lactation. That record wasnt broken for 19 years. But then, the record toppledagain and again and again. Last year, Ever-Green-View My Gold-ET, set a new single lactation milk production record with 77,480 lb in 365 days. In percentage terms, My Gold out-did Ellen by nearly 40%! I think we have a little way to go before we reach the limit, says Dechow. If you look at the Predicted Transmitting Ability for milk on these record cows, theyre just slightly above average. The other way to look at, says Weigel, is to consider feed intake as a multiple of the maintenance requirement. In the 1980 and 1990s, top cows were producing maybe five times their body maintenance levels. We didnt have any … Continue reading →