Part of our weekly "In Focus" seriesstepping back, looking closer. Anything nicknamed the "love hormone" probably needs a closer look and a dash of skepticism. After all, nothing in biology is simple. But lately, oxytocin has been making headlines that seem too good to be truemost recently because of a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that a single spray from a nasal inhaler enhanced areas of the brain involved in processing social information in 17 children with autism. First studied for its role in childbirth and breastfeeding, oxytocin is at its core a reproductive hormone. Produced in the brain's hypothalamus, and secreted into the bloodstream by the pituitary gland, it triggers muscle contractions during labor. When mothers breastfeed, the hormone works to contract muscle cells around the nipple, causing the muscles to squeeze milk out of the glands and into the milk ducts, a process known as the milk ejection reflex or, as many nursing mothers know it, the let-down reflex. That's not all. The pleasure that many women feel during breastfeeding is more sensual than sexual, but that good feeling might come as no surprise considering that oxytocin is also released during … Continue reading →

UNC School of Medicine Navigation Home Info The mission of the department is to provide basic and applied genetic/genomic research, education and training at the interface between biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, mathematics, the social sciences, public health and medicine in order to have a profound effect on how medicine will be practiced in the future. Our graduate programs train students to be creative, sophisticated research scientists prepared to pursue careers focused in genetics and genomics working in academic science, government, or commercial positions. Students conduct their dissertation research using diverse experimental approaches - from classical genetics to the most modern molecular methods - to address a broad range of contemporary problems in biomedical science. The Department also includes a clinical arm focused on medical genetics, which covers the broad spectrum of clinical genetic research from disease prevention to diagnosis and treatment. This specialty includes evaluation, mutation discovery, counseling and risk assessment through analysis and genetic testing. Locating the clinical group alongside basic scientists facilitates integration of cutting edge genetic research with patient care. Genetics 120 Mason Farm Road 5000 D, Genetic Medicine Building CB#7264 UNC-Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC27599-7264 United States Tel (919) 843-6475 Fax (919) 966-0401 PUBLIC FAX. … Continue reading →

Cutting edge companies often walk a tightrope between regulators trying to keep their technologies under control and marketers trying to push them out to consumers as fast as possible. That's where a Silicon Valley company named 23andMe is today. The Mountain View, Calif., firm has been hawking genetic tests for you to take at home. You spit into a receptacle and ship your saliva back to the company so it can analyze your DNA for a mere $99. Eventually you get a readout detailing your genetic susceptibility to hundreds of diseases. At least, that used to be the case. At the end of November, regulators at the Food and Drug Administration instructed the firm to shut down its genetic analysis service, declaring with plenty of justification that the company's marketing claims were running well beyond what was valid, or legal. The service fell within the legal definition of a medical diagnostic device, the agency said, and demanded data demonstrating the tests' technical validity. It warned 23andMe to ratchet back its marketing claims for the service, which it said requires agency approval before it can be sold to consumers "as FDA has explained to you on numerous occasions," the agency said. … Continue reading →