Twelve years after the completion of the Human Genome Project, its successor made a big splash with one big number: Around 80 percent of the human genome is "functional," the researchers leading the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project said. Their claim drew immediate criticism from biologists, many of whom said it is evolutionarily impossible for so much of the genome to truly function for human health.Seven months later, the controversy continues. Several journals and countless blogs have published opinion pieces about it. Current Biology published its second essay about it April 8. And in late February the journal Genome Biology and Evolution published an unusually harsh takedown that got some attention for zingers comparing ENCODE to Apple Maps, which had a troubled launch with the iPhone 5. How could the meaning of one wordfunctionbe so divisive?Funded by the National Institutes of Healths National Human Genome Research Institute, ENCODE was designed to tackle the data generated by the NIHs Human Genome Project, which determined the sequence of chemical basesadenine, cytosine, thymine and guanine, the A, C, T and G sequencesthat make up human DNA. Some groupings of bases spell out a code to make specific proteins, which do much of … Continue reading →

FAIRFAX NZ Sarah Lee, left, discovered she had an Alzheimers risk of 75 per cent, inherited from both her dad and mum, Eileen Smith. Imagine if a test tube of spittle and $205 could mine your past to foretell your future. Would you want to know if your genetic compass pointed toward cancer, or if you carried a silent coding quirk that put your children at risk of cystic fibrosis? And what if the horoscope foretold a devastating and incurable disease such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's? "Are you ready to take that on?" asks 26-year-old Danielle Lambermon, who found out in 2007 that she was one of 43 Auckland Hospital patients with a tiny risk of contracting brain disease Creuzfeldt-Jacobs Disease through contaminated instruments. | "I truly believe people don't see what the consequences could be. They think, 'It will be really good because then I'll know'. But will that make you live your life in a box? Would you do what you normally do? If you're not a strong personality it will mess up your life." Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genomic testing, which uses genetic markers gleaned from a saliva sample to predict disease risk, has been widely available for five … Continue reading →

Lisa SchnirringStaff Writer Apr 12, 2013 (CIDRAP News) A new analysis of H7N9 genetic sequences from the first Chinese patients infected with the virus and from poultry markets found more signals that the virus can attach and replicate efficiently in the airways of humans and other mammals, raising concerns about the virus's pandemic potential. The new findings, published late yesterday in Eurosurveillance, are the first detailed comparison of both the human and market sequences. Results are similar to the genetic details of samples from the first three cases reported by Chinese scientists yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The new results also affirm early observations from some experts that the novel virus has adapted to infect mammals, yielding more information that health officials need to gauge the pandemic threat from the new virus. The research team from Japan includes Yoshihiro Kawaoka, DVM, PhD, who heads a group at the University of Wisconsin that has done extensive genetic studies on the H5N1 virus, and Masato Tashiro, MD, PhD, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Influenza at Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo. Their look at sequences from influenza databases included … Continue reading →

Scientists have identified a group of patients with a genetic predisposition to mental illness, opening up for the first time the prospect of personalised medicine in psychiatry. Personalised medicine involves identifying groups of patients whose genes make them susceptible to certain diseases and responsive to certain drugs. Researchers from University College, London (UCL) studied 1,000 patients with bipolar disorder and found 1.7 per cent carried a mutation in an important brain receptor gene putting them at increased risk of the disease. The findings suggest the patients with the mutation, called GRM3, could be treated with existing drugs which are not currently used for bipolar disorder. Hugh Gurling, a molecular psychiatry professor at UCL, who led the study published in JAMA Psychiatry, said many different genes were involved in causing bipolar disorder. These were the first mutations increasing susceptibility to the illness to be identified. Examining the underlying genetics of the disease enabled psychiatrists to predict who would respond to different drugs. Two drugs trialled for schizophrenia and anxiety disorder could be effective in bipolar disorder, Professor Gurling said. Here is the original post: Genetic tests may help bipolar disorder patients … Continue reading →

Development Biologist Says He Hopes to Bring Stem Cell Research to Public Vatican City, April 12, 2013 (Zenit.org) Ann Schneible | 378 hits In order for adult stem cell research and therapy to progress, says Nobel Prize winner Dr. John Gurdon, it is essential to promote awareness and understanding of this complex science. Dr. Gurdon was one of the keynote speakers of today's session of the Second International Vatican Adult Stem Cell Conference, hosted in Paul VI Hall. The conference aims to promote awareness of advances made in adult stem cell research and therapy,by providing a forum whereby leaders within this scientific field can share ideas and engage in dialogue.With this objective, the conference organizers have brought together experts in various fields, Catholic and non-Catholic, scientists, medical practitioners, bioethicists, politicians, and journalists. Because the primary objective of the conference is to examine adult stem cell research comprehensively, participants Dr. Gurdon among them hail from a variety of religious, ethical and moral viewpoints, including some which do not align with Catholic Church teaching. A developmental biologist who works in Cambridge, England, Dr. Gurdon won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery that adult cells can be turned … Continue reading →

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "India Stem Cell Banking Market Analysis" report to their offering. Stem Cell Banking has emerged as new opportunity of healthcare services provider in Indian market. The market is still in nascent stage of development and valued at more than INR 400 Crore (US$ 70 Million) in 2013. The current stem cell preservation level for new born baby is below 1% and hence there exists immense opportunity for stem cell preservation service providers to grow exponentially in coming years. With more than 20 million births every year there exist ample market opportunity for large number of stem cells banks to enter Indian stem cell preservation market and expand their services portfolio. The market potential of stem cell banking in India is valued at more than US$ 350 Million at preservation level of 1% which can increase to more than US$ 1 Billion at stem cell preservation level of 3% for new born babies. Many factors have actively contributing towards this overwhelming success stem cell banking in India and one of the major reasons for its success has been collaborations. Apart from handling the main stage single handedly, much collaboration both … Continue reading →