ScienceDaily (Aug. 15, 2012) Researchers at Duke University Medical Center may finally have discovered why people with sickle cell disease get milder cases of malaria than individuals who have normal red blood cells. In a finding that has eluded scientists for years, Duke researchers discovered that genetic material in red blood cells may help alter parasite activity via a novel mechanism that alters parasite gene regulation. "One of the most interesting findings in our study is that the human microRNA (very small units of genetic material) found in sickle red cells directly participate in the gene regulation of malaria parasites," said Dr. Jen-Tsan Chi, M.D., Ph.D., senior author and associate professor in the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy and Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. "These microRNAs enriched in the sickle red cells reduce the parasite's ability to propagate, so that certain people stay more protected." MicroRNAs are small units of RNA, which come from DNA. MicroRNAs are only 20-25 nucleotides long and help to regulate gene expression. The scientists also showed that when two different microRNAs were introduced at higher levels in normal red cells, the parasite growth also was decreased. The findings appear in the journal … Continue reading →

Dog lovers may be interested in an article published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine: It highlights the discoveries scientists are making about diseases that various dog breeds are prone to -- and how those findings can benefit human health as well as that of canines. Its written by longtime dog genetics researcher Elaine Ostrander of the National Human Genome Research Institute. The discoveries are possible because of several things: First off, both the human genome and dog genomes have been sequenced. (The breeds chosen for the first round of dog DNA sequencing were a standard poodle and boxer, should you be curious.) Secondly, dogs have been intensively bred into distinct breeds, and in the case of purebreds (though not my black mutt Nightshade; who knows where she came from?) their pedigrees are very well known. Often, the breeds are descended from just a few animals, so they can be very inbred as well. The intensive selection over the decades and/or centuries for traits of body shape or hair color has also inadvertently selected for genes that foster diseases. And so Bedlington terriers are prone to copper storage diseases, Doberman pinschers are prone to narcolepsy, and so … Continue reading →

DETROIT Wayne State University researchers are testing a way to determine the status of fetal chromosomes that could lead to healthier outcomes for mothers and their babies. Supported by a two-year, $418,000 exploratory/developmental grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health, the researchers will capture human fetal cells for genetic study within the first two months of pregnancy using a newly developed, safe, noninvasive retrieval technique similar to a Pap test. D. Randall Armant, Ph.D., and Michael P. Diamond, M.D., professors of obstetrics and gynecology in Wayne States School of Medicine, are the principal investigators of the study. Susan Land, Ph.D., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, is a co-investigator. Titled Genetic Analysis of Human First Trimester Trophoblast in Ongoing Pregnancies, the project targets cells called trophoblasts, which surround the blastocyst, a cluster of cells that results from successful fertilization. Researchers are particularly interested in invasive trophoblasts, which attach the blastocyst to the uterine wall; the cells become the placenta and the membranes that nourish and protect the developing organism. Such cells carry genetic material from the fetus. Armants team will gather them through transcervical sampling, a method … Continue reading →