Alexandra Stern is a University of Michigan historian of medicine and expert on eugenics who lectured at the University of Houston this spring on disability rights. The author of the forthcoming "Telling Genes: The Story of Genetic Counseling in America," she spoke with Chronicle medical reporter Todd Ackerman after the lecture about the limitations of genetic medicine, whether to take advantage of for-profit company genetic tests and how eugenics didn't die out with the Holocaust. Q: In the history of medicine, how is the early 21st century likely to be remembered? Is this the genetic era, or is that still to come? A: The genetic era has begun, but the big question is what we do with the information we now have to help people - to what extent will it lead to cures and more effective therapies? History shows the expectations and promise of a new era's technology are often much greater than what ends up being delivered. Q: So you think we're likely to be disappointed? A: Unfortunately, yes. We're a society in which people are interested in their DNA, how genetics affects them, but also want quick solutions, primed by the great progress we've seen in medicine … Continue reading →

wwltv.com Posted on June 15, 2012 at 5:53 PM Updated Friday, Jun 15 at 7:35 PM Meg Farris / Eyewitness News Email: mfarris@wwltv.com | Twitter: @megfarriswwl NEWORLEANS- She was only in kindergarten when doctors gave her family the bad news. Now she's one of the first in Louisiana to try a new treatment for people who get gravely ill after a bone marrow transplant. The last three years of Sami Smith's life have been physically and emotionally painful. "I literally, they try to scare me and they can't, because I've been through the scariest thing that you can," said Smith, 9, of Ponchatoula. Her mother noticed she was napping more and bruising. Doctors diagnosed AML, a type of leukemia or blood cancer. Had she not gotten to the doctor then, she would not have made it much longer. A Child's Wish sent her to Disney World. The good news, one of her teen sisters Mary Hannah, 13, was a good bone marrow match. The transplant worked and Sami was cancer free. Then devastating news. Sami got a condition called GvHD (Graft-versus-host disease) where the new marrow launches a painful attack on the recipient's body. It's the leading cause of transplant-related … Continue reading →

PADOVA, Italy, June 16 (UPI) -- Researchers in Italy suggest sexually antagonistic genetic factors in mothers may promote homosexuality in men and fertility in female relatives. However, it is not clear whether and how the genetic factors are expressed to simultaneously induce homosexuality in men and increased fertility in their mothers and maternal aunts, the researchers said. Andrea Camperio Ciani of the University of Padova in Italy discovered mothers and maternal aunts of gay men tend to have significantly more offspring than those of straight men. The study, scheduled to be published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, said it appeared at least one gene on the X chromosome resulted in more men being gay and women having more children. "Using questionnaires, we investigated fecundity -- fertility -- in 161 female European subjects and scrutinized possible influences, including physiological, behavioral and personality factors," Ciani said in a statement. "We compared 61 females who were either mothers or maternal aunts of homosexual men. One hundred females who were mothers or aunts of heterosexual men were used as controls." The analysis showed both mothers and maternal aunts of homosexual men show increased fecundity compared with corresponding maternal female relatives of heterosexual men. … Continue reading →

CHICAGO - The latest advance in prenatal genetic testing purports to offer parents more detailed information than ever about the child they are expecting. But for some, the new answers could lead to another round of questions. The technology allows doctors to detect small or subtle chromosomal changes in a fetus - such as missing or extra pieces of DNA - that could be missed by standard tests. Most parents will get results confirming a normal pregnancy. But some will learn that their baby has a birth defect, a developmental problem or other medical condition, and in a small number of cases the test will detect things that no one knows quite how to interpret. The information can allow parents to prepare for early intervention and treatment, but it also could raise questions about terminating the pregnancy or lead to nagging worry over uncertain results. The Reproductive Genetics Institute in Chicago, which has helped pioneer the rapidly developing field of prenatal diagnosis and testing, recently began offering the procedure - array comparative genomic hybridization, or array CGH for short - to any pregnant woman who wants it. "The technology has been available for a number of years . but it … Continue reading →

FIGHTING BACK: Pancreatic cancer claimed our town's Milton Wong recently, Jack Poole last year and Betty Ergas before that. Ergas's daughter, Myriam Glotman, and husband Geoffrey later raised some $300,000 to support research. This week, they had Dr. Daniel Renouf explain to reception guests how the BC Cancer Agency's Pancreatic Cancer Research Initiative will team genome analysis, clinical trials and nanomedicine technology against the lethal ailment. Myriam and Jane Hungerford will chair the fundraising Inspiration Gala Nov. 1, with Wong's widow Fei as honorary chair. HOMELESS PRAYER: Give us this night our nightly bed. NO SMILE, WE'RE MOD-ELS: Fashion designer Jason Matlo was ear-to-ear cheery when stony-faced catwalkers showed his fall-winter ready-to-wear line at the Shangri-La Hotel Thursday. It was a teaser for the global Fashion's Night Out celebration that should have retailers, restaurateurs, bartenders and even models grinning here Sept. 6. HAWAII NINE-O: Wendy McDonald celebrated her 90th unquietly this week with a luau for hundreds of florally attired friends and family at North Vancouver's Pinnacle hotel. Thrice-widowed, McDonald sparked decades of respectful ribaldry by owning and running a ball-bearing firm with the kind of iron resolve that year-round sea bathing never rusted. Matching her manner, 94-year-old bandleader Dal … Continue reading →