ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2012) Developed in Canada and conducted by researchers from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI), in partnership with Spartan Bioscience, the world's first bedside genetic test has received acknowledgment by The Lancet. The article "Point-of-care genetic testing for personalisation of antiplatelet treatment (RAPID GENE): a prospective, randomised, proof-of-concept trial," reports on the use of a simple cheek swab test, the Spartan RX CYP2C19, performed by nurses at the patient's bedside. This revolutionary technology allows doctors to rapidly identify patients with a genetic variant known as CYP2C19*2. Cardiac stent patients with this variant are at risk of reacting poorly to standard anti-platelet therapy with Plavix (clopidogrel). The study demonstrated that tailored drug treatment therapy made possible by the genetic testing successfully protected all of the patients with the at-risk genetic variant from subsequent adverse events, while 30 per cent of patients treated with standard therapy did not receive adequate protection. "For the first time in medicine, nurses were able to perform DNA testing at the patient's bedside. This is a significant step towards the vision of personalized medicine," said Dr. Derek So, Interventional Cardiologist at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI), and principal investigator of the … Continue reading →

Published: March. 29, 2012 at 11:18 PM DALLAS, March 29 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they have developed a lifesaving genetic screening program for families at high risk of contracting colorectal cancer. Dr. Samir Gupta, assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, who is also head of the high-risk colorectal cancer clinic, said colorectal cancer is the second-leading killer after lung cancer -- and while hereditary colorectal cancer is rare, its family impact can be widespread. Cancer tends to develop rapidly in those with Lynch syndrome, one of the more common inherited conditions. Lynch syndrome accounts for 3 percent to 5 percent of all colon cancers, and often is undiagnosed until the disease is advanced. Families that have Lynch syndrome usually have more cases of colon cancer than would typically be expected, and at an earlier ages, than in the general population. Gupta said doctors screen the tumors of colorectal cancer patients younger than age 70 and uterine cancer patients younger than age 55 to determine whether there is a high risk of a genetic cancer predisposition. If so, patients are encouraged to bring in as many family members as possible for testing, Gupta … Continue reading →

The Catholic Church has never had a particularly easy relationship with science. After all, this is the institution that sentenced Galileo Galilei as a heretic for his theories on the universe during the Roman Inquisition. Two thousand years later, the church forgave Galileo and called the whole misunderstanding a tragic mutual incomprehension but it remains safe to say the Vatican doesnt have a great track record when it comes to empirical open-mindedness. So onlookers were surprised when the Vatican announced it would be hosting a global conference on the highly controversial issue of stem-cell research in Rome over four days in late April. The church held a similar conference in 2010 and 2011, which focused on its recommendation that stem-cell research should be limited to adult cells that can be harvested from live donors, not embryonic cells that destroy the source. But this years conference schedule featured some of the worlds foremost experts in embryonic research as keynote speakersleading some scientists to think that the Vatican might actually be looking for enlightenment on the topic. That was not exactly case. Instead, the Vatican seems to have hoped that by including embryonic researchers in the program, it would appear that these … Continue reading →