6 Things You Won't Believe Science Can Do With DNA. DNA gets a bad rap.
Is Wine Expertise Genetic? Mixed Race, Pretty Face? Actor Keanu Reeves and supermodel Devon Aoki have more in common than fame, fortune and good looks—both are also part Asian.
Known in popular culture by the Hawaiian term hapa (meaning "half"), people with mixed Asian and European origins have become synonymous with exotic glamour. In Hong Kong and Singapore, half-Asian models now crowd runways once dominated by leggy blondes. In the elite world of Asian fashion, half-Asian is the new white. The trend may seem little more than an effect of 21st century globalization. New gene discovery unlocks mystery of epilepsy in infants. A team of Australian researchers has come a step closer to unlocking a mystery that causes epileptic seizures in babies. Benign familial infantile epilepsy (BFIE) has been recognised for some time as infantile seizures, without fever, that run in families but the cause has so far eluded researchers. However clinical researchers at the University of Melbourne and Florey Neurosciences Institute and molecular geneticists at the University of South Australia have discovered a gene. History News Network.
Hitler and his henchmen victimized an entire continent and exterminated millions in his quest for a co-called "Master Race.
" But the concept of a white, blond-haired, blue-eyed master Nordic race didn't originate with Hitler. The idea was created in the United States, and cultivated in California, decades before Hitler came to power. California eugenicists played an important, although little known, role in the American eugenics movement's campaign for ethnic cleansing. World's first handmade cloned transgenic sheep born in China. Chinese scientists from BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, together with the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Shihezi University, Xinjiang province, made a significant breakthrough in animal cloning.
The world's first transgenic sheep produced with a simplified technique, handmade cloning, was successfully born at 12:16pm, March 26, 2012, in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. "The transgenic sheep is named 'Peng Peng' (after the identical given names of the two cloners), his birth weight was 5.74 kg. " said excitedly Dr. Yutao Du, Director of BGI Ark Biotechnology Co., LTD. Polar Bears Did Not Descend From Brown Bears, DNA Study Indicates. Steve Amstrup/U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, via Associated Press Polar bears on pack ice in the Beaufort Sea off northern Alaska. Scientists say polar bears are not descended from brown bears. Instead, according to a research team that looked at DNA samples from the two species and from black bears, the brown bear and polar bear ancestral lines have a common ancestor and split about 600,000 years ago. The report, published online on Thursday in the journal Science, is the latest attempt to understand the surprisingly murky origins of one of the most familiar animals on earth, and a potent environmental symbol because it is losing the sea ice it depends on to a warming climate.
Not by DNA alone: How the epigenetics revolution is fostering new medicines. Genetic test could pave the way for breast cancer 'magic bullets' - Science - News. For the first time, scientists have been able to tease apart differences in the DNA of breast cancer patients that go far beyond the results of classical medical science, based on the tradition of analysing tumour tissue under a microscope.
Researchers have used advances in genetics to determine 10 subtypes of breast cancer, each of which has a unique genetic fingerprint that could in the future determine a patient's tailor-made treatment – or cure. At present, breast cancers are classified according to the presence or absence of a few "markers" or proteins found on the surface of tumour cells. In future, doctors will classify breast cancers based on the presence, absence or even activity of the smallest bits of DNA code.
Finding Your Roots: An Interesting PBS Series. Genetic variant increases risk of common type stroke. A genetic variant that increases the risk of a common type of stroke has been identified by scientists in a study funded by the Wellcome Trust and published online in Nature Genetics.
This is one of the few genetic variants to date to be associated with the risk of stroke, and the discovery opens up new possibilities for treatment. Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide (causing more than one in ten of all deaths and more than six million deaths annually, according to the World Health Organization) and is a major cause of chronic disability in high-income countries. As the world's populations age, the impact of stroke on wellbeing is likely to increase further. Several different mechanisms underlie strokes. Mummy's prostate cancer points to genetic cause - Technology & Science. Cancer in ancient times would appear to be linked to genetics, since the environment then was free of industrial pollutants.
(National Museum of Archeology/Associated Press) An Egyptian professor says the discovery of prostate cancer in a 2,200-year-old mummy indicates the disease was caused by genetics, not environment. The genetics versus environment question is key to understanding cancer. American University in Cairo professor Salima Ikram, a member of the team that studied the mummy in Portugal for two years, said Sunday the mummy was of a man who died in his 40s.
Theatre of the Oppressed. Theatre of the Oppressed was born in 1971, in Brazil, under the very young form of Newspaper Theatre , with the specific goal of dealing with local problems – soon, it was used all over the country.
Forum Theatre came into being in Peru, in 1973, as part of a Literacy Program; we thought it would be good only for South America– now it is practiced in more than 70 countries. Growing up, TO developed Invisible Theatre in Argentina, as political activity, and Image Theatre to establish dialogue among Indigenous Nations and Spanish descendants, in Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico...
Rise in Scientific Journal Retractions Prompts Calls for Reform. Seek simplicity in genetic selection Latest News. The availability of expected progeny differences, selection indexes and genomic ratings for a wide range of traits, genetic decisions can become complex and intimidating.
Genetic Discoveries Hold Clues to Vitiligo and Malignant Melanoma. September 2010 (historical) Research supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) has uncovered variations in at least 13 genes associated with vitiligo, a chronic disorder in which destruction of pigment-producing cells, called melanocytes, results in irregular white patches of skin and hair. The findings, say researchers, provide new clues to understanding the disease, which affects approximately 0.5 to 1 percent of the world’s population.
But perhaps more importantly, it provides clues into another disease, which is opposite of vitiligo — malignant melanoma. The most deadly form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma occurs when the melanocytes grow unchecked. The study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine. The genetic variations were discovered through a genome-wide association study, which compared the genetic makeup of 1,514 people with vitiligo to that of 2,318 control subjects without the disease.
Geneticist claims to have found 'God gene' in humans. LONDON — An American molecular geneticist has concluded after comparing more than 2,000 DNA samples that a person’s capacity to believe in God is linked to brain chemicals. His findings have been criticized by leading clerics, who challenge the existence of a “God gene” and say the research undermines a fundamental tenet of faith — that spiritual enlightenment is achieved through divine transformation rather than the brain’s electrical impulses. Dean Hamer, the director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, asked volunteers 226 questions in order to determine how spiritually connected they felt to the universe. The higher their score, the greater the person’s ability to believe in a greater spiritual force and, Mr. Hamer found, the more likely they were to share the gene VMAT2. The Genetics of Eye Color.
How do children inherit eye color? Can a child's eye color be predicted? Why are an albino's eyes pink? How can two brown eyed parents produce a blue eyed child? Why are my eyes a darker blue than my sibling's? How are the colors in the iris formed? Different eye colors are produced because of the different amounts and patterns of pigment in the iris. Each human has 46 chromosomes located in the nucleus of the cell. A green allele is dominant over a blue allele, and a brown allele is dominant over both green and blue alleles.
Male Impulsivity & Addiction Linked to One Gene. Addiction and impulsivity have a genetic link in men, according to a new study. The gene, a snippet of DNA called NRXN3, has previously been linked to nicotine dependence, as well as alcohol dependence, opiate addiction and obesity. The new research suggests a common denominator of impulsivity underlies all of these troubles. "The other studies basically showed the NRXN3 seems to be associated with some addictions and with obesity," said study researcher Scott Stoltenberg, a psychologist at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. But our study is really the first to flesh out the mechanism by looking at behavioral control, looking at impulsivity. " Behavior and DNA. DNA alternative created by scientists. DNA and RNA have been turned into alternative genetic polymers called XNAs by researchers in Cambridge.
New law prohibits genetic discrimination. A new federal law called the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act, or GINA, limits how much employers can learn about an employee's genetic history and offers protection for that employee. The law forbids genetic discrimination in any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training, fringe benefits, or any other term or condition of employment. Labor Law Attorney Kim Ryan says it cracks down on what information employers can seek. "It prohibits the intentional acquisition of genetic information about applicants and employees as well as retaliation for complaints of genetic discrimination. More doctors look to genetic testing to select best antidepressant for patients.
Dr. David H. Haase orders genetic tests on patients for clues about what depression medications will work best. Are your genes telling you to vote? History News Network. Sex & Parenting Genes Discovered in Mice. Bella Santorum has Trisomy 18. What is that? - The Checkup. Posted at 10:52 AM ET, 01/30/2012 Jan 30, 2012 03:52 PM EST. Tasmanian tiger likely doomed by genetics - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience. POV - In the Family . A Brave New World of Genetics. US researchers find evidence that homosexuality linked to genetics. Compared to straight men, gay men are more likely to be left-handed, to be the younger siblings of older brothers, and to have hair that whorls in a counterclockwise direction. US researchers are finding common biological traits among gay men, feeding a growing consensus that sexual orientation is an inborn combination of genetic and environmental factors that largely decide a person's sexual attractions before they are born.
$50,000 will not make up for forced sterilization, woman says. Federal Court of Appeals Denies Criminal Defendant Post-Conviction DNA Testing That Might Prove Innocence. Identical Twins' Genes Are Not Identical. Identical twins are identical, right? Researchers develop gene therapy that could correct a common form of blindness. Scientists consider the risks of IVF. Genetics Offers More Hints About Autism. See, Blind Mice. Researching genetics as a cause of autism - An expensive attempt to marginalize vaccine causation. Engineered stem cells seek out and kill HIV in living mice. Forensic testimony offered in Amanda Knox appeal. First gene linked to common form of psoriasis identified JV.
Identical Twins' Genes Are Not Identical. Gene Linked to Common Form of Psoriasis. DNA alternative created by scientists. The controversial connection between race, genetics and medicine. Is Wine Expertise Genetic? Surgeon Claims to Have Found the ‘G-Spot’ How 'checkpoint' proteins bind chromosomes. Bacteria evolved way to safeguard crucial genetic material. Protein prevents DNA damage in the developing brain and might serve as a tumor suppressor. How ancient viruses became genomic 'superspreaders' 'Junk DNA' can sense viral infection: Promising tool in the battle between pathogen and host.