The Ductile Helix: "Jumping Genes" May Influence Brain Activity
Mobile DNA molecules that jump from one location in the genome to another may contribute to neurological diseases and could have subtle influences on normal brain function and behavior, according to a study published October 30 in Nature. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.) Retrotransposons are mobile genetic elements that use a copy-and-paste mechanism to insert extra copies of themselves throughout the genome. First discovered in plants about 60 years ago, they are now known to make up more than 40 percent of the entire human genome and may play an important role in genome evolution (pdf). Researchers from the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, have now comprehensively mapped retrotransposon insertion sites in the genomes of normal human brain cells for the first time. Their analyses identified more than 7,700 insertion sites for L1, the best-characterized retrotransposon family that was already known to be active in brain cells.
The Illustrated Guide to Epigenetics
Illustrations by Joe Kloc Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. This month marks the ten-year anniversary of the sequencing of the human genome, that noble achievement underpinning the less noble sales of 23andMe‘s direct-to-consumer genetic tests. To commemorate the scientific occasion, we’ve created an illustrated introduction to one subfield of genetics likely to produce even more dubious novelty science projects someday: epigenetics. What is epigenetics? FIGURE 1: Through a process called mitosis, a single cell (A) splits into two cells (B) with identical genetic information. FIGURE 2: DNA coils around proteins called histones, forming a nucleosome. How does the epigenome work? FIGURE 3: Methyl groups attach themselves to base pairs of a gene, changing the way the gene is expressed.In these two ways the epigenome controls which genes ultimately get expressed. Where do the different epigenomes come from?
Epigenetics
Epigenetics PBS air date: July 24, 2007 CHEERFUL NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: Did you ever notice that if you get to know two identical twins, they might look alike, but they're always subtly different? CANTANKEROUS NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: Yep, whatever. CHEERFUL NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: As they get older, those differences can get more pronounced. CANTANKEROUS NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: No. CHEERFUL NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: Yeah. CANTANKEROUS NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: And don't our genes make us who we are? CHEERFUL NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: Well they do, yes, but they're not the whole story. CANTANKEROUS NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: Yeah, you're heavier, and I'm better looking. CHEERFUL NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: Yeah, whatever. NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: Imagine coming into the world with a person so like yourself, that for a time you don't understand mirrors. CONCEPCIÓN: As a child, when I looked in the mirror I'd say, "That's my sister." CLOTILDE: When I see my sister, I see myself. CLOTILDE: I have been told that I am a high risk for cancer.
Sleep: Genes Cause People to React Differently to Lack of Sleep, Says Study
<br/><a href=" US News</a> | <a href=" Business News</a> Copy No matter how little they sleep, some people can keep a skip in their step while others will yawn and struggle through the day. A new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that the reason could be in our genes. Researchers found that healthy people with one particular genetic variant were generally sleepier than those without the gene. One person who has been told by his doctor that he may have this genetic variation is Robert Gibson, a 43-year-old machine shop supervisor in Milan, Illinois. It would not be the only gene-linked sleep condition Gibson experiences; he already suffers from bouts of sleep paralysis, a disorder in which sufferers feel paralyzed as they fall asleep or as they wake up. "It feels like I am drugged down, like there's a heavy weight on me the whole next day," said Gibson. Genes and Heavy-Eyes
Cracking the Code of Life
Cracking the Code of Life PBS Airdate: April 17, 2001 ROBERT KRULWICH: When I look at this—and these are the three billion chemical letters, instructions for a human being—my eyes glaze over. But when scientist Eric Lander looks at this he sees stories. ERIC LANDER (Whitehead Institute/MIT): The genome is a storybook that's been edited for a couple billion years. ROBERT KRULWICH: This is the story of one of the greatest scientific adventures ever, and at the heart of it is a small, very powerful molecule, DNA. For the past ten years, scientists all over the world have been painstakingly trying to read the tiny instructions buried inside our DNA. J. FRANCIS COLLINS (National Human Genome Research Institute): This is the ultimate imaginable thing that one could do scientifically...is to go and look at our own instruction book and then try to figure out what it's telling us. ROBERT KRULWICH: And what it's telling us is so surprising and so strange and so unexpected. I'm Robert Krulwich. DR.
23andMe presents top 10 most interesting genetic findings of 2010
Public release date: 12-Jan-2011 [ Print | E-mail Share ] [ Close Window ] Contact: Jane E. Rubinsteinjrubinstein@rubenstein.com 212-843-828723andMe Inc. MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – January 11, 2011 – 23andMe has released its first annual list of what it felt to be the 10 most interesting and significant genetic findings in 2010, as part of an ongoing journey to understand the role of genetics in personal health and human development. "Our understanding of the human genome is accelerating at a phenomenal rate," stated Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and CEO of 23andMe. Customers of 23andMe have the opportunity to learn about how their genetics can influence their individual health traits, risk for developing certain diseases and conditions, reactions to a variety of medications, and ancestry. 1. If you've been looking at an apple or pear body shape in the mirror, take a closer look at your genetic variants. "SNPwatch: Apple or Pear? 2. "SNPwatch: Breath Easier... 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
