Showing posts with label genetics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genetics. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

5,300 year old Ice man found - 1991

Iceman’s Genome Furnishes Clues to His Ailments and Ancestry

Ever since two hikers happened upon the mummified body of Ötzi the Iceman on a high mountain pass in the Ötzal Alps in 1991, scientists have been working to figure out who he was and where he came from… for the article:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/02/28/icemans-genome-furnishes-clues-to-his-ailments-and-ancestry/?print=true

 Who's ancestor is he??


Ötzi the Iceman and the Sardinians

Well, the paper is finally out, New insights into the Tyrolean Iceman’s origin and phenotype as inferred by whole-genome sequencing. In case you don’t know, Ötzi the Iceman died 5,300 years ago in the alpine region bordering Austria and Italy… 
Even more on this subject:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/02/otzi-the-iceman-and-the-sardinians/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GeneExpressionBlog+%28Gene+Expression%29

Genetics and Genealogy:

Friday, March 9, 2012

Should a company be able to patent your genes?

 
SMARTPLANET

Should a company be able to patent your genes?


By Charlie Osborne | February 22, 2012, 10:56 AM PST
42Comments
more +

Reports from Australia have indicated that lawyers representing a U.S. biotechnology company have defended the grant of a controversial patent over a common genetic mutation linked to breast cancer.

Rejecting the idea that patenting a genetic variety within the human body is the first step to privatizing individuals, the court case involving the U.S. company, Myriad Genetics, is being anxiously followed by patient groups, legal teams, healthcare professionals and public figures.

Myriad Genetics aquired a patent for the BRCA1 breast cancer genetic mutation in 1994, based on the terms that could be considered an ‘invention’:

    “Removing it from the body changed it chemically, structurally and functionally.”

Myriad Genetics reportedly tested ‘thousands and thousands’ of people in order to identify the mutation within a cell genome, and the case hinged on the key point that once the isolated nucleic acid is removed from a body, then its chemical construction is different. Therefore, once removed, it can be considered an invention rather than a natural body chemical.

Not everyone agrees.


Nelda

Thursday, March 8, 2012

US Supreme Court decides on Genes

TheScientist 
Opinion: On the Gene Patent Debate 


Two key patent cases that no doubt will impact the future of personalized medicine are pending review by the US Supreme Court. What will the Court decide?  

By Courtenay C. Brinckerhoff | March 7, 2012

Here is a small part - then go read!

"The debate over the patenting of technologies related to diagnostic and personalized medicine continues to swell with no resolution in sight. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. last December, but has not yet issued a decision.  Just last month, the US Patent and Trademark Office held public hearings to gather information for the “study on genetic testing” that it will use to prepare a report for Congress on this issue. "

http://the-scientist.com/2012/03/07/opinion-on-the-gene-patent-debate/ 

 

Monday, February 20, 2012

Apply now for a free genotyping

(TOTAL ARTICLE COPIED SEE LINKS)
Apply now for a free genotyping
Article by Bastian 

At the end of last year we announced that we've got some funding from the German WikiMedia foundation to get more people – who are willing to share their results – genotyped. We have now settled on a process that should allow us to perform the project without too many problems. Starting today, you can apply for one of the free genotypings. The deadline for applications is Sunday, 03/25/12 23:59 o'clock, so you still have some time to think about an application. In the two weeks following the deadline, we will select as many participants as we can afford to get genotyped using the 5000 Euros we received from Wikimedia. We'll get in contact with everybody who has sent an application to let all applicants know whether their application was successful or not.

The genotyping will be done through 23andMe. We will order you a gift kit which will be delivered to
your address. These gift kits include prepaid access to the 23andMe website for 12 months, so you
can check up on the latest findings about your genetic variation as well. After this 12 month
period, those features will expire automatically, you don't have to cancel any subscriptions.

Our application form contains some standard questions (Where do you live? Does 23andMe deliver to
your country? etc.) but also some details about your motivation, why you want to make your dataset
available to the public and why your data might be of great interest (For example: Do you have a
rare disease where research is lacking?). Additionally, we will also try to get people genotyped who
are currently under-represented in publicly available data sets. Most data up to now is from WEIRDs:
Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic people (most are probably male, too).

We would like you to deposit the final raw data, which you will then be able to download from
23andMe, into the openSNP database, ideally along with some phenotypic information about yourself.
So please think about the possible consequences which may arise by doing so before you apply for one
of the genotypings. The application process has some questions about possible consequences as well
(just so we get a feeling of whether you know what you are doing). If you get your results, but then
find the results too problematic to publish: That is fine. We are aware of this possibility and
while it would suck for us as it means less data, you are the one who has the last word in this
matter. Some information that might make you a bit more comfortable with the idea of sharing data:
We won't release the names of any applicants (whether successful or unsuccessful) and you can sign
up to openSNP using a pseudonym, plus we don't log any IPs used to access openSNP. 

tl;dr
We offer you the chance to get genotyped through 23andMe for free if you are willing to share the
data with the public. Here's the planned schedule:

Until 03/25/12 23:59 o'clock you can apply for a genotyping using this application form

We select the lucky winners between 03/26/12 and 04/08/12 and get in contact with every applicant.
Mid-April: You should receive the 23andMe-kits in your mail.

End of May: You should receive the results of the genotyping, so you can upload the results to
openSNP.


If you've got any questions regarding the application process, the schedule etc., just let us know
using the comments or write us an email to info@opensnp.org. We will try to answer all of your
questions as fast as possible.

Good luck,

your openSNP-team!
Bastian | February 20, 2012 at 4:34 pm | Categories: Uncategorized

http://opensnp.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/apply-now-for-a-free-genotyping/  

THERE IS AN APPLICATION LINK HERE

Hope you get picked
Nelda

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Y chromosome's role!

Inheritance of coronary artery disease in men: an analysis of the role of the Y chromosome

 Background:       A sexual dimorphism exists in the incidence and prevalence of coronary artery disease—men are more commonly affected than are age-matched women. We explored the role of the Y chromosome in coronary artery disease in the context of this sexual inequity.

 FOR MORE READ: 

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2811%2961453-0/fulltext

Interpretation

The human Y chromosome is associated with risk of coronary artery disease in men of European ancestry, possibly through interactions of immunity and inflammation.

Funding

British Heart Foundation; UK National Institute for Health Research; LEW Carty Charitable Fund; National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia; European Union 6th Framework Programme; Wellcome Trust.

 Well worth the time to read the article....... 

Nelda

Monday, January 30, 2012

Gain a Chromosome and Adapt

Gain a Chromosome and Adapt

research in Yeast

 

Gaining or losing a chromosome, a condition known as aneuploidy, is often caused by stress, and is known to have detrimental consequences, including a variety of human diseases. But according to new research in yeast published online today (January 30) in Nature, stress-induced aneuploidy may also help organisms adapt, conferring an adaptive advantage to yeast cells in the face of continued stress.
“It’s in interesting study,” said Judith Berman, a molecular geneticist at the University of Minnesota who was not involved in the research. Berman’s own work in Candida albicans  yeast supports the idea that aneuploidy has adaptive functions, she said, and the new study highlights aneuploidy’s underappreciated role in generating genetic and phenotypic diversity.

  http://the-scientist.com/2012/01/30/gain-a-chromosome-and-adapt/

read the rest of the story


Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Good News Bad News


Hi,
I'm rather disturbed by this sensationalisum about a murder. DNA from a genetic genealogy surname group being used with out the volunteer admin giving permission and then the Media stretching the truth of what that DNA found and how it might be used. The person who gave the interview did not inform the surname admin what she was using it for .. she said she was helping a friend trace back to the Mayflower group.  But not even that,  the person she compared to does not connect to the Mayflower group. Just has the same last name.

A friend on one of the DNA mailing lists where we are discussing this horrible infringement on a person's privacy has written this to help explain. I hope you take the time to read it.
This rather "sensational" story may generate a lot of discussion among people involved in DNA testing for genealogical purposes:

My take is that this is a fascinating, but Good News/Bad News kind of story....   The good news is that DNA may eventually help solve a 20-year old murder case.  The bad news is that it is reported in a sensational way that is somewhat misleading and incomplete.  By it's very nature, the Y-DNA testing used in genealogical studies only results in identifying a "class" of male individuals that descend from a common male ancestor and cannot be used to exclusively identify an individual person.  In some cases, there could be literally thousands of living males that would be members of this same specific "class" of individuals. 
If ever theoretically couched as "evidence," it would therefore be properly categorized as "class" evidence rather than "individual" evidence.  It would simply give you a "class" of individuals to look at, nothing more, nothing less.  Also, since a proper "chain of custody" is not maintained in a Y-DNA sample submission for "genealogical-purposes-only" use, it would very properly be immediately suppressed during "evidence suppression hearings."  The individual suspect then could only be positively identified through autosomal DNA tests that are properly collected, with "chain of custody" also being properly maintained on the samples.  Theses autosomal DNA tests are actually a cluster of (13) designated autosomal chromosomes used in the CODIS (Combinded DNA Index System) standard observed by police laboratories and recognized by the courts. Humans have 22 pairs of autosomal chromosomes (CODIS looks at only 13 of these), and one pair of "sex" chromosomes (xx in females, xy in males).  The CODIS panel specifically does not include the 23rd pair sex chromosomes because they are "non-coding," or that is to say they do not report individual traits beyond gender.  In contrast, all autosomal chromosomes are "coding" and do include your individual traits.  
Now back to the sensationalism flare of the story.  If they had instead said that the suspect was known to have blood type "AB negative," people would quickly recognize this as a simple "class" of individuals who all have this same blood type living at the time in the greater Seattle metropolitan region.  Bottom line, before anyone jumps to any conclusions about how this affects Y-DNA testing in genealogy studies, police use autosomal DNA tests (CODIS), and we ordinarily (with exceptions) only test the non-coding 23rd pair "sex" chromosome, which is called "Y-DNA" in males and "mtDNA" (mitochondrial DNA) in females.  I truly hope they catch the suspect, but all Y-DNA did was narrow the field to a very large class of living male individuals. 
Sorry to be long-winded, but I thought this story might generate some discussion.   I know some of our more science minded members might "tweak" some of my terminology, but hopefully, I generally got it right.
name removed for privacy

Nelda

Friday, January 6, 2012

Chinese Crunch Human Genome With Video Game Chips

 Hi, Over at the ISOGG mailing list VERY VERY INTERESTING!
 
Katherine Borges 10:03pm Jan 6
Chinese Crunch Human Genome With Video Game Chips
www.wired.com
The world's largest genome sequencing center once needed four days to analyze data describing a huma...