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.

A two-step statistical analysis found mothers and maternal aunts of homosexual men had fewer gynecological disorders; fewer complicated pregnancies; less interest in having children; less emphasis on romantic love; placed less importance on their social life; showed reduced family stability; were more extraverted; and were divorced or separated from their spouses more frequently.

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Genetic factors linked to gay men

by Cathy Marshall

kgw.com

Posted on June 15, 2012 at 6:01 AM

Updated today at 6:09 AM

With a blood sample from the mother and a swab of saliva from the father scientists could soon be able to screen unborn babies for more than 3,000 genetic disorders.

Currently the only routine test if for Downs Syndrome.

This might give peace of mind if they dont find problems. On the other hand what do you do about problems? Can you treat them? Will lit lead to more abortions? said CNN Medical Correspondent Dr. Bruce Hensel.

Scientists at the University of Washington were able to map the genetics of a fetus with 99 percent accuracy. The breakthrough can detect genetic mutations like if a child is predisposed to cancer.

If you think of a genome as a book and a healthy person has two copies of every chapter. We are trying to pick up the typos and single words on a single page, explained UW researcher Dr. Jay Shendure.

Some of the mutations are certain, telling if a child will be born with a disability. Others are less certain, indicating a baby has a greater likelihood of developing a disorder.

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Unborn genetic tests being perfected at UW for 3K disorders

Main Category: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology Also Included In: Genetics Article Date: 13 Jun 2012 - 16:00 PDT

Current ratings for: 'Genetic Discovery Will Help Fight Diarrhoea Outbreaks'

Published today in the journal Evolutionary Applications, the findings pave the way for a new gold standard test to distinguish between the waterborne parasite's two main species affecting humans. One species is spread from person to person (Cryptosporidium hominis) but the other is often spread from livestock to people (Cryptosporidium parvum).

"Being able to discriminate quickly between the two species means it is easier to spot an outbreak as it develops, trace the original source, and take appropriate urgent action to prevent further spread," said lead author Dr Kevin Tyler of Norwich Medical School at UEA.

Cryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite that causes outbreaks of diarrhoea across the globe. In the UK, around two per cent of cases of diarrhoea are caused by the organism and many people will be infected at some time in their lives. Symptoms include watery diarrhoea, stomach pain, nausea and vomiting and can last for up to a month, but healthy people usually make a full recovery.

However, in the developing world infection can be serious in malnourished children and a significant cause of death in areas with high prevalence of untreated AIDS.

In the UK, outbreaks have been caused by faulty filtration systems in water supplies and transmission through swimming pools because the parasite is not killed by chlorine disinfection. Outbreaks also occur at open farms and in nurseries. People can also be infected by eating vegetables that have been washed in contaminated water. Hygiene is important in the prevention of spread of Cryptosporidium: people are advised to always wash their hands with warm running water and soap after touching animals, going to the toilet, changing nappies and before preparing, handling or eating food.

In this EU-funded study, the researchers identified the first parasite proteins that are specific to the different species. They found them at the ends of the chromosomes where they had been missed during previous parasite genetic studies.

Dr Tyler said: "Our discovery is an important advance in developing new simple and reliable tests for identifying these two species of parasite. This is the first step in discriminating outbreaks from sporadic cases, local strains from exotic ones, and tracing the source of outbreaks to an individual water supply, swimming pool or farm."

The UEA team worked with colleagues at the UK Cryptosporidium Reference Unit in Swansea, and Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, part of Queen Mary, University of London. Recently obtained renewed funding from the EU will enable further development towards a diagnostic test for use in the water industry and public health.

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Genetic Discovery Will Help Fight Diarrhoea Outbreaks

Public release date: 13-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Simon Dunford s.dunford@uea.ac.uk 44-160-359-2203 University of East Anglia

Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have discovered unexpectedly large genetic differences between two similar species of the pathogenic Cryptosporidium parasite.

Published today in the journal Evolutionary Applications, the findings pave the way for a new gold standard test to distinguish between the waterborne parasite's two main species affecting humans. One species is spread from person to person (Cryptosporidium hominis) but the other is often spread from livestock to people (Cryptosporidium parvum).

"Being able to discriminate quickly between the two species means it is easier to spot an outbreak as it develops, trace the original source, and take appropriate urgent action to prevent further spread," said lead author Dr Kevin Tyler of Norwich Medical School at UEA.

Cryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite that causes outbreaks of diarrhoea across the globe. In the UK, around two per cent of cases of diarrhoea are caused by the organism and many people will be infected at some time in their lives. Symptoms include watery diarrhoea, stomach pain, nausea and vomiting and can last for up to a month, but healthy people usually make a full recovery.

However, in the developing world infection can be serious in malnourished children and a significant cause of death in areas with high prevalence of untreated AIDS.

In the UK, outbreaks have been caused by faulty filtration systems in water supplies and transmission through swimming pools because the parasite is not killed by chlorine disinfection. Outbreaks also occur at open farms and in nurseries. People can also be infected by eating vegetables that have been washed in contaminated water. Hygiene is important in the prevention of spread of Cryptosporidium: people are advised to always wash their hands with warm running water and soap after touching animals, going to the toilet, changing nappies and before preparing, handling or eating food.

In this EU-funded study, the researchers identified the first parasite proteins that are specific to the different species. They found them at the ends of the chromosomes where they had been missed during previous parasite genetic studies.

Dr Tyler said: "Our discovery is an important advance in developing new simple and reliable tests for identifying these two species of parasite. This is the first step in discriminating outbreaks from sporadic cases, local strains from exotic ones, and tracing the source of outbreaks to an individual water supply, swimming pool or farm."

Read the original post:

Genetic discovery will help fight diarrhea outbreaks

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The worlds leading experts in the field of personalized medicine are meeting in Boston, MA September 12th and 13th 2012 for the 4th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference. This conference will tackle the issues driving, as well as restraining, the clinical delivery of personalized medicine, including coding and reimbursement, whole genome sequencing in practice, the economics of personalized medicine, Medicare policy, and market access challenges for companion diagnostics.

Personalized medicine has the potential to revolutionize medical care by utilizing an improved understanding of genetics and molecular biology to allow for better, more precise diagnostic tests, greater predictability of disease course, and improved patient safety.

Speakers and panelists will be answering the following key questions:

Is personalized medicine changing clinical practice? Can personalized medicine improve clinical outcomes? Will insurers fund the genomic revolution? What types of validation requirements are payors looking for?

At this conference, Robert C. Green, MD, MPH, Director, G2P Research Program, Associate Director for Research, Partners Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School will discuss the impact that whole genome sequencing will have on the practice of medicine, patients, and health care costs, as well as the potential risks associated with its use.

An important question being asked today by the medical community is What genome information is ready for clinical use? Michael Christman, Ph.D., President & CEO, Coriell Institute for Medical Research will be answering this question in a presentation which will outline how the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC) is studying the use of genomic information in clinical decision-making.

Bryan Loy, MD, Market Medical Officer, Humana will describe the various perspectives that must be considered when addressing the payment methods for molecular diagnostics. He will discuss the issue of more widely integrating personalized medicine, while keeping the health plan, the consumer, and the provider in mind.

Dora Dias-Santagata, Ph.D., Instructor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School and Co-Director, Translational Research Laboratory at Mass General, will be describing her experience in developing and implementing a clinical platform for broad-base tumor genotyping. She will also outline the challenges that arose in her clinical testing. Her presentation will also include patient cases with clinical follow-up.

Numerous other speakers will be participating. Please visit http://www.personalized-medicine-conference.com for the full list of speakers, a preliminary agenda, and information on how to register to attend.

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Leaders in Personalized Medicine to Discuss Clinical and Market Access Challenges at 4th Annual Personalized Medicine ...

Newswise ATHENS, Ohio (June 11, 2012)Scientists have found new genetic information that shows how harmful bacteria cause the acute diarrheal disease shigellosis, which kills more than a million people worldwide each year.

The research, which could lead to the development of future treatments, was published today in the journal PLoS ONE. The study was led by Ohio University scientist Erin Murphy and doctoral student William Broach, with contributions from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and University of Texas at Austin researchers.

When the disease-causing bacterium Shigella invades a human host, environmental conditions there, such as changes in temperature or pH, stimulate a genetic expression pathway within the bacterium that allows it to survive and cause disease. Central to this genetic pathway are two proteins, VirF and VirB. VirF functions to increase production of VirB which, in turn, promotes the production of factors that increases the bacteriums virulence, or ability to cause illness in its host.

Its like a domino effect, said Murphy, assistant professor of bacteriology in the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Murphy and Broachs new study, however, suggests that production of VirB can be controlled independently of VirF. It also shows that the VirF-independent regulation is mediated by a specific small RNA, a special type of molecule whose job is to control the production of particular targets. This is the first study to demonstrate that transcription of virB is regulated by any factor other than VirF, Murphy explained.

The research not only reveals the intricate level of gene expression the bacteria employ to survive in the human body, but potentially could lead to new treatments. Currently, antibiotics are prescribed to patients with the disease.

These findings are feeding into the basic understanding of this gene expression so that future researchers can work to disrupt it, Broach said. The more we know about it, the more targets we have to disrupt it and to possibly develop targeted antibiotic treatments.

For those living in developing countries, where access to clean drinking water can be scarce, an improved medical treatment for shigellosis could mean the difference between life and death.

In the United States, if we get severe diarrhea we can go to the store and get Gatorade, Murphy said. But if you're already starving to begin with because you don't have access to good food and clean water, then you get shigellosis on top of thatand you dont have good water to rehydrate yourselfthats when the deaths happen.

The disease, which is transmitted person to person or through contaminated food or water sources, has an infectious dose of just 10 organisms, meaning as few as 10 organisms can cause disease in a healthy person. This infectious dose is exceedingly low compared to other bacteria that require tens of thousands of organisms to cause disease.

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Scientists Find New Genetic Path to Deadly Diarrheal Disease

ScienceDaily (June 12, 2012) University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have developed a powerful visual analytical approach to explore genetic data, enabling scientists to identify novel patterns of information that could be crucial to human health.

The method, which combines three different "bipartite visual representations" of genetic information, is described in an article to appear in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. The work won a distinguished paper award when it was presented at the AMIA Summit on Translational Bioinformatics in March 2012.

In the paper, the authors use their technique to analyze data on genetic alterations in humans known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs. Among other things, the frequencies of particular SNPs are associated with an individual's ancestral origins; for the study, the researchers chose to examine SNP data from 60 individuals from Nigeria and 60 individuals from Utah.

"We selected SNPs that we already knew differentiated between the two groups, and then showed that our method can reveal more about the data than traditional methods," said UTMB associate professor Suresh Bhavnani, lead author on the JAMIA paper and a member of UTMB's Institute for Translational Sciences. "This is a fresh way of looking at genetic data, a methodological contribution that we believe can help biologists and clinicians make better sense of a variety of biomarkers."

Like many kinds of biomedical data, Bhavnani said, datasets describing individuals and their SNPs are particularly suited to visual representations that are bipartite: that is, they simultaneously present two different classes of data. In the case of the Utah-Nigeria SNP data, Bhavnani and his colleagues started with what is known as a bipartite network visualization -- an intricate computer-generated arrangement of colored dots and black, gray and white lines.

"In the bipartite network you see both the individuals and their genetic profiles simultaneously, and cognitively that's really important," Bhavnani said. "You can look at the individuals and know immediately which SNPs make them different from others, and conversely you can look at the SNPs to see how they are co-occurring, and with which individuals they are co-occurring. This rich representation enables you to quickly comprehend the complex bipartite relationships in the data"

The bipartite network visualization of the Utah-Nigeria individual-SNP data has distinct clusters on its left and right sides that correspond to the Utah and Nigerian subjects and SNPs. It also accurately portrays a genetic phenomenon called admixture, in which an individual possesses SNPs that are characteristic of individuals from Utah as well as from Nigeria. Admixed individuals are placed on the edges of their clusters, relatively close to the center of the visualization. The identification of admixed individuals, and the implicated SNPs could help in the design of case-control studies where there is a need for the selection of homogenous sets of individual from different ancestral origins.

To produce an even more detailed picture of the individual-SNP information, the researchers applied two other bipartite visualization techniques to the data: the bipartite heat map, and the bipartite Circos ideogram. In the heat map, rectangular cells laid out in a spreadsheet-like arrangement and colored white, gray, or black helped precisely define the boundaries of the clusters by clarifying individual-SNP relationships. In the Circos ideogram, individuals and SNPs placed around the perimeter of a circle and linked with curved lines, enabling the researchers to more closely examine the admixed individuals' ties to SNPs in the clusters associated with both Utah and Nigeria.

"The network representation is very powerful because it gives you the overall structure of the data, but to really understand the complex relationships, you need these additional bipartite representations," Bhavnani said.

The JAMIA paper, according to Bhavnani, represents a proof of concept for the researchers' novel combination of methods, which can be applied to a wide range of biomedical questions. "You can think of anything -- for example you could examine cases and controls in Alzheimer's disease, or you could compare children who are prone to ear infections and those aren't prone," Bhavnani said. "Whatever your disease or trait of interest is, our approach can handle it."

Original post:

Powerful new method to analyze genetic data

Washington, June 12 (ANI): Scientists have found new genetic information that illustrates how harmful bacteria cause the acute diarrheal disease shigellosis, which claims life of more than a million people worldwide each year.

See the rest here:

New genetic path to deadly diarrheal disease discovered

June 11, 2012 in Health, Health,Features

Deborah L. Shelton Chicago Tribune (MCT)

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 has almost never been used prenatally, said Dr. Norman Ginsberg, an obstetrician specializing in prenatal genetic testing at the institute. We think this is the beginning of the next generation of how well look at things.

Other medical experts see the technology as promising but have concerns about using it as a first-line test because of the potential drawbacks and the lack of published research. The availability of array CGH also raises fundamental, sometimes delicate, questions for parents.

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Prenatal genetic test offers more information, raises questions - Mon, 11 Jun 2012 PST

09-06-2012 16:05 06/07-08/2012 Mom gave a blood sample. Dad spit. The entire genome of their fetus was born. Researchers at the University of Washington have, for the first time, done a near-total genome sequence of a fetus in this way. Scientists published the results of this study in the journal Science Translational Medicine, suggesting that thousands of genetic diseases could be detected in children while they are still in the fetal stage. More:

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Welcome to Gattaca: Genetic Discrimination Becomes Reality - Video

Editor's Choice Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics Also Included In: Genetics;Pediatrics / Children's Health Article Date: 08 Jun 2012 - 12:00 PDT

Current ratings for: 'Genetic Screening During Pregnancy Shows Promise'

1 (1 votes)

The researchers findings open up the possibility of assessing a fetus non-invasively for all single-gene disorders.

Approximately 1% of newborns are born with disorders that are caused by a defect in a single gene. These "Mendelian" disorders include cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, and Tay-Sachs disease.

In the future, the new non-invasive technique could help screen for these types of genetic mutations in the fetus without increasing the risk of miscarriage, said Jay Shendure and his team at the University of Washington.

Shendure explained: "This work opens up the possibility that we will be able to scan the whole genome of the fetus for more than 3,000 single-gene disorders through a single, non-invasive test."

At 18.5 weeks gestation, the researchers were able to map the whole genome of a fetus and then reconstructed it using DNA from the mother's blood plasma and saliva from the father.

Although fetal DNA is found in the mother's blood plasma, it can be challenging to distinguish which genetic signature belongs to the fetus and which belongs to the mother. As a result the team used a new technique in order to identify blocks of haplotypes (genetic variation), that could be traced back to the mother's genome.

The researchers were then able to use this information, together with data from the father's saliva sample, to determine which genomes the fetus inherited. The team then conducted a more intensive examination of the mother's DNA sample in order to identify new genetic variations that appeared only in the fetal genome.

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Genetic Screening During Pregnancy Shows Promise

Patients who have genetic testing done to detect their risk for multiple health conditions do not use more health services after testing than those who elect not to be checked, says a study published online May 17 in Genetics in Medicine.

Genetic tests increasingly are being marketed directly to patients, raising concerns among some physicians that they could cause a spike in patients requesting unnecessary screening and procedures, said Robert J. Reid, MD, PhD, lead study author and associate investigator with Group Health Research Institute in Seattle.

Certainly, there is a lot of concern in the country that doing indiscriminate testing of individuals around their genetic susceptibility will alarm them and increase demand, he said.

Researchers studied 1,599 insured patients between age 25 and 40 from the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. Of those, 217 opted to get genetic tests. Patients who received the tests had more specialty physician visits before the checks than the untested group, but the study found no change in overall use of health care services among those who had the evaluations done and those who did not (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22595941/).

Researchers analyzed health care usage by participants for 12 months before and 12 months after genetic testing. Dr. Reid said the study took a conservative approach. It looked only at screening and procedures associated with four of eight conditions whose risk could be detected from the multiplex genetic susceptibility tests: type 2 diabetes mellitus, atherosclerotic coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer and lung cancer. Also, the tests were thoroughly explained to all study participants something that doesnt necessarily happen in everyday practice, Dr. Reid said.

They certainly had a fair amount of material on which to base their decision, and they had follow-up to help them understand the results, he said. In most cases there is not a lot of counseling beforehand or a lot of explanation afterward.

One surprising factor was how few patients opted to have the testing done, Dr. Reid said.

Blacks were significantly less likely than whites to choose testing, as were those with just a high school education or less. The age group studied could be a factor, as younger individuals may feel that such tests offer little value at that stage in their lives, he said.

More research needs to be done to determine how genetic tests impact behavior in larger groups of patients. Such tests may have a positive impact by motivating some patients to make healthier lifestyle choices.

If someone is told they are at risk for heart disease or diabetes, it might prompt them to maintain a healthy body weight, try to lower their cholesterol or stop smoking, Dr. Reid said. I think that is the next stage to see if it promotes positive health behavior.

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Genetic testing doesn’t drive up demand for more health services

Scientists come up with a simple (if still pricey) method to screen fetuses for some 3,000 genetic defects, raising a troubling question: Who deserves to be born?

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Would easy in-utero genetic testing encourage abortions?

Researchers say, for the first time, they've mapped the genetic code of a fetus. Dr. Eric Eric Schadt, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, speaks about how the medical breakthrough can be used to diagnose genetic disorders, and the ethical debates it could spur.

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Video: Fetal genetic code mapped: What it means for you

Scientists map babys genetic code in womb

By John von Radowitz

Friday, June 08, 2012

An unborn babys whole genetic code has been mapped in the womb using DNA taken from its parents.

The technique could in future make it possible to swiftly scan for some 3,500 genetic disorders before birth, without physically disturbing either foetus or mother.

But scientists acknowledge the ability to sequence a babys whole genome in the womb has as yet unresolved ethical implications.

It could produce a wealth of data relating to a babys future health. At the same time, difficult questions may be raised about the moral case for termination.

Most pre-natal genetic screening currently involves tapping fluid from the foetal sac, or taking placental samples. Such invasive methods can only identify a small number of birth defects including Downs syndrome, and spina bifida.

They also pose risks for both mother and child. But there are thousands of rarer genetic conditions that are seldom spotted until they start producing symptoms.

The new research involved analysing DNA shed by the foetus and floating in the mothers bloodstream. Blood sample DNA from the mother was also studied as well as DNA extracted from the fathers saliva.

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Scientists map baby’s genetic code in womb

ScienceDaily (June 7, 2012) A team of UC Davis investigators has found that a genetic mutation may play an important role in the development of prostate cancer. The mutation of the so-called p53 (or Tp53) gene was previously implicated in late disease progression, but until now has never been shown to act as an initiating factor. The findings may open new avenues for diagnosing and treating the disease.

The study was published online in the journal Disease Models & Mechanisms and will appear in the November 2012 print edition in an article titled, "Initiation of prostate cancer in mice by Tp53R270H: Evidence for an alternate molecular progression."

"Our team found a molecular pathway to prostate cancer that differs from the current conventional wisdom of how the disease develops," said Alexander Borowsky, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and principal investigator of the study. "With this new understanding, research can go in new directions to possibly develop new diagnostics and refine therapy."

Prostate cancer is the leading cancer diagnosis in men in the United States. Although it is curable in about 80 percent of men with localized disease, the rate is much lower if the cancer is highly virulent and has spread beyond the prostate gland.

The investigators developed a mouse model genetically engineered to have a mutation in the "tumor suppressor" gene, p53, specifically in the cells of the prostate gland. These mice were significantly more likely to develop prostate cancer than control mice without the mutation, and provided the first indication that the p53 mutation could be involved in the initiation of prostate cancer. They also note that the mutation of p53 in the prostate differs from loss or "knock-out" of the gene, which suggests that the mechanism is more complicated than simply a "loss of tumor suppression" and appears to involve an actively oncogenic function of the mutant gene.

The p53 gene encodes for a protein that normally acts as a tumor suppressor, preventing the replication of cells that have suffered DNA damage. Mutation of the gene, which can occur through chemicals, radiation or viruses, causes cells to undergo uncontrolled cell division. The p53 mutation has been implicated in the initiation of other malignancies, including breast, lung and esophageal cancers.

Other studies have associated p53 mutation with disease progression in prostate cancer, but this is the first to find that it can have a role in the early initiation of prostate cancer, as well.

Until now, understanding of the role of p53 was that mutation occurred exclusively as a late event in the course of prostate cancer. Based on the findings in the new mouse model that the researchers developed, p53 mutation not only can initiate prostate cancer but might also be associated with early progression toward more aggressive forms of the disease.

Genetic mutations can initiate cancers in a variety of ways. Those include promotion of uncontrolled cell growth and loss of the gene's normal cell growth-suppressor functions. Exactly how the p53 mutation promotes the initiation and progression of prostate cancer remains to be clarified and is a focus of current research by the UC Davis team. They also are trying to gain an understanding of how the p53 mutation affects the effectiveness of standard treatments for prostate cancer, such as radiation and hormone therapy.

Another application of the discovery could be the development of a new diagnostic test for prostate cancer based on the presence of the p53 mutation as a biomarker.

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New role for p53 genetic mutation -- initiation of prostate cancer

Washington, June 8 (ANI): New tests for genetic screening of unborn babies will not be 100 per cent accurate and may scare parents into believing their children will be born with a disability when they are healthy, a scientist has warned.

Originally posted here:

Genetic screening of unborn babies 'may not be 100 pc accurate'

US scientists have mapped the genome of an unborn foetus, marking a significant breakthrough in genetic medicine but also one that raises profound ethical issues.

The rest is here:

Researchers map genome of unborn foetus

SEATTLE -- Researchers at the University of Washington have assembled the first comprehensive genetic map of an unborn child -- a development that could help usher in a new era of prenatal testing.

By analyzing fetal DNA circulating in the mother's blood, the scientists were able to sequence the baby's genome 18 weeks into the pregnancy. The technique also worked at eight weeks, with slightly lower sensitivity.

Because the approach requires only a blood sample from the mother and saliva from the father, it poses none of the miscarriage risk associated with invasive tests such as amniocentesis. And while most existing prenatal tests are designed to check for single disorders, including Down syndrome, a full-gene scan has the power to reveal a wide range of potential problems before birth, said lead author Jacob Kitzman, a doctoral student in genetics.

"It's much more comprehensive."

The procedure is still several years away from commercialization, project leader Jay Shendure said.

But the UW study, published in the June 6 issue of Science Translational Medicine, marks a significant step forward in technology that's been developing over the past several years -- and which worries some people, said Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley, Calif.

"I think it's a game-changer," she said. Cheap, safe genome sequencing could give parents the power to practice a kind of eugenics, preselecting children based on desirable traits.

"It could become a routine part of prenatal testing ... which raises questions about what people will do with the information," Darnovsky said.

Shendure cautioned against expecting too much -- at least in the near future. Scientists may be able to sequence the 3 billion DNA units that make up each person's genetic heritage, but they still don't understand the genetic basis of most common diseases.

"The capacity of genomics to generate data is outstripping our ability to interpret it in useful ways," he said.

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Researchers assemble genetic map of an unborn child

PUBLISHED: 19:31 EST, 6 June 2012 | UPDATED: 04:08 EST, 7 June 2012

Thousands of genetic disorders in unborn babies could soon be identified without the need for risky and invasive tests - raising fears of an oncrease in the number of abortions.

Scientists have developed a revolutionary technique that maps the entire genetic code of a baby in the womb, using only blood and saliva samples taken from its parents.

But the method - which makes it possible to scan for some 3,500 disorders without physically disturbing either foetus or mother - will raise serious ethical questions.

Knowing from an early stage whether their child will have a serious condition, raises the possibility that mothers-to-be might opt to terminate the pregnancy.

Worry: Potential parents could check on any possible illnesses for for their children

Currently, most pre-natal genetic screening involves tapping fluid from the foetal sac, or taking samples from the placenta by either inserting a probe through the mothers abdomen or the neck of her womb.

Such invasive methods can identify only a small number of birth defects including Downs syndrome, spina bifida, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy. They also pose risks for both mother and child.

The new research involved analysing DNA shed by the foetus and floating in the mothers bloodstream.

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Scientists could soon screen unborn babies for 3,500 genetic disorders, raising fears of an increase in abortions