4 hours ago Messenger were RNAs charted, with A's and I's representing specific nucleotides. ADR-1 does not alter editing activity of ADR-2 at all of the hundreds of newly found editing sites, but the ability of ADR-1 to bind to these mRNAs is required for its regulatory activity at the majority of ADR-1 affected editing sites. Credit: Heather A. Hundley

Molecular biologists from Indiana University are part of a team that has identified a protein that regulates the information present in a large number of messenger ribonucleic acid molecules that are important for carrying genetic information from DNA to protein synthesis.

The new work, published today in Cell Reports, finds that the protein ADR-1 binds to messenger ribonucleic acid, or mRNA, and then enhances RNA editing, a process that allows a gene to be present as multiple mRNAs that can then each affect gene expression differently.

Organisms ranging from sea anemone to humans utilize RNA editing to express different mRNAs at various times in development. Decreased mRNA editing has been reported in patients with neuropathological diseases like epilepsy, schizophrenia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and several types of cancer, including glioblastomas (brain tumors).

Using the model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans, the researchers identified over 400 new mRNA editing sitesthe majority regulated by ADR-1and declared the protein the first global regulator of RNA editing.

"What we've determined is that this protein's ability to alter editing of mRNAs is not specific to just a few genes, but instead, its ability to bind to mRNAs is required for proper RNA editing of most mRNAs," said Michael C. Washburn, a graduate student in the IU College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Biology and first author on the paper with Boyko Kakaradov of the University of California, San Diego.

Working in the laboratory of Heather A. Hundley, corresponding author on the paper and an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the IU School of Medicine's Medical Sciences Program at Bloomington, Washburn and undergraduate Medical Sciences program student Emily Wheeler collaborated with the team from UCSD to show that the region of ADR-1 protein that binds to target mRNAs in C. elegans is also required for regulating editing. This region is present in many human proteins, and a protein similar to ADR-1 is specifically expressed in human neurons.

"So it is likely that a similar mechanism exists to regulate editing in humans," Hundley said. "Further work in our lab will be aimed at understanding the detailed mechanism of how these proteins regulate editing, in turn providing an inroad to developing therapeutics that modulate editing for the treatment of human diseases."

C. elegans is a microscopic worm that like humans highly expresses a family of proteins in the nervous system called ADARsadenosine deaminases that act on RNAa family that includes ADR-1.

ADARs change specific nucleotides (molecular building blocks for DNA and RNA) in RNA, in a process called adenosine-to-inosine editing, or A-to-I editing, that diversifies genetic information to specify different amino acids, splice sites and structures. Scientists currently estimate there are between 400,000 and 1 million A-to-I editing events in noncoding regions of the human transcriptome.

Read more here:

A key facilitator of mRNA editing uncovered

Human genetics is the branch that studies the aspect of 'inheritance' in formation of human beings. Its study makes it easier to understand the cause of certain disorders, behavioral issues and development.

The Importance of Housekeeping Genes

Housekeeping genes are those that are always expressed in all cells of an organism, and are important for the maintenance of basic or 'housekeeping' functions of the cell. This Buzzle write-up provides a brief account of the same.

Pros and Cons of Gene Patenting

Gene patenting is quite common in the medical field today, however, it is still surrounded by many controversies. In this Buzzle article, we will discuss what is gene patenting and what are its positive and negative aspects.

Pros and Cons of Designer Babies

Designer babies are babies, whose genetic makeup has been artificially screened and chosen by scientists, via genetic engineering. This concept has raised numerous ethical issues. Let's have a look at the pros and cons of designer...

DNA Replication Steps

The process of DNA replication comprises a set of carefully orchestrated sequence of events to duplicate the entire genetic content of a cell. The current article provides a short insight into the complex DNA replication steps.

Incomplete Dominance Examples

Read this article:

Human Genetics - Buzzle

Dr Olufunmilayo Olopade

Olufunmilayo I. Olopade is an hematology oncologist, Associate Dean for Global Health and Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor in Medicine and Human genetics at the University of Chicago.

Born in 1957 shealso serves as director of the University of Chicago Hospitals Cancer Risk Clinic.

She graduated from University of Ibadan, Nigeria, with a MD, in 1980. She has performed extensive clinical work surrounding the role of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in the incidence of breast cancer in women of African descent.

She is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, the American College of Physicians, and the Nigerian Medical Association and works closely with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine.

She married Christopher Sola Olopade, also a physician at the University of Chicago, in 1983; they have two daughters, and one son.

In 2011, President Barack Obama, appointed herto the US Cancer advisory board.

Dr. Olopade is also passionate about exploring the genetic factors behind disparities in breast cancer that affect women of African descent.

Continue reading here:

Meet Olufunmilayo Olopade, Nigerias gift to the world

PHOENIX (CBS5) -

Phoenix-based scientists at TGen are beginning to examine whether dogs might hold the key to unlocking the mystery behind childhood autism.

The non-profit genomics organization is raising funds to initiate a study looking at doggie DNA they hope will translate into possible life improving advancements for children suffering from autism.

"Science has been studying the genetics of autism for a very long time," says Matt Huentleman, PhD with TGen.

TGen has had success in the past studying K-9 DNA and getting results translated to help humans.

"This type of breed has a cancer that is similar to the human version," says dog breeder Valana Wells.

Wells breeds Clumber Spaniels, a British hunting dog. Several years ago she submitted the DNA of one of her dogs for a cancer research study. Scientists seek out the DNA from purebred dogs because it is, they say, a hundred times simpler to analyze than human DNA.

In the autism study, researchers are looking to establish a link between obsessive compulsive behavior in certain dog breeds with the autism markers in a human.

"The hope is if we can identify the genes that might be linked to that type of behavior. That type of obsessive compulsive behavior, then that becomes a significant candidate gene for human autism," says Dr. Huentleman.

Researchers share the results of what they find with the dog owners who submit DNA.

Read the original post:

Researchers look to K-9 DNA to identify human autism genes

Hairiness -- allowing adaptation to warmer environments -- was among gains

Roughly 500,000 year ago, the breeding populations that would evolve into humans (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) separated. Neanderthals came to dominate the mountainous, forest terrain of Europe, while humans spread out across the warm grasslands of Africa and the Middle East. But the long estranged relatives would come into contact in an intimate way once more when mankind thrust its way into Europe roughly 80,000 years ago. And by intimate, yes, we mean there was sex. I. Understanding Our Shared Family Secret -- Neanderthal Sex Ever since researcher and entrepreneur J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. became the first human to have his or her genome sequenced in 2007, the race was on to sequence the Neanderthal genome and find what secrets it might hold. Led by led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany and its top ancient-DNA expert, Svante Pbo, the project yielded a draft genome in May 2010, followed by a "finished" Neanderthal genome in March 2013. With the initial 2010 announcement, definitive proof of our ancestors' steamy romance with European Neanderthals was laid bare for the first time. Today researchers are still worker to chronicle that mysterious engagement and what impacts it has on modern human genetics. Harvard Medical School (HMS) geneticist Professor David Reich's lab -- working with collaborators at the Max Planck Institute -- is the latest to offer new insight into this relationship.

It suggests the introduction of some of these Neanderthal mutations was harmful to the ancestors of non-Africans and that these mutations were later removed by the action of natural selection.

Now that we can estimate the probability that a particular genetic variant arose from Neanderthals, we can begin to understand how that inherited DNA affects us. We may also learn more about what Neanderthals themselves were like. [The barren DNA stretches] suggest that when ancient humans met and mixed with Neanderthals, the two species were at the edge of biological incompatibility. It is fascinating that these types of problems could arise over that short a time scale.

The researchers next goals include making tests for the Neanderthal genes identified available to the public, enhancing the hunt for Neanderthal genomes by sequencing other Neanderthals' full gene sequences, and sequencing the DNA of Denisovans (Denisova hominins) -- another close relative of man that bread with early humans in Oceania.

The ongoing research is funded by the Max Planck Institute, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Sources: Nature, Science, Harvard Medical School

Read more:

Neanderthal-Human Breeding Was Hard, But Yielded Benefits

A pair of scientific studies using the latest genetic evidence are seeking to identify the very first man to walk the Earth, the so-called "Adam."

The studies delve into phylogenetics, a forensic hunt through the Xs and Ys of our chromosomes to find the genetic Adam, to borrow the name from the Bible. And Eran Elhaik from the University of Sheffield says he knows exactly when that first man lived.

"We can say with some certainty that modern humans emerged in Africa a little over 200,000 years ago," Elhaik said in a press release. That directly contradicts a March 2013 studyfrom Arizona Research Labs at the University of Arizona, which found that the human Y chromosome (the hereditary factor determining male sex) originated through interbreeding among species and dates back even further than 200 millennia.

"Our analysis indicates this lineage diverged from previously known Y chromosomes about 338,000 years ago, a time when anatomically modern humans had not yet evolved," said Michael Hammer, an associate professor in the University of Arizona's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Elhaik published a paper in the January 2014 issue of the European Journal of Human Genetics on his work; he used the opportunity to take a swipe at Hammer's paper, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

"We have shown that the University of Arizona study lacks any scientific merit," Elhaik claimed. "In fact, their hypothesis creates a sort of 'space-time paradox' whereby the most ancient individual belonging to the Homo sapiens species has not yet been born."

Think of the Michael J. Fox film, Back to the Future. Marty was worried that his parents would not meet and so he would not be born in the future. "It's the same idea," Elhaik said.

Hammer told FoxNews.com he stands by his work.

The paper by Elhaik and colleagues does not present a convincing argument against our paper and unfortunately at times appears to display a lack of technical understanding of the subject area. We are in the process of submitting a rebuttal," he said.

Identifying the very first Y chromosome of a genetic Adam would not mean scientists had located the Biblical figure Adam, explained Werner Arber, the Vaticans top scientist, told FoxNews.com.

See the article here:

'Man'-hunt for 'Adam'

Popped Like a Balloon (The Hidden: Source)
What is The Hidden? In the early 1950s human genetics experimentation was taking its first, tentative steps. Amongst many other black projects, a team of Bri...

By: PinkVanManGang

More:

Popped Like a Balloon (The Hidden: Source) - Video

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise BETHESDA, MD January 29, 2014 The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce its 2014 Award Recipients. The five individuals honored are recognized by their peers for outstanding achievements and contributions to the genetics community.

The 2014 GSA award winners are impressive scientists who collectively have positively influenced the field of genetics in research, in education, and in fostering the genetics community, said GSA President Vicki Chandler, PhD. These awards provide an annual opportunity for the genetics community to recognize those individuals whose superb achievements have advanced the science of genetics. On behalf of GSA, I thank each of the award winners for a lasting contribution to the field.

The award recipients, who will receive their awards at GSA conferences during 2014, are:

Frederick M. Ausubel, PhD (Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital) has been awarded the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal for lifetime contributions to the field of genetics.

Angelika B. Amon, PhD (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute) has been awarded the Genetics Society of America Medal for outstanding contributions to the field of genetics during the past 15 years.

Hugo J. Bellen, DVM, PhD (Baylor College of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute) has been awarded the George W. Beadle Award for outstanding contributions to the community of genetics researchers.

Charles Boone, PhD (University of Toronto) has been awarded the Edward Novitski Prize, which recognizes an extraordinary level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity in solving significant problems in genetics research.

Robin Wright, PhD (University of Minnesota) has been awarded the Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education, which recognizes significant and sustained impact in genetics education.

Read the rest here:

Genetics Society of America Selects Five Geneticists to Receive Society's 2014 Awards

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

29-Jan-2014

Contact: Adam P. Fagen afagen@genetics-gsa.org 301-634-7300 Genetics Society of America

BETHESDA, MD January 29, 2014 The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce its 2014 Award Recipients. The five individuals honored are recognized by their peers for outstanding achievements and contributions to the genetics community.

"The 2014 GSA award winners are impressive scientists who collectively have positively influenced the field of genetics in research, in education, and in fostering the genetics community," said GSA President Vicki Chandler, PhD. "These awards provide an annual opportunity for the genetics community to recognize those individuals whose superb achievements have advanced the science of genetics. On behalf of GSA, I thank each of the award winners for a lasting contribution to the field."

The award recipients, who will receive their awards at GSA conferences during 2014, are:

Frederick M. Ausubel, PhD (Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital) has been awarded the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal for lifetime contributions to the field of genetics.

Angelika B. Amon, PhD (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute) has been awarded the Genetics Society of America Medal for outstanding contributions to the field of genetics during the past 15 years.

Hugo J. Bellen, DVM, PhD (Baylor College of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute) has been awarded the George W. Beadle Award for outstanding contributions to the community of genetics researchers.

Charles Boone, PhD (University of Toronto) has been awarded the Edward Novitski Prize, which recognizes an extraordinary level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity in solving significant problems in genetics research.

Read more here:

Genetics Society of America selects 5 geneticists to receive society's 2014 awards

The amorous unions between modern humans and Neanderthals may have led to sons who weren't much good at fathering children themselves, a new study suggests. The findings hint that hybrid boys were partially infertile or perhaps entirely sterile due to the incompatibility of human and Neanderthal DNA. Bolstering those results, a second new study finds that some of the Neanderthal DNA that entered the human genome as a result of interbreeding seems to have made for more feeble offspring.

But both studies also find evidence that Neanderthals bequeathed useful DNA to humans ?? DNA that seems to have helped Homo sapiens adapt to new locales after they left their homeland in Africa. Whether the interbreeding was a net gain or a net loss for humans may never be determined, say the scientists involved.

"It's impossible to come to a simple conclusion like 'It was beneficial' or 'It was deleterious,' or 'It was not helpful,' " says University of Washington evolutionary geneticist Joshua Akey, an author of one of the new papers. "It was all of those things simultaneously. In different parts of our genome, (mixing) was advantageous. In other parts of our genome, it was not a good thing."

When modern humans moved out of Africa into Eurasia some 100,000 years ago, they found Neanderthals there to greet them. The two groups may have made war, but they certainly also made love. Today's Europeans and East Asians owe 1% to 2% of their DNA to Neanderthals, but the impact of those additions has been unclear.

To find out more, rival teams used different methods to conduct the first systematic surveys for Neanderthal genetic material in the DNA of modern humans. Despite their different techniques, both teams found evidence of Neanderthal DNA in genome regions involved with the production of keratin, a protein in skin and hair - a sign that the Neanderthal DNA was likely to have been beneficial. Perhaps the Neanderthal DNA helped make skin and hair more suitable for the Eurasian climate, or more resistant to the local germs. One set of findings was reported in this week's Nature, the other by Akey and a colleague in this week's Science.

Before modern humans arrived in Eurasia, "Neanderthals were living (there) for hundreds of thousands of years, and so they had genetics that were adapted to the environment," says statistical geneticist Sriram Sankararaman of Harvard Medical School, an author of the Nature paper. "Modern humans were moving into these same areas, and the genes they acquired from Neanderthals could have been beneficial." His group also found Neanderthal DNA in areas of the human genome that affect diseases such as type-2 diabetes, but the researchers can't say exactly how the Neanderthal genetic material affects human health today.

Both teams also found evidence that human-Neanderthal mating wasn't always good for the resulting children. Long stretches of DNA in living humans are devoid of Neanderthal DNA, suggesting it was purged from the human genome because of its negative effects. Perhaps offspring with the Neanderthal DNA were less likely to survive adulthood, or perhaps they were less likely to have children of their own. The Nature study indicates that some Neanderthal DNA, when introduced to the modern-human genome, led to male children with lower fertility.

That's a surprising result, says population geneticist Montgomery Slatkin of the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved with the new research.

"I honestly thought (Neanderthals and modern humans) could interbreed freely, in the same way that different groups of modern humans can interbreed freely," Slatkin says. "And that is evidently not the case."

Instead the results "seem to confirm that Neanderthals and moderns were basically on separate evolutionary trajectories despite a little hanky-panky along the way," Ian Tattersall, curator emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History, says via e-mail.

Read this article:

Neanderthal, human mixing had gene benefits, drawbacks

WASHINGTON Next time you call someone a Neanderthal, better look in a mirror.

Many of the genes that help determine most people's skin and hair are more Neanderthal than not, according to two new studies that look at the DNA fossils hidden in the modern human genome.

About 50,000 years ago, modern day humans migrated out of Africa north to Europe and East Asia and met up with furrow-browed Neanderthals that had been in the colder climates for more than 100,000 years. Some of the two species mated. And then the Neanderthals died off as a species except for what's left inside of us.

Scientists isolated the parts of the non-African modern human genetic blueprint that still contain Neanderthal remnants. Overall, it's barely more than 1 percent, said two studies released Wednesday in the journals Nature and Science.

However, in some places, such as the DNA related to the skin, the genetic instructions are as much as 70 percent Neanderthal and in other places there's virtually nothing from the species that's often portrayed as brutish cavemen.

- University of Washington genome scientist Joshua Akey

The difference between where Neanderthal DNA is plentiful and where it's absent may help scientists understand what in our genome "makes humans human," said University of Washington genome scientist Joshua Akey, lead author of the paper in Science.

Harvard researcher Sriram Sankararaman, the lead author of the Nature study, said the place where Neanderthal DNA seemed to have the most influence in the modern human genome has to do with skin and hair. Akey said those instructions are as much as 70 percent Neanderthal.

"We're more Neanderthal than not in those genes," Akey said.

However, Sankararaman cautions that scientists don't yet know just what the Neanderthal DNA dictates in our skin and hair.

Read more from the original source:

Neanderthal genes are in you

Neanderthals that have been extinct for 28,000 years live on in human DNA, according to research suggesting the genes may help us better survive cold weather and be linked to some present-day diseases.

The Neanderthal genes make up only about 2 percent to 4 percent of the DNA carried by a given human today, according to a paper published in the journal Science. Even so, it may be linked to the development of our hair and skin, as well as to immune disorders such as Type 2 diabetes, the research found.

New DNA techniques are reshaping knowledge of human evolution just as quickly as theyre sparking the development of medical tests and treatments. Thats allowing scientists to peek into history by comparing modern DNA with the Neanderthal genome, recently reconstructed by scientists using material from the toe bone of a female who lived 50,000 years ago.

Were not as beholden to ancient DNA anymore, said Joshua Akey, an associate professor of genome science at the University of Washington in Seattle, and an author of one of the studies. Rather than excavating bones, we can now excavate DNA from modern individuals.

Akeys study identified the skin and hair traits. A second report yesterday by scientists at Harvard Medical School in Boston and the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, found nine links between Neanderthal DNA and previously identified human genes, some of which affect immune function.

The Neanderthal DNA found in the ancient toe bone was reported in the journal Nature in December. That study suggested inbreeding may have been common for Neanderthals, and may have led to their demise. Earlier studies using less complete genetic profiles determined that Neanderthals probably mated with ancient humans as well.

The latest DNA research supports that conclusion and suggests the Neanderthal genes left behind as a result may have aided humans in adapting to non-African environments, Akey said, adding, Whats striking is you can really look at the distribution of Neanderthal DNA across the entire genome.

Both studies published yesterday identified significant areas within the human genome where no Neanderthal genes appear, more than would be anticipated by chance. That suggests some mutations werent passed on, probably because they didnt help survival.

The shared genes that influence hair and skin traits also influence other things, Akey said. Its possible, for instance, that the Neanderthal genes helped alter pigmentation and moisture retention in humans, helping to increase body warmth in colder climates.

The Harvard study found that genes that are most active in the testes and those in the X chromosome have the least Neanderthal influence, compared to other parts of the genome. The pattern may have been a way for the body to naturally overcome infertility among different species.

See more here:

Neanderthal Genes Found in Modern Human DNA, Studies Find

ACS Surgical Health Care Forum Northern California
On January 14, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) hosted its 15th Surgical Health Care Quality Forum at the University of California San Francisco. The e...

By: AmCollegeofSurgeons

Read the original here:

ACS Surgical Health Care Forum Northern California - Video

Obamacare - Health Care On Life Support - Free Market Medicine - The Independents
Obamacare - Health Care On Life Support - Free Market Medicine - The Independents =========================================== **Please Click Below to SUBS...

By: Mass Tea Party

Read the original here:

Obamacare - Health Care On Life Support - Free Market Medicine - The Independents - Video

How Economic Freedom Promotes Better Health Care, Education, and Environmental Quality
Throughout history humans have been trapped in societies ruled by small and powerful elites where they lived in squalor, poverty, and ignoranceoften bound t...

By: The Heritage Foundation

See more here:

How Economic Freedom Promotes Better Health Care, Education, and Environmental Quality - Video

People Overusing the ER for Non-Emergencies
CINCINNATI (Liz Bonis) -- A warning from a team of care providers: they say we have a crisis in area emergency rooms.So much so, they #39;ve launched a new campa...

By: LOCAL 12

Read this article:

People Overusing the ER for Non-Emergencies - Video

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

27-Jan-2014

Contact: Jennifer Burke burkej@kennedykrieger.org 443-923-7329 Kennedy Krieger Institute

Baltimore, Md. (January 27, 2014) Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute recently announced study findings showing the successful development of a humanized preclinical model for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), providing scientists with a much needed tool to accelerate novel therapeutic research and development.

Published in Human Molecular Genetics, the study outlines the validity of a unique model that, for the first time, mirrors the gene expression and biomarker profile of human FSHD tissue. Previously, there has been no accepted preclinical model for FSHD, a complex and rare neuromuscular disorder that affects approximately 4-7 per 100,000 individuals. As a result, therapeutic development for the disorder has been stymied.

"The inability to mimic the FSHD's genetic mechanism in preclinical models has been an ongoing challenge for the research community. Without an accurate model, making the leap to clinical research commonly fails," said Kathryn Wagner MD, PhD, director of the Center for Genetic Muscle Disorders at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, MD. "We believe this unique model will open the door to studying muscle regeneration over time and help better predict clinical response to therapeutic drugs."

Inspired by cancer preclinical models developed with human tumor tissue, Dr. Wagner and her research team leveraged both basic science and clinical research resources available at Kennedy Krieger to successfully regenerate grafted muscle within the models. Human bicep muscle biopsies transplanted into models survived for over 41 weeks and retained features of normal and diseased tissue.

"This model is not only applicable to genetic muscle diseases for which we lack appropriate research models, but for other acquired muscle conditions," said Wagner. "Now there will be more research possibilities related to the overall impact of age and disease on the regenerative and growth capacity of human skeletal muscle."

###

The study was conducted by researchers at multiple institutions, including Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; University of Massachusetts Medical School; Harvard Medical School; University of Maryland School of Nursing; University of Maryland School of Medicine; and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

Originally posted here:

Successful regeneration of human skeletal muscle in mice

Genetic Counselors in a Genome World
Kelly Ormond, M.S., C.G.C. was involved in prenatal genetic counseling; coordinated a population-based carrier screening program for cystic fibrosis and dise...

By: Mayo Clinic

Excerpt from:

Genetic Counselors in a Genome World - Video

According to a new study, published in the European Journal of Human Genetics, the most recent common male ancestor to humans existed 209,000 years ago 9,000 years earlier than scientists had previously thought. The findings place the earliest female ancestor, "Eve," within the same timeframe as her male counterpart.

"We can say with some certainty that modern humans emerged in Africa a little over 200,000 years ago," Eran Elhaik of the University of Sheffield said in a statement.

The latest findings contradict a recent study that suggested Adam was twice as old as Eve on the basis that the Y chromosome originated in a different species through interbreeding. They also debunked a separate study that said the discovery of the Y chromosome predated humanity.

"We have shown that the University of Arizona study lacks any scientific merit. In fact, their hypothesis creates a sort of 'space-time paradox,' whereby the most ancient individual belonging to Homo sapiens species has not yet been born, Elhaik said. "Think of the movie 'Back to the Future,' when Marty was worried that his parents would not meet and as a result he wouldnt be born -- its the same idea.

The latest research used conventional biological models to date the most common male ancestor. The research team calculated the age of the Y chromosome by multiplying data on the average age fathers have their first child with the number of mutations they found. This number was then divided by the mutation rate of the Y chromosome.

Of course, we can manipulate each one of these variables to make a finding look younger or older, Elhaik told The Daily Mail. In our paper, we showed the previous study manipulated all these variables to predate the Y chromosome.

While the study challenges other conclusions, it raises more questions concerning the behavior of ancient humans.

"It is obvious that modern humans did not interbreed with hominins living over 500,000 years ago. It is also clear that there was no single 'Adam' and 'Eve' but rather groups of 'Adams' and 'Eves' living side by side and wandering together in our world, Elhaik said. The question to what extent did our human forbearers interbreed with their closest relatives is one of the hottest questions in anthropology that remains open.

View post:

How Old Is Adam? Scientists Claim Earliest Male Ancestor Emerged 209,000 Years Ago

Lexington, Mass. (PRWEB) January 24, 2014

As published online today in Human Molecular Genetics, support from the FSH Society, a patient-driven nonprofit, has enabled people with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) to donate muscle tissue, which scientists have succeeded in grafting into mice, providing a new tool for conquering this devastating muscle-wasting disease. Among the most common forms of muscular dystrophy, FSHD affects an estimated 500,000 people around the world.

Since the discovery of FSHDs genetic mechanism in 2010, scientists have been forging ahead to find drugs and genetic therapies that could block this mechanism. But there remain major obstacles in the path to a treatment. One of the most significant roadblocks is the lack of a preclinical research model that can be used to study the disease in depth and to evaluate new therapies.

Building an FSHD model has proven to be a substantial challenge. The genetic mechanism of FSHD is extraordinarily complex, with components that do not exist in mice. To overcome this difficulty, a multi-institutional team led by Kathryn Wagner, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Genetic Muscle Disorders at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine decided to transplant human muscle into mice, grafting tissue taken surgically from the biceps of FSHD patients into the leg muscles in living mice.

The grafted muscles received a blood supply and nerve signals from the host mice, which were bred with defective immune systems to prevent rejection of the foreign tissue. The grafts survived for more than 40 weeks, during which time they regenerated. The grafted muscles could contract like normal muscle, and retained the cellular and genetic characteristics of muscle from a human with FSHD.

Most potential novel therapies fail to successfully translate from animals to humans, says Wagner. Growing human tissues in animals (xenografts) has previously led to the successful development of therapies for multiple cancers and now, with this new muscle xenograft model, we are hopeful that new therapies for muscular dystrophy will emerge.

The studys authors thanked the FSH Society for its invaluable help recruiting FSHD patients to participate in the research. The disease is inherited, though it can be caused by a spontaneous mutation, and strikes young and old, both male and female. It melts away skeletal muscle, with symptoms usually noticeable by young adulthood. It is progressive, chronic and there is no cure or treatment. The name comes from the areas of the body where it often is first seen the face, shoulders and upper arms but it weakens muscles throughout the body. About one third of patients end up in a wheelchair.

Study co-authors came from the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Maryland; University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts; Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; University of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore; University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; and Childrens National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. This work was also made possible by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) a component of the NIH, and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research.

Reference: Yuanfan Zhang, Oliver D. King, Fedik Rahimov, Takako I. Jones, Christopher W. Ward, Jaclyn P. Kerr, Naili Liu, Charles P. Emerson, Jr., Louis M. Kunkel, Terence A. Partridge, Kathryn R. Wagner. Human skeletal muscle xenograft as a new preclinical model for muscle disorders. Human Molecular Genetics.

Continued here:

Human Muscle Growing in Mice Provides a New Research Tool for FSH Muscular Dystrophy