Public release date: 11-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kenneth Krauter krauter@colorado.edu 303-492-6693 University of Colorado at Boulder

A new long-term study of human twins by University of Colorado Boulder researchers indicates the makeup of the population of bacteria bathing in their saliva is driven more by environmental factors than heritability.

The study compares saliva samples from identical and fraternal twins to see how much "bacterial communities" in saliva vary from mouth to mouth at different points in time, said study leader and CU-Boulder Professor Kenneth Krauter. The twin studies show that the environment, rather than a person's genetic background, is more important in determining the types of microbes that live in the mouth.

For the new study, doctoral student Simone Stahringer sequenced the microbial DNA present in the saliva samples of twins. She and the research team then determined the microbes' identities through comparison with a microbe sequence database. Saliva samples were gathered from twins over the course of a decade beginning in adolescence to see how salivary microbes change with time.

After determining the oral "microbiomes" of identical twins, who share the same environment and genes, and the microbiomes of fraternal twins who share only half their genes, the researchers found the salivary microbes of the identical twins were not significantly more similar to each other than to those of fraternal twins. "We concluded the human genome does not significantly affect which bacteria are living in a person's mouth," said Krauter of CU-Boulder's molecular, cellular and developmental biology department. "It appears to be more of an environmental effect."

Krauter said while the twin data from the oral microbiome study indicates that genetics plays a more minor role, it's possible the genes still affect the oral microbiome in more subtle ways -- an effect he plans to further explore.

A paper on the subject was published online Oct. 12 in the journal Genome Research. Other co-authors included doctoral student William Walters of MCD Biology, Jose Clemente and Rob Knight of the chemistry and biochemistry department, Robin Corley and John Hewitt of the Institute for Behavioral Genetics and Dan Knights, a former doctoral student in the computer science department.

The researchers also found that the salivary microbiome changed the most during early adolescence, between the ages of 12 and 17. This discovery suggests that hormones or lifestyle changes at this age might be important, according to the team.

Stahringer said that when several pairs of identical twins moved out of their homes and, for example, went off to college, the oral microbes they carried changed, which is consistent with the idea that the environment contributes to the types of microbes in the saliva. "We were intrigued to see that the microbiota of twin pairs became less similar once they moved apart from each other," Stahringer said.

Go here to see the original:

Nurture trumps nature in study of oral bacteria in human twins, says CU study

ScienceDaily (Oct. 11, 2012) A new long-term study of human twins by University of Colorado Boulder researchers indicates the makeup of the population of bacteria bathing in their saliva is driven more by environmental factors than heritability.

The study compares saliva samples from identical and fraternal twins to see how much "bacterial communities" in saliva vary from mouth to mouth at different points in time, said study leader and CU-Boulder Professor Kenneth Krauter. The twin studies show that the environment, rather than a person's genetic background, is more important in determining the types of microbes that live in the mouth.

For the new study, doctoral student Simone Stahringer sequenced the microbial DNA present in the saliva samples of twins. She and the research team then determined the microbes' identities through comparison with a microbe sequence database. Saliva samples were gathered from twins over the course of a decade beginning in adolescence to see how salivary microbes change with time.

After determining the oral "microbiomes" of identical twins, who share the same environment and genes, and the microbiomes of fraternal twins who share only half their genes, the researchers found the salivary microbes of the identical twins were not significantly more similar to each other than to those of fraternal twins. "We concluded the human genome does not significantly affect which bacteria are living in a person's mouth," said Krauter of CU-Boulder's molecular, cellular and developmental biology department. "It appears to be more of an environmental effect."

Krauter said while the twin data from the oral microbiome study indicates that genetics plays a more minor role, it's possible the genes still affect the oral microbiome in more subtle ways -- an effect he plans to further explore.

A paper on the subject was published online Oct. 12 in the journal Genome Research. Other co-authors included doctoral student William Walters of MCD Biology, Jose Clemente and Rob Knight of the chemistry and biochemistry department, Robin Corley and John Hewitt of the Institute for Behavioral Genetics and Dan Knights, a former doctoral student in the computer science department.

The researchers also found that the salivary microbiome changed the most during early adolescence, between the ages of 12 and 17. This discovery suggests that hormones or lifestyle changes at this age might be important, according to the team.

Stahringer said that when several pairs of identical twins moved out of their homes and, for example, went off to college, the oral microbes they carried changed, which is consistent with the idea that the environment contributes to the types of microbes in the saliva. "We were intrigued to see that the microbiota of twin pairs became less similar once they moved apart from each other," Stahringer said.

Krauter said there appears to be a core community of oral bacteria that is present in nearly all humans studied. "Though there are definitely differences among different people, there is a relatively high degree of sharing similar microbial species in all human mouths," he said.

The authors say the new study has established a framework for future studies of the factors that influence oral microbial communities. "With broad knowledge of the organisms we expect to find in mouths, we can now better understand how oral hygiene and environmental exposure to substances like alcohol, methamphetamines and even foods we eat affect the balance of microbes," said Krauter.

Read the original here:

Nurture trumps nature in study of oral bacteria in human twins, study finds

Genoeconomists' use of population-genetic data to predict economic success is sparking a war of words, including charges of racism

By Ewen Callaway and Nature magazine

The United States has the right amount of genetic diversity to buoy its economy, claim economists. Image: D. ACKER/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY

Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...

Read More

From Nature magazine

The invalid assumption that correlation implies cause is probably among the two or three most serious and common errors of human reasoning. Evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould was referring to purported links between genetics and an individuals intelligence when he made this familiar complaint in his 1981 book The Mismeasure of Man.

Fast-forward three decades, and leading geneticists and anthropologists are levelling a similar charge at economics researchers who claim that a countrys genetic diversity can predict the success of its economy. To critics, the economists paper seems to suggest that a countrys poverty could be the result of its citizens genetic make-up, and the paper is attracting charges of genetic determinism, and even racism. But the economists say that they have been misunderstood, and are merely using genetics as a proxy for other factors that can drive an economy, such as history and culture. The debate holds cautionary lessons for a nascent field that blends genetics with economics, sometimes called genoeconomics. The work could have real-world pay-offs, such as helping policy-makers to set the right level of immigration to boost the economy, says Enrico Spolaore, an economist at Tufts University near Boston, Massachusetts, who has also used global genetic-diversity data in his research.

But the economists at the forefront of this field clearly need to be prepared for harsh scrutiny of their techniques and conclusions. At the centre of the storm is a 107-page paper by Oded Galor of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and Quamrul Ashraf of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It has been peer-reviewed by economists and biologists, and will soon appear in American Economic Review, one of the most prestigious economics journals.

The paper argues that there are strong links between estimates of genetic diversity for 145 countries and per-capita incomes, even after accounting for myriad factors such as economic-based migration. High genetic diversity in a countrys population is linked with greater innovation, the paper says, because diverse populations have a greater range of cognitive abilities and styles. By contrast, low genetic diversity tends to produce societies with greater interpersonal trust, because there are fewer differences between populations. Countries with intermediate levels of diversity, such as the United States, balance these factors and have the most productive economies as a result, the economists conclude.

Continued here:

Claim that Links Economic Success and Genetic Diversity Draws Criticism

The United States has the right amount of genetic diversity to buoy its economy, claim economists.

D. ACKER/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY

The invalid assumption that correlation implies cause is probably among the two or three most serious and common errors of human reasoning. Evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould was referring to purported links between genetics and an individuals intelligence when he made this familiar complaint in his 1981 book The Mismeasure of Man.

Fast-forward three decades, and leading geneticists and anthropologists are levelling a similar charge at economics researchers who claim that a countrys genetic diversity can predict the success of its economy. To critics, the economists paperseems to suggest that a countrys poverty could be the result of its citizens genetic make-up, and the paper is attracting charges of genetic determinism, and even racism. But the economists say that they have been misunderstood, and are merely using genetics as a proxy for other factors that can drive an economy, such as history and culture. The debate holds cautionary lessons for a nascent field that blends genetics with economics, sometimes called genoeconomics. The work could have real-world pay-offs, such as helping policy-makers to set the right level of immigration to boost the economy, says Enrico Spolaore, an economist at Tufts University near Boston, Massachusetts, who has also used global genetic-diversity data in his research.

But the economists at the forefront of this field clearly need to be prepared for harsh scrutiny of their techniques and conclusions. At the centre of the storm is a 107-page paper by Oded Galor of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and Quamrul Ashraf of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts1. It has been peer-reviewed by economists and biologists, and will soon appear in American Economic Review, one of the most prestigious economics journals.

The paper argues that there are strong links between estimates of genetic diversity for 145countries and per-capita incomes, even after accounting for myriad factors such as economic-based migration. High genetic diversity in a countrys population is linked with greater innovation, the paper says, because diverse populations have a greater range of cognitive abilities and styles. By contrast, low genetic diversity tends to produce societies with greater interpersonal trust, because there are fewer differences between populations. Countries with intermediate levels of diversity, such as the United States, balance these factors and have the most productive economies as a result, the economists conclude.

The manuscript had been circulating on the Internet for more than two years, garnering little attention outside economics until last month, when Science published a summary of the paper in its section on new research in other journals. This sparked a sharp response from a long list of prominent scientists, including geneticist David Reich of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and Harvard University palaeoanthropologist Daniel Lieberman in Cambridge.

In an open letter, the group said that it is worried about the political implications of the economists work: the suggestion that an ideal level of genetic variation could foster economic growth and could even be engineered has the potential to be misused with frightening consequences to justify indefensible practices such as ethnic cleansing or genocide, it said.

Our study is not about a nature or nurture debate.

The critics add that the economists made blunders such as treating the genetic diversity of different countries as independent data, when they are intrinsically linked by human migration and shared history. Its a misuse of data, says Reich, which undermines the papers main conclusions. The populations of East Asian countries share a common genetic history, and cultural practicesbut the former is not necessarily responsible for the latter. Such haphazard methods and erroneous assumptions of statistical independence could equally find a genetic cause for the use of chopsticks, the critics wrote.

View post:

Economics and genetics meet in uneasy union

In a groundbreaking study hailed as a roadmap for new targeted treatments, Professor Charles Perou and his colleagues collected DNA and tumor samples from 825 breast cancer patients for the first comprehensive look at the underlying genetics behind the deadly disease.

The researchers conducted an exhaustive examination of all 20,000 or so genes in the human body for each sample. They were looking for patterns of genetic mutations that promote the tumors and can potentially be counteracted with new or even existing drugs.

Its a mountain of data, but Perou never forgets those samples came from real human beings grappling with a terrifying diagnosis.

Its what drives him.

Dozens of those women will likely die of the disease. Some surely already have in just the few years since the samples were collected.

I think about that all the time. Personally, its a huge motivation for me. These studies are dealing with real human beings and every death is a tragedy, said Perou, a professor of genetics at the University of North Carolina and the lead author on the study which was published in the journal Nature and is part of a large federal project, the Cancer Genome Atlas, looking at genetic mutations associated with various types of cancer.

Perou said the term genetics can be confusing. Whats at issue is not the so-called breast cancer genes, by which a person inherits a susceptibility to breast cancer. About 10 percent of women with breast cancer fall into that category.

We are talking about the other 90 percent of women who are presumably born with no particular tendency to develop the disease. For those women, one in eight will develop breast cancer and seven in eight will not.

In all those cases, there are genetic mutations that cause the disease, Perou said.

The genome study does not address the vital but murky question of what causes those mutations.

Read more from the original source:

Outsmarting breast cancer

An international team led by investigators at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, the US Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute, and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics presents results from a genome sequencing study of the button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, in the early, online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The team generated draft genome sequences for two A. bisporus representatives a cultivated European strain from the A. bisporus variety bisporus and a California strain from the burnetti variety that makes it home in the leaf litter around woody plants. By folding in transcriptome data for different mushroom developmental stages and for mushrooms grown on different substrates, the group uncovered clues about the fungal adaptations that the mushroom uses for growth in humic acid-rich environments, including genes coding for enzymes involved in the decomposition of leaves and other plant materials.

Adult stress levels and socio-economic status during childhood appear to influence some DNA methylation differences that exist between individuals within a community, according to a study by researchers at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and Stanford University. The researchers performed array-based DNA methylation profiling on peripheral mononuclear white blood cells from 92 individuals between the ages of 24 and 45 from a community in and around Vancouver, Canada. When they looked at how methylation patterns at the promoters of nearly 14,500 human genes corresponded to individuals' gene expression profiles, blood composition, early-life socio-economic status and so on, the researchers found several factors that seemed to coincide with inter-individual methylation differences. These included the proportion of different white blood cell types present in the individuals' sample, their stress hormone output sex, age, and ethnicity as well as experiences such as childhood poverty and stress during adulthood. Even so, the DNA methylation differences detected often did not coincide with gene expression shifts at nearby genes, the researchers reported, "suggesting a more complex relationship than anticipated."

Another PNAS study looks at the bacterioplankton communities present in ocean samples collected in the Antarctic and the Arctic. By sequencing the V6 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, Desert Research Institute investigators Alison Murray and colleagues from several centers around the world catalogued the bacteria found in surface or deep water bacterioplankton communities in the Southern and Arctic Oceans. The researchers then looked at how deep-water and shallow-water communities in the 20 Southern Ocean samples and the 24 Arctic Ocean samples tested compared with one another and with four-dozen samples collected at lower latitude ocean sites. "Our results suggest differences in environmental conditions at the poles and different selection mechanisms controlling surface and deep ocean community structure and diversity," the study's authors say. "Surface bacterioplankton may be subjected to more short-term variable conditions, whereas deep communities appear to be structured by longer water-mass residence times and connectivity through ocean circulation."

The rest is here:

This Week in PNAS

BRUSSELS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Delphi Genetics SA (Delphi) has announced today a broad licensing agreement with a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, for the use of the StabyExpress technology, which allows high yield, cost effective protein expression without the use of antibiotics.

Under the agreement, Merck receives a non-exclusive license to use the StabyExpress technology for protein expression in research and product development. In exchange, Delphi is eligible to receive milestone payments associated with the development of Merck product candidates that utilize the StabyExpress technology, as well as royalties on sales of such products. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Cdric Szpirer PhD, Delphi Genetics Founder and CEO, explained: This is Delphi's first broad-based licensing agreement that covers potential use of the StabyExpress technology for protein based product in the areas of human and animal health.

Guy Hlin, CBO, added: This is the third licensing agreement that we have announced with a world leading healthcare company. The non-exclusive nature of this agreement enables us to consider similar collaborations with other strategic partners, including partners in other fields than biopharma production.

Delphi also has licensing agreements with Sanofi-Pasteur, announced in June 2009, and with GSK, announced in September 2010.

About StabyExpress

StabyExpress technology can be applied to any industrial protein production process that involves bacterial fermentation. Biopharmaceutical production represents a rapidly growing market and its share of the overall medication market today is estimated at 15%. Moreover, the technology is consistent with the recommendations of the FDA and the EMA with regard to the elimination of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in protein production processes for both human and veterinary uses. Currently, Antibiotic Resistance Genes are used as selection markers for the design of the majority of the genetic systems enabling protein production. The technology is also usable to produce DNA vaccines in order to avoid completely the use of antibiotics resistance genes from DNA cloning to DNA production.

About Delphi Genetics SA

Founded at the end of 2001, Delphi Genetics develops more effective products and technologies for genetic engineering and for protein expression in bacteria by using its unique expertise in the field of plasmid stabilisation systems. Delphi Genetics patented StabyExpress technology increases the recombinant protein production output without the use of antibiotics, which is the traditional approach. In January 2012, together with academic and Biotech key-players, Delphi Genetics announced its participation in a research project during the next 3 years for the development of DNA vaccines using the technology. Other research projects are under way to adapt the technology to mammalian cells and yeast.

Visit link:

Delphi Genetics Grants Merck License for the Use of the StabyExpress™ System

ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2012) An African mosquito species with a deadly capacity to transmit malaria has a perplexing evolutionary history, according to discovery by researchers at the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech.

Closely related African mosquito species originated the ability to transmit human malaria multiple times during their recent evolution, according to a study published this week in PLoS Pathogens by Igor Sharakhov, an associate professor of entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Maryam Kamali of Tehran, Iran, a Ph.D. student in the department of entomology. The discovery could have implications for malaria control by enabling researchers to detect and target specific genetic changes associated with the capacity to transmit a parasite.

Malaria causes as many as 907,000 deaths each year, mostly among children in sub-Saharan Africa. Anopheles mosquitoes, which bite mainly between dusk and dawn, transmit human malaria by spreading Plasmodium parasites that multiply in the human liver and infect red blood cells. But of the more than 400 species of mosquito belonging to the Anopheles genus, only about 20 are effective vectors of human malaria, according to the World Health Organization.

The most dangerous of these is the Anopheles gambiae mosquito species, one of seven in the Anopheles gambiae complex, which was thought to have recently evolved the ability to transmit malaria. However, Virginia Tech scientists' discoveries suggest that this species is actually genetically linked to an older, ancestral lineage.

Scientists used chromosomal analysis to compare gene arrangements for mosquitoes both inside and outside the Anopheles gambiae family to trace the evolutionary connections.

"The outside species served as a reference group for understanding the evolutionary relationship among Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes," Kamali said. "Our goal was to determine how different species arose in the Anopheles gambiae complex, as they all look identical, but have different behaviors and capacities to transmit human malaria."

When resolving the Anopheles gambiae evolutionary history, the scientists identified breaks in DNA that lead to new chromosomal arrangements, and used these rearrangements to demonstrate the repeated evolution of the ability to transmit a parasite, in a back-and-forth fashion.

"This curious stop-and-go flexibility could help us to better understand the nature of the mosquito's capacity to transmit malaria, and calls into question what is driving the genetic flexibility," Sharakhov said.

The discovery is innovative in the field of genetics research.

"The surprising aspect of the paper is the proposal of an ancestral and relatively ancient 2La polymorphism which arose in a hypothetical ancestor and has been maintained in Anopheles gambiae ever since," said Nora Besansky, the Rev. John Cardinal O'Hara C.S.C. professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, who was not involved in the study. "If confirmed, this would certainly lend novel insight into the evolutionary dynamics of chromosomal inversions in general, not only in mosquitoes."

See the original post here:

Mosquito genetics may offer clues to control malaria, researchers say

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/jtwtps/human_genes_and) has announced the addition of Elsevier Science and Technology's new book "Human Genes and Genomes. Science, Health, Society" to their offering.

In the nearly 60 years since Watson and Crick proposed the double helical structure of DNA, the molecule of heredity, waves of discoveries have made genetics the most thrilling field in the sciences. The study of genes and genomics today explores all aspects of the life with relevance in the lab, in the doctor's office, in the courtroom and even in social relationships. In this helpful guidebook, one ofthe most respected and accomplished human geneticists of our time communicates the importance of genes and genomics studies in all aspects of life. With the use of core concepts and the integration of extensive references, this book provides students and professionals alike with the most in-depth view of the current state of the science and its relevance across disciplines.

- Bridges the gap between basic human genetic understanding and one of the most promising avenues for advances in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of human disease.

- Includes the latest information on diagnostic testing, population screening, predicting disease susceptibility, pharmacogenomics and more

- Explores ethical, legal, regulatory and economic aspects of genomics in medicine.

- Integrates historical (classical) genetics approach with the latest discoveries in structural and functional genomics

Key Topics Covered:

Foreword

Framing the Field

Original post:

Research and Markets: Human Genes and Genomes. Science, Health, Society Provides Students and Professionals Alike With ...

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, October 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

ORF Genetics announced today that the company has added endotoxin- and animal-free human Fibroblast Growth Factor Basic (FGF basic) and mouse Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (mouse LIF) to its portfolio of growth factors for stem cell research.

Most growth factors applied in stem cell research today are made in E. coli bacteria, which produce endotoxins that can have adverse effect on stem cell cultures. Other manufacturers of growth factors have various methods to remove these endotoxins, but traces inevitably remain, which can lead to increased death rate of cells and other suboptimal effects in cell cultures. Other growth factors on the market today are made by animal cells. However, most stem cell researchers prefer to use growth factors of non-animal origin to exclude risks of viral contamination and the inclusion of growth factor homologs.

This has led to a market demand for alternative sources of animal-free growth factors, void of endotoxins. ORF Genetics' unique growth factors are produced in the seeds of the barley plant, which does not produce any endotoxins or other substances toxic to mammalian cells.

FGF basic and mouse LIF are key growth factors for the cultivation of their respective stem cells, i.e. FGF basic for human stem cells and mouse LIF for mouse stem cells. Each protein is used to expand the stem cells' populations before researchers make them differentiate into various cell types, such as heart, liver or neural cells.

"ORF Genetics has built a reputation for offering the first plant-made, endotoxin-free and animal-free growth factor portfolio for stem cell researchers. As we are producing these growth factors in our novel plant expression system ORFEUS, we are very happy to be able to offer these high quality growth factors at more efficient prices than market leaders," said Bjrn rvar, CEO of ORF Genetics.

ORF Genetics is a world leader of plant made growth factors and offers a portfolio of endotoxin- and animal-free growth factors for human stem cell research. The company's production takes place in a biorisk-free production system in barley, bypassing conventional bacteria and animal cell production systems. The cultivation of barley takes place in greenhouses in inert volcanic pumice, using renewable geothermal energy.

For more information please contact:

Dr. Hakon Birgisson, Director of Global Market Development Tel: +354-821-1585 email:hakon.birgisson@orfgenetics.com

Follow this link:

ORF Genetics to Offer endotoxin- and Animal-free FGFb and mLIF for Stem Cell Research

October 3, 2012

April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Your intelligence like almost all other traits is a gift from your parents, at least in part. Scientists have known for a long time that intelligence is at least partially inherited through genetics. According to psychological scientist Christopher Chabris, however, it may be some time before researchers can identify the specific genetic roots of intelligence.

A new study from Union College shows that the genes long thought to be linked to intellectual prowess actually appear to have no bearing on ones IQ, complicating scientific endeavors to get to the root of the genetics of intelligence.

An international team of researchers including Harvard economist David Laibson used large data sets that included both intelligence testing and genetic data to examine a dozen genes. In almost every case, the team found that IQ could not be linked to the specific genes that were tested.

In all of our tests we only found one gene that appeared to be associated with intelligence, and it was a very small effect. This does not mean intelligence does not have a genetic component. It means its a lot harder to find the particular genes, or the particular genetic variants, that influence the differences in intelligence, said Chabris. The results of this new study were published online in the journal Psychological Science.

Previous studies of identical and fraternal twins informed and bolstered the notion that intelligence is a heritable trait. This new research validates that conclusion, yet the exact parameters of the genetics of intelligence remain a mystery. The team asserts that the older studies, which picked out specific genes, had flaws because of the technological limits of the time. Those limits prevented researchers from probing more than a few locations in the human genome to find genes that affected intelligence.

We want to emphasize that we are not saying the people who did earlier research in this area were foolish or wrong, Chabris said. They were using the best technology and information they had available. At the time, it was believed that individual genes would have a much larger effect they were expecting to find genes that might each account for several IQ points.

The team says that much more research is needed to determine the exact role that genes play in intelligence.

As is the case with other traits, like height, there are probably thousands of genes and their variants that are associated with intelligence, he said. And there may be other genetic effects beyond the single gene effects. There could be interactions among genes, or interactions between genes and the environment. Our results show that the way researchers have been looking for genes that may be related to intelligence the candidate gene method is fairly likely to result in false positives, so other methods should be used.

See the original post:

Study Says Genetics Of Intelligence Remains A Riddle, For Now

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 3, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (MYGN) today announced that, in support of National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) Week and National Previvor Day, it has launched an online quiz to help people assess their risk for hereditary cancers. The Hereditary Cancer Quiz is available online at http://www.hereditarycancerquiz.com. In addition, the company is providing financial support toward educational and awareness initiatives to three advocacy organizations-Bright Pink, the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC) and Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC).

HBOC Week marks the transition between National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and was established by U.S. Congressional resolution in 2010 to raise awareness about hereditary cancer. National Previvor Day raises awareness for those individuals who have a known gene mutation or a strong family history of cancer but have not yet developed cancer.

"Understanding their risk for hereditary cancers, such as breast and ovarian cancer, is critical to helping patients make informed decisions about treatment and prevention. Our hereditary cancer risk quiz empowers patients to understand their family history and provides a framework for an informative discussion with a healthcare professional," said Mark Capone, President, Myriad Genetic Laboratories. "In addition, organizations such as Bright Pink, NOCC and Living Beyond Breast Cancer offer hereditary cancer patients and their families vital support and information in their fight against these diseases, and we are proud to support their efforts."

"Funding from Myriad and our other partner companies assists our organization in offering better and more valuable resources to hereditary cancer patients and their families," said David Barley, Chief Executive Officer, National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. "We are proud to work with Myriad, as they play a major role in the understanding and diagnosis of a person's hereditary risk for cancer."

About Hereditary Cancer

Hereditary cancers, also called inherited cancers, are those caused by genetic mutations that are passed from parent to child. These mutations predispose people to developing a particular type of cancer. Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most common cause of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers and can lead to male breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer and others. Women with a BRCA mutation are five times more likely to develop breast cancer than those without the mutation and more than ten times as likely to develop ovarian cancer1. Approximately 7%2 of breast cancer and approximately 14% 3,4,5 of invasive ovarian cancer result from inherited gene mutations.

DNA testing for BRCA mutations is done through a blood or saliva test and can indicate whether a person carries a BRCA gene mutation. Testing is recommended for people with certain personal and/or family history pattern, including:

Myriad Genetics is a pioneer in hereditary cancer testing and offers tests for a variety of hereditary cancer syndromes, including BRACAnalysis(R), which detects mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. This test has become the standard of care in identification of individuals with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Nearly one million patients have benefited from Myriad's hereditary cancer testing.

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics is a leading molecular diagnostic company dedicated to making a difference in patients' lives through the discovery and commercialization of transformative tests to assess a person's risk of developing disease, guide treatment decisions and assess risk of disease progression and recurrence. Myriad's portfolio of molecular diagnostic tests are based on an understanding of the role genes play in human disease and were developed with a commitment to improving an individual's decision making process for monitoring and treating disease. Myriad is focused on strategic directives to introduce new products, including companion diagnostics, as well as expanding internationally. For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company's website: http://www.myriad.com

Excerpt from:

Myriad Genetics Sponsors Cancer Awareness Initiatives in Support of National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week

Newswise Bethesda, MDOctober 1, 2012 Listed below are the selected highlights for the October 2012 issue of the Genetics Society of Americas journal, GENETICS. The October issue is available online at http://www.genetics.org/content/current. Please credit GENETICS, Vol. 192, October 2012, Copyright 2012.

Please feel free to forward to colleagues who may be interested in these articles.

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS

Energy-dependent modulation of glucagon-like signaling in Drosophila via the AMP-activated protein kinase, pp. 457466 Jason T. Braco, Emily L. Gillespie, Gregory E. Alberto, Jay E. Brenman, and Erik C. Johnson How organisms maintain energetic homeostasis is unclear. These authors show that the actions of a known cellular sensor of energythe AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)cause release of a glucagon-like hormone in Drosophila. They further show that AMPK regulates secretion of adipokinetic hormone. This suggests new roles and targets for AMPK and suggests metabolic networks are organized similarly throughout Metazoa.

The relation of codon bias to tissue-specific gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana, pp. 641649 Salvatore Camiolo, Lorenzo Farina, and Andrea Porceddu This article reports systematic differences in usage of synonymous codons in Arabidopsis thaliana genes whose expression is tissue specific. The authors propose that codon bias evolves as an adaptive response to the different abundances of tRNAs in different tissues. Integrity and function of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae spindle pole body depends on connections between the membrane proteins Ndc1, Rtn1, and Yop1, pp. 441455 Amanda K. Casey, T. Renee Dawson, Jingjing Chen, Jennifer M. Friederichs, Sue L. Jaspersen, and Susan R. Wente Budding yeast face an unusual challenge during cell division: they must segregate their chromosomes while the nuclear envelope remains intact. Consequently, mitosis begins with insertion of the duplicated spindle pole body (a.k.a. centrosome) into the nuclear envelope, a process that parallels the generation of new nuclear pore complexes. These authors report data that suggest new mechanisms for linking nuclear division and transport.

Cellular memory of acquired stress resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, pp. 495505 Qiaoning Guan, Suraiya Haroon, Diego Gonzlez Bravo, Jessica L. Will, and Audrey P. Gasch Cells can retain memory of prior experiences that influence future behaviors. Here, the authors show that budding yeast retains a multifaceted memory of prior stress treatment. Cells pretreated with salt retain peroxide tolerance for several generations after removal of the initial stressor. This is due to long-lived catalase, produced during salt treatment and distributed to daughter cells. These cells also display transcriptional memory dependent on the nuclear pore subunit Nup42 that functions to promote reacquisition of stress tolerance in future stress cycles.

Genomic variation in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster, pp. 533598 Charles H. Langley, Kristian Stevens, Charis Cardeno, Yuh Chwen G. Lee, Daniel R. Schrider, John E. Pool, Sasha A. Langley, Charlyn Suarez, Russell B. Corbett-Detig, Bryan Kolaczkowski, Shu Fang, Phillip M. Nista, Alisha K. Holloway, Andrew D. Kern, Colin N. Dewey, Yun S. Song, Matthew W. Hahn, and David J. Begun This article greatly extends studies of population genetic variation in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster, which have played an important role in the development of evolutionary theory. The authors describe genome sequences of 43 individuals taken from two natural populations of D. melanogaster. The genetic polymorphism, divergence, and copy-number variation revealed in these data are presented at several scales, providing unprecedented insight into forces shaping genome polymorphism and divergence.

Estimating allele age and selection coefficient from time-serial data, pp. 599607 Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, Orestis Malaspinas, Steven N. Evans, and Montgomery Slatkin The relative importance of the four fundamental processes driving evolutiongenetic drift, natural selection, migration, and mutationremains undetermined. These authors propose a new approach to estimate the selection coefficient and the allele age of time serial data. They apply their methodology to ancient sequences of a horse coat color gene and demonstrate that the causative allele existed as a rare segregating variant prior to domestication. This illuminates the debate on the relative importance of new vs. standing variation in adaptation and domestication. DNA replication origin function is promoted by H3K4 di-methylation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, pp. 371384 Lindsay F. Rizzardi, Elizabeth S. Dorn, Brian D. Strahl, and Jeanette Gowen Cook What defines a DNA replication origin? It is becoming increasingly apparent that post-translational modifications of nucleosomes near replication origins help mark them and control their activity. The genetic analysis presented in this article implicates di-methylated histone H3 lysine 4 (stimulated by histone H2B monoubiquitination) as part of the definition of active replication origins. Since these histone modifications are highly conserved, these findings are relevant to genome organization in other eukaryotes.

Comparative oncogenomics implicates the Neurofibromin 1 gene (NF1) as a breast cancer driver, pp. 385396 Marsha D. Wallace, Adam D. Pfefferle, Lishuang Shen, Adrian J. McNairn, Ethan G. Cerami, Barbara L. Fallon, Vera D. Rinaldi, Teresa L. Southard, Charles M. Perou, and John C. Schimenti This study of a mouse model of genomic instability indicates that NF1 (Neurofibromin 1) deficiency can drive breast cancer. ~ 63,000 people in the United States annually will develop breast cancer with an NF1 deficiency. Together with evidence that NF1 depletion confers resistance of human breast cancer cells to tamoxifen, these findings suggest therapeutic strategies for patients with NF1-deleted tumors.

ABOUT GENETICS: Since 1916, GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org/) has covered high quality, original research on a range of topics bearing on inheritance, including population and evolutionary genetics, complex traits, developmental and behavioral genetics, cellular genetics, gene expression, genome integrity and transmission, and genome and systems biology. GENETICS, a peer-reviewed, peer-edited journal of the Genetics Society of America is one of the world's most cited journals in genetics and heredity.

Read the original post:

GENETICS Journal Highlights for October 2012

BAR HARBOR Edison Liu, M.D. has filled top leadership positions across the globe while gaining encyclopedic knowledge of cancer pathology, human genetics and medical science. But one year into his term as president and CEO of the Jackson Laboratory, Dr. Liu has become known for something decidedly artistic; the good doctor is actually one heck of a piano player.

Music runs strong through Dr. Lius life, from his childhood in California, through his recent, decade-long stint as the founding executive director of the Genome Institute of Singapore. It didnt take long for others at the lab to take notice of his skills. A monthly pick-up session in Roscoes, the labs cafeteria, soon developed, with Dr. Liu taking the lead on the house piano.

Theres only one prerequisite to play, Dr. Liu told the Islander in a wide-ranging interview this week, and that is an adherence to what he calls sincere art. In other words, you may not be very good, but you have to be very sincere.

When filtered through Dr. Lius impressive intellect, those monthly jam sessions resonate with meaning. Music, he said, provides alternative communication pathways, ones that are able to break through much of the stalemate that can develop out of modern life. Musical sincerityis the closest thing to truth that I know of, he said.

There is a different etiquette, an opening of different portals into the heart, Dr. Liu said. And the more pathways we have into each others souls, the closer community we have.

A search for those pathways defines Dr. Lius leadership style and traces the arc of his career. From the time he was five years old, he wanted to be a physician, just as his parents were. But just as music, and the great literature that Dr. Liu also loves, tells a sometimes unexpected story, so, too, has Dr. Lius path in life.

Original post:

Jackson Lab CEO Leads From Heart

Eric Vilain, professor of human genetics, pediatrics and urology and director of the Institute for Society and Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles, will deliver a lecture titled, “Born This Way: Biological Tales of Sexual Orientation” at 4 p.m. today in Wells Hall room 115B at Michigan State University.

Here is the original post:

MSU lecture series to explore biology of sexuality

06-09-2012 04:00 ENCODE, the Encyclopaedia of DNA Elements, is the most ambitious human genetics project to date. It takes the 3 billion letters described by the Human Genome Project in 2000, and tries to explain them. Remarkably, ENCODE scientists have managed to assign a biochemical function to 80% of the genome, including the genes and the parts of the genome that tell those genes what to do. This information is helping us understand how genomes are interpreted to make different types of cells and different people -- and crucially, how mistakes can lead to disease. In this video, ENCODE's lead coordinator, Ewan Birney, and Nature editor Magdalena Skipper talk about the challenges of managing this colossal project and what we've learnt about our genomes. To read the research papers and more, visit

More here:

ENCODE: Encyclopedia Of DNA Elements - Video

Newswise Bethesda, MD -- (September 6, 2012) Mary Gehring, Ph.D., of the Whitehead Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Valerie Horsley, Ph.D., of Yale University are the 2013 recipients of the Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Awards funded by The Gruber Foundation and administered by the Genetics Society of America (GSA) and the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG). Dr. Gehring received the award for her research in imprinting and epigenetic regulation in Arabidopsis, and Dr. Horsley for her studies of the epithelial stem cell niche delineated by mouse genetic models. Each of the recipients will receive a $75,000 (USD) award administered over three years ($25,000 per year).

The recipients were selected from among early career female applicants from all over the world. Their work and goals reflect the spirit and dedication of British scientist Rosalind Franklin, for whom the award is named. Their originality, scientific creativity and seminal discoveries within their fields, exemplify the innovative thinking Franklin used while working to determine the structure of DNA in the early 1950s.

The Rosalind Franklin Award honors a founder of modern genetics by honoring the achievements of her academic granddaughters. For those of us with the privilege of selecting the Rosalind Franklin Award winners, this is one of our most joyful and challenging tasks. The depth and breadth of accomplishments of this year's nominees are extraordinary. We congratulate the winners and welcome them as our colleagues and sisters in science, said Mary-Claire King,President, American Society of Human Genetics, and Chair, 2013 Rosalind Franklin Award Committee.

Dr. Gehring, now a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and an assistant professor of biology at MIT, has a bachelors degree from Williams College (Williamstown, Massachusetts) and worked with Robert L. Fischer, Ph.D., at the University of California, Berkeley, for her Ph.D. She was a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Steven Henikoff, Ph.D., at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Dr. Gehring is awarded the Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Award based on her work in Arabidopsis on epigenetic processes, on the evolution and mechanisms of imprinting, on the fidelity of epigenetics inheritance between generations, and on the comparative genetics of imprinting among species. Her work deepens our understanding of the developmental program in plants and is likely to reveal shared features of methylation across plants and animals. This demonstrates a profound impact that foundational research can have on our understanding of epigenetics.

Dr. Horsley earned her undergraduate degree from Furman University (Greenville, South Carolina), her doctoral degree from Emory University, where she worked with Grace Pavlath, Ph.D., and did her postdoctoral research at Rockefeller University with Elaine Fuchs, Ph.D., on mechanisms of stem cell lineage commitment and quiescence. She is now the Maxine F. Singer 57, Ph.D. assistant professor of molecular, cellular and development biology at Yale University. Dr. Horsley receives the Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Award for her accomplishments in the genetic dissection of the regulation of skin stem cells, and for her elegant and groundbreaking independent work using a genetic approach to characterize the role of adipocyte cells in the skin stem cell niche.

Drs. Gehring and Horsley will be acknowledged at the 62nd ASHG Annual Meeting in San Francisco, on Friday, November 9, 2012, in conjunction with the Gruber Genetics Prize presentation.

The Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Awards were developed by The Gruber Foundation to support and inspire the next generation of women in genetics. Two early career female scientists are selected every three years as recipients of these awards. One award is for research in genetics of humans and other mammals, and one award is for research in genetics of other model organisms. Recipients must be within their first three years of an independent research position in any area of genetics.

"All of us at The Gruber Foundation derive profound satisfaction from the announcement of the top two young women investigators who are named Rosalind Franklin awardees each three years. We take particular pleasure this year in welcoming Dr. Mary Gehring, and Dr. Valerie Horsley to a growing roster of cutting-edge women scientists. We thank the dedicated committee members at the American Society for Human Genetics, and the Genetics Society of America for their diligence and commitment, knowing that the numbers of stunningly brilliant young women doing breakthrough science make the selection challenging," said Patricia Gruber, co-founder and president emeritus of The Gruber Foundation.

Applications were reviewed by a distinguished committee that included past recipients of the Rosalind Franklin Award and members of both the GSA and ASHG. The committee, which was chaired by ASHG President Mary-Claire King, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle, also included Sally Camper, Ph.D., University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor; Mary Lou Guerinot, Ph.D., Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; Ruth Lehmann, Ph.D., New York University; Trudy Mackay, Ph.D., North Carolina State University in Raleigh; and Cynthia Morton, Ph.D., Brigham & Womens Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Past Rosalind Franklin Award recipients on the review committee were Amy Pasquinelli (2004), Ph.D., University of California, San Diego; Molly Przeworski (2007), Ph.D., University of Chicago, Illinois; Iiris Hovatta (2010), Ph.D., University of Helsinki, Finland; and Jue D. Wang (2010) Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.

ABOUT THE GENETICS SOCIETY OF AMERICA: Founded in 1931, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) is the professional membership organization for scientific researchers, educators, bioengineers, bioinformaticians and others interested in the field of genetics. Its nearly 5,000 members work to advance knowledge in the basic mechanisms of inheritance, from the molecular to the population level. The GSA is dedicated to promoting research in genetics and to facilitating communication among geneticists worldwide through its conferences, including the biennial conference on Model Organisms to Human Biology, an interdisciplinary meeting on current and cutting edge topics in genetics research, as well as annual and biennial meetings that focus on the genetics of particular organisms, including C. elegans, Drosophila, fungi, mice, yeast, and zebrafish. GSA publishes GENETICS, a leading journal in the field and a new online, open-access publication, G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics. For more information about GSA, please visit http://www.genetics-gsa.org. Also follow GSA on Facebook at facebook.com/GeneticsGSA and on Twitter @GeneticsGSA.

Read the rest here:

2013 Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Awards Announced

06-09-2012 00:11 Google Tech Talk July 12, 2012 Presented by Ewan Birney. ABSTRACT Since the publication of the human genome in 2001, there has been a fundamental shift in molecular biology research from small scale, hypothesis focused science to larger scale hypothesis generating science. I will describe some of the key components of the last decade's research in this area, including Genomewide Association, the 1000 genomes project and the ENCODE project and the way these projects draw on cutting edge statistics and algorithm processes. I will then describe the current excitement in applying this to medical issues, with speculation about how the next decade will develop in genome medicine. About the Speaker Dr. Birney is Associate Director of the EMBL-EBI. Before taking up his current post, he developed a number of databases (such as Ensembl), and worked on specific genomics projects, ranging from the Human Genome sequencing in 2000 through to the ENCODE project. For ENCODE he coordinated the analysis for both the 1% Pilot (published in 2007) and the scale up (likely to be published in 2012). As Associate Director, Dr Birney takes a strategic oversight role of the EBI services alongside Rolf Apweiler (the other Associate Director of the EBI). This ranges from genome sequences through proteins, small molecules, macromolecular structures to networks, pathways and systems. Dr Birney still runs a research group which focuses on genomic algorithms and studying inter individual differences, in ...

Read this article:

Human Genetics and Genomics: The Science for the 21st Century - Video

In a milestone for the understanding of human genetics, scientists just announced the results of five years of work in unraveling the secrets of how the genome operates. The ENCODE project, as it is known, dispensed with the idea that our DNA is largely "junk," repeating sequences with no function, finding instead that at least 80 percent of the genome is important.

See the rest here:

Unraveling the Human Genome: 6 Molecular Milestones

ENCODE's lead coordinator, Ewan Birney, and Nature editor Magdalena Skipper talk about the challenges of managing a colossal genetics project and what we've learnt about the human genome.

By Nature magazine

Ewan Birney, ENCODE lead coordinator Image: Nature

Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...

Read More

ENCODE, the Encyclopaedia of DNA Elements, is the most ambitious human genetics project to date. It takes the 3 billion letters described by the Human Genome Project in 2000, and tries to explain them. Remarkably, ENCODE scientists have managed to assign a biochemical function to 80% of the genome, including the genes and the parts of the genome that tell those genes what to do. This information is helping us understand how genomes are interpreted to make different types of cells and different people - and crucially, how mistakes can lead to disease. In this video, ENCODE's lead coordinator, Ewan Birney, and Nature editor Magdalena Skipper talk about the challenges of managing this colossal project and what we've learnt about our genomes.

See the rest here:

Voices of ENCODE [Video]