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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unborn babies could be tested for 3,500 genetic faults

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By contrast, the scientists say their new test would identify far more conditions, caused by genetic errors.

However, they warned it raised many ethical questions because the results could be used as a basis for abortion.

These concerns were last night amplified by pro-life campaigners, who said widespread use of such a test would inevitably lead to more abortions.

The American scientists were able to map the babys genetic code principally from tiny traces free-floating DNA, which makes its way into the mothers blood.

Blood sample DNA from the mother was also studied as well as DNA extracted from the father's saliva.

Fitting pieces of the genetic jigsaw together, scientists in the US were able to reconstruct the entire genetic code of an unborn baby boy.

They were then able to see what spontaneous genetic mutations had arisen.

Such natural mutations - called de novo mutations - are responsible for the majority of genetic defects.

By checking their prediction of the babys genetic code with actual DNA taken after the birth, the team from the University of Washington in Seattle, found they were able to identify 39 of 44 such mutations in the child.

De novo mutations are thought to play a role in a number of complex conditions such as autism and schizophrenia.

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Unborn babies could be tested for 3,500 genetic faults

Study: Testing Unborn Babies for Genetic Disorders

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Prospective parents might soon be able to screen their unborn babies for thousands of genetic disorders, according to a study published by Science Translations Medicine.

This is potentially a two-edged sword. Although it might pick up more curable conditions, some experts worry that it may lead to more abortions

American scientists were able to map the babys genetic code form tiny traces of free-floating DNA in blood from the babys mother, who was 18 weeks pregnant. They were also able to pinpoint if the mutations came from the mother or fathers side.

If the technique is refined and the technology becomes inexpensive, as many experts predict, this type of prenatal testing could allow doctors to screen unborn babies for 3,500 genetic disorders by taking a blood sample from the mother and a swab of saliva from the father.

Now, the only genetic disorder routinely testing is Down Syndrome.

On the positive side, picking up genetic problems early may lead to better treatments, sometimes while the baby is still a fetus, sometimes right after birth and that might prevent complications, said NBC4 health expert Dr. Bruce Hensel.

Some experts believe the finding is a double-edged sword, and could potentially raise ethical concerns.

It might give peace of mind if (parents) dont find problems. On the other hand, it could lead to dilemmas what do you do about them can you treat them, might it lead to more abortions? Hensel said.

The genetic predictions in the study were confirmed by analyzing umbilical cord blood collected at the babys birth.

The test is not being used yet, and experts said the methods will have to refined before the screenings are widely used.

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Study: Testing Unborn Babies for Genetic Disorders

James A. Shapiro: Can Cells Bias Natural Genetic Engineering Toward Useful Evolutionary Outcomes?

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A few blogs ago I asked, "Where, in fact, do 'the good ones' really come from?" By "good ones" I meant useful genome changes in evolution. This question stimulated some debate about whether it was possible to distinguish good changes from bad changes before they occur.

In the abstract, this may seem an overwhelmingly difficult problem. But if we think a bit about the highly organized state of the genome and non-random natural genetic engineering, biasing changes toward "good ones" becomes more conceivable.

I have already discussed purposeful, targeted changes in the immune system. The immune system illustrates how efficiently cells can target DNA restructuring by recognizing specific sequences and coupling DNA changes to transcription (copying DNA sequence into RNA).

Some evolutionists object that a somatic process like antibody synthesis provides no model for germline changes in evolution. So let's examine natural genetic engineering events in microbial cells. We'll look at mobile genetic elements targeted in ways that increase their evolutionary potential.

Mobile genetic elements come in many forms. Some operate purely as DNA. Others make an RNA copy and reverse transcribe it back into DNA as it inserts at a new location. Elements that move, or transpose, to multiple new locations are called "transposons" or "retrotransposons" (if they use an RNA intermediate).

Other mobile elements only insert in particular locations by a process called "site-specific" recombination. In bacterial evolution, this process is used in specialized structures called "integrons" that capture casettes containing protein coding sequences for antibiotic resistance, pathogenicity, and other functions.

What all mobile elements share are proteins that aid them to cut and splice DNA chains so that they can construct novel sequences, much as human genetic engineers do in their test tubes. These proteins have various names, such as "recombinase," "transposase," and "integrase." It is the specificity of the cutting reactions involving these proteins that determines where a mobile element moves in the genome.

One fascinating case of highly biased integration is the bacterial transposon Tn7. Tn7 has two specialized proteins to target its transposition. The TnsD protein directs Tn7 to insert into a special "attTn7" site in the chromosomes of many bacterial species where it does not disrupt any host functions and so causes no deleterious effects.

Another, more interesting protein, TnsE, directs Tn7 to insert into replicating DNA molecules. The reason this is important is that transmissible plasmids replicate their DNA as they transfer from one cell to another. TnsE targeting to plasmids in transit to new cells thus enhances the spread of Tn7 and the resistances it carries to many different kinds of bacteria.

Tn7 carries its antibiotic resistance determinants in an integron. Integrons and their recombinase proteins are likewise specialized to participate in plasmid spreading through bacterial populations. Plasmids enter new cells as single-stranded DNA. We learned just in 2005 that integron site-specific recombinases are special in operating on single-stranded DNA, not double-stranded molecules like previously studied recombinases. Moreover, integron recombinase synthesis is triggered by the entrance of single-stranded DNA into a cell. So integron activity is intimately linked in more than one way to plasmid transfer.

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James A. Shapiro: Can Cells Bias Natural Genetic Engineering Toward Useful Evolutionary Outcomes?

Councils protect their growers from Genetic Engineering

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7 June 2012

Councils protect their growers from GE

In the vacuum of inaction left by the National Government, local councils are having to lead the way in keeping New Zealand free of genetic engineering, the Green Party said today.

Hastings District Council have given official support to the GE free movement, voting unanimously in support of a proposal to declare the district GE free.

This is an exciting move made by the Hastings District Council but they have been forced to take this action because the National Government is refusing to, said the Green Party GE spokesperson Steffan Browning.

This region by region approach will be able to protect some growers but is not the real solution New Zealand needs.

The growers in the Hawkes Bay have identified that they need to be able to reap the significant branding benefits of being able to market GE free food, said Mr Browning.

These producers are receiving demand for GE free products and we need to be protecting their market for them

There are not sufficient liability protections for non GE growers should their produce get contaminated.

Farmers in Australia are already experiencing loss of income due to contamination by GE crops.

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Councils protect their growers from Genetic Engineering

Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012

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There was, quite simply, no writer like Ray Bradbury, the futurist who brought science fiction into the literary mainstream.

Many of his 30 books are classics including The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man and Dandelion Wine.

And his work in the early post-WWII years reflected both the wonders and growing fears of rapidly advancing technology.

But Bradbury, who died Tuesday at 91, never considered himself a science fiction writer. That term he reserved only for his most important book, Fahrenheit 451.

That 1953 dystopian work, named for the temperature at which paper ignites, was an eloquent denunciation of book-burning.

Reuters

Ray Bradbury

But Bradbury would later say it was less about censorship and the threat from Big Brother, [than the one] from little sister [and] all those groups . . . who want to impose their views from below.

These days, of course, the threats from above must be considered too particularly those posed by folks who think modernity can best be held back with multiple head loppings.

Below, above it makes no difference: Bradburys book remains relevant because the threat to free expression is timeless and so very dangerous. Not for nothing was the author awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George W. Bush. RIP.

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Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012

Network Event Headlines Leading Entrepreneurs and Futurist

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MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday 7 June, 2012

ICEHOUSE Network Event Headlines Leading Entrepreneurs and Futurist

The ICEHOUSE Network Event is all about looking to the future. On July 6, 2012 the Network Event will introduce an impressive line-up of keynote speakers and panellists including Rob Adams, U.S entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author; Sarah Gibbs, co-founder of Trilogy; Tim Longhurst, futurist; Vinny Lohan, founder and CEO of OneBeep; and Chris Quin, CEO of Gen-i Australasia.

The world's business landscape is changing at a rapid pace. As entrepreneurs and business owners, it's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day challenges of running a business, without stopping to think about the impact of upcoming trends.

"It's a challenge to get a start-up or an owner-managed business with big ambitions off the ground. Often times the business owner is so focused on building their product or servicing their clients, they have little time for anything else, said Andy Hamilton, CEO of The ICEHOUSE. The ICEHOUSE Network Event is a great opportunity for business owners and entrepreneurs to hear from people who walk a similar path. It is also an opportunity to take a step back to consider the impact of evolving business trends and get inspired by the success stories of others.

Rob Adams, a leading U.S. entrepreneur, is a panellist at the Network event as part of a two week visit to New Zealand mentoring local businesses and investors. An expert in market validation, Dr Adams is also a globally recognized speaker on entrepreneurship, product and financing strategy. He is on the faculty of the MBA program at The University of Texas at Austin, and is an active angel investor and board member for several start-ups. He has founded or financed more than 40 companies that launched more than 100 products with transactions exceeding one billion dollars of capital.

Dr Adams said, Launching new products or start-ups is tough. More than 65 percent of new products fail. If we switch over to start-ups, the failure rate jumps to 90 percent. Market validation aims to increase these odds through the use of a series of common business practices that, when assembled in a unique way, can prove the validity of a market opportunity. The process is very similar for both start-ups and established companies and looks for concrete evidence of an opportunity before considerable amounts of time and money are invested pursuing it. New Zealand

has a great environment for early stage businesses. Im looking forward to visiting again to share and learn from Kiwi business leaders.

As a futurist, Tim Longhurst is a passionate advocate for innovation and collaborates with organisations to think about the future. He identifies trends and helps organisations adapt to a changing world. Mr Longhurst will talk about three key future trends that are redefining our lives and the opportunities these bring.

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Network Event Headlines Leading Entrepreneurs and Futurist

'Intergalactic Nemesis' keeps soaring along, with second part

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By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin

Comic books. Sci-fi stories. Graphic novels. Radio plays. Classic movies.

They're all things director and producer Jason Neulander has loved since he was a little kid.

No wonder he has bundled them up into a multimedia trilogy of live theatrical shows, the second part of which debuts Friday at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

For the past two years, Neulander's show "The Intergalactic Nemesis Book One: Target Earth" has busily toured the nation after its Austin debut at the Long Center.

With three actors voicing multiple characters, a live sound effects artist, a keyboardist playing a movie palace-like score and vividly colored comic book illustrations projected on a 20-foot screen, "Nemesis" combines retro-style, family-friendly theatrical story-telling with just enough modern technical flash. Austin composer Graham Reynolds who most recently wrote the score for Richard Linklater's film "Bernie" penned the music.

"Book Two: Robot Planet Rising" continues the adventures of Molly Sloan, the spunky Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, and her intrepid research assistant Timmy Mendez as they venture to Robonovia, the Robot Planet.

Set in the 1930s, the "Nemesis" tale has all the "gee-whiz" dialogue, vintage futurism and good-triumphing-over-evil of the classic radio plays.

"People just love the story," Neulander says. "We get everybody from people old enough to remember radio plays to Star Wars' fans to the Harry Potter' crowd."

As a companion to the live show, Neulander spun off book versions of the episodic "Nemesis" tale, commissioning artists (among them Tim Doyle, Paul Hanley and Lee Duhig) to create the kind of illustrated pages that harken back to the classic midcentury comic books.

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'Intergalactic Nemesis' keeps soaring along, with second part

Freedom honour for Lord Laird

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Freedom honour for Lord Laird

Freedom of Information bill to be taken up in July — Honasan

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By Katherine Evangelista INQUIRER.net

Senator Gringo Honasan

MANILA, Philippines Despite the Senates failure to pass the Peoples Ownership of Government Information (POGI) bill (formerly called the Freedom of Information bill) before adjourning for sine die on Wednesday, Senator Gregorio Honasan II remained confident that the bill will be taken up when session resumes in July.

During the Kapihan sa Senado media forum, Honasan, who is the chairman of the committee on public information and mass media, said that he is happy with the pace of the passing of the bill which is in the period of interpellation in the Senate while they await the House version.

I hope when session resumes after SONA (State-of-the-Nation Address) in July, or the last Monday of July, [we will be able to deliberate on it]. Im confident that we will do this as expeditiously as possible, he said.

Honasan said that Senator Allan Peter Cayetano will also deliver his co-sponsorship speech for the POGI bill.

The bill has been pending in the Senate for several months after they had to wait for the Malacaang version of the measure, Honasan said.

The Senator explained that the bill was probably not given enough attention and priority by Malacaang.

In fact this has never been certified as urgent so thats what we are asking for: to identify the national priorities so we would know [what to tackle first], Honasan told reporters.

Nevertheless, Honasan said that they have received the Palace version and has consolidated their amendments with the Senates version.

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Freedom of Information bill to be taken up in July — Honasan

Virginia AAA baseball tournament: Freedom-South Riding falls to Kellam after unusual interference call

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Freedom-South Ridings dizzying season of firsts might have been done in by an odd play at third Wednesday night in a 3-2 loss to Kellam in the Virginia AAA baseball quarterfinals at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

The Eagles had the potential tying run on third with one out in the top of the sixth, and Coach Jason Treon was about to send senior pinch runner Nick Plesce home on a one-out sacrifice fly to left. But Treon touched Plesce, an interference call that resulted in an automatic out that ended the inning.

It would have been bang-bang at the plate, Treon said. Nick went back to tag right away. I got a little too close communication-wise and got tangled up.

Freedom, the first Loudoun County team to advance to the state tournament, went down in order in the seventh.

We have a group of seven seniors who should be proud of themselves for helping put our program on the map, said Treon, whose team won the Cedar Run District regular season and tournament championships in its first year of AAA competition.

The Eagles (18-8) won nine straight games before ending their season with consecutive losses, to Hylton in the Northwest Region final and then to Kellam, a team they out-hit, 7-3.

Freedom took a 1-0 lead on the Eastern Region champions in the top of the first on an RBI double by junior Colin Dean. The Eagles squandered a leadoff double by senior Matt Malacane in the top of the fourth when he was retired at third on a sacrifice bunt, but they got another double by Malacane with one out in the sixth. Junior Zach Newell then walked and junior Kevin Dean singled to make it 3-2.

Kellam (25-2) advanced to face James River (19-7) in a state semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday at Westfield. Lake Braddock (24-3) and Hylton (21-4) will meet in a semifinal at 3 p.m. Friday.

The championship is at 3 p.m. Saturday at Westfield.

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Virginia AAA baseball tournament: Freedom-South Riding falls to Kellam after unusual interference call

Eugenics in the House

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Its certainly not a celebratory moment, but heres a cheer, nonetheless, for the state House and its important vote this week to set aside up to $10 million to compensate victims of North Carolinas former sterilization program. Involuntarily sterilized people mostly women but some men as well are eligible for $50,000 payments once their cases are verified; so far, there are 118 verified living victims.

The bill now goes to the Senate, which should approve it promptly so that at long last the sterilization victims can have a measure, if not a full measure, of recompense.

Theres a lot of history behind that 86-31 House vote on Tuesday. Starting in the 1930s, the N.C. Eugenics Board ran a program to sterilize people in mental hospitals and schools for troubled youths. Later the program focused on people on welfare. Some of the sterilizations were indeed voluntary (this was before the days of reliable birth control) but many others were not. And while other states had similar programs, ours was unusually extensive (third in the U.S. in total number of people sterilized) and long-lasting (into the 1970s).

The various states sterilization programs, which Americans today view with something akin to horror, did not seem that way to most people at the time. These were days particularly during the pre-Nazi Holocaust days when educated Americans talked openly of the dangers of enfeeblement and about selectively improving the human race.

In North Carolina the Human Betterment League, created by corporate leaders, proudly proclaimed that North Carolina offers its citizens protection in the form of selective sterilization. Its efforts, commencing after World War II, resulted in an upturn in state-conducted sterilizations. Over the decades, more than 7,000 North Carolinians were sterilized. Most were white, although African-Americans were sterilized in disproportionately large numbers.

The effort to bring the involuntary sterilizations to light, and then to obtain compensation, began several years ago. Many people and organizations deserve credit; a special nod goes to the Winston-Salem Journal for its reporting and advocacy. In contrast, those in the House who this week ducked responsibility for even the relatively few still-living victims of a grievously harmful state action are due no credit at all.

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Eugenics in the House

Ecosystem Services in the Pacific Coastal Temperate Rainforest of North America – Video

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06-06-2012 12:19 April 19, 2012 - Session developed by Brad Ewing (Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center). Presentations by Trista Patterson (USFS PNW Research Station), Colin Beier (SUNY), Steve Colt (U. of Alaska Anchorage), David Saah (Spatial Analytics Informatics Group), Marc Conte (Stanford University), and Sarah Klain (U. of British Columbia) Session Abstract: The Pacific coastal temperate rainforest of North America provides a wide range of ecosystem services that are vital to human health and livelihood. Collectively, these services can be grouped into the following categories: provisioning (eg food, forest products, and fresh water), regulating (eg carbon sequestration, purification of water and air, and pest control), supporting (eg soil formation, nutrient cycling, and primary production), and cultural services (eg recreation, scientific discovery, and spiritual enlightenment). This session will include presentations on (1) incorporating demands for ecosystem services—alongside studies that focus on increasing or maintaining the supply of ecosystem services—to increase the value of various initiatives throughout the region, (2) integrating supply-side and demand-side measures of ecosystem services to inform adaptive management, (3) utilizing ecosystem service valuations to inform policy decision making, (4) quantifying, throughout the chain of production, the impacts from shifting to wood-based energy in rural communities, (5) utilizing economics and ecosystem services to inform ...

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Ecosystem Services in the Pacific Coastal Temperate Rainforest of North America - Video

Delta Tree House Demonstrates “Smart Green Life” at Computex

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TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

With the theme Smart Green Life and an eco-friendly and energy-saving tree house the Delta Group demonstrated their latest green consumer products and services at the 2012 Computex show in Taipei. Featuring mobile power, LED lighting, video conference image systems and network application systems, Delta demonstrated highly efficient energy-saving solutions via scenario applications. Also, the Magic Cable Trio 3-in-1 charge & sync cable from Deltas consumer power brand, Innergie, also received the highest honor Gold Award at the COMPUTEX TAIPEI design & innovation awards today.

Deltas Vice Chairman and CEO Yancey Hai indicated that the theme Smart Green Life and the Delta tree house represent how people can coexist with nature through intelligent green building technologies and energy-saving technologies. The smart green life scenarios at Deltas exhibit demonstrate its latest green products and services, and communicates the Delta brand spirit Smarter. Greener. Together. through actual applications.

At the exhibition Delta is also promoting tips on energy-saving from the Delta Electronics Foundation. Visitors may scan a QR Code using a smart phone or flat panel mobile device to obtain the seven energy-saving tips.

In the living room area, Deltas Seamless Screen Switchable Multimedia System allows anywhere-to-anywhere enjoyment of audio and visual entertainment wirelessly and with multimedia control in the kitchen, study or other areas. For lighting, Deltas LED lighting designs are used for the outdoor energy-saving lighting system and for the indoor light source reducing electricity consumption by 90%. Deltas wind power system and solar energy modules supply endless green electricity. Deltas electric vehicle is also charging on the lawn with charging facilities that conform to various international specifications.

In the studio, the combination of Deltas extreme short throw projection and interactive sensing frame projection technology projects a 97-inch picture within just around 7cm. The extreme short throw projection design is convenient for presentations or discussions and keeps the user free from the projected light source. In the study, the portable Qumi-Q5 HD micro-projection system, projects a 90-inch picture, while Deltas uninterruptible power system protects personal computers and peripheral accessories even in an environment with unstable voltage.

Innergie Magic Cable Trio for Smarter Mobile Power

The Magic Cable Trio from Deltas consumer power brand, Innergie, has received the Gold Award for the COMPUTEX TAIPEI design & innovation awards. The design of the smart 3-in-1 connector combines three types of connectors for Mini USB, Micro USB and Apple products onto one single USB cable. The single cable may be used for charging or synchronized operations for smart phones, flat panel computers, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and other Mini or Micro USB devices. The Magic Cable Trio is another innovative power solution product from Innergie that allows mobile users to easily charge anytime and anywhere.

Intelligent Wireless Multimedia Convenience

Delta displayed its family and vehicle entertainment system, the Seamless Screen Switchable Multimedia System for the first time. The new system integrates video conference and network systems allowing the user to relocate and enjoy multimedia anywhere-to-anywhere via wireless transmission and multimedia control. With support for various portable devices and smart phones, the user can edit and operate the interface with just one touch. The Seamless Screen Switchable Multimedia System is also ideal for vehicles and tourist coaches, meeting rooms, and family entertainment systems.

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Delta Tree House Demonstrates “Smart Green Life” at Computex

BP oil spill disrupted microbes on Gulf Coast beaches, new research shows

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Communities of microbial organisms - including nematode worms, single cell animals called protists, and a variety of fungi - that live in the sediment of beaches on Grand Isle, Dauphin Island and elsewhere along the Gulf of Mexico underwent dramatic changes in the months immediately following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a new study published today in the online scientific journal PLos ONE.

The variety of organisms in beach sand that form one of the lowest links in the Gulf's food chain dropped dramatically several months after the spill, with the remaining species believed to favor those that munch on oily hydrocarbons and are better able to survive the polluted conditions that others species found unlivable, the researchers with the University of New Hampshire's Hubbard Center for Genome Studies and its partners found.

"We went from this very diverse community with an abundance of different organisms to this really (impoverished)community that was really dominated by a couple of fungal species," said Holly Bik, a computational biologist and lead author of the study, who recently moved from the University of New Hampshire to the University of California at Davis.

The results were especially shocking for Dauphin Island, Bik said, because the post-spill samples were taken from what looked like a pristine beach.

"If you dug down in the sand, maybe you could find a discolored layer of oil in the beach, but there were no tarballs," she said. "It was like a ghost town, no tourists, but if you'd been in a media blackout for the previous six months, you wouldn't have even known there had been a spill."

The researchers tested the beach samples for DNA, collecting 1.2 million separate DNA sequences from the different locations. The research was conducted under a grant from the National Science Foundation.

"We go to the beach and take a spoonful of sand and put it in a blender and extract all the DNA from everything that's living in there,"said Bik, who also commented on her research as it was occurring on the web at Deep Sea News.

Using chemical tests, the scientists extracted the equivalent of DNA bar codes from the samples and compared them to known codes from the life forms that live on beaches.

In the pre-spill samples, the bar codes showed a rich variety of species. But the post-spill samples from both Dauphin Island and Grand Isle, which had more clear evidence of oiling, were near-matches for the dramatically reduced number of species, Bik said.

"The fungal communities at Grand Isle were very similar to the communities we found on the Alabama coast," she said, and indicated a disturbed microcommunity.

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BP oil spill disrupted microbes on Gulf Coast beaches, new research shows