Genetic testing for personalized nutrition leads to better outcomes

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14-Nov-2014

Contact: Michael Kennedy m.kennedy@utoronto.ca 416-946-5025 University of Toronto @UofTNews

Researchers from the University of Toronto (U of T) report that personalized dietary advice based on a person's genetic makeup improves eating habits compared to current "one-size-fits-all" dietary recommendations. The findings were published online today in the journal PLoS One.

"We conducted the first randomized controlled trial to determine the impact of disclosing DNA-based dietary advice on eating habits," says Ahmed El-Sohemy, an Associate Professor in Nutritional Sciences at U of T and Canada Research Chair in Nutrigenomics. "We found that people who receive DNA-based advice improve their diet to a greater extent than those who receive the standard dietary advice. They're also the ones who need to change it the most."

Nutrigenomics is a field of research that aims to understand why some people respond differently than others to the same foods. Personalized nutrition, a branch of personalized medicine, is an application of nutrigenomics that helps tailor dietary recommendations to a person's DNA.

The researchers collected data on the intake of caffeine, sodium, vitamin C and sugar from 138 healthy young adults. The subjects were then randomized into two different study groups--one was given DNA-based dietary advice for each of the four dietary components of interest, and the other group was given current standard dietary advice for the same dietary components with no genetic information.

Changes in their dietary habits were assessed after three and 12 months. The researchers found that subjects who received DNA-based dietary advice started to show improvements to their diets after three months and the changes became even more apparent after 12 months.

Specifically, those who were informed that they carried a version of a gene linked to salt intake and high blood pressure significantly reduced their sodium intake, in accordance with the recommendation, compared to the group that received the standard advice for sodium intake.

No effects were observed for the other components of the diet. However, most subjects were already meeting the dietary recommendations for the three other components at the start of the study, and the researchers believe this might explain why no significant changes were seen in these intakes.

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Genetic testing for personalized nutrition leads to better outcomes

Cutting-edge computer software helps pinpoint aggressiveness of breast cancer tumors

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

14-Nov-2014

Contact: Crystal Mackay crystal.mackay@schulich.uwo.ca 519-661-2111 x80387 University of Western Ontario @mediawesternu

Researchers at Western University are using cutting-edge genetic mutation-analysis software developed in their lab to interpret mutations in tumour genome that may provide insight into determining which breast cancer tumours are more likely spread to other parts of the body and which ones won't.

Their findings are published today in the journal, Nature Scientific Reports.

"We are using a unique software program in our lab that looks at a type of mutation called a splicing mutation that is typically overlooked using current methods," said lead author on the study, Stephanie Dorman, a PhD student in the department of biochemistry at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. She said that where previous genetic studies of 445 tumours detected 429 of these splicing mutations, the Western-developed analysis software was able to find more than 5000.

Using this software and human tumour tissue sample genetic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, the research team pinpointed that mutations in the Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule (NCAM) and other related genes in NCAM biology were present at a much higher rate in tumours which had metastasized to the lymph nodes than those that did not. NCAM, typically found in neural cells is also highly expressed in breast tissue, and is involved in communication between cells.

"We believe that mutations in these biological pathways in some patients might be causing some of the characteristics of the tumour that enable it to migrate to other parts of the body," said Dorman.

Dr. Peter Rogan, principal investigator on the study and a Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Computer Science, hopes that these findings will allow oncologists and clinical laboratories looking for these mutations in tumour biopsies to predict which women are at higher risk for more aggressive tumours that might metastasize.

"One of the big issues in breast oncology is that women are sometimes treated with chemotherapy even if their tumour isn't going to metastasize," said Rogan. "The ideal situation would be to be able to identify those patients where the side-effects and potential negative consequences of chemotherapy following surgery can be avoided or at least, minimized."

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Cutting-edge computer software helps pinpoint aggressiveness of breast cancer tumors

Thousands Of Never-Before-Seen Human Genome Variations Uncovered

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November 14, 2014

Provided by Michael McCarthy, University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine

New technology closes many gaps in mapping that have long resisted sequencing

Thousands of never-before-seen genetic variants in the human genome have been uncovered using a new sequencing technology. These discoveries close many human genome mapping gaps that have long resisted sequencing.

The technique, called single-molecule, real-time DNA sequencing (SMRT), may now make it possible for researchers to identify potential genetic mutations behind many conditions whose genetic causes have long eluded scientists, said Evan Eichler, professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington, who led the team that conducted the study.

We now have access to a whole new realm of genetic variation that was opaque to us before, Eichler said. He and his colleagues reported their findings Nov. 10 in the journal Nature.

To date, scientists have been able to identify the genetic causes of only about half of inherited conditions. This puzzle has been called the missing heritability problem. One reason for this problem may be that standard genome sequencing technologies cannot map many parts of the genome precisely.

These approaches map genomes by aligning hundreds of millions of small, overlapping snippets of DNA, typically about 100 bases long, and then analyzing their DNA sequences to construct a map of the genome.

This approach has successfully pinpointed millions of small variations in the human genome. These variations arise from substitution of a single nucleotide base, called a single-nucleotide polymorphisms or SNP.

The standard approach also made it possible to identify very large variations, typically involving segments of DNA that are 5,000 bases long or longer. But for technical reasons, scientists had previously not been able to reliably detect variations whose lengths range from about 50 bases to 5,000 bases in length.

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Thousands Of Never-Before-Seen Human Genome Variations Uncovered

First gene therapy to restore hearing tested in Kansas City

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KANSAS CITY,Kan. Restoring hearing with a drug is the goal of a metro researcher. Now hes begun the first study in humans of a gene therapy that could help people hear again.

Rob Gerk was ready to become a medical pioneer at the University of Kansas Hospital.

Just wanta get it over with. All the testing and stuff like that kinda makes it build up to the big moment, said Gerk.

The Denver man lost almost all of his hearing as toddler when he had meningitis. On October 28th, he became the first person in the world to get a drug infused in the inner ear to see if it can restore hearing. The drug is made up of a virus and a gene.

We take a virus that normally causes cold-like symptoms and we take all of the guts of the virus that make it infectious out. And we replace it with the gene of interest, said Dr. Hinrich Staecker.

Dr. Staecker has been working on the gene therapy for 17 years. In mice, it restored hearing.

Through the regeneration of little cells that detect sound vibrations in the inner ear, said the researcher.

The therapy triggered the growth of sensory receptors.

The initial human study with 21 patients will evaluate safety. Each patient will have one ear treated. Potential risks include more hearing loss or dizziness. Dr. Staecker says it should be known within six to eight weeks whether the therapy is restoring hearing, although results may not be made public for a year.

Study participants must have severe hearing loss resulting from noise, medications or some diseases.

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First gene therapy to restore hearing tested in Kansas City

ClickAdPays – MAKE Money, Income, Your own Boss, Financial Freedom – Video

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ClickAdPays - MAKE Money, Income, Your own Boss, Financial Freedom - Video

NWO and the United States: immigration will destroy religious freedom in the United States – Video

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NWO and the United States: immigration will destroy religious freedom in the United States
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NWO and the United States: immigration will destroy religious freedom in the United States - Video

Easton High football team blanks Freedom to reach District 11 4A final

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After Steve Shiffert praised his players for another dominant effort, Easton athletic director Jim Pokrivsak approached the Red Rovers' postgame huddle.

Pokrivsak handed a game ball to Shiffert, a gift to commemorate the coach's 200th career win. Friday's victory came in a similar fashion to many of Shiffert's first 199 with Easton.

Senior running back Shane Simpson plowed for 205 yards behind an offensive line that has owned opponents all season. The Red Rovers also maintained their defensive stinginess, forcing five turnovers in a second straight playoff shutout.

Fourth-seeded Freedom never stood a chance against No. 1 Easton, which rolled to a 28-0 win in a Districts 2-11 Class 4A subregional football semifinal at Cottingham Stadium. The Red Rovers (12-0) earned one final home game next week, when they will take on No. 7 Parkland for the District 11 4A title and a spot in the state quarterfinals.

Parkland (10-2) advanced to its third straight District 11 4A final with a 31-7 win over No. 3 Delaware Valley. The Trojans have won the last two district titles, including a 42-0 demolition of Easton in the championship game last year.

The Red Rovers have been the group crushing opponents this year. They ran for 311 yards to beat Freedom (9-3) for the second time this season.

Easton also limited Freedom to 165 yards of total offense. Ninety of those yards came in the fourth quarter, by which point the Red Rovers already owned a 28-point lead.

"Defense was the name of the game tonight," Shiffert said. "The field position was excellent."

Simpson did much of his damage in the first quarter, running eight times for 123 yards and two touchdowns. His second score, a 69-yard romp on a third-and-two carry, gave the Red Rovers a 14-0 lead.

Simpson's latest 200-yard game moved him into second place on Easton's single-season rushing list. His unofficial total for this season stands at 1,856. The only player ahead of Simpson is Juan Gaddy, who ran for 1,894 yards as an Easton junior in 1991.

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Easton High football team blanks Freedom to reach District 11 4A final

Freedom High football team eager for its second crack at Easton

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Practicing in mid-November is an afterthought for members of Easton's football program.

The Red Rovers play a Thanksgiving game with Phillipsburg every year. They tend to have a playoff game or three to prep for before battling the Stateliners.

Before this week, Freedom's current players had never spent the second week of November practicing. The Patriots are coming off their first postseason win since 2008, when their oldest players were sixth-graders.

Playing deeper into the fall hasn't fazed Freedom. The Patriots bopped around Bethlehem Area School District Stadium on Wednesday, eager for another opportunity to play a team that handed them one of their two losses this season.

That opportunity arrives Friday. Fourth-seeded Freedom (9-2 overall) will make the short ride from Bethlehem to Cottingham Stadium for another crack at No. 1 seed Easton (11-0) in a Districts 2-11 Class 4A subregional semifinal.

"We're kind of in a rhythm now where we've been in big, emotional football games since Week 7," Freedom coach Jason Roeder said. "We understood we were going to be in this position. It's a matter of earlier in the week, coming back, recovering and then building as the week goes on, so we get back our intensity as the week goes on.

"That's what it's been all about. We expect to get back mentally and emotionally to get ready to go at another huge, intense football game Friday night."

Freedom's first trip to Cottingham Stadium this season was the one time it did not at least play a team close for four quarters. Easton led just 14-6 at halftime but pulled away for a 47-27 win that gave it the first EPC South Division title.

The Red Rovers gashed the Patriots for over 400 rushing yards that night, with Shane Simpson and Dalvyn Reynolds doing most of the damage. Easton's pair of 1,000-yard rushers hurt Freedom by reaching the edge time after time.

"We missed a few tackles, which, hey, it's going to happen," Roeder said. "It's a matter of, we've got to execute better. If we're going to win, we've got to win a couple of more individual battles."

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Freedom High football team eager for its second crack at Easton

Whither freedom of the American press

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Hua Sheng

China Daily

Publication Date : 15-11-2014

The United States has prided itself on freedom of expression (or freedom of the press), but several signs show that the American administration and the corporate-owned US media have compromised this freedom.

One such indication is the growing public distrust in the US media. About 60 per cent of the respondents to a Gallup poll on Americans' trust in the media to report "the news fully, accurately and fairly" in September said they either did "not (have) very much" trust or no trust "at all" in the media.

Most of the mainstream US media outlets, which are now controlled by big corporations, have been criticised for not reporting news events such as the Occupy Wall Street movement across major US cities three years ago, largely because it was directed against Wall Street and corporate America.

Major US news organisations have also collaborated with the US government to hide vital information from the public. In 2011, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Associated Press intentionally lied about the identity of Central Intelligence Agency contractor Raymond Allen Davis, who was accused of murder in Pakistan, at the request of the US administration. They admitted their double standards only after the UK-based The Guardian exposed their lie.

Every year, Project Censored, based at Sonoma State University in California, publishes a book on the news stories omitted or censored, often by major US news organisations. The list is huge.

While news organisations have increasingly compromised their principles, the US administration has increased its intervention in their day-to-day functioning despite the First Amendment of the US Constitution stating that freedom of the press should be protected.

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Whither freedom of the American press

Possible agreement to be reached in Freedom Industries remediation in Charleston, WV

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A new agreement could be reached soon in the ongoing remediation of the Freedom Industries Etowah River site in Charleston, WV.

A consent order signed by Mark Welch, managing director of Freedom Industries, was agreed on Nov. 12.

DEP Secretary Randy Huffman has been adamant that the risk to drinking water be eliminated and the entire agency stands by that commitment.

By signing the consent order, Freedom's restructuring team (led by Welch) is agreeing to, and legally bound to, clean up the site and allocate the financial resources to complete that work, DEP said.

The consent order is out for public notice until Dec. 17.

Once the public notice period is completed, the DEP will likely sign the agreement, which would finalize it, according to DEP spokeswoman Kelley Gillenwater.

Within 15 calendar days after the effective date of the order, Freedom Industries shall submit for approval a proposed plan and timeline for accomplishing remediation of the Etowah site.

The order also says remediation shall be achieved as approved by WVDEP Division of Water and Waste Management. Upon approval, the plan shall be incorporated into and become a part of this Order, as if fully set forth herein.

There is a possibility that the agency could make changes to the order based on the feedback received, Gillenwater said. If changes are made, the consent order would go back to Welch to review and sign, then the revised consent order would again be put out for public comment.

A finalized consent order would allow Freedom to apply for the DEP's Voluntary Remediation Program, which has an established framework already in place for site remediation. Any company with any outstanding orders would not be allowed to apply for that program.

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Possible agreement to be reached in Freedom Industries remediation in Charleston, WV