Daily Archives: November 28, 2012

MONDAY, Nov. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Genes specific to the X chromosome are among newly identified genes linked to rheumatoid arthritis and could help explain why women are more likely than men to develop the disease, researchers say.

Women have two X chromosomes while men have an X and a Y chromosome.

The X-chromosome-specific genes were among 14 newly identified genes in both women and men that can lead to rheumatoid arthritis, adding to the 32 genes previously pinpointed by the researchers at the Arthritis Research U.K. Epidemiology Unit at the University of Manchester and their colleagues.

It is believed that these 46 genes account for the vast majority of genes associated with rheumatoid arthritis. The research could lead to new treatments for the disease, according to the study published online recently in the journal Nature Genetics.

"This groundbreaking study brought together scientists from around the world and involved the use of DNA samples from more than 27,000 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy controls," study lead author Jane Worthington, professor of chronic disease genetics at the University of Manchester, said in a university news release. "As a result of our findings, we now know that genetic variations at over 45 regions of the genome determine susceptibility to this form of arthritis."

Rheumatoid arthritis is different from osteoarthritis, the arthritis associated with aging and wear and tear. It frequently starts between the ages of 25 and 55, and causes inflammation in the joints, resulting in swelling, stiffness, pain and reduced joint function.

Lifestyle and environmental factors such as smoking, diet, pregnancy and infection are believed to play a role in rheumatoid arthritis, but a person's genes also influence their risk for the disease. The condition affects about 1 percent of the world's population.

"This work will have a great impact on the clinical treatment of arthritis; we have already found three genes that are targets for drugs, leaving a further 43 genes with the potential for drug development, helping the one-third of patients who fail to respond well to current medications," study first author Dr. Stephen Eyre said in the news release.

"This is the first time that a genetic association has been established between rheumatoid arthritis and the X chromosome," Alan Silman, medical director of Arthritis Research U.K., said in the release. "This could provide a useful clue in helping us to understand why rheumatoid arthritis is three times more likely to occur in women."

-- Robert Preidt

Read more:
DNA May Explain Why Women Have More Rheumatoid Arthritis

Storm Team Fox Forecast Storm Team Fox Forecast Breezy, and sometimes gusty, winds out of the northeast will continue to bring fast-moving showers and a few thunderstorms across South Florida through the rest of the day.More >> High temperatures will be near 80 degrees and winds will increase and shift around to the northeast. Rain chances are low but a few brief showers are possible.More >> Global outcry builds in fatal shooting of K9 Global outcry builds in fatal shooting of K9 WEST PALM BEACH, FL (WFLX) - Global outcry is building over the fatal shooting of a K-9 in Palm Beach County. Meanwhile, prosecutors are asking why high-tech tracking did not stop the now-accused juvenileMore >> Drake, a retired police dog, was shot while his owner, a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper, was away from his home. Now, questions remain about the suspect, a 16-year-old boy on probation, who'saccused of armed burglary and animal cruelty.More >> Child hit by car near Lake Worth Child hit by car near Lake Worth LAKE WORTH, FL (WFLX) - We're waiting for more details on the child hit by a car in suburban Lake Worth. The boy was hit at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday near Purdy Lane and Cresthaven Boulevard. The driverMore >> A boy was hit at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday near Purdy Lane and Cresthaven Boulevard. The driver did stay on the scene.More >> Toddler grazed after bullet goes through wall Toddler grazed after bullet goes through wall RIVIERA BEACH, FL (WFLX) - An investigation is underway in Riviera Beach after shots were fired at a house injuring a toddler. Riviera Beach police tell us the gunshots were heard at about 10 TuesdayMore >> An investigation is underwayin Riviera Beach after shots were fired at a house injuring a toddler.More >> Lotto winner killed, Woman faces life in prison Lotto winner killed, Woman faces life in prison LAKELAND, FL (WFLX) - Opening statements could begin Wednesday in the murder case of a woman accused of killing a Lakeland lottery winner and burying his body under a slab of concrete back in 2009. InvestigatorsMore >> Opening statements could begin Wednesday in the murder case of a woman accused of killing a Lakeland lottery winner and burying his body under a slab of concrete back in 2009.More >> DALLAS (CBS5) -

A five-year-long DNA study has concluded that legendary bigfoot is a human relative that arose about 15,000 years ago as a hybrid cross of modern Homo sapiens with an unknown primate species.

A Texas company calledDNA Diagnosticsannounced it has broken the genetic code with some supposed Sasquatch samples. [Read the company's press release]

Dr. Melba S. Ketchum of Nacogdoches, TX, a veterinarian who led the study,confirmed that her team has sequencedthree complete Sasquatch nuclear genomes and determined the species is a human hybrid.

Ketchum said the genome sequencing shows thatthe North American Sasquatch is a hybrid species, the result of males of an unknown hominin species crossing with female Homo sapiens.

"Further study is needed and is ongoing to better characterize and understand Sasquatch nuclear DNA," Ketchum said.

It's not immediatelyclear where the alleged bigfoot DNA came from. Further, the findings have yet to pass a peer review.

Copyright 2012 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

More here:
DNA study: Legendary bigfoot is no myth

When youre contemplating the vast expanse of glass covering any one of the current models of smartphones with supersized screens, you have to ask yourself: How big is too big? Is a 5-inch display that much better than a 4.5-incher? Does native 1080p capability actually matter on a smartphone? How big of an advantage does such a device earn?

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the HTC Droid DNA. Its massive 5-inch 1920 1080 display has the same resolution as the best HDTV sets lining the shelves at your local retailer. It sports a pixel density of 440 pixels per inch, which bests all the big-name competitors the Google Nexus 4 (320ppi), the HTC One X (316ppi) and 8X (341ppi), and the Apple iPhone 5 (326ppi).

While a 1080p screen is mighty pretty, its not a killer feature on a smartphone, and it does not make the device significantly better than the current crop of 720p-capable phones.

But while this looks great on paper, it doesnt matter much at all. Seriously. Dont get me wrong: The DNAs display is gorgeous, and arguably the best-looking smartphone display out there. But to the naked eye, and over a couple of weeks of daily use, it doesnt look significantly better than the phones mentioned above, and thats a good thing. The fact is, they all look great. On any one of them, pixels are indiscernible and text looks crisp and clean, rivaling a printed page. Colors are vivid and bright. Photos, video, apps, websites, magazines, every single thing displayed on screen is rendered beautifully.

The bottom line is that while a 1080p screen is mighty pretty, its not a killer feature on a smartphone, and it does not make the device significantly better than the current crop of 720p-capable phones. And this is a wonderful thing for consumers. Smartphone displays are better than they have ever been. Today, we expect top-tier phones to come with Retina-quality screens, and anything less is deemed unacceptable.

While the DNAs display looks stunning, the size of the thing makes it difficult to use the phone with one hand. While it isnt as audaciously oversized as the 5.5-inch-display on the Samsung Galaxy Note II, the DNAs touchscreen can still be a bit of a hassle. The slightly smaller 4.7-inch displays on the Nexus 4 and One X are far more comfortable. Even the 4.8-inch display on the popular Samsung Galaxy S III is easier to use with a single hand and 4.8 inches is about the largest smartphone display that Ive been able to comfortably operate thus far. Its here that the DNAs display doesnt make it more useful, but counts against it.

Another sticking point is the paltry battery life. In over a week of testing the handset, I wasnt able to make it through an 8-hour workday without having to charge up the 2020 mAh Lithium-ion cell before I headed home. On the weekend, while running errands and using Google Maps, Yelp, Twitter and the camera throughout the day, battery life flew by and I found myself stopping to charge up by midday, and again in the evening. If you buy the DNA, youll want to pick up a spare charger to go with it.

Each time I had to charge up, I was greeted by an annoying little plastic door covering the USB port on the bottom of the DNA. When this tiny door is closed, the DNA looks sleek and smooth. But opening the door reveals a flimsy piece of plastic that feels like its hanging on for dear life. It feels like its only a matter of time before that little door breaks off. While everything else on the DNA feels lovingly designed and well built, this door is a weak point. HTC should have just left the port exposed, as most phones do nowadays.

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Link:
Review: HTC Droid DNA

The lawyer for the man accused of killing Daniel Morcombe says there is so much material to sift through a trial would take months rather than weeks.

On the third day of the committal hearing for accused murderer Brett Peter Cowan, forensic experts gave evidence on human remains believed to be those of Daniel.

Outside the Brisbane Magistrates Court, Cowan's defence lawyer Michael Bosscher said if the matter reached trial it would likely run for months.

"To say it was a massive task would be a significant understatement," he told reporters.

"There's a huge brief of evidence.

"The material examined in this committal proceeding would represent less than one per cent of all material which has been obtained."

Much of Mr Bosscher's cross examination so far has centred on what precautions expert witnesses took when examining the remains.

"The type of DNA evidence that they've obtained in this particular matter is much, much more susceptible to potential contamination.

"That doesn't mean that there has been, but it's an area that has to be examined."

Daniel's parents Bruce and Denise say they're taking each day of the hearing as it comes.

Continued here:
DNA on bones match Daniel's mum's: court

There are easier places to make wine than the spectacular, desolate landscapes of southeast Turkey, but DNA analysis suggests it is here that Stone Age farmers first domesticated the wine grape.

Today Turkey is home to archaeological sites as well as vineyards of ancient grape varieties like Bogazkere and Okuzgozu, which drew the curiosity of the Swiss botanist and grape DNA sleuth Jose Vouillamoz, for the clues they may offer to the origin of European wine.

Together with the biomolecular archaeologist Patrick McGovern, Vouillamoz has spent nearly a decade studying the world's cultivated and wild vines.

"We wanted to collect samples from wild and cultivated grape vines from the Near East -- that means southeastern Anatolia, Armenia and Georgia -- to see in which place the wild grape was, genetically speaking, linked the closest to the cultivated variety."

"It turned out to be southeastern Anatolia," the Asian part of modern Turkey, said Vouillamoz, speaking at the EWBC wine conference in the Turkish city of Izmir this month. "We propose the hypothesis that it is most likely the first place of grape vine domestication."

McGovern's lab at the University of Pennsylvania Museum also provided archaeological evidence of wine's Anatolian roots after analysing residues of liquid recovered from vessels thousands of years old.

Author of "Uncorking the Past" and "Ancient Wine", McGovern used a sensitive chemical technique to look for significant amounts of tartaric acid -- for which grapes are the only source in the Middle East.

While Georgia, Armenia and Iran all played a role in ancient winemaking, preliminary evidence from pottery and even older clay mineral containers, seems to place the very first domestication of the wild Eurasian grape Vitis vinifera in southeastern Anatolia sometime between 5,000 and 8,500 BC, McGovern said.

Southeast Anatolia is part of the Fertile Crescent, the name given to a vast area stretching through modern-day Iraq and Iran to the Nile Valley in the south, widely seen as the birthplace of the eight so-called "founder" crops -- from chickpea to barley -- that are the world's first known domesticated plants.

Evidence found by the research duo suggests that for wine too, hundreds of today's grapes find their roots in "founder" varieties descended from the wild grapes of the region.

Read more from the original source:
DNA sleuth hunts wine roots in Anatolia

Genetic testing confirms the legendary Bigfoot is a human relative that arose some 15,000 years ago at least according to a press release issued by a company called DNA Diagnostics detailing supposed work by a Texas veterinarian.

The release and alleged study by Melba S. Ketchum also suggests such cryptids had sex with modern human females that resulted in hairy hominin hybrids, but the scientific community is dubious about her claim.

"A team of scientists can verify that their five-year long DNA study, currently under peer-review, confirms the existence of a novel hominin hybrid species, commonly called 'Bigfoot' or 'Sasquatch,' living in North America," the release reads. "Researchers' extensive DNA sequencing suggests that the legendary Sasquatch is a human relative that arose approximately 15,000 years ago."

For her study, Ketchum obtained three "whole nuclear genomes from purported Sasquatch samples. The genome sequencing shows that Sasquatch mtDNA is identical to modern Homo sapiens, but Sasquatch nuDNA is a novel, unknown hominin related to Homo sapiens and other primate species." (Mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA, is the DNA that resides in the cell's energy-producing structures, and is typically passed down from mothers, while nuclear DNA, nuDNA, resides in the cells' nuclei and is passed down from both parents to offspring.)

"Our data indicate that the North American Sasquatch is a hybrid species, the result of males of an unknown hominin species crossing with female Homo sapiens," the statement reads. [Infographic: Tracking Belief in Bigfoot]

Any proof?

It's a fascinating theory.

So where's the evidence? Well, there is none. Not yet, anyway: Ketchum's research has not appeared in any peer-reviewed scientific journal, and there's no indication when that might happen. If the data are good and the science is sound, any reputable science journal would jump at the chance to be the first to publish this groundbreaking information. Until then, Ketchum has refused to let anyone else see her evidence.

Of course the history of Bigfoot is rife with exaggerated and premature claims about proof of the creature's existence. For decades, various types of evidence have been offered as final, definitive proof, ranging from Bigfoot hair to blood to dead bodies. Without exception, the evidence has always been hoaxed, misidentification or inconclusive.

Because Ketchum has released no information at all about her findings (nor have they been examined by outside experts), it's impossible to evaluate the validity of her conclusions. But an important clue can be found in her statement that "Sasquatch mtDNA is identical to modern Homo sapiens."

Excerpt from:
'Bigfoot' Is Part Human, DNA Study Claims

A frame from the October 20th, 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film claiming to depict BigfootA Texas scientist claims to have sequenced the DNA of Sasquatch, a creature whose very existence is mysterious to many and purely mythological to most.

"Our study has sequenced 20 whole mitochondrial genomes and utilized next generation sequencing to obtain 3 whole nuclear genomes from purported Sasquatch samples," Dr. Melba S. Ketchum of Nacogdoches, Texas, says in a news release.

"The genome sequencing shows that Sasquatch mtDNA is identical to modern Homo sapiens, but Sasquatch nuDNA is a novel, unknown hominin related to Homo sapiens and other primate species."

Ketchum writes that her team's research indicates the "North American Sasquatch" is a hybrid of a female Homo sapien and a male of "unknown hominin species," whose DNA matched approximately 15,000 years ago.

Sasquatch, more commonly known as Bigfoot, has been a staple of American mythology for hundreds of years. The modern Sasquatch theories took on a newfound prominence in 1958 when the first official Bigfoot search party was launched in California.

Most members of the scientific community have discounted the Sasquatch theory. However, in a Sept. 27, 2002, interview with National Public Radio, Jane Goodall appeared open to the concept, saying, "Maybe they don't exist, but I want them to."

So, how do Ketchum's claims hold up under scrutiny?

The Houston Chronicle's Eric Berger does some unraveling of Ketchum and the claims she made in the news release.

For starters, Berger notes that while Ketchum has 27 years of genetic research experience during her career as a veterinarian, her company, DNA Diagnostics, has received an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau.

But more important, Ketchum has not allowed scientific peer review of her findings.

Go here to see the original:
Scientist claims to have sequenced ‘Bigfoot’ DNA