Monthly Archives: April 2013

Source: The HAND Foundation

Since PARSA Community Foundation granted $250,000 to Stanford Universitys Iranian Genome Project in 2010, the project has grown significantly. The Iranian Genome Project aims to provide knowledge to both the scientific and Iranian community by studying and understanding the genetic background of Iranians representing all ethnicities in Iran, including Armenians, Kurds, and Turks. Based on the emerging field of genomics, where scientists map the genetic code, this project allows for research on how variations in the genetic code lead to differences in health and disease across and within populations.

The Iranian Genome Project believes that furthering the knowledge of the Iranian genetic code will enable the community to gain a better understanding of how certain Iranian genes affect health in the population. This may one day allow for the creation of tailored treatments and drugs. This is important as most genetic research has been conducted on people of European descent. As the age of personalized medicine begins, knowledge of genetic variation will be key in making sure that everyones unique needs are met.

The research is being done by the Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University, lead by the Principal Investigator Russ Altman, Chairman of Department and Director of Biomedical Informatics Training Program. The lead researcher is Roxana Daneshjou, a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine and a Ph.D. candidate in Genetics. The team also has two consultants who are leaders in the field of genentics: Mostafa Ronaghi, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President at Illumina and a former principal investigator and senior research associate at the Stanford Genome Technology Center; and Pardis Sabeti, Assistant Professor at the Center for Systems Biology at Harvard, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard.

You can sign up to be a participant in the research at the Iranian Genome Project website. Follow the work of The Iranian Genome Project via Twitter @irangenes.

... Payvand News - 04/10/13 ... --

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Mapping the Iranian Genome

Public release date: 10-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Alison Hewitt ahewitt@support.ucla.edu 310-206-5461 University of California - Los Angeles

Humans could learn a thing or two from turtles, and scientists who have just sequenced the first turtle genome uncovered clues about how people can benefit from the shelled creatures' remarkable longevity and ability to survive for months without breathing.

Understanding the natural mechanisms turtles use to protect their heart and brain from oxygen deprivation may one day improve treatments for heart attack and stroke, the researchers said.

UCLA conservation biologist and lead author Brad Shaffer collaborated with the Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis and 58 co-authors on the multi-year research project. Their paper, which appears in the journal Genome Biology, describes the genome of the western painted turtle, one of the most widespread and well-studied turtles in the world.

Researchers were somewhat surprised to find that the painted turtle's extraordinary adaptations were not the result of previously unknown genes but of gene networks that are common in vertebrates including humans, said Shaffer, a professor at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES) and UCLA's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

"They're the same genes we have, and the turtles are just using them in different ways and really cranking up their activity in most cases," said Shaffer, who also directs the La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science at the IoES.

"Given how extreme their adaptations are, I imagined we would see weird new genes, so I was surprised," he added. "But the fact that they're common means they may have direct relevance to human health conditions, especially those related to oxygen deprivation, hypothermia and possibly longevity."

Inside the turtle genome, the researchers found 19 genes in the brain and 23 in the heart that became more active in low-oxygen conditions, including one that became 130 times more active. These genes, all of which are present in humans, may be important candidates for exploring oxygen-deprivation treatment in humans, the researchers noted.

Many of the extreme adaptations the researchers studied, such as the ability to survive months of anoxia total oxygen depletion are primarily seen in painted turtles, and the western painted turtle is the most anoxia-tolerant terrestrial vertebrate known. At low temperatures, such as in the ice-covered ponds where they hibernate, painted turtles can survive for four months underwater without coming up for air. Turtles are also famous for their extreme longevity, with some species even continuing to reproduce into their second century of life.

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Scientists decode genome of painted turtle, revealing clues to extraordinary adaptations

Scientists have for the first time decoded the genome of a turtle, unlocking clues to their longevity and ability to survive without oxygen, an attribute that could someday be used to help humans.

The research team included scientists from Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis University as well as the University of California at Los Angeles. Their analysis is available online in the journal Genome Biology.

In science, turtles are a bit of an enigma. Their distinctive body design with a sharp beak instead of teeth and protective hard shell has changed very little over the past 210 million years. They can live up to four months with no oxygen while hibernating in ice-covered ponds. And while most small animals have short lifespans, a box turtle roaming your backyard can live more than 100 years.

They may be slowly evolving, but turtles have developed an array of enviable features, said senior author Richard Wilson, director of Washington Universitys Genome Institute. They resist growing old, can reproduce even at advanced ages, and their bodies can freeze solid, thaw and survive without damaging delicate organs and tissues. We can learn a lot from them.

Researchers sequenced the genome of the western painted turtle, which lives in freshwater ponds and streams and is the most widespread turtle in North America. What they found was that the creatures unique physiological adaptations are not from novel genes; but from activating genes common to most vertebrates, including humans.

This is a back-door route for turtles to evolve, said co-author Patrick Minx at he genome institute. Rather than evolve new genes, they adapted existing genes for new uses.

The scientists identified 19 genes in the brain and 23 in the heart that are activated in low-oxygen conditions, including one gene that increased nearly 130-fold. These genes are also present in humans and could be important in treatments to protect the heart and brain from oxygen deprivation during a heart attack or stroke.

Their study also showed just how slowly turtles evolve about one-third the rate of humans and one-fifth the rate of the fast-evolving python. The sequencing also puts to rest the argument over where turtles fall in the tree of life. Scientists found they are most closely related to crocodiles and birds, and not lizards and snakes.

Scientists will next try to better understand how the genes work together to protect organs during oxygen deprivation. They can also use the genome information to study other traits such as longevity.

How can their tissue and their cells survive so much longer? said co-author Wesley Warren, also at the genome institute. Thats why this genome is important, for scientists to have access to the entire sequence, so we can start understanding these mechanisms.

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Turtle genome offers clues to longevity, surviving without oxygen