Monthly Archives: April 2017

A toy xoloitzcuintlel, a dog breed that likely descended from dogs that crossed the Bering Land Bridge with the ancestors of Native Americans.

Penny Inan

At least, parts of its genome have, thanks to the first-ever evolutionary tree for dogs, compiled from genetic sequences gathered from 161 modern breeds and published in the journal Cell Reports.

The gene map, created by a team of scientists led by Heidi Parker of the US National Institutes of Health, was created to tease out the complex relationship between breed development and human migration.

Among a number of surprising findings, the sequencing revealed significant differences between the genomes of certain American dogs notably the Peruvian Hairless and the Xoloitzcuintle and the bulk of familiar breeds developed in Europe and Asia.

Archaeologists long ago established that a type of dog, dubbed New World Dog, arrived in the Americas via the Bering Strait thousands of years ago with the ancestors of Native Americans. However, it was assumed that the breed eventually died out.

Weve been looking for some kind of signature of the New World Dog, and these dogs have New World Dogs hidden in their genome, says Parker.

The new study is not fine-grained enough to sort precisely between New World and European-derived genes in, say, the Peruvian Hairless; doing so remains a target for future research.

The dog family tree also shows perhaps not surprisingly that another cohort of dogs, comprising pointers and gun dogs such as Golden Retrievers, share a very tight genetic grouping. These breeds, largely developed in Victorian England and optimised for use in gun-centred hunting, today display little genetic variation.

The evolutionary tree showing the relationship between dog breeds.

NIH Dog Genome Project

In contrast, genomes from dogs bred for a specific purpose herding harbour considerable differences, indicating the animals were developed independently across a wide range of geographic locations and time periods.

When we were looking at herding breeds, we saw much more diversity, Parker says. There was a particular group of herding breeds that seemed to come out of the United Kingdom, a particular group that came out of northern Europe, and a different group that came out of southern Europe.

This shows herding is not a recent thing. People were using dogs as workers thousands of years ago, not just hundreds of years ago.

The scientists regard the canine family tree very much as a work in progress. About half of the worlds recognised breeds have still to be sampled.

The phylogeny, as it grows, will likely be useful for research in both canine and human health, because dogs and people share a number of diseases and neurological conditions.

Says study co-author Elaine Ostrander: Using all this data, you can follow the migration of disease alleles and predict where they are likely to pop up next, and thats just so empowering for our field because a dog is such a great model for many human diseases.

Every time theres a disease gene found in dogs it turns out to be important in people too.

More here:
Mapping the canine genome reveals origin of dog breeds | Cosmos - Cosmos

Added Dr. Sandy Macrae, Sangamo's president and CEO: "Edward tirelessly built Sangamo into a leader in the emerging field of genomic therapies. I look to build upon the foundation he established and to realize our shared vision of delivering novel and potentially curative medicines to patients with serious genetic diseases."

Lanphier's career is celebrated for the scientific breakthroughs he enabled at Sangamo and for his public policy and thought leadership in the regenerative medicine and advanced therapies field.

Lanphier founded Sangamo in 1995 as a company focused on regulation of gene expression based upon zinc finger DNA binding protein technology. He fostered scientific innovation within the company, enabling development of methods for highly efficient and specific genome editing. Sangamo's scientists were the first to demonstrate the advantages of this approach in plant and animal species, leading to new methods for the production of novel transgenic animal models and crop modification techniques and laying the foundation for research into human therapeutic uses.

Under Lanphier's leadership, Sangamo scientists were the first to evaluate the safety and efficacy of genome editing techniques in human clinical trials, including the Company's legacy clinical research into cell therapies for HIV. Technologies developed through this program now hold promise as a potential cell therapy approach for cancer and monogenic diseases, including sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.

Lanphier also championed the development of in vivo genome editing techniques for their potential to cure genetically tractable diseases. Sangamo's zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology is the most advanced genome editing technology in development and with its demonstrated efficiency, precision and specificity has earned clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for in vivo human clinical studies. This year Sangamo is conducting the first ever in vivo genome editing clinical trials evaluating ZFN-mediated therapeutic genome editing approaches for the treatment of hemophilia B, a rare blood disorder, and two rare lysosomal storage disorders, MPS I and MPS II.

A passionate public company CEO, Lanphier developed strong relationships with a broad base of biotechnology investors and industry collaborators and kept Sangamo well financed throughout his tenure, seeking to minimize shareholder dilution and avoiding the use of debt.

Lanphier served as a member of the board of directors of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) from 2012 through 2016 and as chairman from 2014 until 2016. During his term as chairman, ARM grew to include more than 245 members and was recognized as the leading international advocacy organization for gene and cell therapies and the broader regenerative medicine sector. Lanphier heralded the promise of curing diseases through genome editing while also advocating for responsible use of the technology, leading the charge in calling for open debate and discussion of germline genome editing with an editorial published in Nature in March 2015.

"The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine would like to recognize and thank Edward for his extraordinary leadership during his tenure as chair and his commitment to expanding the influence of the organization in the U.S. and Europe.We would also like to acknowledge his significant contributions to the gene therapy and gene editing sectors throughout his 30-plus years in the industry," said Morrie Ruffin, managing director of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine. "All of us in this field owe Edward appreciation and gratitude for his unwavering belief in the life-saving potential of these technologies."

About Sangamo Therapeutics Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. is focused on translating ground-breaking science into genomic therapies that transform patients' lives using the company's industry leading platform technologies in genome editing, gene therapy, gene regulation and cell therapy. The Company is advancing Phase 1/2 clinical programs in hemophilia A and hemophilia B, and lysosomal storage disorders MPS I and MPS II. Sangamo has a strategic collaboration with Bioverativ Inc. for hemoglobinopathies, including beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease, and with Shire International GmbH to develop therapeutics for Huntington's disease. In addition, it has established strategic partnerships with companies in non-therapeutic applications of its technology, including Sigma-Aldrich Corporation and Dow AgroSciences. For more information about Sangamo, visit the Company's website at http://www.sangamo.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on Sangamo's current expectations. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, references relating to the potential of genome editing technology to cure diseases. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, the dependence on the success of clinical trials of lead programs, the lengthy and uncertain regulatory approval process, uncertainties related to the timing of initiation and completion of clinical trials, whether clinical trial results will validate and support the safety and efficacy of ZFP Therapeutics, and the ability to establish strategic partnerships. Further, there can be no assurance that the necessary regulatory approvals will be obtained or that Sangamo and its partners will be able to develop commercially viable gene-based therapeutics. Actual results may differ from those projected in forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties that exist in Sangamo's operations and business environments. These risks and uncertainties are described more fully in Sangamo's Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and Sangamo undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sangamo-announces-the-retirement-of-its-founder-and-genome-editing-pioneer-edward-lanphier-from-the-board-of-directors-300445509.html

SOURCE Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc.

http://www.sangamo.com

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Sangamo Announces The Retirement Of Its Founder And Genome ... - PR Newswire (press release)

For me, where the problem really comes in in Scots presentation is on pp. 107-08 where Scot says that when the adjective historical is attached to Adam and Eve it means ALL of the following things: 1) 2 actual persons named Adam and Eve existed suddenly as a result of Gods creation; 2) those two persons have a biological relationship with all subsequent human beings; 3) their DNA is our DNA; 4)those two died and brought death into the world; 5) those two passed on their sin natures to their descendants 6) without 5) happening and involving all humans, then not all human beings would be in need of salvation; and 7) therefore if one denies the historical Adam one denies the Gospel of salvation.

Now as a historian myself, to use a British metaphor this is way over-egging the pudding. I agree with Scot that too often we have read the Bible through the lens of Augustine and subsequent interpreters of the Bible, to the detriment of getting at the truth of what the Bible actually says. My own view would be yes to no. 1 with a caveat, that we dont fully know how exactly God created Adam and Eve in his image and this last clause is the crucial one. The account we have in Gen. 2 is poetic, but it is also some sort of historical account, more like a primeval saga clothed in ANE garb, than a modern newspaper report.

I do not think Scots no. 2) is a necessary conclusion from any of the statements about Adam in the Bible; 3) may or may not be true, 4) is true in regard to the death of Adam and Eve, and certainly Paul thinks this affected the rest of our kind. The issue is are we talking about physical death or spiritual death or both? I incline to the view that we are talking about spiritual death here, which leads in fact to premature physical death in various cases. We will say more about Scots sevenfold taxonomy of what historical means in the next post.

Continue reading here:
Adam and the Genome Part Ten - Patheos (blog)

In celebration of one of the biggest research programs in history, students hosted DNA Day April 25 at the MSC to provide a better understanding of genetics and genomics in healthcare.

Students from a genetics and family health communication course teamed up with genetics graduate students to present A&Ms first DNA Day, which aimed to bring awareness of the importance of genetics and the Human Genome Project, 13-year effort started in 1990 to map and understand human genes. The event featured booths with interactive DNA perspectives and guest speaker Laura Koehly from the National Human Genome Research Institute.

According to the NHGRI, the Human Genome Project allowed researchers to better understand the blueprint of a human being, resulting in more medical advances and better treatment of hereditary diseases. Congress declared April 25 National DNA Day in 2003 to celebrate the Human Genome Project as well as the 1953 discovery of DNAs double helix structure.

In her research at NHGRI, Koehly focuses on how genetic information is translated into family systems. She said she hopes DNA Day will cultivate curiosity in genetics and spark important conversations on family health.

I look at genetics in the context of hereditary cancers, Koehly said. If there is a causative mutation found in a family member, that information needs to flow from family member to family member. My hope is that DNA Day helps those who attend understand the role of genetics and health and hopefully that ripples into family conversations, and gets people discussing what heredity diseases run in their families.

Communication senior Amanda Salerno worked at the forensics booth, which focused on DNA facial recognition, or the use of genes found in DNA to reconstruct what the face may look like. Throughout her semester in genetics and family health communication, Salerno said she was happy with the opportunity to share information about DNA with the public.

We wanted to educate people about why DNA Day is cool and focus on topics such as the Human Genome Project because it is interesting, Salerno said. We want people to see that you dont have to be too interested in science to learn about it.

Assistant communication professor Emily Rauscher teaches the genetics and family health communication class and said she is proud to see how hard the students worked to put on this event.

What I wanted them to get out of this event, was understanding genetics, which is a core component of the class, and also be able to teach it to other people, Rauscher said. They went and got $1,500 in donations by themselves to help with funding the event Ive helped them in terms of giving them deadlines and checking on them but mostly, theyve been really self-sufficient Theyve done a pretty good job.

Communication senior Andrew Bell believes genetic topics are commonly ignored in society today and feels educating people about DNA and how if affects a persons health is useful information for anyone.

It relates to the longevity of your life and the way that you care about your family, Bell said. Weve been given the opportunity to explore those avenues on why it is important to communicate that within the family. Ive had the exposure of learning something that is very important and I think everyone should have the opportunity to learn about.

Go here to read the rest:
DNA Day raises awareness of Human Genome Project - Texas A&M The Battalion