Category Archives: Genetic Engineering

Genetic Engineering For Parkinson #39;s Disease

By: Movement Disorders

Continued here:
Genetic Engineering For Parkinson's Disease - Video

Genetic Engineering with Nadia Ayoub
Humans have manipulated genes for thousands of years to make better crops and domesticate animals. But in the last century, the ability to transfer genes fro...

By: Washington and Lee University

View post:
Genetic Engineering with Nadia Ayoub - Video

Genetic Engineering Simplified
Our team made a brief explanation about Genetic Engineering. Don #39;t forget to visit http://www.chemistriology.webs.com for more videos.

By: Chemistriology

See the article here:
Genetic Engineering Simplified - Video

Living organism made with artificial genetic code
Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute say they created the first microbes containing artificial DNA. CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus discusses the scientific breakthrough....

By: berndmulder1

Continued here:
Living organism made with artificial genetic code - Video

Nature News Blog

09 May 2014 | 19:32 BST | Posted by Heidi Ledford | Category: Biology & Biotechnology, Politics

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has signed a law mandating the labeling of genetically engineered foods. Picture credit: Community College of Vermont via Flickr

Vermont is the first US state to mandate labels on foods produced using genetic engineering.

Under a law signed by Vermont governor Peter Shumlin on 8 May, labels must be in place on food sold in Vermont by July 2016.

We have a right to know whats in the food we buy, said Shumlin during the signing, as attendees noshed on free Ben & Jerrys ice cream. I am proud that were leading the way in the United States to require labeling of genetically engineered food.

A host of other states are contemplating similar legislation. But even as consumer activists celebrated Vermonts label law, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a food-industry group based in Washington DC, pledged to file a lawsuit in federal court with the intention of overturning the law. And last month, Congressman Mike Pompeo (Republican, Kansas) introduced the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2014in the US House of Representatives, a bill that allows requirements for labeling of genetically engineered food only when that food differs substantially in make-up from non-engineered counterparts. The use of bioengineering does not, in itself, constitute a material difference, the bill states.

Read the original:
Vermont to require labeling of genetically modified foods

SAY NO TO GENETIC ENGINEERING ! SWINE FLU 2009

By: Tarian Tradisional

Follow this link:
SAY NO TO GENETIC ENGINEERING ! SWINE FLU 2009 - Video

Genetic Engineering Intro
Video Scribe Project.

By: Kim Diot

Read the rest here:
Genetic Engineering Intro - Video

3 hours ago Figure 1: Quantitative base-induced DNA cleavage (QBIC) is a technique that allows DNA to be cleaved at any thymine site. Credit: lvcandy/iStock/Thinkstock

Genetic engineering of plants, animals and microorganisms such as bacteria typically involves the use of restriction enzymes to 'cut and paste' DNA fragments into certain genetic sequence locations. This process allows scientists to introduce new genes into an organism, but is constrained to specific recognition sequences, limiting the design of recombinant DNA molecules.

A research team led by Hiroki Ueda and colleagues from the Laboratory for Synthetic Biology at the RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center has now developed a chemical-based, non-enzymatic recombination technique that instead uses a DNA base analogue called 5-ethynyluracil to cleave DNA at any site containing the nucleotide thymine.

The technique developed by Ueda and his co-workers, which is called quantitative base-induced DNA cleavage (QBIC), starts with the generation of DNA fragments containing 5-ethynyluracil in place of thyminetwo molecules with similar structures. These products are then immersed in an aqueous solution containing methylamine, a derivative of ammonia. In this chemical bath, all the nucleotides containing 5-ethynyluracil become cleaved, introducing gaps near the cleaved ends. The gaps in the resulting DNA fragments create protruding ends that can be inserted into circular DNA molecules known as plasmids. The plasmids can then be inserted into the target organism, such as a bacterial cell, to complete the genetic engineering process.

"Compared with restriction enzymes, the QBIC reaction has the advantage that we can freely design the sequences at the protruding termini generated by the DNA cleavage," says Katsuhiko Matsumoto from the research team. "The experimental procedure for DNA concatenation using the QBIC reaction is also simple," he adds. "DNA can be concatenated by the addition and removal of methylamine, hybridized by heating and cooling, and incorporated into an organismin this case the bacterium Escherichia coli."

Another potential boon of the QBIC method is that it is less sensitive to laboratory conditions than enzyme-based techniques and can be run at room temperature. Being a chemical method, it is also generally cheaper to perform than enzyme-based methods. One limitation of the QBIC method in its present form is that long stretches of DNA can lose their structure after treatment with the methylamine solution, which prevents the two-stranded, helical shape from being restored. Ueda's team is now refining the protocol to extend its ability to handle longer DNA fragments. "If we find a solution to this problem," Matsumoto notes, "the QBIC method would become very attractive for the concatenation of long DNA fragments."

Explore further: New method for mass-producing high-quality DNA molecules

More information: Ikeda, S., Tainaka, K., Matsumoto, K., Shinohara, Y., Ode, K. L., Susaki, E. A. & Ueda, H. R. "Non-enzymatic DNA cleavage reaction induced by 5-ethynyluracil in methylamine aqueous solution and application to DNA concatenation." PLoS ONE 9, e92369 (2014). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0092369

Journal reference: PLoS ONE

Provided by RIKEN

Read the original:
New DNA cleavage technique could lead to more versatile genetic engineering

Vermont Governor Pat Shumlin intends to sign legislation requiring the labeling of foods that contain ingredients that are genetically modified (GMOs) or produced with genetic engineering. The governors office announced via Twitter that the signing will take place Thursday, May 8. Once the bill is signed, Vermont will become the first state to require mandatory GMO labeling.

The Vermont House approved the bill as amended by the Senate by a vote of 114-30 on April 24. The proposed effective date is July 1, 2016.

It is estimated that 80% of all food sold in the United States is at least partially produced from genetic engineering. The bill would require labeling on all such food sold at retail in Vermont, regardless of whether the food was manufactured in the state. Vermont lawmakers included a $1.5 million legal defense fund in the bill because they expect the law to face legal challenges after the signing.

While the bill exempts processing aids and milk from cows that have been fed GMO feed, many dairy products and other foods that incorporate milk would be affected unless they were made with organic ingredients.

New York GMO bill advances

The New York General Assemblys Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection advanced a bill on Tuesday that would require the labeling of GMOs. The committee voted 9-6 to approve AB 3525 and now will send the bill to the Committee on Codes. The bill is similar to Vermonts legislation as it would take effect without needing the surrounding states to pass labeling bills.

The New York legislation contains the same exemptions for processing aids and milk from cows that have been fed GMO feed or treated with GMO material. The bill must be approved by both the Assembly and the state Senate before the June 19 recess date and signed by the governor before it can become law.

The Food and Drug Administration, American Medical Association, World Health Organization, USDA and the National Academy of Sciences all have said that GMO ingredients are safe and there are no negative health effects associated with their use.

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and many other trade organizations oppose individual state legislation on GMO labeling and fully supportThe Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2014introduced last month by Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC). This bill would preempt states from requiring mandatory labeling and establish a federal standard for voluntary labeling of food and beverage products made with GMOs.

IDFA is working with the Safe and Affordable Food Coalition, headed by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, on issues related to GMO labeling.

Read this article:
Vermont governor to sign GMO labeling bill

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

8-May-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, May 8, 2014When Massachusetts enacted its own statewide health insurance reform in 2006, low-income women transitioned from receiving free, federally subsidized screening for breast and cervical cancer and cardiovascular disease risk to an insurance-based payment system. The effects on screening rates in this vulnerable population are explored in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/jwh.2013.4612.

A group of authors from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and several women's health centers and community hospitals in Boston, MA gathered data to evaluate whether the prevalence of screening mammography, Pap smear, and blood pressure measurement improved, stayed the same, or declined pre- and post-health insurance reform. In the article "Preventive Care for Low-Income Women in Massachusetts Post-Health Reform," the authors reviewed screening information for women treated at five community health centers between 2004 and 2010, spanning the period before and after the introduction of health reform.

"There are lessons learned from the Massachusetts experience of health care reform that can help inform health care changes nationally," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health.

###

About the Journal

Journal of Women's Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. The Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women's healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh. Journal of Women's Health is the official journal of the Academy of Women's Health and the Society for Women's Health Research.

About the Academy

Read the original post:
Health screening for low-income women under health care reform: Better or worse?