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Month: September 2012

Researchers engineer novel DNA barcode

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Much like the checkout clerk uses a machine that scans the barcodes on packages to identify what customers bought at the store, scientists use powerful microscopes and their own kinds of barcodes to help them identify various parts of a cell, or types of molecules at a disease site. But their barcodes only come in a handful of “styles,” limiting the number of objects scientists can study in a cell sample at any one time.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have created a new kind of barcode that could come in an almost limitless array of styles—with the potential to enable scientists to gather vastly more vital information, at one given time, than ever before. The method harnesses the natural ability of DNA to self-assemble, as reported today in the online issue of Nature Chemistry.

View the original article here: Researchers engineer novel DNA barcode

Human brain atlas, revealing genetic activity in 3D, published online

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The first detailed maps of genetic activity in the human brain have been published online by scientists. This freely accessible resource shows that the expression of genes across adult human brains is largely similar from one individual to the next, with only a few notable differences.

‘This study demonstrates the value of a global analysis of gene expression throughout the entire brain and has implications for understanding brain function, development, evolution and disease’, said Dr Ed Lein, who was involved in the study carried out at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle.

View the original article here: Human brain atlas, revealing genetic activity in 3D, published online

Genetic mutation may have allowed early humans to migrate throughout Africa

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A genetic mutation that occurred thousands of years ago might be the answer to how early humans were able to move from central Africa and across the continent in what has been called “the great expansion,” according to new research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

View the original article here: Genetic mutation may have allowed early humans to migrate throughout Africa

Does GM corn cause cancer? A flawed study fails to convince

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Last week a scientific paper appeared that reported that eating genetically modified (GM) corn causes cancer in rats.  Specifically, the scientists fed Roundup Ready® corn, or maize, to rats for two years, and reported that both females and males developed cancer and died at higher rates than controls.

This is very surprising.  If GM corn causes cancer, why aren’t Americans “dropping like flies,“ as one scientist asked?  We’ve been eating Monsanto‘s Roundup Ready® corn for over a decade, even if most of us aren’t aware of it.  But our rates of cancer haven’t increased more than Europeans, who eat far less GM corn.  Maybe the effect is limited to rats – in which case we should also have seen dramatic increases in cancer in lab rats.  But we haven’t seen that either.

View the original article here: Does GM corn cause cancer? A flawed study fails to convince

How do organisms evolve?

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A team of researchers at Michigan State University has documented the step-by-step process in which organisms evolve new functions.

The results, published in the current issue of Nature, are revealed through an in-depth, genomics-based analysis that decodes how E. coli bacteria figured out how to supplement a traditional diet of glucose with an extra course of citrate.

View the original article here: How do organisms evolve?

Under controlled: Why the new GMO panic is more sensational than sense

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A new toxicology study states that rats eating genetically modified food and the weedkiller Roundup develop huge tumors and die. But many scientists beg to differ, and a close look at the study shows why.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have always been a controversial topic. On the one hand are the many benefits: the higher crop yields from pesticide- and insect-resistant crops, and the nutritional modifications that can make such a difference in malnourished populations. On the other side is the question that concerns many people: We are modifying the genes of our food, and what does that mean for our health? These are important question, but the new study claiming to answer them misses the mark. It has many horrifying pictures of rats with tumors, but without knowledge about the control rats, what do those tumors mean? Possibly, nothing at all.

The recent study, from the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology has fueled the worst fears of the GMO debate. The study, by Italian and French groups, evaluated groups of rats fed different concentrations of maize (corn) tolerant to Roundup or Roundup alone, over a two year period, the longest type of toxicology study. (For an example of one performed in the U.S., see here.) The group looked at the mortality rates in the aging rats, as well as the causes of death, and took multiple samples to assess kidney, liver, and hormonal function.

View the original article here: Under controlled: Why the new GMO panic is more sensational than sense

Noted European scientist defends embattled maize GM study

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Scientists have hit back against the criticism levelled at the research linking the world’s best-selling weedkiller and a strain of GM maize – both developed by Monsanto – with tumours, multiple organ damage and premature death in rats.

The peer-reviewed paper, published yesterday in Food & Chemical Toxicology Journal, was the first to examine the long-term effects of Roundup and Roundup resistant NK603. Scientists from the University of Caen, France, found that rats exposed to even the smallest amounts developed  mammary tumours and severe liver and kidney damage as early as four months in males, and seven months for females, compared with 23 and 14 months respectively for a control group.

View the original article here: Noted European scientist defends embattled maize GM study

Federal court ponders legality of police DNA collection

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Federal appeals court judges aimed tough questions Wednesday at a state lawyer defending California’s voter-approved requirement that police take DNA samples of anyone arrested on suspicion of committing a felony.

The law, which was passed in 2004 and took effect in 2009, requires officers to swab an inner cheek of all felony arrestees for DNA and enter the information in a national database. It expanded a state law that required DNA samples only after a felony conviction.

Attorney General Kamala Harris‘ office says the law has been a valuable crime-solving weapon and contains safeguards against abuses, including criminal penalties for misuse of the genetic data.

Genetic Literacy Project cited in Maui debate over GM labeling

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Are genetically engineered food products safe? And, should such products be labeled to give consumers informed choices?

Those questions hung over the Council Chambers on Friday as Maui County Council members heard sometimes emotional testimony, mostly in favor of requiring the labeling of food with genetically modified organisms, also known as GMOs.

View the original article here: Genetic Literacy Project cited in Maui debate over GM labeling

How do cats earn their stripes? It’s all in the DNA

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A newly-discovered animal gene may explain how the common housecat comes to have a blotchy or stripey tabby fur pattern.

Scientists have found new DNA evidence which begins to solve the mystery of coat patterns in mammals.

The recently-found gene is one of several that collaborate to create the distinctive design of a cat’s coat, and it’s the first of the pattern genes to be identified.

Scientists create map of human brain

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A comprehensive atlas of the adult human brain that reveals the activity of genes across the entire organ has been created by scientists.

The map was created from genetic analyses of about 900 specific parts of two “clinically unremarkable” brains donated by a 24-year-old and 39-year-old man, and half a brain from a third man.

Baseline

Researchers at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle said the atlas would serve as a baseline against which they and others can compare the genetic activity of diseased brains, and so shed light on factors that underlie neurological and psychiatric conditions.

View the original article here: Scientists create map of human brain

India: Parliamentary panel seeks stopping of trials of GM seeds

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A Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, which examined in detail the prospects and effects of cultivating genetically modified food crops, sought stopping of ongoing field trials of GM seeds in various states in view of unclear ramifications of transgenic crops on biodiversity, environment, human and livestock health.

The committee’s report is regarded as a major setback to those backing GM crops in the country.
In its report tabled in Parliament last month, the committee said the experience of the past decade in the case of transgenics in agriculture crops had conclusively shown that while it had extensively benefited the industry, even a trickle-down was not visible as far as poor farmers were concerned.

View the original article here: Parliamentary panel seeks stopping of trials of GM seeds – Hindustan Times

In breakthrough, geneticists find 4 distinct types of cancer leading to new treatments

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In findings that are fundamentally reshaping the scientific understanding of breast cancer, researchers have identified four genetically distinct types of the cancer. And within those types, they found hallmark genetic changes that are driving many cancers.    
 
Additional Resources:

Marijuana based drug may “turn off” gene that causes breast cancer

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The “medical” bit of medical marijuana may be legitimate after all: Turns out a component of cannabis fights cancer, according to research.

Scientists at California Pacific Medical Center found that cannabidiol, or CBD, has the ability to “turn off” the DNA that causes “breast and other types of cancers” to metastasize, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“If this plant were discovered in the Amazon today, scientists would be falling all over each other to be the first to bring it to market,” said Dr. Donald Abrams, chief of oncology at the University of California San Francisco, which has also found science behind marijuana’s efficacy.

View the original article here: Marijuana based drug may “turn off” gene that causes breast cancer

Media manipulation by anti-GM scientists and NGOs

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The controversial study purportedly documenting the dangers of GM corn continues to come under fire–not from industry critics but from scientists and journalists, many associated with the political left. The latest salvo was fired by Knight’s Deborah Blum, who summarizes the overwhelming view the “the study authors appear to have practiced some very questionable science and some – and cynical – manipulation of the science media. As a result, the first accounts of the study enjoyed an uncritical ride in activist circles, only later to be followed by savage critiques from independent scientists and journalists.

View the original article here: MIT’s Knight Science Foundation examines media manipulation by anti-GM scientists and NGOs

Internationally known scientist stands up for GM crops

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Dr Peacock says one of his big disappointments is the way GM food crops have been represented as harmful to human health when they can boost yields, nutrition and increase world food security.

“What I do see wrong is where people manage to make terrible statements, slanderous statements about GM technology without really knowing or understanding anything about it get in the papers in a big way,” he said.

“I don’t know of a single valid case of detrimental affects on human health or environmental health.”

View the original article here: Internationally known scientist stands up for GM crops

Scientists use genetics, climate reconstructions to track global spread of modern humans out of Africa

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Research indicates the out-of-Africa spread of humans was dictated by the appearance of favourable climatic windows. By integrating genetics with high resolution historical climate reconstructions, scientists have been able to predict the timing and routes taken by modern humans during their expansion out of Africa. Their research reveals that the spread of humans out of Africa was dictated by climate, with their entry into Europe possibly delayed by competition with Neanderthals. The research is published today, 17 September, in the journal PNAS. Dr Anders Eriksson, from the University of Cambridge, the lead author of the paper said: “By combining extensive genetic information with climate and vegetation models, we were able to build the most detailed reconstruction of human history so far.”

Prenatal genome sequencing expected to pose challenges to doctors

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Geneticists soon will be able to identify an unborn child’s risk of developing chronic diseases later in life and possibly shed light on other traits, such as athletic ability and intelligence, medical experts say.

The source of such information probably will be the expectant mother’s blood sample. For the first time, researchers recently extracted fetal DNA from a pregnant woman’s blood and examined the unborn baby’s genome.

View the original article here: Prenatal genome sequencing expected to pose challenges to doctors