The biology of identity

diverge

The following is an excerpt.

Are your talents, traits, and insecurities so deeply embedded in your genes that they’re basically inevitable? Or could things go rather differently with just a few tiny nudges? In other words, how much of your fate do you allot to your genes, versus your surroundings, versus chance?

In the absence of a time rewinder, the next best experiment is to do what Julia Freund and her colleagues did in a simple, yet remarkable recent study.  These investigators placed genetically identical individuals (mice in this case) in a common environment, and asked whether systematic behavioral differences could still develop between them.

Read the full story here: Where Does Identity Come From?

Additional Resources:

Study claims GE salmon can breed with brown trout and pass on genes

The following is an edited excerpt.

Scientists from Canada say that transgenic Atlantic salmon can cross-breed with a closely related species – the brown trout. The fish, which have been engineered with extra genes to make them grow more quickly, pass on this trait to the hybrid offspring.

The research is published the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.. However, the biotech company AquaBounty, which created the salmon, said any risks were negligible as the fish they were producing were all female, sterile and would be kept in tanks on land.

Read the original story in its entirety here: GE salmon can breed with brown trout and pass on genes

 

 

 

 

Roundup-resistant bees seized in Illinois, sparking legal controversy

The following is an edited excerpt.

The Illinois Ag Dept.  illegally seized privately owned bees from renowned naturalist, Terrence Ingram, without providing him with a search warrant and before the court hearing on the matter, reports Prairie Advocate News.

Behind the obvious violations of his Constitutional rights is Monsanto. Ingram was researching Roundup’s effects on bees, which he’s raised for 58 years.  “They ruined 15 years of my research,” he told Prairie Advocate, by stealing most of his stock.

Read the original article in its entirety here: Bees resistant to Monsanto’s roundup illegally seized by the Illinois Ag Dept

Research on GE salmon and trout ignores that offspring are sterile

The following is an edited excerpt.

The authors used fertile AquAdvantage(R) Salmon and mated them with brown trout in the laboratory to produce hybrids.

The hybrids had characteristics expected of conventional inheritance from their parents. The authors point out such hybrids would be improbable in nature, but fail to mention such hybrids would also be unable to reproduce. Any interpretation of their data should also account for the all female triploid nature of AquAdvantage(R) Salmon. It should be emphasized that this is a hypothetical study due to the biological and physical containment within which AquAdvantage(R) Salmon will be raised.

Read the original article in its entirety here: AquaBounty Response to New Research by Memorial University

 

 

Unapproved GE wheat found in Oregon

The following is an edited excerpt.

Unapproved genetically engineered wheat has been discovered in an Oregon field, a potential threat to trade with countries that have concerns about genetically modified foods.

The Agriculture Department said Wednesday that the genetically engineered wheat is safe to eat and there is no evidence that modified wheat entered the marketplace. But the department is investigating how it ended up in the field, whether there was any criminal wrongdoing and whether its growth is widespread.

Read the original article in its entirety: Unapproved genetically modified wheat found in Oregon 

 

 

Camel genome decoded

The following is an edited excerpt.

Researchers have sequenced the genome of a Bactrian camel named Mozart, laying down the foundation for future scientific work on these large desert mammals.

The previous lack of basic genetic data on camel species has hampered researchers like Burger from studying the animal’s genome. These genomes will also help scientists understand more about the evolution of the camel and its predecessors, such as how one recently discovered 3.5-million-year-old fossil may have played into its evolutionary family tree.

Read the full story here: Decoded Camel Genome To Unveil Secrets Of Evolutionary History

Warding off the flu with gene therapy

The following is an excerpt.

In 2009, a global collaboration of scientists, public health agencies, and companies raced to make a vaccine against a pandemic influenza virus, but most of it wasn’t ready until the pandemic had peaked. Now, researchers have come up with an alternative, faster strategy for when a pandemic influenza virus surfaces: Just squirt genes for the protective antibodies into people’s noses. The method—which borrows ideas from both gene therapy and vaccination, but is neither—protects mice against a wide range of flu viruses in a new study.

Read the full story here: Gene Therapy … Against the Flu?

Mistakes in ‘junk DNA’ linked to cancer

The following is an excerpt.

“Junk DNA” makes up about 98 percent of the human genome, an enormous accumulation of repetitive sequences that is not believed to include any genes that encode proteins for specific functions.

Its purpose, if any, is still poorly understood, but researchers at the University of Nottingham in England have found that at least one genetic malfunction in a sequence considered junk DNA has a dire and specific effect: promoting cancer growth.

Read the full story here: ‘Junk DNA’ Genetic Malfunction Promotes Cancerous Tumor Growth

Biotech crops do not produce new allergens or toxins

food pinwheel

The following is an editorial summary.

One of the most persistent fears regarding genetically engineered crops is that they will somehow introduce new allergens or toxins to our foods. According to immunologist Kevin Bonham, “This statement is at best wildly misleading and at worse an all-out fabrication.”

Bonham goes on to dissect this claim perpetrated by groups like the Union of Concerned Scientists which claim to be in favor of spreading scientific literacy. He breaks down, step-by-step, how a gene produces a protein which may then produce an allergic reaction … and whether or not the techniques being used to create biotech crops are likely to produce novel allergic reactions.

In short: they’re not.

Read the full story here: Allergic to Science–Proteins and Allergens in Our Genetically Engineered Food

Additional Resources:

  • “GM crops could bring allergy relief in the future,” European Food Information Council
    Raises the point that crops could, in theory, be genetically modified to help reduce allergic reactions. There’s nothing inherently allergy-inducing about genetically modified food.
  • Genetic Engineering and the Allergy Issue,” Plant Physiology
    A scientific paper noting the advent of the genetic engineering-and-allergy fear and laying out a plan for how to evaluate it.

Senate rejects GM food labeling measure, farmers relieved

The following is an edited excerpt.

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate rejected an amendment to the 2013 U.S. Farm Bill that would allow states to require genetically modified foods to be labeled as such on their packaging.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont began Thursday’s vote with the amendment, which ultimately failed 71-27. Senators from states that produce an abundance of genetically modified crops opposed the amendment in fear that the labels would scare off consumers and raise the cost of packaging.

Read the original story in its entirety here: Senate rejects genetically modified food labeling measure, farmers breathe sigh of relief

What makes us human: genetics, culture or both?

The following is an edited excerpt.

Was there a single trigger that kickstarted the human revolution?

Undoubtedly genetic mutation played a part. But did those mutations occur before the revolution started or after? In a paper published in Science [May 24th], Simon Fisher at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistic, Netherlands and Matt Ridley, formerly a science journalist, try to answer the question.

Read the full article here: What makes us human: genetics, culture or both?

On genetically engineered food, let the market decide

The following is an edited excerpt.

The movement to force the labeling of genetically engineered food is gaining momentum.  Federal legislation carried by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., would mandate labeling most bioengineered food nationwide.

Yet the movement’s argument is weakened by the lack of evidence that inserting fragments of DNA into crops harms our health. Pro-labeling activists – who also tend to be anti-Monsanto activists – point to polls finding that most Americans want the information labeled. But there is plenty about our food that consumers might like to know that is not on the labels. Food packages don’t have to include information about the use of pesticides or hormones. There is evidence that the widespread use of antibiotics in livestock, not to treat illness but to fatten animals and prevent disease from sweeping through crowded pens, is contributing to the rise of drug-resistant infections that threaten human health. Yet antibiotic use also remains unlabeled, and most consumers are unaware of the practice.

Read the original article in its entirety here: On genetically engineered food, let the market decide

Marketing to the big data inside us

miinome x

The following is an excerpt.

A Minneapolis-based startup called Miinome plans to build what it calls the  first “member-controlled human genetic marketplace.” The company, which has just  three full-time employees and is still hunting for financing, is notable mostly  for its bold idea: to sell DNA information to marketers.

View the full article here: Marketing to the big data inside us

Is the media storm around Angelina Jolie raising awareness or increasing misunderstanding?

The following is an excerpt.

Angelina Jolie’s New York Times op-ed about her preventative double mastectomy continues to generate news and commentary. For those who somehow missed the many headlines, Jolie decided to undergo these surgeries because a genetic test determined that she carries mutations in the BRCA1 gene, purportedly leading (in her case) to an 87% chance of developing breast cancer. She felt that a mastectomy, which will greatly lower her risk, was the way to be proactive and take control of the situation.

As many have noted, baring such intimate details to the world took courage, and may inspire women to be more proactive about their health. But the information she shared can also easily be misunderstood.

Read the full story here: Cancer Inc.

UK supermarkets give green light to GE animal feed

The following is an edited excerpt.

Last month three U.K. supermarkets admitted publicly that it was impossible to guarantee that the feed fed to the poultry and fresh meat they sell did not contain genetically modified (GM) soya meal.

Tesco, the U.K.’s No. 1 and one of the world’s biggest supermarkets, had always guaranteed that its own-label fresh and frozen poultry and eggs were only fed non-GM feed. However, Tesco group technical director, Tim Smith, said the company was dropping this pledge. “We could not continue with a promise we cannot be sure it is possible to keep.”

Read the original article in its entirety here:  UK supermarkets give green light to GM animal feed 

Gene linked to congenital heart disease

The following is an edited excerpt.

A new gene associated with a form of congenital heart disease in newborn babies — known as “a hole in the heart” has been discovered by researchers. The discovery, published in Nature Genetics today, will help lead to better understanding of why some patients are born with the disorder. Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common form of congenital malformation, occurring in seven in 1000 babies born and is one of the major causes of childhood death and illness.

Read the full article here: New Gene Discovery for Babies Born With Hole in the Heart

Transgenics could head off ‘the end of orange juice’

The following is an edited excerpt. 

Recent coverage in the national news media is reporting the very real possibility of the end of orange juice, due to citrus greening, an incurable plant disease that’s ravaging the Florida citrus industry.

But biotechnology has overcome that so-called incurable disease in a way traditional plant breeding cannot, according to Dr. Bill McCutchen, executive associate director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research.

By moving genetic material from spinach to citrus, Dr. Erik Mirkov, an AgriLife Research scientist in South Texas, has developed a citrus tree resistant to citrus greening, McCutchen said.

Read the original excerpt in its entirety here: Expert: Transgenics could head off ‘the end of orange juice’

The forecast on the race, genetics, and intelligence debate

The following is an editorial summary.

It is often said that race is a social fact and a biological fiction. In reality, however, the idea of race serves a role in biology. It is useful to understand the genetic relationships of populations, and individual population identity, because traits correlate with population history. This relates to the ongoing debate about genetics, race and intelligence.

Read the full story here: How the race, intelligence, and genetics question will semi-resolve within the next 10 years

Largest genetic study of developmental disorders in children underway in UK

The following is an edited excerpt.

By analyzing the genes of children with undiagnosed developmental disorders and those of their parents, researchers hope to identify the causes of hundreds of rare “syndromes without a name”. The study, being led by researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge, began in October 2010 and will eventually include 12,000 families making it by far the largest project of its kind ever conducted.

Dr Matthew Hurles, who is leading the project, said: “This study will fundamentally change our understanding of how genetics causes these severe developmental disorders.

Read the full article here: Gene screening to ‘fundamentally change’ understanding of childhood disorders

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