Archive for March, 2013

Scientists at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*STAR) Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) have discovered that key gene regulators work in pairs to trigger stem cells to differentiate into specific cell types. Furthermore, they showed that selective partnering of the regulators result in uniquely specified developmental outcomes.

An embryo develops from a single cell to a complex, interconnected assemblage of multiple cell types in the adult organism, such as the muscles, nerves, lungs and heart. The fates of embryonic cells as they differentiate into specialized adult cells require tightly regulated expression of hundreds of genes; each cell type being regulated by a unique and specific pattern of gene expression. Transcription factors are master regulators of gene expression and have been implicated as key players in the appropriate specification embryo development. They do this by binding to DNA thereby "turning on" or "turning off" nearby genes. What is less clear is how these transcription factors select specific sets of genes for activation and repression.

A recent study by scientists from GIS has discovered that it takes a pair of transcription factors, working tightly together, to orchestrate key decisions in embryo development. The discovery was published in the prestigious EMBO Journal.

The study, a multidisciplinary collaborative effort, established that the transcription factor Oct4 alternatively partners with two related factors, Sox2 or Sox17. This paper, together with a related paper published in the journal Stem Cells in 2011 ("Conversion of Sox17 into a reprogramming factor by re-engineering its association with Oct4 on DNA."), makes a key discovery about how the selective partnering of the two transcription factors can lead to very different developmental outcomes.

Lead author Dr. Lawrence Stanton said, "This work was a unique collaboration between scientists hailing from different areas of expertise computational biology, cell biology, developmental biology and biochemistry. The unique line of research was only possible by the interdisciplinary efforts of these scientists."

Co-lead author Dr. Prasanna Kolatkar said, "Our previous work described how re-engineering of developmental proteins through a single site change results in functions of proteins Sox2 and Sox17 becoming inter-converted thus the decision to stay as a stem cell or differentiate is flipped through a single amino acid change. This study uses a genome-wide approach to validate this concept, and moreover leads to novel genes potentially involved in primitive endoderm formation."

"This work identified a novel regulatory switch from pluripotency to cell-lineage specific differentiation. It is remarkable that a single pluripotency factor, Oct4, was found to influence diverse cellular processes. This key discovery illustrates the complexity in the regulation of pluripotency programme in embryonic stem cells," said GIS Executive Director Prof Ng Huck Hui.

More information: Aksoy, I. et al. Oct4 switches partnering from Sox2 to Sox17 to reinterpret the enhancer code and specify endoderm, The EMBO Journal, 8 March 2013.

Journal reference: EMBO Journal Stem Cells

Provided by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore

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Important find shows how gene regulators select different partners to form different organs

The University of Washington and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance introduce new UW-OncoPlex test to detect and treat cancers based on genes unique to each patient

Newswise SEATTLE The University of Washington and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) partnered to launch UW-OncoPlex an advanced gene sequencing test to help clinicians treat cancer. The new diagnostic tool is a significant milestone in the development of precision medicine and empowers doctors to predict which treatment therapies will be most effective for an individual patients cancer. By starting the right treatment as soon as possible, patients at SCCA greatly increase their odds of beating cancer and are saved from experiencing the adverse side effects of unsuccessful treatments. UW-OncoPlex is most commonly used when evaluating treatment plans for melanoma, lung cancer, sarcoma, gastrointestinal cancer, colon cancer, or leukemia.

Driven by high-powered next generation genetic sequencing technology, UW-OncoPlex analyzes 194 entire genes for driver mutations or genetic abnormalities. Unlike other genetic sequencing tests, UW-OncoPlex is capable of detecting whole gene abnormalities, including deletions, duplications, amplifications, and rearrangements. By identifying these driver mutations that cause tumors to behave differently on a molecular level, doctors can choose the therapy that is known to be most effective in destroying or controlling the patients tumor type.

SCCA is at the forefront of precision medicine with this test, said Dr. Colin Pritchard, University of Washington Assistant Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Associate Director of The Genetics and Solid Tumors Laboratory and lead developer of UW-OncoPlex. Therapies that will become the standard of care years from now are available today at SCCA as clinical trials. As we identify more driver mutations with actionable targeted therapies, I believe that within 15 years, we'll develop highly effective treatments for some of the most lethal cancers.

Developed by Dr. Colin Pritchard, in collaboration with Tom Walsh, University of Washington Research Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Medical Genetics and Mary-Claire King, University of Washington Professor of Medicine (Medical Genetics) and Genome Sciences, UW-OncoPlex introduces a more precise way of choosing the most effective treatment for patients. This spares the patient from the physical and emotional wear and tear of undergoing treatment that doesnt work or, in some cases, may actually be harmful. By attacking the cancer with an effective agent right away, theres a better chance of containing the cancer and forcing it into remission.

SCCA doctors order a UW-OncoPlex test just as they would any other lab test. If the test result is positive, the doctor will recommend the treatment indicated as most effective for patients whose disease has the same genetic characteristics. Once the patient and SCCA oncologist have discussed the protocol, risks and benefits, treatment can generally begin immediately.

Available to patients at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance since the fall of 2012, UW-OncoPlex is already proving helpful to doctors treating a variety of diseases, including lung cancer, sarcoma and melanoma. For example, in lung cancer, UW-OncoPlex can identify mutations in three different tumor genes, each with FDA-approved therapies that promote tumor shrinkage two to three times better than chemotherapy. In addition, UW-OncoPlex can identify mutations in over 20 genes that qualify some lung cancer patients for investigational drugs.

The patient benefit is significant, especially with current survival rates, said Dr. Renato Martins, Medical Director, Outpatient General Oncology/Hematology at SCCA and Medical Director, Thoracic/Head and Neck Oncology at the University of Washington. Response from a patients disease to treatment often lasts between nine and 14 months, which used to be the time lung cancer patients survived period. In some cases, the disease has remained under control for much longer than 14 months and for these patients its a huge improvement in expected outcomes.

For more information on the UW-OncoPlex test and how SCCA doctors are implementing the new technology, please visit http://www.seattlecca.org/uw-oncoplex.

About Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) is a cancer treatment center that unites doctors from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, UW Medicine and Seattle Childrens. Our goal, every day, is to turn cancer patients into cancer survivors. Our purpose is to lead the world in the prevention and treatment of cancer. SCCA has five clinical care sites: an outpatient clinic on the Hutchinson Center campus, a pediatric inpatient unit at Seattle Childrens, an adult inpatient unit at UW Medical Center, a medical oncology clinic at EvergreenHealth Cancer Care, and a radiation oncology clinic at Northwest Hospital & Medical Center. For more information about SCCA, visit http://www.seattlecca.org.

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Breakthrough Gene Sequencing Test Improves Detection and Treatment of Cancer

Public release date: 14-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Peter Reuell preuell@fas.harvard.edu 617-496-8070 Harvard University

For deer mice living in the Nebraska Sandhills, color can literally be the difference between life and death.

When they first colonized the region, the dark-coated mice stood out starkly against the light-colored, sandy soil, making them easy prey for predators. Over the next 8,000 years, however, the mice evolved a new system of camouflage lighter coats, changes in the stripe on their tails and changes in the extent of pigment across their body that allowed them to blend into their new habitat.

Now Harvard researchers are using their example to answer one of the fundamental questions about evolution - is it a process marked by large leaps single mutations that result in dramatic change in an organism or is it the result of many smaller changes that accumulate over time?

As described in a March 15 paper in Science, a team of researchers, including former Postdoctoral Fellow Catherine Linnen, now an Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky, and led by Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Molecular and Cellular Biology Hopi Hoekstra, were able to show that the changes in mouse coat color were the result not of a single mutation, but at least nine separate mutations all within a single gene.

"The findings demonstrate how the cumulative effect of natural selection, acting on many small genetic changes, can produce rapid and dramatic change," Linnen, the first author of the paper, said. "This helps us to understand, from a genetic perspective, the uncanny fit between so many organisms and their environmentsby acting on many small changes, rather than a handful of large ones, natural selection can produce very finely honed adaptations."

Surprisingly, Hoekstra said, that honing occurred in a single gene.

The role of this gene, called agouti, in camouflage was first discovered by Linnen, Hoekstra and colleagues in 2009, and it is responsible for changes in pigmentation in the coats of many animals. Every domesticated black cat, for example, has a DNA deletion in the gene.

What surprised Hoekstra and her team, however, wasn't that the gene was involved, but that each of the nine mutations were tied to a unique change in the animal's coats, that all the new mutations led to more camouflaging color, and that the mutations occurred in a relatively short, 8,000-year timeframe.

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One gene , many mutations

Public release date: 14-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rosie Waldron r.waldron@ucl.ac.uk 020-767-99041 University College London

New research, published in Neuron, gives insight into how single mutations in the VCP gene cause a range of neurological conditions including a form of dementia called Inclusion Body Myopathy, Paget's Disease of the Bone and Frontotemporal Dementia (IBMPFD), and the motor neuron disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Single mutations in one gene rarely cause such different diseases. This study shows that these mutations disrupt energy production in cells shedding new light on the role of VCP in these multiple disorders.

In healthy cells VCP helps remove damaged mitochondria, the energy-producing engines of cells. The mutant protein can't do this and as a result, the dysfunctional mitochondria build up.

The new study led by Dr Fernando Bartolome, Dr Helene Plun-Favreau and Dr Andrey Abramov of the UCL Institute of Neurology, found that mitochondria are damaged in cells from patients with mutant VCP. Mitochondria generate a cell's energy, and the study found these damaged mitochondria are less efficient, burning more nutrients but producing less energy. This reduction in available energy makes cells more vulnerable, which could explain why mutations in the VCP gene lead to neurological disorders.

Lead author Dr Fernando Bartolome said "We have found that VCP mutations are associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. VCP had previously been shown to be important in the removal of damaged mitochondria and proteins, accumulation of which is potentially very toxic to cells. A single mutation in the VCP gene could cause multiple neurological diseases because a different type of protein is accumulating in each disorder".

In the study, the researchers used live imaging techniques to examine the functioning of mitochondria in patient cells carrying three independent VCP mutations, and in nerve cells in which the amount of VCP has been reduced.

"The next step will be to find small molecules able to correct the mitochondrial dysfunction in the VCP deficient cells", added Dr Bartolome .

Dr Brian Dickie, the Motor Neuron Disease Association's Director of Research Development says: "Neurons - and motor neurons in particular - are incredibly energy hungry cells. These new findings from the team at UCL show that there is a significant interruption of energy supply in this hereditary form of MND, which has strong implications for understanding the degenerative process underpinning all forms of the disease."

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Mutations in VCP gene implicated in a number of neurodegenerative diseases

Submission to Governing Authorities? - Chuck Missler
In this segment Chuck Missler discusses submission to governing authorities. This segment comes from the "Timothy" commentary published by Koinonia House. - ...

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Genetic Engineering: Artificial Selection to Designer Babies. What Does It Mean?
SOURCE: http://www.sovereignelementinformation.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/genetic-engineering-artificial-selection-to-designer-babies-what-does-it-mean/ http:/...

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AP Lang -- Opposing Genetic Engineering
AP Lang Opposing Genetic Engineering. angelbratsnats09873 videos. Subscribe Subscribed Unsubscribe 23. 12 views. Like 0 Dislike 0. Like. Sign in to youtube. Sign in with your youtube Accountyoutube Google+ Gmail Orkut Picasa or Chrome to like angelbratsnats0987s video. Sign in. I dislike this. Sign in to youtube. Sign in with your youtube Accountyoutube Google+ Gmail Orkut Picasa or Chrome to dislike angelbratsnats0987s video. Sign in. About Share Add to. Sign in to youtube. Sign in with your ...

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Whole Foods to Provide Labels on Genetically Modified Products
Blinding snow and fierce winds create a travel nightmare across country.

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Genetic Engineering Stop Animation
Genetic Engineering Stop Animation. Uploaded by Lucy Skilling on Mar 12 2013. Skills 2708.

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Public release date: 14-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

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

New Rochelle, NY, March 14, 2013A woman's health status before pregnancy is critical for the health and wellbeing of the fetus and mother-to-be. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has set Healthy People 2020 national objectives for women of reproductive age, and young women are making important gains toward achieving some of those health goals, while some trends are less encouraging, as reported in a study published 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://www.liebertpub.com/jwh.

Pamela Xaverius, PhD and Joanne Salas, MPH, Saint Louis University School of Public Health and School of Medicine, MO, report substantial reductions in smoking and alcohol consumption (including drinking any alcohol and heavy drinking) among women in the U.S. ages 18-44 years. The authors analyzed data on preconception health indicators from over 500,000 women from all 50 states in the U.S. gathered between 2003-2010 from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

In the article "Surveillance of Preconception Health Indicators in Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System: Emerging Trends in the 21st Century," they also describe positive preconception health trends related to moderate or vigorous physical activity and a 68% increase in women having an influenza shot within the previous year. Health trends that have worsened and pose a potential threat to maternal and fetal health included binge alcohol drinking and having a chronic medical condition (e.g., diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, or obesity).

"While the trends in smoking, alcohol use, and influenza prevention have improved, the worsening in binge drinking and chronic medical conditions among reproductive aged women are important concerns," 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.

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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.

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Big improvements in preconception health trends among women of reproductive age reported

Public release date: 14-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 x2156 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, March 14, 2013Severe chronic pain associated with conditions such as bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis often require the use of opioid medication, with the risk of dependency and serious adverse reactions. An alternative treatment strategy increases the levels of a naturally occurring painkiller in and around the nerves that deliver pain signals to the bladder. This new therapeutic approach is described in an article in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Human Gene Therapy website at http://www.liebertpub.com/hum.

Hitoshi Yokoyama, MD and colleagues from University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (PA), Shinshu University School of Medicine (Matsumoto, Japan), and Diamyd (Pittsburgh, PA) describe a gene therapy technique in which they inject directly into the bladder wall the gene for enkephalin, an opioid compound produced by the human body. The gene is transported into the target cells via a herpes simplex virus vector that is incapable of replication.

In the article "Effects of Herpes Simplex Virus Vector-Mediated Enkephalin Gene Therapy on Bladder Overactivity and Nociception," the authors demonstrate high levels of enkephalin gene expression in the treated rats and significantly lower measures of pain compared to untreated animals when exposed to stimuli intended to induce bladder irritation. The researchers note that a similar gene therapy delivery vector carrying an enkephalin gene has been used in clinical studies in human patients to treat cancer-related pain, and was shown to be well tolerated and safe and to provide substantial pain relief.

"This is a very innovative application of Herpes Simplex Virus gene therapy in the treatment of a common and painful clinical problem that otherwise requires chronic use of narcotics," says James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, and Director of the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia.

###

About the Journal

Human Gene Therapy, the Official Journal of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, French Society of Cell and Gene Therapy, German Society of Gene Therapy, and five other gene therapy societies, is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online. Human Gene Therapy presents reports on the transfer and expression of genes in mammals, including humans. Related topics include improvements in vector development, delivery systems, and animal models, particularly in the areas of cancer, heart disease, viral disease, genetic disease, and neurological disease, as well as ethical, legal, and regulatory issues related to the gene transfer in humans. Its sister journal, Human Gene Therapy Methods, published bimonthly, focuses on the application of gene therapy to product testing and development, and Human Gene Therapy Clinical Development, launching in 2013, publishes data relevant to the regulatory review and commercial development of cell and gene therapy products. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Human Gene Therapy website at http://www.liebertpub.com/hum.

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Novel treatment approach for bladder pain using a herpes simplex virus vector reported

Home business Two Thais make it to WEF Young Global Leaders list

The Nation March 14, 2013 1:00 am

The young leaders from Myanmar are Thura Ko, founder and managing director of YGA Capital, and Win Win Tint, managing director of City Mart Holdings Co.

Like his father, MR Disnadda Diskul, chief of Mae Fa Luang Foundation, Dispanadda has inherited

the urge to help poor farmers. His project's main objective is to help people in the

farming community and raise their in-

come through the shared ownership of a brand. The project now owns Doi Tung Coffee brand. Although the brand has

not yet spread to global markets, the project has considerable accomplishments domestically.

At an event hosted by Sasin Graduate School, he said success, for a social enterprise, lies in its ability to deliver what the locals need. "We're not giving what they're not ready to take. Many knowledge programmes turn to waste if they don't match the needs [of the people involved]," he said, citing the experience of projects under the Mae Fah Luang Foundation.

According to the Global Young Academy, which is the voice of young scientists around the world, Nitsara obtained a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Columbia University in 1999 and master's and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Stanford University in 2004. She leads a research team at Biotec in employing microarray technology to study black tiger shrimp, an economically important export for Thailand, and develop antibody arrays for diagnostics.

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Two Thais make it to WEF Young Global Leaders list

BIOFAB researchers have produced high quality standardized public domain DNA sequences for genetic engineering.

(Phys.org) Predictability is often used synonymously with "boring," as in that story or that outcome was soooo predictable. For practitioners of synthetic biology seeking to engineer valuable new microbes, however, predictability is the brass ring that must be captured. Researchers with the multi-institutional partnership known as BIOFAB have become the first to grab at least a portion of this ring by unveiling a package of public domain DNA sequences and statistical models that greatly increase the reliability and precision by which biological systems can be engineered.

The DNA sequences produced by BIOFAB provide precise control of gene expression in Escherichia coli, the rod-shaped bacterium that is one of the principal model organisms for genetic engineering. While these DNA sequences serve as standardized parts specific to E. coli, they also provide a set of rules for how the sequences fit together that should apply to other microbes as well. Controlling the expression of genes is essential for engineering a microbe to produce a specific product or carry out a specific function.

As BIOFAB co-director Adam Arkin, a computational biologist and director of Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division, has noted, "Fulfilling the great promise of synthetic biology hinges on making the design and construction of biological systems as predictable as the assembly of computer hardware."

Yet even with a microbe as well-characterized and understood as E. coli, the introduction of new genes has in the past been met with as much failure as success.

"You would think after a generation of genetic engineering, expressing genes with precision in an organism as well utilized as E. coli would be pretty straightforward but it's not," says BIOFAB's other co-director Drew Endy, a synthetic biologist at Stanford University.

Arkin and Endy are the corresponding authors of a pair of research papers published simultaneously in the journal Nature Methods, and a third to be published in Nucleic Acids Research, that collectively describe this major BIOFAB breakthrough.

BIOFAB's success is based on two major achievements the design of independent DNA promoter and ribosome binding site sequences for specific E. coli genes, and the development of mathematical models that provide rules for engineering gene expression that should be applicable to nearly all organisms. This work establishes a much-needed technological foundation for the field of synthetic biology, which in turn should facilitate more precise and predictable genetic engineering in the future.

BIOFAB was established in December, 2009 under a grant from the National Science Foundation as "the world's first biological design-build facility." Led by the University of California Berkeley and Stanford University, BIOFAB is operated in partnership with Berkeley Lab, the BioBricks Foundation and the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center.

More information: "Quantitative estimation of activity and quality for collections of functional genetic elements." Vivek K Mutalik, Joao C Guimaraes, Guillaume Cambray, Quynh-Anh Mai, Marc Juul Christoffersen, Lance Martin, Ayumi Yu, Colin Lam, Cesar Rodriguez, Gaymon Bennett, Jay D Keasling, Drew Endy & Adam P Arkin, 10 March 2013, Nature Methods. doi:10.1038/nmeth.2403

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Predictability: The brass ring for synthetic biology

PGM Second Lesson, First Swings
PGM Second Lesson, First Swings.

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on TreasON
A Bushwackk/Heretic production of Cicero #39;s iconic speech. "A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within....

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on TreasON - Video

Published: Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 5:13 p.m. Last Modified: Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 5:13 p.m.

That some people are genetically prone to addictions is nothing new, but some scientists have expressed surprise at the degree of addictive tendencies.

For example, if you have a high-risk genotype for marijuana addiction, and also suffer from neuroticism or anxiety, you have an eight- to nine-fold risk of becoming addicted to marijuana.

What's more, in utero exposure to the drug might induce long-term addictive tendencies -- at least in rats.

Professor Yasmin Hurd, a neuroscientist and professor of psychiatry at the Ichan School of Medicine in Mount Sinai, N.Y., cited these examples Thursday in a talk titled "The Vulnerable Brain: Understanding the Neurobiology of Addiction Risk." Her talk was one of two expert lectures delivered Thursday at the McKnight Brain Institute as part of brain awareness week, a global campaign to raise awareness of the brain.

Early addiction research in neuroscience focused on dopamine dependence -- the "feel-good" chemical released abundantly in the brain during drug usage. The flip side of this immediate surge is a long-term lessening of dopamine actually produced by the brain, which over time, decreases a person's ability to experience pleasure.

But scientists realized addiction in the brain was "much more complicated" than decoding dopamine circuitry, so they began looking at genetic mutations that might play a role.

"Clearly there is not one gene that makes someone a heroin abuser," Hurd said, adding, "Genetics has an important for understanding the vulnerability of heroin abusers."

Hurd noted that marijuana is the most widely abused drug in the U.S., while heroin and cocaine are the most addictive. Heroin overdose has the highest mortality rates of any drug.

One issue that interests Hurd is the effect of marijuana use by pregnant women on their babies. The scientists found that men were more vulnerable to addictions than women. Other studies have shown that people -- especially men -- with certain behavioral traits such as anxiety, when combined with a genetic vulnerability to addiction, or a mother who smoked in utero, were especially at risk.

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Professor: Genetic mutations can amplify drug addictions

Man #39;s DNA Test Rocks Human Genetic Theories
The research means our Y-chromosome tree is much longer than geneticists believed mdash;and that our paternal lineage is more than twice as old as we once thought.

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Man's DNA Test Rocks Human Genetic Theories - Video

MinuteEarth: The Story of Our Planet
Subscribe to MinuteEarth - it #39;s FREE! - http://dft.ba/-minuteearth_sub Agriculture, hula hoops, SARS, and THIS video: how long did they take to get around th...

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Savage - Only You (Harmless Project Remix)
Dar viena puikiai #382;inoma daina, kuri atgaivinta nauju skambesiu. Geriausios kokyb #279;s muzik #261; rasite #269;ia, prenumeruokite ir dalinkit #279;s! Nuotrauka rasite: http:/...

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Savage - Only You (Harmless Project Remix) - Video

How Mendel #39;s pea plants helped us understand genetics - Hortensia Jiménez Díaz
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-mendel-s-pea-plants-helped-us-understand-genetics-hortensia-jimenez-diaz Each father and mother pass down tra...

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How Mendel's pea plants helped us understand genetics - Hortensia Jiménez Díaz - Video

HUNTED BY MARILYN MANSON (The Hidden)
Enjoy the video? Subscribe! http://bit.ly/M0mU1V #9669; #9669; #9669; Download Here: http://www.hidden-source.com What is The Hidden? "In the early 1950s human genetics e...

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Newswise BETHESDA, MD March 13, 2013 Genetics and life sciences instructors, who teach undergraduate students about population and evolutionary genetics, have a new teaching resource: the March 2013 Primer in the Genetics Society of Americas journal GENETICS uses current research on transcriptome divergence in two closely related species of field crickets to explain population genetics.

The Primer, Population Genetics and a Study of Speciation Using Next-Generation Sequencing, by Patricia J. Wittkopp, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Michigan, explains how undergraduate instructors can, in their classrooms, use the article, Patterns of Transcriptome Divergence in the Male Accessory Gland of Two Closely Related Species of Field Crickets by Andrs et al., published in the February 2013 issue of GENETICS.

The Primer details background information on the Gryllus firmus and Gryllus pennsylvanicus cricket systems and the use of transcriptome sequence variation to study speciation. Dr. Wittkopp provides cogent explanations of the sequencing technologies used as well as some of the results of the paper, but leaves most of the results for students to interpret on their own. To give students the tools they need to interpret the data, Dr. Wittkopp provides a concise and accessible overview of the necessary genetics concepts on which the research of Andrs et al. is based. For instructors, Dr. Wittkopp provides guidance on how to use the primary literature in the classroom as well as questions for student discussion.

By focusing on contemporary scientific literature, students engage in the learning process and are encouraged to make their own scientific discoveries, said Elizabeth A. De Stasio, Ph.D., a professor at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and editor of the Primer section in the Genetics Society of Americas journal, GENETICS.

Primers are scheduled for the April, May, and June issues of GENETICS. Providing valuable educational resources like this, which enhance the quality of genetics education, teaching and learning, is a mission of GSA, said Mark Johnston, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of GENETICS. These articles help educators engage students in critically analyzing current primary research, a vital part of research training.

CITATION: Patricia J. Wittkopp. Population Genetics and a Study of Speciation Using Next Generation Sequencing: An Educational Primer for Use with Patterns of Transciptome Divergence in the Male Accessory Gland of Two Closely Related Species of Field Crickets GENETICS, March 2013, Volume 193, Number 3, 671-675.

ABOUT GENETICS Primers: Primers are designed to bring cutting-edge scientific research into the classroom by making scientific papers accessible to undergraduate students and their instructors. A Primer is intended to be used with the research article, which is published in the same or a recent issue of GENETICS. Primers include topic background, explanation of genetics concepts, suggestions for using the article in the classroom, and questions for classroom discussion. The articles give instructors the opportunity to enliven student interest in genetics by teaching genetics principles in the context of current research.

ABOUT GENETICS: Since 1916, GENETICS has covered high quality, original research on a range of topics bearing on inheritance, including population and evolutionary genetics, complex traits, developmental and behavioral genetics, cellular genetics, gene expression, genome integrity and transmission, and genome and systems biology. GENETICS, a peer-reviewed, peer-edited journal of the Genetics Society of America is one of the world's most cited journals in genetics and heredity.

ABOUT GSA: Founded in 1931, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) is the professional membership organization for scientific researchers, educators, bioengineers, bioinformaticians and others interested in the field of genetics. Its nearly 5,000 members work to advance knowledge in the basic mechanisms of inheritance, from the molecular to the population level. The GSA is dedicated to promoting research in genetics and to facilitating communication among geneticists worldwide through its conferences, including the biennial conference on Model Organisms to Human Biology, an interdisciplinary meeting on current and cutting edge topics in genetics research, as well as annual and biennial meetings that focus on the genetics of particular organisms, including C. elegans, Drosophila, fungi, mice, yeast, and zebrafish. GSA publishes GENETICS, a leading journal in the field and an online, open-access journal, G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics. For more information about GSA, please visit http://www.genetics-gsa.org. Also follow GSA on Facebook at facebook.com/GeneticsGSA and on Twitter @GeneticsGSA.

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Education Resource Teaches Population Genetics Using Current Research

Public release date: 13-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Phyllis Edelman pedelman@genetics-gsa.org 301-634-7302 Genetics Society of America

BETHESDA, MD March 13, 2013 Genetics and life sciences instructors, who teach undergraduate students about population and evolutionary genetics, have a new teaching resource: the March 2013 Primer in the Genetics Society of America's journal GENETICS uses current research on transcriptome divergence in two closely related species of field crickets to explain population genetics.

The Primer, "Population Genetics and a Study of Speciation Using Next-Generation Sequencing," by Patricia J. Wittkopp, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Michigan, explains how undergraduate instructors can, in their classrooms, use the article, "Patterns of Transcriptome Divergence in the Male Accessory Gland of Two Closely Related Species of Field Crickets" by Andrs et al., published in the February 2013 issue of GENETICS.

The Primer details background information on the Gryllus firmus and Gryllus pennsylvanicus cricket systems and the use of transcriptome sequence variation to study speciation. Dr. Wittkopp provides cogent explanations of the sequencing technologies used as well as some of the results of the paper, but leaves most of the results for students to interpret on their own. To give students the tools they need to interpret the data, Dr. Wittkopp provides a concise and accessible overview of the necessary genetics concepts on which the research of Andrs et al. is based. For instructors, Dr. Wittkopp provides guidance on how to use the primary literature in the classroom as well as questions for student discussion.

"By focusing on contemporary scientific literature, students engage in the learning process and are encouraged to make their own scientific discoveries," said Elizabeth A. De Stasio, Ph.D., a professor at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and editor of the Primer section in the Genetics Society of America's journal, GENETICS.

Primers are scheduled for the April, May, and June issues of GENETICS. "Providing valuable educational resources like this, which enhance the quality of genetics education, teaching and learning, is a mission of GSA," said Mark Johnston, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of GENETICS. "These articles help educators engage students in critically analyzing current primary research, a vital part of research training."

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CITATION: Patricia J. Wittkopp. Population Genetics and a Study of Speciation Using Next Generation Sequencing: An Educational Primer for Use with "Patterns of Transciptome Divergence in the Male Accessory Gland of Two Closely Related Species of Field Crickets" GENETICS, March 2013, Volume 193, Number 3, 671-675.

ABOUT GENETICS Primers: Primers are designed to bring cutting-edge scientific research into the classroom by making scientific papers accessible to undergraduate students and their instructors. A Primer is intended to be used with the research article, which is published in the same or a recent issue of GENETICS. Primers include topic background, explanation of genetics concepts, suggestions for using the article in the classroom, and questions for classroom discussion. The articles give instructors the opportunity to enliven student interest in genetics by teaching genetics principles in the context of current research.

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Education resource focuses on teaching population genetics using current research

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - Mar 13, 2013) - Atossa Genetics, Inc. ( NASDAQ : ATOS ), The Breast Health Company, has entered into a contractual agreement with FedMed, Inc., one of the largest proprietary Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) networks in the U.S., for diagnostic laboratory testing. FedMed's network is comprised of more than 550,000 providers, including 4,000 hospitals and more than 60,000 ancillary facilities, serving over 40 million Americans.

Atossa's agreement with FedMed will give FedMed's participating providers and its clients' members greater access to Atossa's tests, including the ForeCYTE Breast Health Test and the ArgusCYTE Breast Health Test.

"There is a significant unmet clinical need in the medical community for more effective ways to identify women at high risk of breast cancer," stated Steven C. Quay, M.D., Ph.D., FCAP, Chairman, CEO & President of Atossa Genetics. "Our agreement with FedMed will help ensure that more doctors and their patients have access to the ForeCYTE Breast Health Test, a risk stratification test akin to the cervical Pap smear, and the ArgusCYTE Breast Health Test, a blood test for recurrence targeted at the 3.2 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S."

Dr. Quay added, "At Atossa, our goal is to help physicians manage their patients' breast health by offering a suite of products and services that address the most pressing clinical decisions. Armed with better information, physicians will be able to customize individualized treatment plans to reduce women's risk of breast cancer or cancer recurrence, to improve patient therapeutic compliance and ultimately to decrease the overall cost of care."

About Atossa Genetics, Inc.

Atossa Genetics, Inc. ( NASDAQ : ATOS ), The Breast Health Company, is based in Seattle, WA, and is focused on preventing breast cancer through the commercialization of patented diagnostic medical devices and patented, laboratory developed tests (LDT) that can detect precursors to breast cancer up to eight years before mammography, and through research and development that will permit it to commercialize treatments for pre-cancerous lesions.

The National Reference Laboratory for Breast Health (NRLBH), a wholly owned subsidiary of Atossa Genetics, Inc., is a CLIA-certified high-complexity molecular diagnostic laboratory located in Seattle, WA, that provides the patented ForeCYTE Breast Health Test and the ArgusCYTE Breast Health Test.

About the ForeCYTE Breast Health Test

The ForeCYTE Breast Health Test provides personalized information about the 10-year and lifetime risk of breast cancer for women between ages 18 and 73. It involves collecting a specimen of nipple aspirate fluid, or NAF, using our patented Mammary Aspirate Specimen Cytology Test, or MASCT, System. The NAF specimen is collected by a physician and returned to our CLIA-certified laboratory. We study the patient's NAF specimen and use a proprietary molecular and cellular biomarker test that detects basal or luminal cells to identify the presence of atypical ductal hyperplasia, or ADH, which is considered a precursor to breast cancer.If ADH is detected, steps can be taken to reduce the risk of breast cancer.

About the ArgusCYTE Breast Health Test

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Atossa Genetics Announces National Agreement With Network Provider FedMed

By Randy Dotinga HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- In a very early sign of medical progress on the osteoarthritis front, scientists report they've used injections of modified genes to reduce the risk that mice will develop the painful, debilitating condition.

There's no way to know if the gene therapy treatment will help humans, and scientists are far from understanding the treatment's side effects and potential cost. But the findings are more than just good news for mice with creaky joints.

"This work identifies an approach that can make a difference," explained study co-author Dr. Brendan Lee, director of the Rolanette and Berdon Lawrence Bone Disease Program of Texas. "There's a great need for treating and preventing osteoarthritis."

The disease, the most common form of arthritis, appears as your joints deteriorate with aging. It often strikes the hands, knees, neck and hips, causing pain, stiffness and difficulty moving.

Seventy percent of Americans aged 55 to 70 struggle with osteoarthritis, for which there is no cure. Doctors try to treat the pain and improve the ability of patients to move, Lee said, and may turn to joint replacement surgeries in advanced cases.

In the new study, researchers examined a protein that diminishes in people with a rare joint disorder. The protein appears to be crucial to the lubrication of joints.

Researchers injected a gene related to the protein into mice and found that the rodent bodies began producing it. The mice appeared to be resistant -- but not immune -- to damage to the cartilage of joints from injury and aging, Lee said.

There are plenty of caveats.

The research is in mice, not humans; the next step is to test the approach in horses, whose joints are similar to those of people. And the gene therapy doesn't seem to do anything for damage that's already occurred.

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Gene therapy helped mice withstand osteoarthritis