June 14, 2013

April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Many students are not diagnosed with dyslexia and other learning disabilities until high school, making treatments less effective. A new study of the genetic origins of these conditions by the Yale School of Medicine could allow for earlier diagnoses and more successful interventions.

The research team, led by Jeffrey R. Gruen, MD, professor of pediatrics, genetics and investigative medicine at Yale, analyzed data from more than 10,000 children born in 1991-1992. The children were part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) conducted by investigators at the University of Bristol in the UK.

The ALSPAC data was used to unravel the genetic components of reading and verbal language. During this process, the team identified genetic variants that can predispose children to dyslexia and language impairment. Understanding this predisposition increases the likelihood of earlier diagnosis and more effective treatments.

The development of reading and verbal language skills is difficult with dyslexia and language impairment, which are both common learning disabilities. Both of these disabilities are known to have significant genetic components, but until now determining the root cause had been difficult.

Prior research by Gruen and his team revealed that dopamine-related genes ANKK1 and DRD2 are involved in language processing. Further studies showed prenatal exposure to nicotine has a strong negative effect on both reading and language processing, as well as identifying a gene called DCDC2 that is linked to dyslexia.

The current study looked deeper within the DCDC2 gene, attempting to pinpoint the specific parts of the gene responsible for dyslexia and language impairment. Within the DCDC2 gene, the team found that some variants of a gene regulator called READ1 (regulatory element associated with dyslexia1) are associated with problems in reading performance while other variants are strongly associated with problems in verbal language performance.

According to Gruen, these variants interact with a second dyslexia risk gene called KIAA0319. When you have risk variants in both READ1 and KIAA0319, it can have a multiplier effect on measures of reading, language, and IQ, he said. People who have these variants have a substantially increased likelihood of developing dyslexia or language impairment.

These findings are helping us to identify the pathways for fluent reading, the components of those pathways; and how they interact, said Gruen. We now hope to be able to offer a pre-symptomatic diagnostic panel, so we can identify children at risk before they get into trouble at school. Almost three-quarters of these children will be reading at grade level if they get early intervention, and we know that intervention can have a positive lasting effect.

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Unraveling The Mystery Of Dyslexia Through Genetic Research

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Washington, June 14 (ANI): Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have discovered genetic variants that can predispose children to dyslexia and language impairment, increasing the likelihood of earlier diagnosis and more effective interventions.

Many students now are not diagnosed until high school, at which point treatments are less effective.

Senior author Jeffrey R. Gruen, M.D., professor of pediatrics, genetics, and investigative medicine at Yale, and colleagues analyzed data from more than 10,000 children born in 1991-1992 who were part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) conducted by investigators at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

Dyslexia and language impairment are common learning disabilities that make reading and verbal language skills difficult. Both disorders have a substantial genetic component, but despite years of study, determining the root cause had been difficult.

In previous studies, Gruen and his team found that dopamine-related genes ANKK1 and DRD2 are involved in language processing. In further non-genetic studies, they found that prenatal exposure to nicotine has a strong negative affect on both reading and language processing. They had also previously found that a gene called DCDC2 was linked to dyslexia.

In this new study, Gruen and colleagues looked deeper within the DCDC2 gene to pinpoint the specific parts of the gene that are responsible for dyslexia and language impairment. They found that some variants of a gene regulator called READ1 (regulatory element associated with dyslexia1) within the DCDC2 gene are associated with problems in reading performance while other variants are strongly associated with problems in verbal language performance.

Gruen said these variants interact with a second dyslexia risk gene called KIAA0319.

"When you have risk variants in both READ1 and KIAA0319, it can have a multiplier effect on measures of reading, language, and IQ. People who have these variants have a substantially increased likelihood of developing dyslexia or language impairment," he said.

Gruen hopes that the finding will allow them to offer a pre-symptomatic diagnostic panel, so they can identify children at risk before they get into trouble at school.

The study is published online and in the July print issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics. (ANI)

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Genetic origins of dyslexia and language impairment unraveled

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OMICS Group Incorporation Acquires Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine from LibPubMedia

OMICS Group Incorporation announces acquisition of Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine (JMGM) from the Library Publishing Media.

The deal was signed between Dr. Srinu Babu Gedela, CEO, OMICS Group Inc., and Dr. Muhammad Sohail, CEO, Library Publishing Media. Both organizations are working together to strengthen bonds for long-term future relationship.

Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine (JMGM) offers its scholarly publishing to PubMed and PubMed Central. The journal stands as one of its own kind by publishing high quality articles and exploring the vast discipline of Genetics and Molecular Biology. Started in 2005, it fosters communication between academic research and interdisciplinary commerce of medicine. Burgeoning the Open Access publishing, JMGM enumerates OMICSs vision of dissemination of scientific and healthcare knowledge.

Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine (JMGM) will particularly focus on biomedical issues of the developing world, centralizing research on malaria, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and microbial diseases. OMICS Group like its other publishings will continue using peculiar Peer-review methodologies and using Editorial Manager System for the same.

JMGM is available online and freely accessible over the internet under the running Open Access Policy of OMICS Group. Dr. Muhammad Sohail continues to be the Editor in Chief of the respective journal and offer his timely presence and attention for amplifying this collaboration.

I am extremely happy and delighted to have JMGM join OMICS family wherein the journal will add value to our readers and I am confident that it is not very far that I can abolish the knowledge barriers, says Dr. Srinu Babu Gedela.

More about OMICS Group Incorporation: OMICS Group Inc. was founded in 2007, by Dr. Srinu Babu Gedela. With a vision of making healthcare and scientific information Open Access, OMICS hosts more than 300 journals under its vast umbrella. To support the scientific information and vice versa, OMICS organizes around 100 conferences worldwide each year. With more than 22,000 editorial board members being a structural backbone of the organization, OMICS is running on a path of continuous evolution since then. OMICS has started new initiatives: SciTechnol, E-Books, Scholars Central, Clinical and Expert Database, Biosafety Protocols, and E-BABE.

More about Library Publishing Media: Library Publishing Media was started in 2005 by Dr. Muhammad Sohail. Being an Open Access Publisher LibPubMedia Ltd hosts two Open Access and Peer-reviewed journals excluding JMGM: Journal of Venom research and Journal of RNAi and Gene Silencing. To support various scientific information published under their syndicate, they organize conferences in Oxford University with the idea and objective of strengthening communication between the eminent scientists, academic researchers and business conglomerates.

Contact To learn more about this merger, please contact- Name: John Benson Email: contact.omics@omicsonline.org

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OMICS Group Incorporation Acquires Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine from LibPubMedia

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GENESIS/ FOXTROT interpretado por Genetics (ex Rael).
Genetics plays Foxtrot (Genesis), show completo en ND Ateneo, 22 de noviembre 2012. Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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GENESIS/ FOXTROT interpretado por Genetics (ex Rael). - Video

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Savage Genetics Silent Hill Dubstep Remix) MEP (REDDRAGONSTUDIOZ) - My part (REUPLOAD)
REUPLOAD OF MY OLD AMV ON MY NEW CHANNEL. This is my part of REDDRAGONSTUDIOZ Silent Hill (Dubstep Remix) MEP Band: Savage Genetics Song: Silent Hill (Dubstep Remix) Anime: Sword of...

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Savage Genetics Silent Hill Dubstep Remix) MEP (REDDRAGONSTUDIOZ) - My part (REUPLOAD) - Video

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Joel Garreau on Genetics and Robotics
Joel Garreau, Journalist of The Washington Post and Author of Radical Evolution, talks about the genetics and robotics of the GRIN Technologies.

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Joel Garreau on Genetics and Robotics - Video

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Fundamental company data provided by Capital IQ. Historical chart data and daily updates provided by Commodity Systems, Inc. (CSI). International historical chart data and daily updates provided by Morningstar, Inc.

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Myriad Genetics upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities

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The Smithsonian's 'Genome: Unlocking Life's Code' exhibit.

When the National Institutes of Health approached the Smithsonian Institute about doing a human genome exhibit at the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. in 2011, the NIH thought it had good timing: 2013 marks the 10th anniversary of the sequencing of the human genome, and the 60th anniversary of James Watson and Francis Crick's discovery of DNA's structure.

Little did the people behind the exhibit know that when they decided to open the it, genomics would be a topic of national conversation and DNA-based ancestry projects. Visitors in Washington will get a chance to see the 29,000-square-foot exhibit starting today.

In the past few weeks, the Supreme Court has ruled on two landmark cases involving human genetics: On June 3, the court ruled that law enforcement could take DNA swabs of anyone who has been arrested, a decision that could open the door for the creation of a national DNA criminal database. On Thursday, the court ruled that naturally occurring human DNA is inherently not patentable.

[READ: Supreme Court: Human Genes Can't Be Patented]

"Genomics raises a lot of really interesting social questions in people's minds," says Kirk Johnson, director of the museum. "It's a regular drumbeat in the news. We're trying to arm people with the basic understanding of this so they can understand the challenges and make their own decisions."

Some of those challenges include the moral implications of human cloning, genetic engineering, prenatal genetic testing and the creation of genetically modified organisms.

But creating an engaging museum exhibit about genetics isn't exactly easy: Even when magnified to hundreds of times its microscopic size, DNA is, at its heart, a series of bonded chemicals. The best visual representation of it is a bunch of A's, C's, T's and G's (for adenine, cytosine, thymine and guanine, respectively, the four "nucleic acids" that make up every single living thing on Earth).

"It's not quite looking at a dinosaur," says Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the NIH, which headed the Human Genome Project. "We had to bring it to life; we had to make it engaging for the middle school visitor."

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Smithsonian Opens Genetics Exhibit

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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute of Florida (VGTI Florida) has launched its new and innovative website and invites visitors to explore and learn more about how the Institute is Translating Research Into Health.

The new website, at http://www.vgtifl.org, features vibrant graphics, informative and heartwarming videos, in-depth information on VGTI Florida researchers and their laboratories, and features news and events occurring at the Institute.

We are so excited to be able to have our website visitors virtually meet our principal investigators and learn of their individual research focus, showcase our scientific capabilities in genomics and bioinformatics, and share our community outreach activities with the public, said Catherine E. Vorwald, Executive Director of Marketing and Business Development at VGTI Florida. Our philanthropic donation section streamlines giving and makes it more convenient to participate in the improvement of global health through supporting VGTI Florida research."

Each page highlights the Institute with short videos that offer insight into important research at the Institute by the world-class principal investigators working towards cures for infectious diseases including influenza and HIV/AIDS, the effect of advancing age on the human immune system, and cancer immunotherapies.

The debut of this new website is an important step in the growth of VGTI Florida because it tells our story in a meaningful way, said Mel Rothberg, COO at VGTI Florida. We are really thrilled to have this new conduit of information showcasing the work being done at the Institute.

VGTI Floridas new website will be routinely updated, offering fresh new information for repeat visitors. The site will host a myriad of ways to get involved with the Institute - from community outreach and educational programs, such as the VGTI Florida student programs, Speaker Seminar Series, Symposia, and large community events like BioBall.

Pioneering the design and functionality of the new website was FCEdge, located in Port St. Lucie, FL. The West Palm Beach-based company Ko-Mar Productions filmed the video content mainly on-site at VGTI Florida.

About VGTI Florida:

VGTI Florida is an independent immunological research institute that is on an urgent mission to transform scientific discoveries into novel treatments and cures for existing and emerging infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and influenza, cancer, and the aging immune system. VGTI Florida is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization located in the Tradition Center for Innovation in Port St. Lucie, Florida. For more information, please visit http://www.VGTIFL.org. VGTI Florida, Translating Research Into Health, and BioBall are Registered Trademarks of the Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute of Florida.

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VGTI Florida Announces the Launch of Its New Website

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The Alliance for the Advancement of Adult Stem Cell Therapy and Research
Billy Orr is a quadriplegic who spent the last quarter century in a wheelchair. You are watching Billy Orr stand and walk for the first time after having adu...

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The Alliance for the Advancement of Adult Stem Cell Therapy and Research - Video

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Findings may contribute towards improving treatment for other types of cancers such as leukemia, ovarian, endometrial, gastric, breast and lung cancers

Newswise Singapore, 13 June 2013 Latest research findings by scientists at the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) could enable early screening of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a major form of liver cancer, for more aggressive treatment to improve survival rate. The researchers have also proposed a way to inactivate SALL4 - a stem cell gene - to kill HCC cells and block tumour formation.

The NUS research group was led by Professor Daniel Tenen, Director of CSI Singapore, and the study was conducted in collaboration with the Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, the National University Health System (NUHS), Queen Mary Hospital Hong Kong, Queens University Belfast and Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Two patent applications have been filed for this work and the group's findings were reported in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine on 13 June 2013.

The findings may lead to the development of personalised treatments and targeted therapeutics for HCC. As SALL4 is also with associated other types of cancers such as leukaemia and other solid tumors including ovarian, endometrial, gastric, breast and lung cancers, the findings could contribute towards improving the treatment of such diseases.

High Mortality Rate of Liver Cancer

Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. In Singapore, it is the fourth most frequently diagnosed cancer. As most liver cancer cases are diagnosed at a late stage, treatment remains abysmal, with a five-year survival rate of less than 10 percent.

Current treatment of liver cancer is based solely on its clinical features. Recognising the need to understand the molecular pathogenesis of the fatal disease, Prof Tenen and his team investigated the molecular characteristics of tumours.

Commenting on the significance of their work, Prof Tenen said, Surgical resection is the most viable treatment option for liver cancer. However, only early stage liver tumors are resectable, and most HCCs present at late stage and are not resectable. Combination chemotherapy has been used for the treatment of liver cancer for many years, yet the overall survival rate has not seen much improvement. What urgently needs to be addressed is the development of more effective targeted therapies, and this is where our research comes in.

SALL4 - Genetic Marker for Prognosis of HCC

SALL4 is a stem cell gene that is expressed abundantly in the livers of human fetuses, but is inactive in non-cancerous adult livers. In particular, the expression of SALL4 is associated with a more aggressive subgroup of HCC.

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New Discoveries Pave the Way for Early Screening of Liver Cancer Patients for Targeted Therapy

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The Supreme Court unanimously agreed that companies can't own natural DNA, but Thursday's ambiguous yet far-reaching ruling also said manipulated genes could be patented.

The case, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics (MYGN), challenged Myriad's patenting of genes it isolated and turned into its BRACAnalysis test, which estimates susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer.

The case was closely watched by companies eager to protect products based on genetic research. Some doctors and scientists have argued gene patents would restrict competition and drive up costs for patients.

The court ruled that the original genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, are "products of nature" and can't be owned. But to turn the genes into usable products, Myriad synthesized them in a form called complementary DNA. The court ruled cDNA patents are valid due to the degree of manipulation involved.

Analyst Jose Haresco of JMP Securities told IBD that cDNA patent protection was likely why investors initially sent Myriad shares to a four-year high.

"That's the stuff that actually matters," he said. "It's the bridge between the naturally occurring gene and the actual product.

Rival Tests Loom

Haresco said the decision removed uncertainty over the stock since the suit was filed in 2009. Many JMP clients liked Myriad's business model and growth its EPS Rank is a strong 90 but couldn't "pull the trigger" due to the patent issue.

But competition immediately surfaced. Bio-Reference Laboratories (BRLI) said Thursday that in August it will offer "a suite of comprehensive genetic tests for inherited cancers including BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

The tests involve next-generation gene sequencing, which Morningstar analyst Charlie Miller has flagged as a threat to Myriad's more old-school tests.

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Gene Patent Ruling Leaves Key Questions For Industry

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LEIPZIG, GERMANY--(Marketwired - Jun 13, 2013) - AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that the Gene Center of the University of Munich (Ludwig Maximilians University, or LMU) has accelerated its research capabilities using AMD's SeaMicro servers to gain a computational edge for its groundbreaking discoveries. AMD's SeaMicro servers aided researchers in creating the world's first 3-D image of the human ribosome by combining more than 800,000 images. The findings advance the understanding of how bacteria ribosomes can be broken down without harming human ribosomes, similar to the operation of some antibiotics. This could lead to the discovery of new drugs that are more effective and personalized to a person's genetic profile.

The Gene Center -- a leading life sciences research center in Munich, Germany -- conducts research that requires intensive computational capability which up until now has traditionally been limited to custom-built, highly expensive high-performance computing (HPC) clusters. AMD's SeaMicro server with Freedom Fabric, provides 1.28 terabits-per-second of bandwidth to scale computing performance without the need for expensive, external InfiniBand interconnections or 10 GbE networking.

"High-performance computing is critical to the cutting-edge research and groundbreaking discoveries of the LMU Gene Center," said Ronald Beckmann, professor at the Gene Center at LMU. "AMD's SeaMicro servers provide a computational edge by delivering supercomputer-like performance in the industry's smallest form factor. The server really is a mini-supercomputer in a box, and it is accelerating our research and allowing us to do analysis and break new ground in the field of structural biochemistry."

AMD's SeaMicro servers are simple and easy to deploy due to their dense form factor and simple management interface. They fit into standard server rooms, like those used in the Gene Center, compared to HPC clusters or supercomputers that require custom build-outs for facilities and cooling. The compact 10 rack unit chassis (17.5 inches, 44.5 centimeters) creates a solution that is essentially a mini-supercomputer in a box.

The Gene Center selected SeaMicro servers for their power efficiency, integration and supercomputer-like performance at a fraction of the cost of alternative solutions. A single person deployed the system, which contains 128 servers and 512 computing cores, in just two days. The deployment, featured in an AMD case study, has run flawlessly and improved the Gene Center's other bioinformatics services such as protein homology searches, which help to understand unknown proteins.

"For fields such as genetic research, computing is often a constraint due to the cost of the systems traditionally used. We are breaking that mold to make high-performance computing more widely available," said Dhiraj Mallick, corporate vice president and general manager, Data Center Server Solutions, AMD. "The potential benefits of the research at the Gene Center are tremendous since they are essentially unlocking the secrets of how life works at the molecular level."

The groundbreaking work at the Gene Center has the potential to make medications safer and more effective. Some newer drugs that break down the bacterial ribosome are only allowed for adults because they may not be safe for children. The Gene Center's research could help bring these medications to a wider population. The 3-D images provide insights into how a protein is built, which could ultimately lead to the development of new, more effective medications.

AMD's SeaMicro SM15000 system is the highest density, most energy-efficient server in the market. In 10 rack units, it links 512 compute cores, 160 gigabits of I/O networking and more than five petabytes of storage with the 1.28 terabit Freedom Fabric. The SM15000 server eliminates top-of-rack switches, terminal servers, hundreds of cables and thousands of unnecessary components for a more efficient and simple operational environment.

AMD's SeaMicro server product family currently supports the next generation AMD Opteron ("Piledriver") processor as well as Intel's Xeon E3-1260L ("Sandy Bridge"), E3-1265Lv2 ("Ivy Bridge") and Intel Atom N570 processors. The SeaMicro SM15000 also supports the Freedom Fabric Storage products, enabling a single system to connect with more than five petabytes of storage capacity in two racks. This approach delivers the benefits of expensive and complex solutions, such as network-attached storage (NAS) and storage-area networking (SAN), with the simplicity and low cost of direct attached storage.

Representatives from AMD will be at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC '13) in Leipzig, Germany at the Megware booth #644 June 17-19 to provide more details on its SeaMicro system.

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AMD's SeaMicro Servers Accelerate Leading-Edge Biomolecular Research to Provide High-Performance Computing (HPC) at ...

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The Supreme Court's ruling that human genes cannot be patented has been met with excitement from doctors over the implications for patient health. Other experts, however, questioned whether there will be a widespread impact.

The high court's ruling threw out some patents previously held by Myriad Genetics Inc., a Salt Lake City-based company that had patented a genetic test for the BRCA gene that's associated with increased risks for breast and ovarian cancers.

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"We hold that a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated," said Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote the court's unanimous decision.

The court, however, also ruled that synthetic DNA -- called cDNA -- could be patented by a company.

The full decision of Association for Molecular Pathology et al. v. Myriad Genetics,Inc., et. al can be found on the Supreme Court's website.

The lawsuit against the genetics company included plaintiffs from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) and other medical professional associations, on behalf of researchers, patients and women's health groups.

Play Video

It stemmed from Myriad's specific patents for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Mutations of these genes raise risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Not every woman who has a mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene will develop cancer, however they are at much greater risk.

About 12 percent of women will develop breast cancer in their lives, according to the National Cancer Institute, but about 60 percent of women with a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation will develop the disease. For ovarian cancer, lifetime risk for most women is 1.4 percent, but for women who inherited the faulty BRCA genes, the risk estimate climbs to 15 to 40 percent.

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Supreme Court's gene patent ruling could boost patient care

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Newswise Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have found that a single gene poses a double threat to disease: Not only does it inhibit the growth and spread of breast tumors, but it also makes hearts healthier.

In 2012, medical school researchers discovered the suppressive effects of the gene HEXIM1 on breast cancer in mouse models. Now they have demonstrated that it also enhances the number and density of blood vessels in the heart a sure sign of cardiac fitness.

Scientists re-expressed the HEXIM1 gene in the adult mouse heart and found that the hearts grew heavier and larger without exercise. In addition, the animals resting heart rates decreased. The lowered heart rate indicates improved efficiency, and is supported by their finding that transgenic hearts are pumping more blood per beat. The team also discovered that untrained transgenic mice ran twice as long as those without any genetic modification.

Our promising discovery reveals the potential for HEXIM1 to kill two birds with one stone potentially circumventing heart disease as well as cancer, the countrys leading causes of death, said Monica Montano, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology, member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, who created the mice for the heart and breast cancer research and one of the lead researchers.

Hypertension and subsequent heart failure are characterized by a mismatch between the heart muscles need for oxygen and nutrients and blood vessels inability to deliver either at the rate required. This deficit leads to an enlarged heart that, in turn, often ultimately weakens and stops. The researchers showed that increasing blood vessel growth through the artificial enhancement of HEXIM1 levels improved overall function HEXIM1 may be a possible therapeutic target for heart disease.

The study, published online in the peer-reviewed journal Cardiovascular Research, is the sixth from the team of Dr. Montano and Michiko Watanabe, PhD, professor of pediatrics, genetics, and anatomy at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and director of Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Research at Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital. Their collaboration began in 2004 with an investigation of why mice expressing mutant HEXIM1 suffered heart failure in the fetal stages of life. The research team found then that the gene is important for cardiovascular development and that it is abundant in the earliest months of life. This discovery led the team to explore whether increasing HEXIM1 levels could help reverse cardiovascular disease by encouraging vessel growth.

Our Cleveland-based collaborative research teams revealed that increasing HEXIM1 levels brought normal functioning hearts up to an athletic level, which could perhaps stand up to the physical insults of various cardiovascular diseases, Watanabe said.

The results build on the teams findings last year that showed increased levels of HEXIM1 suppressed the growth of breast cancer tumors. Using a well-known mouse model of breast cancer metastasis, researchers induced the genes expression by locally delivering a drug, hexamethylene-bisacetamide using an FDA-approved polymer. The strategy increased local HEXIM1 levels and inhibited the spread of breast cancer. The team is currently making a more potent version of the drug and intends to move to clinical trials within a few years.

Many cancer drugs have detrimental effects on the heart, said Mukesh K. Jain, MD, FAHA, professor of medicine, Ellery Sedgwick Jr. Chair and director of Case Cardiovascular Research Institute at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. It would be beneficial to have a cancer therapeutic with no adverse effects on the heart and perhaps even enhance its function.

The Case Western Reserve-led research team is now investigating HEXIM1s ability to improve the health of mice with cardiovascular disease. They are investigating the drugs ability to reduce the damage from heart attacks.

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Gene Offers an Athlete's Heart Without the Exercise

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A technician loads patient samples into a machine for testing at Myriad Genetics in Salt Lake City in 2002. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Myriad cannot patent the BRCA genes, which are tested to check a woman's risk for breast and ovarian cancer.

A technician loads patient samples into a machine for testing at Myriad Genetics in Salt Lake City in 2002. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Myriad cannot patent the BRCA genes, which are tested to check a woman's risk for breast and ovarian cancer.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that human genes cannot be patented, upending 30 years of patent awards granted by the U.S. Patent Office. The court's unanimous decision has enormous implications for the future of personalized medicine and in many ways is likely to shape the future of science and technology.

Myriad Genetics, one of the nation's biotech leaders, isolated two genes with mutations that can indicate a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. The company patented the genes, known as BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, and developed a test so that women with family or previous cancer histories could see if they had the mutations.

But the patent meant that other researchers could not use the isolated genes to develop potentially more reliable and cheaper tests. A group of doctors, patients and researchers went to court to challenge Myriad's patent, and on Thursday they won a prtial victory.

The Supreme Court, while acknowledging the importance of Myriad's discovery, said that Myriad did not create anything by isolating the two BRCA genes and that the genes are a product of nature.

"The location and order of the nucleotides existed in nature before Myriad found them. Nor did Myriad create or alter the genetic structure of DNA," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court. "To be sure, it found an important and useful gene, but separating that gene from its surrounding genetic material is not an act or invention."

Those who are critical of Myriad note that the patent meant that there were no second opinion available.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., experienced that limitation firsthand. At age 41, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Because of her family history, she took the BRCA test and found she had the mutation. Doctors told her there was no second test, so with no other choice she had both breasts and both ovaries removed. With the Supreme Court ruling, she says, women in her position should have more tests available to them.

"This decision allows women to get an independent test repeated so that they can make a decision with a lot more information than the results of one test," she tells NPR.

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Supreme Court Gene Ruling Splits Hairs Over What's 'Natural'

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Megan McGrath - Everyone has BRCA genes in their cells. If you are a woman and one of your BRCA gene copies has a mutation, your risk of developing breast cancer is very high - up to 87 percent in some cases.

A biotechnology company called Myriad Genetics Inc. was the first to discover the healthy, normal code of BRCA. Because a mutation is an error in that code, the normal sequence can be used to test for the breast cancer-causing BRCA mutation. Myriad developed the test, and won patent protection for it and the original BRCA gene.

Thursday, in a case against Myriad by the ACLU, the Supreme Court decreed that genes can no longer be patented, invalidating Myriads intellectual claim to the BRCA code. Yet both sides came away claiming victory.

So what happened, and what does this decision mean for cancer patients, medical researchers and biotechnology?

A patent is issued to give an inventor or developer intellectual and property rights to whatever has been made. The patent on the BRCA gene initially was granted for isolated DNA: the gene removed from the human body so that it may be worked with in the lab.

But the federal Patent Act states that an inventor may not claim intellectual property rights for laws of nature or natural phenomena.

The question was whether the isolated BRCA gene constituted a new invention, having been removed from the body. The Supreme Court unanimously decided that isolated DNA, though isolated, is still natural, and not a human invention.

According to Dr. Marisa Weiss, founder and president of Breastcancer.org, this could mean new research, cures and testing for women with BRCA mutations, and for cancer patients. Until now, researchers have had to pay for the isolated BRCA genetic code, which they need to have to understand how BRCA functions both on its own and in concert with other genes.

BRCA repairs errors in the DNA of breast tissue cells, and prevents unrestrained growth. So, if BRCA is damaged, breast tissue growth can go haywire, leading to cancer.

Five to 10 percent of all breast cancers are caused by BRCA mutation, and it also leads to a greatly increased risk of ovarian cancer. Freeing the isolated BRCA gene from its patent could allow researchers to develop more, cheaper tests for BRCA mutation, which could give more women at increased risk of developing cancer a chance to know their status earlier.

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Supreme Court Gene Ruling Benefits Biotech, Breast Cancer Research

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The Gene Revolution, The Future of Agriculture: Dr. Thierry Vrain at TEDxComoxValley
Thierry Vrain retired 10 years ago after a long career as a soil biologist and ended head of a department of molecular biology running his own research progr...

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The Gene Revolution, The Future of Agriculture: Dr. Thierry Vrain at TEDxComoxValley - Video

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Genetic Engineering - A New Perspective
AP Lang Video Essay Music by Jake Chudnow (Poodles and Going Down)

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Genetic Engineering - A New Perspective - Video

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Its probably safe to say that former eco-warrior, Mark Lynas, who spoke Thursday morning at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in Creve Coeur, has given some environmentalists and activists a case of whiplash.

Lynas, an outspoken British environmental activist and author of three books, had been at the forefront of the anti-GMO (genetically modified organisms) movement. He had pulled up fields of Monsantos genetically engineered crops during nighttime raids, staged media-savvy protests outside the companys offices and penned articles about the evils of genetic engineering.

So when Lynas, in January, told a group gathered at a farming conference in England that he believed his stance had been wrong, there was some shock.

For the record, here and upfront, I apologize for having spent several years ripping up GM crops, he told the crowd. Im also sorry that I helped to start the anti-GM movement back in the 1990s, and that I thereby assisted in demonizing an important technological option which can be used to benefit the environment.

The mea culpa ricocheted through the blogosphere and made Lynas a lightning rod in the already charged debate over GM crops.

His about-face also makes him a perfect fit for the Danforth center because he represents the very attitude shift it would like to see. Indeed, the center paid for his speech Thursday, which was part of the ongoing Seeds of Change lecture series. The nonprofit research center, with links to Monsanto across the street, is working to develop disease- and virus-resistant crops intended to help small-scale farmers in Africa and Asia, where some governments have resisted the technology. (The center was built with contributions from Monsanto, and Monsantos CEO is on the board.)

In the case of Mark Lynas, hes taken a very interesting and positive position on the usage of technology for plant improvement, and its a turnabout from past views, said Paul Anderson, the centers executive director of international programs. And it came about from a better understanding of science and how it works. Once he gained that, he gained new perspective.

So how did Lynas go from quasi-criminal activist who rode around in vans at night sabotaging fields to poster boy for the genetic-engineering-can-save-the-world camp?

Lynas said he was researching a book about climate change, and a non-scientist himself learned the value of peer review, how to wade through statistics and to understand the basics in a disparate range of climate-related fields. In the process, he said, he came across anti-science climate change doubters whom he attempted to convince of the necessary rigors of science.

Then he realized, he says, even as he was writing anti-GMO pieces for British newspapers, that he wasnt applying those same rigors to his own thinking about genetic engineering.

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Former anti-GMO crusader speaks at Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

GENEVA & SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Unilabs, a leading diagnostics company in Europe, and Natera, a leading innovator in prenatal genetic testing, announced today that Unilabs will distribute Nateras non-invasive prenatal screening test, Panorama, across its wide network in Switzerland and Scandinavia. Panorama was launched in March 2013 for the detection of trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome), trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome) and select sex chromosome abnormalities, such as monosomy X (Turners syndrome).

Panorama marks a significant advance in the field of prenatal testing as it has shown remarkable sensitivity and specificity across multiple aneuploidies, said Thomas Brinkmann, M.D., group chief medical officer of Unilabs. By providing physicians and expectant mothers with accurate information in a non-invasive test, Panorama contributes to our goal of ensuring that expectant mothers receive accurate information to guide their doctors clinical decisions.

Unilabs provides a comprehensive portfolio of diagnostic services in 11 countries in Europe. It has diagnostic contracts with companies specializing in areas such as laboratory medicine, medical imaging, reproductive medicine and drug development services.

We are excited to work with a world-class partner in the distribution of Panorama to Switzerland and other parts of Europe, said Matthew Rabinowitz, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Natera. Unilabs extensive healthcare network will enable more women and physicians to gain access to Nateras best-in-class test and the reliable information that it provides early in pregnancy.

Panorama uses a simple blood draw from the mother, examines cell-free DNA found in maternal blood originating from both mother and fetus, and can be performed within the first trimester of pregnancy, as early as nine weeks, without any risk to the fetus. Panoramas technology analyzes, in a single reaction, 19,500 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which are the most informative portions of an individuals DNA. It utilizes the NATUS [Next-generation Aneuploidy Testing Using SNPs] algorithm, an advanced version of Nateras proprietary informatics.

Across multiple clinical trials, Panorama has been validated globally for trisomy 21, trisomy 18, trisomy 13 and monosomy X with a sensitivity of greater than 99% for trisomy 21, trisomy 18 and trisomy 13, 92% for monosomy X, and no false positives for all syndromes tested. Panoramas clinical validation data was presented at the annual Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine Meeting on Feb. 15, 2013. The most recent independently-led blinded study was published in May 2013 in Prenatal Diagnosis from author K.H. Nicolaides and The Fetal Medicine Foundation. Panorama is currently being evaluated in several other clinical trials for the detection of other genetic disorders, including XXY, XYY, XXX and triploidy.

About Unilabs

Unilabs is a leading diagnostic services company. We operate more than 120 laboratories and 44 radiology units in Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Our customers are public and private healthcare providers, county councils, the general public, insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry and CROs. We supply medical laboratory services within: laboratory medicine, genetic testing, medical imaging, cellular pathology, reproductive medicine, drug development services and clinical trials. For more information please visit http://www.unilabs.com.

About Natera

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Unilabs and Natera Initiate Partnership for Distribution of Non-Invasive Prenatal Test, Panorama™, in Switzerland ...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

June 13, 2013

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

New research from the Mayo Clinic has identified favorable genetic variations that increase the chances of a positive response to preventive breast cancer therapy with the drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene, according to a new report in the journalCancer Discovery.

Our findings are important because we identified genetic factors that could eventually be used to select women who should be offered the drugs for prevention, said study co-author Dr. James Ingle, an oncologist at the clinic.

Referred to as selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) therapy, tamoxifen or raloxifene are often prescribed to prevent breast cancer in women who have a high risk for the disease. Occasionally, the drugs can cause hazardous side effects, such as blood clots, strokes and uterine cancer. These risks can be a deterrent for women who would otherwise benefit from the treatments.

In an effort to better predict whether the therapy will work, researchers at the Mayo Clinic, the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) in Pittsburgh, and the RIKEN Center for Genomic Medicine in Tokyo conducted a genetic analysis involving over 590 patients who developed breast cancer while on SERM therapy and 1,200 women in a control group. They were chosen from 33,000 women enrolled in two NSABP breast cancer prevention trials.

In their analysis, the scientists focused on over 500,000 genetic variations in the DNA called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). These SNPs were compared between women who developed breast cancer during the trial and those who remained free of the disease.

The analysis identified two genes associated with a higher risk for cancer: ZNF423 and CTSO. Neither of these genes had been linked with breast cancer or any response to the preventive drugs. Women with the beneficial variations of the two SNPs were 5.7 times less likely to develop breast cancer while on the preventive drugs than were women with neither advantageous SNP.

A biochemical analysis of the SNPs showed they affect the activity of BRCA1, a known breast cancer risk gene. Desirable versions of BRCA1 reduce disease by repairing genetic damage, while harmful versions of BRCA1 dramatically increase breast cancer risk.

Our discovery is a major step toward truly individualized prevention of breast cancer, Ingle said. Findings from our study provide clear direction as to which women are likely and which are unlikely to benefit from tamoxifen or raloxifene.

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Genetic Markers May Signify Response To Breast Cancer Therapy

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Good Start Genetics, Inc.,an innovative molecular diagnostics company delivering best-in-class tests for routine genetic screening, announced that the journal Genetics in Medicine published a study online today validating the companys powerful, proprietary next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) approach. The study, titled Next-Generation Carrier Screening, demonstrates that Good Start Genetics DNA sequencing-based technology surpasses other methods by yielding more accurate, sensitive and complete carrier screening results. The companys NGS-based tests are currently available to reproductive health providers across the United States as GoodStart Select.

This is one of the best examples yet that personal genome knowledge offers great value to everyone alive, not just a few. Your genome contains highly predictive and medically actionable insights. This is also a terrific validation of recent technological efforts to improve cost and quality of sequencing, and allows us to learn much more about ourselves, said genomics expert and study co-author George Church, Ph.D., professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Genetic carrier screening is routinely performed to better understand the risk of a couple having a child with a known inherited disease. In this study, Good Start Genetics utilized its NGS technology to sequence and analyze the protein-coding regions of 15 genes in which loss-of-function mutations cause 14 recessive common genetic disorders. In this study, the company employed Sanger sequencing on an unprecedented scale to determine the accuracy of its NGS approach. Good Start Genetics achieved 99.98 percent analytical sensitivity and 99.9999 percent analytical specificity, exceeding the accuracy previously reported by others studying NGS. In addition, Good Start Genetics gene targeting technology was shown to capture at least 99.8 percent of desired regions, greatly surpassing the capabilities of other gene capture approaches to produce a more comprehensive result.

In addition, the company developed, validated and reported a patented novel algorithm (GATA) to detect genetic insertions and deletions inaccessible by current methods. The algorithm was shown in this study to detect challenging mutations that current state-of-the-art analysis approaches miss, without reducing specificity. The accuracy of GATA was also validated by realistic simulation of disease-causing mutations, further increasing confidence in the results of Good Start Genetics NGS approach.

The publication of the analytical performance of our NGS approach is a wonderful achievement for our company, said Don Hardison, president and CEO of Good Start Genetics. It further differentiates our NGS-based GoodStart Select screening test as robust, accurate and comprehensive. We believe the unprecedented analytical performance of our approach, and the scientific rigor with which it was validated, ultimately provides enormous value to physicians and patients, and sets us apart as leaders in the clinical application of next-generation sequencing.

About GoodStart Select

GoodStart Select is Good Start Genetics menu of carrier screening tests that, for diseases such as cystic fibrosis, detects many more disease-causing mutations than any other routine carrier screening test, regardless of patient ethnicity. After years of development and rigorous validation, Good Start Genetics has harnessed the power of its sophisticated technologies, including next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS), to provide highly accurate and actionable tests resulting in higher mutation detection rates and fewer missed carriers. Good Start offers genetic screening tests for all disorders recommended by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), and leading Jewish advocacy groups.

To support the companys gold standard genetic screening capabilities, Good Start has a dedicated team of customer care specialists, board certified medical geneticists and genetic counselors who provide step-by-step support, from test selection through results, analysis and reporting. For these reasons, reproductive health specialists and their patients can have the highest degree of confidence in their genetic carrier screening results.

About Good Start Genetics, Inc.

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New Data Validates Good Start Genetics’ Proprietary Next Generation Sequencing Technology

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Supreme Courts decision today to invalidate patents on human genes changes the landscape of Personalized Medicine, making it possible for more patients to benefit from genetic testing while substantially lowering the cost of that testing.

PGXLs mission is to advance Personalized Medicine for the improvement of peoples lives, says Dr. Roland Valdes, Jr., President of PGXL Laboratories. This opens the door for PGXL Laboratories and others to provide a greater diversity of tests in the very near future.

The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that were the subject of this case indicate a predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer. It was a BRCA1 test that convinced Angelina Jolie to undergo pre-emptive mastectomy.

The tests have been expensive, costing as much as $3,000. Putting BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the public domain will lower that cost by increasing availability and competition. In addition, unencumbered access to the genes will enable laboratories to innovate new and more cost-effective ways to analyze and interpret the gene.

The case is Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, 12-398

ABOUT PGXL

PGXL Laboratories is a pioneer in the application of genetic testing to personalized medicine. It was the first lab CLIA-certified specifically to perform pharmacogenetic tests, and the first to bring to market a combined CYP2C9/VKORC1 panel to diagnose susceptibility to warfarin adverse drug reactions. Along with its clinical practice, PGXL performs contract research for manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.

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Supreme Court Decision Will Bring the Benefits of Personalized Medicine to More People

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

HOUSTON, June 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Thanks to today's U.S. Supreme Court decision opening the door to greater access to genetic medicine by American patients and their health care providers, testing for genes specifically linked to breast, ovarian and other cancers will now be more widely available and at a lower cost than ever before.

DNATraits, a division of Houston-based genomics and genetics testing company Gene By Gene, Ltd., announced today that it will offer testing for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in the United States for $995. Prior to today's unanimous Supreme Court ruling, when exorbitant licensing fees kept DNATraits and others from offering BRCA gene tests in the United States, the cost for such tests was around $4,000.

"We're pleased to make this important testing more widely available and accessible in the United States," said Gene By Gene President Bennett Greenspan. "Our highly automated CLIA-registered lab and efficient processes enable us to make genetic and genomic testing more affordable and accessible to more individuals, in the U.S. and worldwide. And that's our company's mission, in a nutshell."

The company's announcement about the tests, which gained national attention when actress Angelina Jolie courageously revealed in May that being a BRCA1 carrier was among the factors in her decision to have a preventive double mastectomy, comes after today's Supreme Court ruling in "Association For Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics."

"We commend the Supreme Court for opening the door to greater technological innovation and access to genetic tools that promise to save and improve the quality of human lives in the United States," Greenspan added. "It's critical that as an industry we are able to continue to engage in healthy competition to drive down the costs of these tests because as more individuals have access to and undergo them, the more information we'll have about many serious diseases that eventually may lead to cures."

DNATraits has processed testing for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes for individuals living outside the U.S. since 2012. Those genes are processed using traditional Sanger DNA sequencing, which is considered the gold standard for DNA analysis, at the company's Genomic Research Center in Houston, a CLIA-registered lab which has processed more than 5 million discrete DNA tests from more than 700,000 individuals and organizations globally.

In addition to the BRCA gene tests, DNATraits offers a pre-natal array that covers 111 population specific diseases, as well as other not population-specific diseases, like Duchene Muscular Dystrophy.

Customer InquiriesIndividuals interested in learning more about either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 tests should ask their doctors for more information. They and their health care providers can also visit the company's website, http://www.dnatraits.com, or call (713) 868-1438 for more information.

About Gene By Gene, Ltd. Founded in 2000, Gene By Gene, Ltd. provides reliable DNA testing to a wide range of consumer and institutional customers through its four divisions focusing on ancestry, health, research and paternity. Gene By Gene provides DNA tests through its Family Tree DNA division, which pioneered the concept of direct-to-consumer testing in the field of genetic genealogy more than a decade ago. Gene by Gene is CLIA registered and through its clinical-health division DNA Traits offers regulated diagnostic tests. DNA DTC is the Research Use Only (RUO) division serving both direct-to-consumer and institutional clients worldwide. Gene By Gene offers AABB certified relationship tests through its paternity testing division, DNA Findings. The privately held company is headquartered in Houston, which is also home to its state-of-the-art Genomics Research Center.

Media Contact:Kate Croft for Gene By Gene, Ltd. Casteel Schoenborn 888-609-8351 croft@csirfirm.com

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Supreme Court Ruling Today Allows DNATraits to Offer Low Cost BRCA Breast and Ovarian Cancer Gene Testing in U.S.

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith