http://phys.org/health-news/genetics/ en-us Phys.org Phys.Org provides the latest news on genetics, genetic science, genetic research, genetic engineering, genetic studies and genes. (AP) -- Britain has dropped a controversial policy of using DNA tests to identify the nationality of African refugees and asylum seekers after criticism that there is no scientific merit to the practice. http://phys.org/news227522406.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-06-17T09:40:16-07:00 Mountain View, Calif., genomics startup 23andMe just hit a milestone: As of Wednesday, 100,000 people have uploaded their genetic code to the 4-year-old company's database. http://phys.org/news227466455.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-06-16T18:40:01-07:00 (AP) -- Imagine being pregnant and taking a simple blood test that lays bare the DNA of your fetus. And suppose that DNA could reveal not only medical conditions like Down syndrome, but also things like eye color and height. And the risk for developing depression or Alzheimer's disease. And the chances of being gay. http://phys.org/news227165349.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-06-13T06:29:19-07:00 (Medical Xpress) -- The body’s ability to perform simple tasks like flex muscles or feel heat, cold and pain depends, in large part, on myelin, an insulating layer of fats and proteins that speeds the propagation of nerve cell signals. http://phys.org/news226820388.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-06-09T06:40:08-07:00 (Medical Xpress) -- King’s researchers in the Division of Cancer Studies have developed new technology for the identification and validation of microRNA (miRNA) targets in research and clinical diagnostics, resulting in an exclusive licence agreement with Sigma Life Science announced today. http://phys.org/news223719167.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-05-04T09:12:56-07:00 Japanese police are to set up a DNA database to help identify the bodies of those killed in the March earthquake and tsunami, reports said Tuesday. http://phys.org/news223646922.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-05-03T13:08:53-07:00 One of the most common and most disabling birth defects, spina bifida strikes about one in 1,000 births in the United States -- nearly as many as Down’s Syndrome. The cause of this often devastating disorder, characterized by an incomplete closing of the back bone and spinal cord, still befuddle scientists. But UC Berkeley geneticist Jasper Rine believes his research team may be on the verge of cracking its genetic mystery. http://phys.org/news223297287.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-29T12:01:46-07:00 A massive database cataloging the human genome's functional elements -- including genes, RNA transcripts, and other products -- is being made available as an open resource to the scientific community, classrooms, science writers, and the public, thanks to an international team of researchers. In a paper that will be published in the journal PLoS Biology on 19 April 2011, the project -- called ENCODE (Encyclopedia Of DNA Elements) -- provides an overview of the team's ongoing efforts to interpret the human genome sequence, as well as a guide for using the vast amounts of data and resources produced so far by the project. http://phys.org/news222452538.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-19T17:22:32-07:00 Consumers decide whether to use mail-in genetic tests based on both rational and emotional reasons, a finding that adds to a growing body of health-care behavior research on information seeking and avoidance, according to researchers at the University of California, Riverside. http://phys.org/news222442401.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-19T14:33:37-07:00 Researchers have identified a genetic mutation found in the Ohio Amish population as the cause of a fatal developmental disease in fetuses and infants, according to research published in the April 8, 2011, issue of Science. http://phys.org/news222340718.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-18T10:18:52-07:00 The first genome scan for womb cancer has revealed a genetic region that is associated with a reduced risk of the disease. The same region, called HNF1B, has been linked previously to lower prostate cancer risk in men. http://phys.org/news222332002.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-18T07:53:41-07:00 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have long questioned why patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) tend to manage well through childhood and adolescence, yet succumb to their disease in early adulthood, or why elderly people who lose muscle strength following bed rest find it difficult or impossible to regain. Now, researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the National Institutes of Health, are beginning to find answers in a specialized population of cells called satellite cells. Their findings, reported in the journal Genes & Development, suggest a potential therapeutic target for conditions where muscle deterioration threatens life or quality of life. http://phys.org/news222331902.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-18T07:52:01-07:00 A new study demonstrates that a procedure used in preconception diagnosis to identify eggs that are free of genetic disease might not work well in all cases. The research, published by Cell Press in the April issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, highlights the issues associated with analyzing the amount of mutant mitochondrial DNA in supporting cells as a proxy for eggs prior to in vitro fertilization. http://phys.org/news221399773.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-07T12:56:33-07:00 Johns Hopkins researchers report the discovery of a molecular switch that regulates the behavior of a protein that, when altered, is already known to increase human susceptibility to schizophrenia and mood disorders. http://phys.org/news221313784.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-06T13:03:20-07:00 With the help of two sets of brothers with autism, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a gene associated with autism that appears to be linked very specifically to the severity of social interaction deficits. http://phys.org/news221308716.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-06T11:44:33-07:00 Thanks to the zebrafish, there is new hope for people with melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer that is responsible for approximately 8,700 deaths each year in the United States. http://phys.org/news221230965.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-05T14:03:17-07:00 (PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, researchers have found five regions in the human genome that increase susceptibility to immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy, a major cause of kidney failure worldwide — systematically identifying those that point to a tendency for IgA nephropathy, or a protection against it. http://phys.org/news221206030.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-05T07:07:36-07:00 An international team of researchers has identified a novel gene involved in differences in alcohol consumption, according to a new study published online the week of April 4-8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news221152632.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-04T17:10:01-07:00 A US appeals court heard arguments Monday in a closely watched case involving a pharmaceutical firm's patent of two genes linked to cancer. http://phys.org/news221155431.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-04T17:04:56-07:00 Scientists have identified a gene that appears to play a role in regulating how much alcohol people drink, in a study of over 47,000 people published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news221150930.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-04T15:49:22-07:00 The substance ghrelin plays an important role in various addictions, such as alcoholism and binge-eating. It also impacts on sugar consumption, which is due, in part, to genetic factors, reveals new research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. http://phys.org/news221150727.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-04T15:45:44-07:00 Vanderbilt University researchers have identified a new gene that can influence a person's risk for developing epilepsy. The findings, reported in the March 29 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could improve molecular diagnostic tools and point to novel therapeutic targets for epilepsy. http://phys.org/news221134737.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-04T11:19:36-07:00 Scientists said Sunday they had uncovered five genes linked to the onset of Alzheimer's disease, doubling the number of genetic variants known to favour the commonest form of dementia. http://phys.org/news221054768.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-03T13:06:29-07:00 When cells find themselves in a tight spot, the cell cycle regulator p21 halts the cell cycle, buying cells time to repair the damage, or if all else fails, to initiate programmed cell death. In contrast to other stress-induced genes, which dispense with the regular transcriptional entourage, p21Cip1 still requires SKIP, a transcription elongation factor that also helps with the editing of transcripts, to be expressed, found researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. http://phys.org/news220880454.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-04-01T12:41:13-07:00 Researchers offer the first evidence that DNA damage can lead to the regulation of inflammatory responses, the body's reaction to injury. The proteins involved in the regulation help protect the body from infection. http://phys.org/news220813401.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-03-31T18:03:40-07:00 A specific genetic defect in one Chinese family shows that high blood pressure was inherited from the female parent, researchers report in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association. http://phys.org/news220807863.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-03-31T16:31:17-07:00 A new study uncovers a previously unrecognized link between tobacco smoking and a gene known to influence the cardiovascular system, possibly identifying an early stage of smoking-associated cardiovascular pathology. The research, published by Cell Press in the April issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics, may serve to guide future research strategies aimed at identifying and counteracting mechanisms of smoking-induced pathology. http://phys.org/news220798663.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-03-31T13:58:00-07:00 New genomic analyses suggest that the most common genetic variants in the human genome aren't the ones most likely causing disease. Rare genetic variants, the type found most often in functional areas of human DNA, are more often linked to disease, genetic experts at Duke University Medical Center report. http://phys.org/news220797745.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-03-31T13:43:04-07:00 In a study of 1,721 Korean male drinkers aged 40󈞱 y in an urban population–based cohort, and another sample of 1,113 male drinkers from an independent rural cohort, information on average daily alcohol consumption was collected and DNA samples were collected for genotyping. http://phys.org/news220696448.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-03-30T09:34:14-07:00 Heart transplant recipients and their physicians are likely more concerned with the function of the donated organ than with the donor's DNA sequences that tag along in the new, healthy tissue. However, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that an increase in the amount of the donor's DNA in the recipient's blood is one of the earliest detectable signs of organ rejection. http://phys.org/news220547467.html Medicine & Health - Genetics 2011-03-28T16:11:22-07:00