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Pop karnchanapimonkul

Genetic adaptation of fat metabolism key to development of human brain - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120412133056.htm

adaptation fat metabolism brain human gene

shared by Pop karnchanapimonkul on 13 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • 300,000 years ago humans adapted genetically to be able to produce larger amounts of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. This adaptation may have been crucial to the development of the unique brain capacity in modern humans.
  • higher risk of developing disorders like cardiovascular disease.
  • investigated the genes for the two key enzymes that are needed to produce Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids from vegetable oils.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • genetic adaptation for high production of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids is found only in humans
  • 300 000 years ago in the evolutionary line that led to modern humans
  • important factor for human survival in environments with limited dietary access to fatty acids
  • In today’s life situation, with a surplus of nourishment, this genetic adaptation contributes instead to a greater risk of developing disorders like cardiovascular disease
  • first study to show a genetic adaptation of human fat metabolism
  • thrifty gene
  • adaptation that contributed to enhanced survival in an earlier stage of human development, but in a life situation with an excess of food instead constitutes a risk factor for lifestyle diseases
  • Pop karnchanapimonkul on 13 Apr 12
     
    This article explains how earlier genetic adaptations that help our survival is now harming us.
Mickey Tsai

Niceness a combination of genetics and environment, the Neurogenics of Niceness study f... - 0 views

www.heraldsun.com.au/...story-fn7x8me2-1226324345541

genetics environment research

shared by Mickey Tsai on 14 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • BEING a nice person could come down to having a good set of genes
  • "kind" behaviour of more than 700 individuals was partly linked to receptor genes for oxytocin and vasopressin.
  • uch of the hormone you have, it's how responsive your brain is to the hormo
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • It's not about how much of the hormone you have, it's how responsive your brain is to the hormones
  • "(Niceness) is a combination of genetics and your environment."
  • Mickey Tsai on 14 Apr 12
     
    A study shows that genetics could play a role in determining "niceness". The kind behavior is found to be linked to receptor genes for oxytopic and vasopressin. People that are more responsive to it are more inclined to donate money, pay taxes, give blood, report crime etc. It isn't about how much of the hormone you have but how responsive you are to it. Of course genetics isnt the only factor, if you are surrounded by nice people it is likely that it would rub off on you.
orasa sukmark

Genetic adaptation of fat metabolism key to development of human brain - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120412133056.htm

adaptation fat metabolism key development human brain

shared by orasa sukmark on 15 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • orasa sukmark on 15 Apr 12
     
    Genetic adaptation for high production of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids is found only in humans can show genetic adaptation of human fat metabolism.
Pop karnchanapimonkul

The Ballooning Brain: Defective Genes May Explain Uncontrolled Brain Growth in Autism: ... - 0 views

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm

brain genes autism

shared by Pop karnchanapimonkul on 13 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • linked atypical gene activity to excessive growth in the autistic brain
  • autistic brain sprouts an excess of neurons and continues to balloon during the first five years of life, as all those extra neurons grow larger and form connections.
  • start to lose neural connections, faster than typical brains
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • 67 percent more neurons in their prefrontal cortex (PFC) than typical children
  • executive functions"—high-level thinking, such as planning ahead, inhibiting impulses and directing attention.
  • In brain tissue from both autistic children and autistic adults, genes coding for proteins that identify and repair mistakes in DNA were expressed at unusually low levels. Additionally, all autistic brains demonstrated unusual activity levels for genes that determine when neurons grow and die and how newborn neurons migrate during early development
  • Some genes involved in immune responses, cell-to-cell communication and tissue repair, however, were expressed at unusual levels in adult autistic brains, but not in autistic children's brains
  • Errors accumulate.
  • autistic child develops in the womb, something—an inherited mutation or an environmental factor like a virus, toxin or hormone—muffles the expression of genes coding for proteins that usually fix mistakes in sequences of DNA
  • The genetic systems controlling the growth of new neurons go haywire, and brain cells divide much more frequently than usual, accounting for the excess neurons found in the PFC of autistic children.
  • autistic brain grow physically larger and form more connections than in a typical child's brain.
  • immune system reacts against the brain's overzealous growth,
  • Not all researchers, however, accept
  • If scientists definitively link autism to a characteristic sequence of changes in gene expression and unusual neural growth, then it becomes possible to target and reverse any one of the thousands of steps in that sequence.
  • Pop karnchanapimonkul on 13 Apr 12
     
    Article about how genetic expression may be the cause for autism.
Paige Prescott

Genes Are No Crystal Ball For Disease Risk - Science News - 0 views

www.sciencenews.org/..._crystal_ball_for_disease_risk

genes disease

shared by Paige Prescott on 14 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • For all but four diseases, the genetic data would fail to determine who is likely to contract the condition in most cases,
  • genetics are only part of the story when it comes to determining health. Lifestyle, environment and random chance play a bigger role than genes, or work with genes, to cause or protect against disease.
  • Paige Prescott on 14 Apr 12
     
    Looking at twin data, researchers found that genetics alone could not account for the risk of disease.
Rafael Chen

Increased honey bee diversity means fewer pathogens, more helpful bacteria - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120312192756.htm

Gentic Diversity Symbiotic Relationship Microbes Bees

shared by Rafael Chen on 15 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • microbes in bee colonies that have previously been associated with fermentation in humans and other animals
  • communities of active bacteria harbored by honey bee colonies
  • research suggests honey bees may take advantage of these beneficial symbiotic bacteria to convert indigestible material into nutritious food and to enhance protection from pathogens
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Genetic diversity is created in a colony when a queen mates with many male bees
  • less likelihood of potentially pathogenic bacteria showing up in genetically diverse honey bee colonies
  • individual bees and their symbionts can enhance the overall health of a colony when it is genetically diverse
  • increased resistance to colonization by pathogens or through the production of nutrients by these microbes
  • Rafael Chen on 15 Apr 12
     
    Genetic Diversity in bee colonies increases resistance to colonization by pathogens through symbiotic relations with microbes.
Paige Prescott

deCODEme - Empowering prevention. Calculate genetic risk for diseases, DNA research for... - 0 views

www.decodeme.com

genetics DNA testing technology

shared by Paige Prescott on 25 Mar 12 - Cached
  • Paige Prescott on 25 Mar 12
     
    a company that sells DNA technology and genetic screening.
Nickyz P.

Concerns Raised about Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes - NYTimes.com - 2 views

www.nytimes.com/...lly-engineered-mosquitoes.html

shared by Nickyz P. on 16 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • These mosquitoes are genetically engineered to kill — their own children.
  • The results, and other work elsewhere, could herald an age in which genetically modified insects will be used to help control agricultural pests and insect-borne diseases like dengue fever and malaria.
Pop karnchanapimonkul

Sight Seen: Gene Therapy Restores Vision in Both Eyes: Scientific American - 0 views

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm

gene therapy vision disease enzyme

shared by Pop karnchanapimonkul on 13 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • gene therapy to treat blindness in 12 adults and children with Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), a rare inherited eye disease that destroys vision by killing photoreceptors—light-sensitive cells in the retina at the back of the eye.
  • genetic mutations in retinal cells. One mutated gene that causes the disorder is named RPE65. An enzyme encoded by RPE65 helps break down a derivative of vitamin A called retinol into a substance that photoreceptors need to detect light and send signals to the brain.
  • injected a harmless virus carrying normal copies of RPE65
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • subsequently began producing the enzyme
  • proved so much they no longer met the criteria for legal blindness
  • injected the functional genes into the previously untreated eye
  • improved as soon as two weeks after the operation: They could navigate an obstacle course, even in dim light, avoiding objects that had tripped them up before, as well as recognize people's faces and read large signs
  • brains were much more responsive to optical input as well.
  • second round of gene therapy further strengthened the brain's response to the initially treated eye as well as the newly treated one
  • that neuroplasticity plays a role
  • visual cortex responding to the newly flowing channel of information from the second eye bolster activity in areas of the visual cortex responding to the initially treated eye.
  • Pop karnchanapimonkul on 13 Apr 12
     
    Article about how the enzyme produced from gene therapy is used to cure blindness in an eye genetic disease.
chanon chiarnpattanodom

Parallel Genetic and Phenotypic Evolution of DNA Superhelicity in Experimental Populati... - 0 views

mbe.oxfordjournals.org/...2113.full

genetics evolution generation

shared by chanon chiarnpattanodom on 15 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • chanon chiarnpattanodom on 15 Apr 12
     
    Importance of DNA supercoiling affects on E coli's growth, parallel and creating beneficial mutations.
nidthamsirisup

Engineered stem cells seek out and kill HIV in living mice - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120412182253.htm

disease HIV

shared by nidthamsirisup on 15 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells
  • surrogate model
  • CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes -- the "killer" T cells that help fight infection -- from an HIV-infected individual and identified the molecule known as the T cell receptor, which guides the T cell in recognizing and killing HIV-infected cells.
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • cloned the receptor and used this to genetically engineer human blood stem cells.
  • mature T cells that can attack HIV in tissues where the virus resides and replicates.
  • CD4 cells are white blood cells that are an important component of the immune system, helping to fight off infections.
  • CD4 "helper" T cells
  • HIV in the blood decreased.
  • increased
  • engineering stem cells to form immune cells that target HIV is effective in suppressing the virus in living tissues in an animal model
    • wasin kusakabe
      wasin kusakabe on 15 Apr 12
       
      Using mice as lab rats, researchers are able to produce a large amount of T cells that can fight off HIV more effectively.
  • Expanding on previous research providing proof-of-principle that human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells
  • The engineered stem cells developed into a large population of mature, multi-functional HIV-specific CD8 cells that could specifically target cells containing HIV proteins. The researchers also discovered that HIV-specific T cell receptors have to be matched to an individual in much the same way an organ is matched to a transplant patient.
  • In this current study, the researchers similarly engineered human blood stem cells and found that they can form mature T cells that can attack HIV in tissues where the virus resides and replicates. They did so by using a surrogate model, the humanized mouse, in which HIV infection closely resembles the disease and its progression in humans.
  • increased, while levels of HIV in the blood decreased. CD4 cells are white blood cells that are an important component of the immune system, helping to fight off infections. These results indicated that the engineered cells were capable of developing and migrating to the organs to fight infection there.
  • wasin kusakabe on 15 Apr 12
     
    Stem cells that are engineered to produce T cells that can help fight off HIV.
Kaoko Miyazaki

Genetics as Rorschachs: Pondering Our Genes and Our Fate | Psychology Today - 0 views

www.psychologytoday.com/...ndering-our-genes-and-our-fate

genetics disease

shared by Kaoko Miyazaki on 01 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • Kaoko Miyazaki on 01 Apr 12
     
    Even today scientists find the study of genes an ambiguous topic. The randomness of the genes being passed down or not, whether one child has a mutations while the other does not or if your sister has a higher risk of getting breast cancer than you is still being tested.
Sasicha Manupipatpong

New genes linked to brain size, intelligence - 2 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120415150123.htm

genes linked brain size intelligence

shared by Sasicha Manupipatpong on 16 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • genes that increase your risk for a single disease that your children can inherit
  • factors that cause tissue atrophy and reduce brain size, which is a biological marker for hereditary disorders
  • schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • sample large enough to reveal clear patterns in genetic variation and show how these changes physically alter the brain
  • screened the genomes of people suffering from a specific brain disease and combed their DNA to uncover a common variant.
  • gene variants that deplete brain tissue beyond normal in a healthy person
  • unearth new genetic variants in people who have bigger brains as well as differences in regions critical to learning and memory
  • smaller brains
  • variations in their DNA that help boost or lower their brains’ susceptibility to a vast range of diseases
  • consistent relationship between subtle shifts in the genetic code and diminished memory centers
  • People also can take preventive steps through exercise, diet and mental stimulation to erase the effects of a bad gene
  • Once we identify the gene, we can target it with a drug to reduce the risk of disease
  • genes that explain individual differences in intelligence
  • People whose HMGA2 gene held a letter “C” instead of “T” on that location of the gene possessed larger brains and scored more highly on standardized IQ tests
  • gene called HMGA2 affected brain size as well as a person’s intelligence
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  • Sasicha Manupipatpong on 16 Apr 12
     
    Specific genes have been identified which affect brain size and intelligence--a difference of one nucleotide in the DNA sequence could determine how well you score on a standardized IQ test.
Nickyz P.

We Need More Research On Genetically Altered Salmon Says FDA Advisory Panel - 1 views

www.medicalnewstoday.com/...201862.php

shared by Nickyz P. on 16 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • A panel of experts that advises the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided on Monday more research was needed before it could vote on whether to recommend approval to allow genetically modified salmon to be bred for human consumption in the US.
  • To make the genetically modified Atlantic salmon, they take the growth gene from the Pacific chinook salmon and insert it into the DNA of newly fertilized Atlantic salmon eggs. However, this of itself is not enough to keep the salmon growing all year round: to keep the growth gene permanently "switched on", the AquaBounty scientists also add a small piece of DNA from another fish called the ocean pout.
chanon chiarnpattanodom

Genes an Important Factor in Urinary Incontinence - 1 views

Scientists have studied how much is urinary incontinence controlled by genetics, rather than the environment by observing twins. 

Urinary Incontinence Genes

shared by chanon chiarnpattanodom on 11 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • chanon chiarnpattanodom on 11 Apr 12
     
    Scientists have studied how much is urinary incontinence controlled by genetics, rather than the environment by observing twins. 
Mickey Tsai

Study finds gene variants behind childhood obesity risk - USATODAY.com - 0 views

www.usatoday.com/...1

gene childhood obesity

shared by Mickey Tsai on 13 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • Scientists have discovered two gene variants that appear to play a critical role in the development of common childhood obesity
  • Obesity is the result of a complex interplay among biological, behavioral, cultural, environmental and economic factors
  • a highly heritable condition,
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • a third of kids are obese or overweigh
  • gene research may provide insight into the biological pathways that contribute to obesity
  • Mickey Tsai on 13 Apr 12
     
    Scientists have found two gene variants that are likely to cause childhood obesity. This could be useful in knowing how to treat and prevent it. Although there is a genetic component to obesity, it is not the only factor. Biological, behavioral, cultural, environmental and economic factors can all play a role in obesity.
Nitchakan Chaiprukmalakan

Hoogsteen base pairs: An alternate structure in DNA - 0 views

scitechstory.com/...-an-alternate-structure-in-dna

shared by Nitchakan Chaiprukmalakan on 13 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • This discovery, made by a team of researchers from the University of Michigan (USA) and the University of California, Irvine (USA) and published in the journal Nature January 26, 2011 [Transient Hoogsteen base pairs in canonical duplex DNA] involves a new capability of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) machines and something most people have never heard of (including me): Hoogsteen base pairs.
  • It was discovered by the biologist Karst Hoogsteen in 1963. In effect, the Hoogsteen base pair is a ‘normal’ Watson-Crick base pair (usually A-T) flipped-over like an upside-down step on a ladder.
  • It changes the geometry and allows for truly exotic formations such as a triple helix or even quadruplex structures.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Hoogsteen base pairs were known to exist primarily in RNA and had been observed in DNA only when there was damage to the DNA structure, or something else like a protein or drug was bound to it.
  • In RNA the Hoogsteen base pairs have been studied fairly extensively. They are considered an “excited state” and are useful to observe unusual protein binding. In DNA the Hoogsteen base pairing, which by the way has two forms, normal and reverse, was considered an anomaly.
  • It was discovered that normal DNA undergoes these shifts about 1% of the time and they last only milliseconds.
  • “Together, these data suggest that there are multiple layers of information stored in the genetic code.” Because critical interactions between DNA and proteins are thought to be directed by both the sequence of bases and the flexing of the DNA molecule, these excited states represent a whole new level of information contained in the genetic code.
Nickyz P.

Impact Statements System | CAES Intranet | UGA - 0 views

www.caes.uga.edu/...index.cfm

shared by Nickyz P. on 16 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • The applied insect genetics laboratory in the Entomology Department at the University of Georgia has focused on invasive subterranean term
  • Thus we continue to track and monitor through genetics the Formosan termite movements into and around Georgia. The knowledge of how they are coming into the state as well as how they are moving about the state can be invaluable for managing this traffic.
Rafael Chen

New Plant Mutation Produces Tap Root With Large Amounts Of Oil, Proteins, And Starch - 1 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...970707211536.htm

shared by Rafael Chen on 15 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • The discovery could lead to genetically engineered plants that store commercially useful substances in an enlarged root
  • The pickle mutation mimics what happens in seeds, which typically are the major structures accumulating and storing proteins and oil
  • In this mutation the cells destined to become primary root cells retain the character of embryonic cells
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • They fail to make the switch from embryonic to adult
  • The mutation has its greatest effect when gibberellin is not present during the first 24 hours of growth
  • Rafael Chen on 15 Apr 12
     
    A mutation in plants that makes the tap root accumulate large amounts of oils, proteins, and starch was discovered by scientist, this could lead to genetically engineered plants that store commercially useful substances in an enlarged root.
chanon chiarnpattanodom

A new class of obesity genes encodes leukocyte adhesion receptors - 0 views

www.pnas.org/...7526.full

genetics gene

shared by chanon chiarnpattanodom on 15 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • chanon chiarnpattanodom on 15 Apr 12
     
    Obesity is controlled by a number of factors, mainly 2 factors genetics and the environment. Here they use 2 groups + 1 control group mice to compare obesity.
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