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Mickey Tsai

Autism gender bias clue found - Health - CBC News - 0 views

  • four times more common among males than females.
  • rare family with four generations in which males carrying the glitch were affected but females were not.
  • When male fetuses are missing one copy of the gene, it throws off their developmental process enough to lead to autism but female biology differs enough that it doesn't matter.
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  • now that doctors know that the SHANK 1 gene is involved and it can be tested for, they'll know to follow affected males very closely and offer treatments early on.
  • lved and it can be tested for, they'll know to follow affected males very c
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    Scientists have long wondered why autism is much more common among males than females. When males miss one copy of a gene it messes up the development process enough to cause autism but female biology differs enough to make it not matter. Now that scientists have identified that the SHANK 1 gene is involved they can test for it and could offer treatments early.
Sasicha Manupipatpong

Identical DNA codes discovered in different plant species - 2 views

  • found identical sequences of DNA located at completely different places on multiple plant genomes
  • Although the scientists found identical sequences between plant species, just as they did between animals, they suggested the sequences evolved differently.
  • find identical sequences in plant DNAs
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  • identical sections weren't found at the same points
  • genomes of six animals (dog, chicken, human, mouse, macaque and rat)
  • six plant species (Arabidopsis, soybean, rice, cottonwood, sorghum and grape)
  • found long strings of identical code in different species of animals' DNA
  • expect to see convergent evolution, but we don't
  • Plants and animals are both complex multi-cellular organisms that have to deal with many of the same environmental conditions, like taking in air and water and dealing with weather variations, but their genomes code for solutions to these challenges in different ways
  • could help in the development of new medicines
  • used to find identical sequential patterns in an organism's entire set of proteins
  • lead to finding new targets for existing drugs or studying these drugs' side effects
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    A computer algorithm found identical sequences of DNA in different places of various plant species' genomes. The same has been found in animals. This could prove to be beneficial in the development of new medicines (for testing drug side effects).
Sasicha Manupipatpong

New genes linked to brain size, intelligence - 2 views

  • 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
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  • sample large enough to reveal clear patterns in genetic variation and show how these changes physically alter the brain
  • smaller brains
  • 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
  • screened the genomes of people suffering from a specific brain disease and combed their DNA to uncover a common variant.
  • consistent relationship between subtle shifts in the genetic code and diminished memory centers
  • variations in their DNA that help boost or lower their brains’ susceptibility to a vast range of diseases
  • 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
  • gene called HMGA2 affected brain size as well as a person’s 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
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    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.
wasin kusakabe

Athletic frogs have faster-changing genomes - 0 views

    • wasin kusakabe
       
      Physical activities can change the DNA sequence which can be passed on to later generations. However this has only been tested on frogs and may not apply to mammals like us.
  • Physically fit frogs have faster-changing genomes
  • Stretches of DNA accumulate changes over time
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  • athletic frogs tended to have faster-changing genomes.
  • During exercise, the circulatory system provides blood and oxygen to the tissues that are needed most
  • When physical activity has stopped, the rush of blood and oxygen when circulation is restored to those tissues produces a burst of free radicals that can cause wear and tear on DNA, eventually causing genetic changes that -- if they affect the DNA of cells that make eggs or sperm -- can be passed to future generations.
Nitchakan Chaiprukmalakan

Proteins and quantum transition: Instant shape-shifting - 0 views

  • The genetic code in DNA provides the template to manufacture protein into all the cells of an organism.
  • Proteins are made by stringing together amino acids. For general purposes there are twenty amino acids in protein and they can be put together in endless combinations, some in short chains (yeast averages 466 amino acids), some long chains (titins have nearly 27,000 amino acids) and everything in-between. The pattern of amino acids determines much of the functionality of the protein.
  • Proteins are three-dimensional puzzle pieces. They are generally very complicated in shape. Even a small protein of only 100 amino acids can theoretically have 10^100 (ten to the hundredth power) different configurations.
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  • most protein reconfigurations occur in nanoseconds
  • In research on proteins, it was assumed (given their chemical composition) proteins would uniformly fold as they cool down and unfold as they heat up. (Think of a balloon expanding and shrinking with the temperature of the air inside.) The experiments didn’t bear this out; the rate of folding or unfolding according to temperature change was unequal (asymmetric) and uneven (nonlinear).
  • In recent biochemistry a great deal of work is done with ‘tagging’ or ‘marking’ molecules with fluorescent and phosphorescent materials. It’s well known that fluorescence and phosphorescence are phenomena closely related to protein folding and they can only be understood in terms of quantum transition between molecules.
  • With a quantum transition, the protein could change configuration by ‘jumping’ – skipping all the transition steps – to the final configuration. They call this quantum folding and they developed a mathematical model that shows how the folding, which is virtually instantaneous, would react to change in temperature.
  • Their quantum transition model matched the folding curves for 15 different proteins and also provides an explanation for the different rates of folding and unfolding among these proteins.
  • Luo and Lu’s paper is short, a mere 16 pdf pages, and the model is unpretentious mathematically. (Luo has several other related papers on arXiv.) It comes from unknown researchers in an unknown corner of the academic world, and it’s published on the open-source arXiv system. The lack of pedigree means that it will take more time than usual for scientists around the world to learn of it, examine it, and possibly test it.
    • Nitchakan Chaiprukmalakan
       
      This is not accepted as a true fact yet and has to be proven.
nidthamsirisup

Stem Cell Treatment Spurs Cartilage Growth - Science News - 0 views

  • A small molecule dubbed kartogenin encourages stem cells to take on the characteristics of cells that make cartilage, a new study shows
  • And treatment with kartogenin allowed many mice with arthritis-like cartilage damage in a knee to regain the ability to use the joint without pain.
  • Kartogenin steers the stem cells to wake up and take on cartilage-making duties. This is an essential step in the cartilage repair that falls behind in people with osteoarthritis, the most common kind of arthritis, which develops from injury or long-term joint use.
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  • The molecule turned on genes that make cartilage components called aggrecan and type II collagen. Tests of mice with cartilage damage similar to osteoarthritis showed that kartogenin injections lowered levels of a protein called cartilage oligomeric matrix protein. People with osteoarthritis have an excess of the protein, which is considered a marker of disease severity.
  • kartogenin inhibits a protein called filamin A in the mesenchymal stem cells
Sea Maskulrath

Why having sex really IS the best thing to do: Gene mapping finally proves mating is be... - 0 views

  • Why having sex really IS the best thing to do
  • is better for evolution than self-reproduction
  • Having sex allows us to evolve more effectively than species which reproduce without a partner, according to tests that claim to finally prove the long-held theory.
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  • cording to the study by the University of Edinburgh.
  • Meanwhile, creatures who reproduce asexually are more likely to be lumbered with disease-causing genes
  • Combining the genes of two parents – rather than one in the case of fruit flies, stick insects and other animals – allows for damaging DNA to be removed within a few generations.
  • h longer, a
  • or muc
  • This is because individuals who inherit healthy genes tend to flourish and pass on their DNA to the next generatio
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    well, I guess SEX is the best way to develop a super human for the future + I know everyone gonna love it :) 
Oranicha Jumreornvong

EBSCOhost: The orchid children - 0 views

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    Features Are you an orchid or a dandelion? Are you a sensitive flower or a hardier type? It may all be down to an intriguing set of genes, as David Dobbs finds out WHY are some children better at sharing than others? One attempt to find out uses what you could call the "Bamba test".
Paige Prescott

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

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    a company that sells DNA technology and genetic screening.
Kaoko Miyazaki

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

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    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.
Kaoko Miyazaki

Long Intergenic Noncoding RNAs: New Links in Cancer Progression - 1 views

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    The newly discovered and currently being researched lincRNAs are seen to be one of the causes of cancer. The function of lincRNAs to control gene expression by regulating the number of histones according to specific chromatin, may cause cancer when done wrong or are altered in some way. The epigenetic alterations that occur when this function is done wrong may lead to the disease and the inheritance of it. Which could be hypothesized as to why people with a history of cancer (and other diseases) within their families have higher likelihood to being diagnosed with the disease. But because lincRNA is a very recent discovery and only less than 1% of it has has been characterized in the human body, evidence of this is still being researched, tested and studied.
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