Hormones Tick on Epigenetic Clock

    The reproductive cycle of mammals is controlled by reversible changes in DNA.  Siberian hamsters breed during the longest days of the year and the shortest days trigger hormonal changes, thus causing their gonads to shrink.  It has been unclear how melatonin, a nocturnal hormone, alters gene activity. 
   
    Tyler Stevenson of University of Aberdeen and Brian Prendergast of University of Chicago discovered that shorter days and changes in melatonin reduce a key gene, methylation which is in the hypothalamus, to activate the gonad shrinking.  This study that was performed was the first to show cycles of DNA modification underlie seasonal changes.  I found this very interesting because just a slight change in a hormone can trigger a whole cascade of events.  I personally didn't know that melatonin had that much of an impact on mammals. 

http://doi.org/nz8
http://www.newswise.com/articles/siberian-hamsters-show-what-helps-make-seasonal-clocks-tick
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1086/652243?uid=3739808&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102847425247

New Bacteria from the Bowels

  
    This Melaninabacteria phylum is a new branch of bacteria that was discovered in human guts and in groundwater.  Jillian Banfield from University of California and Ruth Ley of Cornell University were characterizing microbial communities in human feces and environment samples.  They discovered that some DNA sequences were distantly related.  Which led to the discovery that they were distantly related to cyanobacteria which is photosynthetic.  They performed more sequencing and discovered 3 complete and 3 partial genomes for this bacteria. 

    However, the melaninabacteria lack genes that are needed for photosynthesis and for coping with oxygen.  It is believed that they therefore generate energy by fermenting different molecules that contain carbon.  This also may provide the bacterias human hosts with B and K vitamins.  I found this article very interesting to find that a phylum of bacteria is not only found in our guts but also in groundwater.  Besides those two vitamins, I wonder if too much of this bacteria is produced of consumed is harmful and how. 

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/10/new-bacteria-found-human-gut
http://elife.elifesciences.org/content/2/e01102.abstract

Scientists 'Silence' Aggressive Brain Cancer Gene in Mice

Test Mice 

Glioblastoma multiforme

 

                A new experimental drug has been found to turn off a gene that is connected to an aggressive and incurable type of brain cancer in mice. Glioblastoma multiforme is a brain cancer that is responsible for 13,000 American deaths a year. The new experimental is uses nanotechnology, which is small enough to advance through the blood-brain barrier to make contract with the brain tumors. This nanotechnology will target the cancer causing gene in the cells and shut them off; this means that the cancer causing genes were silenced.

Gene Silencing

  

               According to the study in, Science Translational Medicine, the mice that were used in these experiments were given the new drug intravenously. The results showed that the mice lived 20 percent longer and their tumors shrank three to four times in size. This had shown amazing progression towards ending this terrible disease. This opens up many doors to different therapy resistances. Many experimental drugs that are used against Glioblastoma fail in clinical trials. The next step is to test this experimental drug in clinical trials, though many results in animal studies are different when used in human studies. Hopefully, silencing these genes and eliminating them from the scenario will allow more treatments to be effective.  

                This disease is the source of thousands of people yearly. I find it amazing that we have come up with such technology that allows us to shut down cancer causing genes. By shutting down these genes, we give ourselves the time to do more research on the cancer itself to see if there are ways to eliminate it completely. This can also open up more research into silencing other genes for other diseases. Nanotechnology can be the beginning of a new era of disease control. 

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/10/30/scientists-silence-aggressive-brain-cancer-gene-in-mice

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/probe/doc/ApplSilencing.shtml

A genetic reason to eat less (or no) meat

Research has recently found that one in three people (30% of the population) possess a gene variant that increases their risk of colon/rectal cancer with the consumption of meat (especially red meats and processed). There is already an increased risk of these cancer in people who eat red and processed meats but this gene variation increases this risk even more. The study identified the variant as rs4143094 which is on the same region of chromosome 10 as a factor gene known as GATA3, which has a transcription that has already been linked to several types of cancer.
Luckily a plant-based diet can drastically lower this risk for both those with and without the gene variant. In addition to preventing a variety of cancers a plant based diet can improve a persons overall health and help prevent a multitude of diseases and conditions.








http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131024102150.htm

mbPAINT and Genetic Diseases

    This month, ScienceDaily shared an article about DNA mapping. With high-tech optical tools, researchers of Rice University have now found a way to pinpoint the location of specific sequences along single strands of DNA. This technique has been proven to someday help diagnose genetic diseases. Chemist Christy Landes, a lead researcher, identified DNA sequences as short as 50 nucleotides at room temperature using a technique called super-localization microscopy. This would be impossible to see with a standard microscope because it cannot comprehend such small targets. Also, it cannot be done with electron microscopes because it requires the targets to be frozen. Super-localization microscopy has been known about for a while but is just now being used in biosensing. For a while now, scientists have been able to see double-stranded DNA molecules, but Landes says the ability to see single-stranded DNA is a new victory in science. Landes and her researchers call their technique the "motion blur point accumulation for imaging in nanoscale topography," or mbPAINT. This technique has allowed them to resolve structures as small as 30 nanometers by creating a movie-like drift of fluorescent DNA probes flowing over a known target sequence along an immobilized single strand of DNA.



    To create effect, the probes were labeled with a fluorescent dye that lights up only when attached to the target DNA. Normally, they would flow unseen, but a few would bind to the target just long enough to be captured by the camera before they were pulled away by the moving liquid. The processing of these images will allow researchers to image extremely small objects, smaller than the natural diffraction limit of light-based imaging. To the naked eye, in real time you would only see a line due to the rapid speed of the probes. This technology allows researchers to see biological processes of nano-sized objects. It shows as they happen in water, with salts, at room temperature and even in a cell. So, what is planned for the future? Landes hopes to be able to someday map even smaller fragments of DNA. Instead of seeing 50 nucleotides, she hopes to be able to look at only a few. Landes stated, "Some diseases are characterized by one amino acid mutation, which is three nucleotides, and there are many diseases associated with very small genetic mutations..." With this being said being able to get it down to just a couple nucleotides could become extremely helpful with genetic disease study.

In my opinion I feel that this new development in DNA strand study can become extremely beneficial to not only the field of science, but also human health. For many years researchers have been studying genetic diseases but can only go so far. Super-localization microscopy has now offered many people hope to finding specific mutation in genetic diseases that have not yet been identified. If Landes and her researchers were able to identify DNA sequences as short as 3 nucleotides, it would be an amazing scientific find, especially considering a great amount of genetic diseases have small, localized mutations. In addition, the mbPAINT method is very cost-effective.

Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131009111151.htm

Link: This is a video of what it looks like to see the single-strand  localization http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc6i3ZkZhd0&list=PL46869D7222684E1A

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Epidemic

      

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

                 A.D.H.D. medications were in short supply from the fall of 2011 to the spring of 2012 throughout the United States. This shortage was due to the supply being outpaced by the request for the medication. Prior to the 1990’s, less than 5% of school-aged children were thought to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 11% of adolescences from the ages of 4 to 17 had received the news that they had A.D.H.D.; this 11% does not include the adult population. This shows that the number of children diagnosed with A.D.H.D has skyrocketed over the past 20 years.

A.D.H.D. Medications

                For many years people felt that A.D.H.D. was a made up disorder. Yet, facts have shown that A.D.H.D. is a genetic based disease. The way that scientist determine if specific behaviors and traits are genetically based are by comparing twins. Identical twins share almost 100% of the same genes, while fraternal twins share about half of their genes. This shows that if a disorder is genetically based, the identical twins have a higher chance of sharing it than the fraternal twins. Researchers at Michigan State University, in 2010, studied 22 different twins and established that the traits of hyperactivity and inattentiveness are greatly inheritable. Also, studies that use brain-imaging, display dissimilarities between people who were diagnosed with A.D.H.D. and people who were not. These images show that people with A.D.H.D. have less receptors for chemical messenger dopamine in specific regions. This would cause the brain to not function to its highest abilities.

Brain Imaging of Non-ADHD and ADHD patients.

 

            Since so many children and adults are diagnosed with A.D.H.D. the increase in medications has raised. New medications are being produced and more medications are being distributed. The genetic disorder A.D.H.D. affects the lives of many people, especially children. Now knowing about this disease had opened up the door to improvement for it. Children are now receiving the assistance that they need to become focused and do well in school. There are therapists for them to talk to, there is access to tutors, and time modifications for standardized testing. Also, there is a drug treatment for this disease. People are beginning to realize that this is not a disease that is just made up and people do suffer from this. It really makes a difference to do the studies and find out where this disease comes from and how you can resolve the problem.

             To me many children do have A.D.H.D. and they need for it to be taken care of. It distracts them from the things that they need to do and accomplish in life. It can be the difference if they do good in school and obtain and retain an education. Knowing the it is a genetic disease does help figure out how they can fix the problem and make medication to fix the problem. I do believe that people do abuse the used of A.D.H.D. medications and that does need to be looked into. Though many people are diagnosed with A.D.H.D. I do not feel that they all have the disease.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/magazine/the-not-so-hidden-cause-behind-the-adhd-epidemic.html?_r=0

http://psychcentral.com/lib/the-genetics-of-adhd/0003789

Grasshopper Mice Are Numb to the Pain of the Bark Scorpion Sting

A recent study conducted by Ashlee Rowe, Assistant Professor of Zoology at Michigan State, investigated the effect of the scorpion toxin on the Grasshopper Mice. The deadly sting of this scorpion for a mammal of this size and bigger is well documented; however, the Grasshopper mice appears to be unaffected by the scorpions sting.  Scientists began conducting controlled trials with the mice and the scorpion. This video, "Mouse v Scorpion" illustrates a portion of the experiment.  It can be viewed on YouTube at:

                                   http://youtube/3S4sMBFBZ0M 

 

            After analysis of this trial, scientists needed to test the mice to discover what caused the absence of pain response. They injected their paw with a small dose of venom and nontoxic saline to see the response. The response was that the mice came up with less pain from the venom then saline. When they observed this, they examined pain neurons that have a couple of different sodium channels, called 1.7 and 1.8; the channels, shows that when toxins bind to 1.7 channels, the channels open, sodium flows in and the pain neuron fires.  The research discovered that channel 1.8 in the grasshopper mice has an amino acid to block the pain of scorpion stings that are different from mammals.  The scorpion toxin binds to one of these amino acids to block the activation of channel 1.8 and thus inhibit the pain response. 

 

This research will be the start of the development of new analgesics for humans in the future. Hopefully, it will lead to relief for many people.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131024143422.htm 

http://www.utexas.edu/news/2013/10/24/grasshopper-mice-bark-scorpion/

 

Proteins in One of the World's Main Biodiesel Plants Have Been Mapped, and It Does Not Look Good

Professor Peter Roepstorff, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The University of Southern Denmark and his team have mapped the protein of the Castor oil plants beans.  The plants’ fatty beans are presently refined into biodiesel in foreign countries.  The mapping of the bean’s proteins and altering the bean’s structure in order for the extracted pulp to be used for animal feed does not appear to be feasible because of the allergens and potent poison ricin it contains.   Thus, the use of the extracted bean pulp cannot be used for animal feed.  The animals would get sick or die so the scientists want to find a way to eliminate the ricin and allergenic qualities from the bean. 

Scientists used proteomics to map 1875 castor bean proteins to find out if in some way it would be possible to eliminate the allergenic proteins and the ricin from the beans. The mapping enabled the scientists to know where and when the proteins are produced in their development. The   lowest levels of protein ricin and the allergen 2S Albumin are only present in the early development of the plant. So far, there has not been a way to eliminate these toxic proteins and use the pulp for animal feed because it is not cost effective for oil producers to only harvest immature plants. 

In my opinion, the challenge now is to remove the toxic allergenic substances by genetic engineering or eliminating the unwanted proteins by plant breeding.  If successful, the possibilities are endless, but man should tread cautiously and be aware of the results of genetic manipulation to the environment and mankind.  The damage may be too great!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131025113912.htm 

http://sdu.dk/en/Om_SDU/Fakulteterne/Naturvidenskab/Nyheder/2013_10_25_castor

 

Spit out your gum and become a sculpture

Ever wounder what happens to that piece of gum you spit out on the sidewalk or that used tissue you threw away well wounder no more. Heather Dewey Hagborg , Ph.D. candidate in Electro Arts at Resselaes Polytechnic Institute, who is living in New York is putting all of those used tissues and chewed pieces gum to good use. Hagborg uses the chewed gum to retrieve DNA, by genetic analysis, from the person who chewed it and uses 3D printing techniques to creates a 3D facial sculpture of that person without ever having to meet that person in person. Hagborg gets most of her art materials from public sidewalks, subways, and public bathrooms in New York. She mostly uses items people have left saliva or DNA on like gum, cigarette butts, used tissues, and what ever else she can find. With all the items she finds she creates a exhibit of anonymous strangers. Hagborg does not create an exact copy of the persons face, but she creates more of a resemblance of the person.      

I found this to be very interesting because I never really thought people would want to use someones used and chewed gum to create a sculpture of them. It also interested me because the creator of the sculptures was using pretty much anything that people had left their spit on to create an exact 3D sculpture of their face.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/04/tech/innovation/dna-face-sculptures/

Some people maybe programmed to focus on the negative

A study conducted by a researcher from University of British Columbia has connected a gene variant to how some people may see the world around them in a negative manner. It is aid that this is the first study of its kind that has realized a connection between a genetic variation and how that can effect how people perceive the people and the world around them. In a previous study it showed how a previously known gene can cause people to experience negative moments and situations in a more vivid manner when compared to happy moments and occasions. The article and the researcher compared it to people seeing life through a pair of genetic colored glasses accompanied by biological variation at a genetic variation level which causes differences in how people interpret life and perception.

The gene in question was ADA2b deletion variant which influences hormones and neurotransmitter norepinephrine. This gene allows people to perceive emotions in real time and through emotional memories. The study used 200 participants and showed them positive, negative, and neutral words in a rapid succession. The participants that had the ADA2b gene saw more negative words compared to the happy and neural words. Where as both groups, those that had the ADA2b gene and one that don't have the gene, saw more positive words then neural words. It is said that those who have the ADA2b gene are more likely to see and pick out angry faces in a crowd of people and are able to see or notice hazardous situation such as, a spot where someone could fall, or a lose rock or object that could potentially harm someone. The researcher conducted this study to show how the combination of genetics with other factors can have an affect on how individuals differ in emotional perception and human subjectivity.

I found this article to be interesting because I didn't realize that people could be born to focus on the negative parts of life in a more intense manner. I know people have differences in opinions, but I didn't realize that the opinion could be different because the person was born to see it that way. 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/267349.php

Left Handedness is not " in the genes"

It is said that over 10 % of Americans are left handed an the same goes for other countries. Some researches say they are not exactly sure what causes people to be left or right handed , but Professor Armur form University of Nottingham and Dr. Davison of  University College of London are suggesting that left handedness does not come from genes therefore isn't inherited. This study used 2,000 set of twins from London Twin Research Unit. In this study researchers compared left and right handedness and looked at over 4,000 people and their genome and found no link to handedness and genes. There research in this article has challenged a previous study that said handedness was linked to a gene called PCSK6. Professor Armur and Dr. Davison believe that there should be a noticeable difference between right and left do to differences in genetic variation. At the end of their study they have determined that handedness is a mixture or a combination of genes, environment, and cultural pressure to conform.

I choose this article because I thought it was interesting and for the fact that the question of handedness was still left some what unanswered because even though the article ends with some ideas about what causes handedness I get the feeling that researchers still are not exactly sure on what the true causes for handedness are. I also found it interesting for the article to included that it could be pressure from  people to conform to society that makes people be left or right handed. I have heard of people forcing or teaching their children to be right handed so I found it easy to correlate the information form this article to real life.  

  

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/267047.php

Marital Satisfaction linked to Gene Variant

Researches from University of California-Berkeley did a study that suggest that a happy marriage or relationship is linked to genetics and a gene which helps in regulating serotonin can determine a persons emotional outlook on relationships. They say a gene variant, 5-HTTLPR which is inherited from parents, is linked to relationship fulfillment. It also determines how important emotions are to different people.

This study followed 156 couples from 1989 until present day, these couples are now middle aged or older.During the duration of the study each couple was asked every 5 years to come into a lab and have their marital satisfaction and interaction with one another evaluated and observed. Researches were observing conversation each couple had and wold look for facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and the topic of the conversation in which the couples were having. Out of the 156 original couple participating 125 of those couples gave DNA samples which was used to match their genotype with their own marital satisfaction and interactions with each other that were observed in the lab. The study found that couples and participants with 2 short 5-HTTLPR alleles where the most unhappy when there was to much talk and focus on negative emotional, but were the happiest when around happier emotions. Those that had 1 or 2 long alleles were less affected by the emotions that were taking place in their marriage. Neither of these alleles have a positive or negative advantage. Those who had 2 short alleles which was 17% showed a strong connection between emotions and their marriage, 83% of the couples showed no correlation between their emotions and their marriage.

I chose to write about this article because I found it interseting that how happy a person could be in a relationship is do to a gene they have and not how fulfilling the relationship may actually be. But I also found it interesting how more couples had no correlation between their emotions and their marriage. 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/267235.php

The Role of Genes in Immunity and the Microbiome of the Human Body

In a recent study done by scientists at the American Society of Human Genetics, the human genes in immunity related pathways were found to be likely associated with the composition of an individuals microbiome. Areas of the human body are colonized by vast quantities of microorganisms and "shifts in the composition of species have been associated with multiple chronic conditions," said Ran Blekhman, PhD assistant professor of department of genetics, cel biology and development at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Blekhman and collaborators found evidence of genetic influence on microbiome composition at 15 sites of 93 people surveyed. Genetic variation was found to correlate at an individual and species level.

At the individual level principle component analysis showed that genetic variation correlated with the overall structure of a persons microbiome. At the the species level potential correlation between host genetic variation and the abundance of a single bacterial species was identified. The bacterial species were identified using data from the Human Microbiome Project, an international program to genetically catalog the microbial residents of the human body. Using a system level association here, the study showed that variation in genes related to immune system pathways at 15 host body sites.
Genes in pathways linked to composition of an individuals microbiome were found to vary significantly across populations. According to Dr. Blekhman, "the results highlight the role of host immunity in determining bacteria levels across the body and support a possible role for the microbiome in driving evolution of bacteria associated host genes."

This research  shows how important the role of genetics and ecological composition can be inside the human body. Knowing people differ not only genetically but even at the level of a microbiome can prove useful in medicine and when utilizing treatments.




http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131024121808.htm
http://mpkb.org/home/pathogenesis/microbiota

A Compound Found in Grape skin and Wine show Cancer Treatment Potential

A recent study done by a researcher at the University of Missouri showed that resveratrol, a compound found in grape skin and red wine, can make certain tumor cells more susceptible to radiation treatment. This research, done with melanoma cells, follows a previous study done at the same university which found similar results in the treatment of prostate cancer. The study investigated how resveratrol and radiotherapy inhibit the survival of melanoma cells. Results showed that when treated with resveratrol alone 44% of the tumor cells were killed and in combination with radiation 65% of tumor cells died.

 Michael Nicoll, assistant professor of surgery at Missouri University School of Medicine and surgical oncologist at Ellis Fischer Cancer Center, said "his find finding could lead to more research into the cancer fighting benefits of the naturally occurring compound." However resveratrol's  "delivery" to tumor sites can be "tricky due to the nature of how the cancer cells travel throughout the body." If additional studies continue with success officials at Missouri University will request federal authorization to submit it as a investigative new drug and conduct clinical trials with the hope of developing new cancer treatments.

In the fight against cancer many doctors and scientists have turned back to the natural world and found compounds that have proven useful for treatment such as paclitaxel - a mitotic inhibitor  isolated from Pacific yew trees. In the growing field of oncology, discoveries such as this can be invaluable in the fight against cancer.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131011135341.htm
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/druginfo/paclitaxel

DNA gives more Differences within Humans.

           Human beings around the entire world are different and similar in a plethora of ways. Sometimes eye and hair colors are the same. Sometimes simple things like height, weight, or blood type are the same. Much more similarities are found in twins, triplets, and quadruplets. However, there are always differences in every human beings, whether they are twins or not. Fingerprints and footprints are definitely two things that will never-ever end up being the same between any two humans in the world - from past to present to future. Another feature of humans that will never end up being the same is DNA due to never-ending, unique combinations of genes being coded.

   

Now that the topic of DNA has come up, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory can be mentioned where epigenomic profiling was carried out. The researchers here have figured out the genetic basis of a certain type of feature difference within the DNA coding: the face. Axel Visel was the leader for this research with a doctorate in genetics who discovered there are specific gene-leveled sculptors determining the development of the facial feature in humans which are called the transcriptional enhancers. These enhancers came to be found out from the experimentation with mice along with deletion experiments. There is no exact idea of what the purpose of these enhancers are yet but the expression of specific genes within the face development is started with these regulating sequences (transcriptional enhancers). 

Previously, enhancers were looked at by scientists but in the major places of the body: heart, brain, and organ systems, where regulation took place over thousands and thousands of base pairs. Gene expression became more precise through these enhancers controlling their target gene's expression in the development processes giving different phenotypic facial features. Over 4000 were predicted to be ongoing in the precision of facial genes from observing mice. The importance that came out of this research of defining face morphology, basically the skull, was that it provides a foundation for birth defect analysis so it could be built upon on.

Link 1: http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/one-face-many-gene-level-sculptors/81249023/
Link 2: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/cleftlip.html

Gene Mutation Linked to Increased Risk of Obesity in Children

            Obesity has been a major health issue for many years, particularly for citizens of the United States of America.  A serious problem is that obesity has been steadily increasing in children.  It has been thought that bad eating habits and less time spent on physical activity cause obesity.  However, a study conducted by researchers in Britain has discovered a genetic cause and higher risk of obesity in children.  They found that mutations in the KSR2 gene result in larger appetites and slower metabolism than children with normal copies of the KSR2 gene.  Metabolism is essentially how well the body burns calories.  Children are consuming lots of calories and aren’t burning as much off.  As a result, this leads to obesity.  The researchers came to this conclusion after completing genetic analyses on more than 2,100 extremely obese children.  Sadaf Farooqi, the author of the study, says that “changes in diet and levels of physical activity underlie the recent increase in obesity; however, some people gain weight more easily than others.”  He goes on further to say that genetic factors are the reason some gain weight more easily than others and the mutations in the KSR2 gene explains this.  Previously, Farooqi and his fellow researchers discovered that the deletion of the KSR2 gene causes obesity in mice and this demonstrated how the gene affects energy balance and metabolism.  With this information, it was determined that the KSR2 gene functions the same way in humans.  From this research study, Farooqi hopes to be able to find a treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

            This research study is extremely informative and important.  America is one of the most obese countries in the world and now there is a reason why.  I am not saying that all obese children in the United States have this mutation of the KSR2 gene, but there are some that definitely do.  Those that don't have the mutation need to exercise more and make healthier eating choices.  This finding provides an answer to those children with the KSR2 mutation who try to lose weight through exercise and healthy dieting, but can’t.  One question that I thought of while reading this article is does the KSR2 cause obesity in adults or is there another genetic factor responsible?  Anyway now that there is a genetic factor that has been identified to increase the risk of obesity, that doesn’t mean children should stop exercising and eating healthy.  It is even more important now for those children who have the KSR2 gene mutation to continue to be involved in physical activity and have healthy diets.  These are the two current methods of combating childhood obesity.  Due the KSR2 gene mutation, hopefully one day there will be a treatment for those children that are obese and have type 2 diabetes.