Archive for the ‘Gene Therapy Research’ Category

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Family Tree DNA is the world leader in this research, with over 400,000 DNA profiles since inception in 2000. Family Tree DNA is in the lead - Our databases set the bar and industry lead. Learn More

DNA Traits specializes in DNA testing to identify genetic disorders to inherited diseases and characteristics. It's services are private, affordable, and meet or exceed HIPAA requirements.

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DNA DTC is the RUO division of Gene By Gene and a sister division of Family Tree DNA which pioneered the concept of direct to consumer DNA tests in the field of genetic genealogy.

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DNA Findings is a division of Genealogy by Genetics, though its Family Tree DNA division has been assisting family genealogical reconstruction via the male inherited Y chromosome. Learn More

Gene by Gene, founded in April of 2000, was the first company in the world to develop DNA testing for ancestry and genealogical purposes as a commercial application. Prior to the companys initiative, these tests were only available for academic and research purposes. Because of this innovation, the National Geographic Society and its partner, IBM, selected us to provide the testing and manage all public participation in the Genographic Project.

Initially, the Arizona Research Labs at The University of Arizona performed all testing. In 2006, Gene by Gene established a state-of-the-art Genomics Research Center at its headquarters in Houston, Texas, where we currently perform R&D and process over 200 types of DNA tests for our customers.

Today, Gene by Gene is the largest processor of Full Mitochondria Sequences in the world and the largest submitter of those sequences to the NCBIs Genbank. Additionally, we are the top discoverer of Y-chromosome Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). During our 12 years of operations, we have processed over 5 million discrete tests for over 700,000 individuals.

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People with a genetic mutation linked to Parkinsons disease may have an increased risk of contracting the neurodegenerative disorder if they have been exposed to certain pesticides, according to a new study published in the journal Cell.

Conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., the research involved using human stem cells, derived from a patient with Parkinsons disease, to analyze the relationship between Parkinsons and pesticides.

Though previous epidemiological and animal studies have attempted to prove a connection between exposure to pesticides and a higher susceptibility to Parkinsons, this was the first study that successfully used human cells to examine the link.

To conduct their analysis, researchers gathered skin cells from a Parkinsons patient who possessed a genetic mutation linked to the disease, in the gene encoding a protein called alpha-synuclein. The researchers then transformed these skin cells into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and corrected the Parkinsons mutation in half of the cells, in order to provide a basis for comparison.

Researchers then transformed all of these hiPSCs into a specific type of nerve cell damaged in Parkinsons disease: A9 dopamine-containing neurons. These nerve cells are the first to be affected by Parkinsons disease and are linked to motor sequencing, or the ability to start and stop movements a common problem in Parkinsons patients.

Many think of Parkinsons disease as tremor, shaking, rigidity and stiffness. But its also very important to know that it is the sequencing of movements beginning and stopping a movement where patients really get into trouble and these particular cells really control that, lead study author Dr. Stuart Lipton, professor and director of Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute's Del E. Webb Center for Neuroscience, Aging, and Stem Cell Research, told FoxNews.com.

Researchers then exposed the nerve cells to a combination of pesticides, including paraquat, maneb, and rotenone, which are commonly used in agricultural settings in the United States. Notably, the levels of exposure tested by the researchers were well below EPA-recommended levels.

We did a dose response of pesticides, and that particular dose had been implicated in the human epidemiological studies as being strongly associated with Parkinsons, Lipton said. And what we found is we could give very low doses of that combination (of pesticides), and the cells with the genetic mutation would die and the cells without that would not.

Overall, the researchers determined that exposure to pesticides seems to increase the likelihood that people with a genetic risk for the disease will actually go on to contract the illness.

If youre susceptible to Parkinsons disease, you will be more susceptible to getting it earlier if you are exposed to pesticides, Lipton said.

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Pesticide exposure may increase Parkinson’s risk for those ...

Establishing links between genes, the brain and human behavior is a central issue in cognitive neuroscience research, but studying how genes influence cognitive abilities and behavior as the brain develops from childhood to adulthood has proven difficult.

Now, an international team of scientists has made inroads to understanding how genes influence brain structure and cognitive abilities and how neural circuits produce language.

The team studied individuals with a rare disorder known as Williams syndrome. By measuring neural activity in the brain associated with the distinct language skills and facial recognition abilities that are typical of the syndrome, they showed that Williams is due not to a single gene but to distinct subsets of genes, hinting that the syndrome is more complex than originally thought.

"Solutions to understanding the connections between genes, neural circuits and behavior are now emerging from a unique union of genetics and neuroscience," says Julie Korenberg, a University of Utah professor and an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute, who led the genetics aspects on the new study.

The study was led by Debra Mills, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at Bangor University in Wales. Ursula Bellugi, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, was also integrally involved in the research.

Korenberg was convinced that with Mills' approach of directly measuring the brain's electrical firing they could solve the puzzle of precisely which genes were responsible for building the brain wiring underlying the different reaction to human faces in Williams syndrome.

"We also discovered," says Mills, "that in those with Williams syndrome, the brain processes language and faces abnormally from early childhood through middle age. This was a surprise because previous studies had suggested that part of the Williams brain functions normally in adulthood, with little understanding about how it developed."

The results of the study were published November 12 in Developmental Neuropsychology.

Williams syndrome is caused by the deletion of one of the two usual copies of approximately 25 genes from chromosome 7, resulting in mental impairment. Nearly everyone with the condition is missing these same genes, although a few rare individuals retain one or more genes that most people with Williams have lost. Korenberg was the early pioneer of studying these individuals with partial gene deletions as a way of gathering clues to the specific function of those genes and gene networks. The syndrome affects approximately 1 in 10,000 people around the world, including an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 individuals in the United States.

Although individuals with Williams experience developmental delays and learning disabilities, they are exceptionally sociable and possess remarkable verbal abilities and facial recognition skills in relation to their lower IQ. Bellugi has long observed that sociability also seems to drive language and has spent much of her career studying those with Williams syndrome.

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Study maps genetic markers of brain development in people with ...

Gene Discovery in the Epileptic Encephalopathies
Dr. Heather Mefford, assistant professor of pediatric and genetic medicine with UW Medicine, discusses the use of state-of-the- art genomic technologies to i...

By: UWTV

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Gene Discovery in the Epileptic Encephalopathies - Video

Document Genetics User Group 2013 - Supplier Invoice Approval from ABBYY UK
Steve Ponting from advanced OCR specialists ABBYY software will be demonstrating how ABBYY #39;s solution for automated invoice processing can help make Accounts...

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Genetics Lab Practical Exam

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Genetics Lab Practical Exam - Video

Biology Molecular Genetics Protein vs DNA

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Mikhael Gromov - 4/4 Mathematical Structures arising from Genetics and Molecular Biology
Cours des professeurs permanents de l #39;IHS - Mikhael GROMOV (IHS) l #39;Institut Henri Poincar (IHP) Paris le 4 octobre 2013.

By: Institut des Hautes tudes Scientifiques (IHS)

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Mikhael Gromov - 4/4 Mathematical Structures arising from Genetics and Molecular Biology - Video

Biochemical Genetics - Disorders of Metabolism
UEA lecture.

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http://www.CLINICell.com "ACL TEAR alternative with PRP and Stem Cell Therapy"

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DNA Forensics Movie (Genetics Project)
Genetics Project about DNA Forensics November 2013.

By: Ashley Egyedy

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DNA Forensics Movie (Genetics Project) - Video

Unit 6 part 2 Genetics Honors Biology
Unit 6 part 2 Genetics Honors Biology.

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Unit 6 part 2 Genetics Honors Biology - Video

Genetics Exam Preparation

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Genetics Lab quiz 9

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Genetics Lab quiz 9 - Video

Cancer More About Diet Than Genetics

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Cancer More About Diet Than Genetics - Video

We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind: Encyclopaedia Britannica articles are written in a neutral, objective tone for a general audience. You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered. Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources. At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are best.) Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions.

genetic engineering,the artificial manipulation, modification, and recombination of DNA or other nucleic acid molecules in order to modify an organism or population of organisms.

The term genetic engineering initially meant any of a wide range of techniques for the modification or manipulation of organisms through the processes of heredity and reproduction. As such, the term embraced both artificial selection and all the interventions of biomedical techniques, among them artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization (e.g., test-tube babies), sperm banks, cloning, and gene manipulation. But the term now denotes the narrower field of recombinant DNA technology, or gene cloning (see Figure), in which DNA molecules from two or more sources are combined either within cells or in vitro and are then inserted into host organisms in which they are able to propagate. Gene cloning is used to produce new genetic combinations that are of value to science, medicine, agriculture, or industry.

DNA is the carrier of genetic information; it achieves its effects by directing the synthesis of proteins. Most recombinant DNA technology involves the insertion of foreign genes into the plasmids of common laboratory strains of bacteria. Plasmids are small rings of DNA; they are not part of the bacteriums chromosome (the main repository of the organisms genetic information). Nonetheless, they are capable of directing protein synthesis, and, like chromosomal DNA, they are reproduced and passed on to the bacteriums progeny. Thus, by incorporating foreign DNA (for example, a mammalian gene) into a bacterium, researchers can obtain an almost limitless number of copies of the inserted gene. Furthermore, if the inserted gene is operative (i.e., if it directs protein synthesis), the modified bacterium will produce the protein specified by the foreign DNA.

A key step in the development of genetic engineering was the discovery of restriction enzymes in 1968 by the Swiss microbiologist Werner Arber. However, type II restriction enzymes, which are essential to genetic engineering for their ability to cleave a specific site within the DNA (as opposed to type I restriction enzymes, which cleave DNA at random sites), were not identified until 1969, when the American molecular biologist Hamilton O. Smith purified this enzyme. Drawing on Smiths work, the American molecular biologist Daniel Nathans helped advance the technique of DNA recombination in 197071 and demonstrated that type II enzymes could be useful in genetic studies. Genetic engineering itself was pioneered in 1973 by the American biochemists Stanley N. Cohen and Herbert W. Boyer, who were among the first to cut DNA into fragments, rejoin different fragments, and insert the new genes into E. coli bacteria, which then reproduced.

Genetic engineering has advanced the understanding of many theoretical and practical aspects of gene function and organization. Through recombinant DNA techniques, bacteria have been created that are capable of synthesizing human insulin, human growth hormone, alpha interferon, a hepatitis B vaccine, and other medically useful substances. Plants may be genetically adjusted to enable them to fix nitrogen, and genetic diseases can possibly be corrected by replacing bad genes with normal ones. Nevertheless, special concern has been focused on such achievements for fear that they might result in the introduction of unfavourable and possibly dangerous traits into microorganisms that were previously free of theme.g., resistance to antibiotics, production of toxins, or a tendency to cause disease.

The new microorganisms created by recombinant DNA research were deemed patentable in 1980, and in 1986 the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the sale of the first living genetically altered organisma virus, used as a pseudorabies vaccine, from which a single gene had been cut. Since then several hundred patents have been awarded for genetically altered bacteria and plants.

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genetic engineering -- Encyclopedia Britannica

Beyond the Headlines: Gym Genetics
Don #39;t like going to the gym? It could be in your genes!

By: FOX47News

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Genetics Kaylah Cody Eddie

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Genetics Disorder project

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Tracing Our Ancestors: Using Genetics to Investigate Genealogy
Rick Kittles is a pioneer in the practice of tracing ancestry through DNA. A professor in the Department of Medicine and the Division of Epidemiology and Bio...

By: Chicago Humanities Festival

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Tracing Our Ancestors: Using Genetics to Investigate Genealogy - Video

PH116: Genetics and Bioengineering
Public Health 116 Presentation Script: Sophie Jia, Karen Cheng Animation: Sophie Jia Narration: Alice Zhao Music: 40mP, 5pb.

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Genetics and Flies
This video screencast was created with Doceri on an iPad. Doceri is free in the iTunes app store. Learn more at http://www.doceri.com.

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Genetics and Flies - Video

A long molecule that looks like a twisted ladder. It is made of four types of simple units and the sequence of these units carries information, just as the sequence of letters carries information on a page.

They form the rungs of the DNA ladder and are the repeating units in DNA. There are four types of nucleotides (A, T, G and C) and it is the sequence of these nucleotides that carries information.

A package for carrying DNA in the cells. They contain a single long piece of DNA that is wound up and bunched together into a compact structure. Different species of plants and animals have different numbers and sizes of chromosomes.

A segment of DNA. Genes are like sentences made of the "letters" of the nucleotide alphabet, between them genes direct the physical development and behavior of an organism. Genes are like a recipe or instruction book, providing information that an organism needs so it can build or do something - like making an eye or a leg, or repairing a wound.

The different forms of a given gene that an organism may possess. For example, in humans, one allele of the eye-color gene produces green eyes and another allele of the eye-color gene produces brown eyes.

The complete set of genes in a particular organism.

When people change an organism by adding new genes, or deleting genes from its genome.

An event that changes the sequence of the DNA in a gene.

Genetics is the study of genes what they are and how they work. Genes are units inside a cell that control how living organisms inherit features from their ancestors; for example, children usually look like their parents because they have inherited their parents' genes. Genetics tries to identify which features are inherited, and explain how these features pass from generation to generation.

In genetics, a feature of a living thing is called a "trait". Some traits are part of an organism's physical appearance; such as a person's eye-color, height or weight. Other sorts of traits are not easily seen and include blood types or resistance to diseases. The way our genes and environment interact to produce a trait can be complicated. For example, the chances of somebody dying of cancer or heart disease seems to depend on both their genes and their lifestyle.

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Introduction to genetics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2010 07 28 Gene Therapy

By: Lynn Marquis

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2010 07 28 Gene Therapy - Video

Sustainable Agriculture: No to GMOs

Over the past 50 years, we have nearly tripled agricultural outputs. But this so-called "Green Revolution" comes at unbearable costs for the environment, public health and social welfare. Industrial farming with its dependency on fossil fuels, toxic inputs and ignorance for common goods has proven to be a dead-end road.

Genetic engineering enables scientists to create plants, animals and micro-organisms by manipulating genes in a way that does not occur naturally. These genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can spread through nature and interbreed with natural organisms, thereby contaminating non-"GE" environments and future generations in an unforeseeable and uncontrollable way.

"As a native of South Africa, and someone who has seen first-hand starvation in Africa I am often asked how it is that I can be opposed to genetic engineering. This questioning assumes that genetic engineering leads to healthier, sustainable and more abundant crops but this is far from the truth. In fact, genetic engineering has the potential to increase hunger around the globe. This of course jars with most peoples logic (and defies brilliant marketing campaigns by industry) that the companies responsible for producing food globally could actually cause further food scarcity. It angers me that corporate scientists and global genetic engineering companies can still get away with making the bogus claim that their seeds will feed the poor, when in fact their only goal is greater profits." -Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International Executive Director

Proponents argue that genetic engineering is worth the risk because it helps alleviate the global food crisis. However, globally speaking, lack of food isnotthe cause of hunger. Political challenges and failures are the cause of world hunger with an estimated one billion victims. In other words, more food doesn't necessarily mean fewer hungry.

Also, according to recent carbon footprint analysis, the entire chain of food production and consumption accounts for 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing these greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the long-term storage of carbon in the soil are therefore essential measures to prevent a climate catastrophe.

Organic agriculture is a rapidly growing sector of agriculture that focuses on the health, ecology, fairness and care of the farming process. Organic practices use local resources and offers opportunities for increasing farmers' income and improving their livelihood.

To feed the world sustainably into the future, fundamental changes are needed in our farming and food systems. Greenpeace believes we need a thorough and radical overhaul of present international and national agricultural policies. You can help by using your power as a consumer to buy locally grown, organic food and urging your Representatives to pass laws that protect our health and eliminate genetic engineering.

Molly Dorozenski (New York)

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Sustainable Agriculture | Genetic engineering dangers and ...