Brain cells of a laboratory mouse are shown glowing with multicolor fluorescent proteins.

THURSDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists who reprogrammed skin cells into brain cells say their research could lay the groundwork for new ways to treat Alzheimer's and other brain diseases.

The team at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco transferred a gene called Sox2 into both mouse and human skin cells. Within days, the skin cells transformed into early-stage brain stem cells called induced neural stem cells.

[Read: Scientists Turn Skin Cells Into Cardiac Cells to Help Failing Hearts.]

These cells began to self-renew and soon matured into neurons capable of transmitting electrical signals. Within a month, these new neurons had developed into neural networks, according to the research published online June 7 in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

These transformed cells could provide better models for testing new drugs to treat Alzheimer's and other brain diseases, the researchers said.

"Many drug candidates -- especially those developed for neurodegenerative diseases -- fail in clinical trials because current models don't accurately predict the drug's effects on the human brain," Gladstone investigator Dr. Yadong Huang, who is also an associate professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a Gladstone news release.

[Check it Out: 9 Best Foods For Your Skin.]

"Human neurons -- derived from reengineered skin cells -- could help assess the efficacy and safety of these drugs, thereby reducing risks and resources associated with human trials," Huang explained.

About 5.4 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's disease and that number is expected to triple by 2050., the release notes. Currently, there are no approved drug treatments to prevent or reverse the disease.

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Skin Cells Turned Into Brain Cells

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ScienceDaily (June 7, 2012) Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have for the first time transformed skin cells -- with a single genetic factor -- into cells that develop on their own into an interconnected, functional network of brain cells. The research offers new hope in the fight against many neurological conditions because scientists expect that such a transformation -- or reprogramming -- of cells may lead to better models for testing drugs for devastating neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

This research comes at a time of renewed focus on Alzheimer's disease, which currently afflicts 5.4 million people in the United States alone -- a figure expected to nearly triple by 2050. Yet there are no approved medications to prevent or reverse the progression of this debilitating disease.

In findings appearing online June 7 in Cell Stem Cell, researchers in the laboratory of Gladstone Investigator Yadong Huang, MD, PhD, describe how they transferred a single gene called Sox2 into both mouse and human skin cells. Within days the skin cells transformed into early-stage brain stem cells, also called induced neural stem cells (iNSCs). These iNSCs began to self-renew, soon maturing into neurons capable of transmitting electrical signals. Within a month, the neurons had developed into neural networks.

"Many drug candidates -- especially those developed for neurodegenerative diseases -- fail in clinical trials because current models don't accurately predict the drug's effects on the human brain," said Dr. Huang, who is also an associate professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), with which Gladstone is affiliated. "Human neurons -- derived from reengineered skin cells -- could help assess the efficacy and safety of these drugs, thereby reducing risks and resources associated with human trials."

Dr. Huang's findings build on the work of other Gladstone scientists, starting with Gladstone Investigator, Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD. In 2007, Dr. Yamanaka used four genetic factors to turn adult human skin cells into cells that act like embryonic stem cells -- called induced pluripotent stem cells.

Also known as iPS cells, these cells can become virtually any cell type in the human body -- just like embryonic stem cells. Then last year, Gladstone Senior Investigator Sheng Ding, PhD, announced that he had used a combination of small molecules and genetic factors to transform skin cells directly into neural stem cells. Today, Dr. Huang takes a new tack by using one genetic factor -- Sox2 -- to directly reprogram one cell type into another without reverting to the pluripotent state.

Avoiding the pluripotent state as Drs. Ding and Huang have done is one approach to avoiding the potential danger that "rogue" iPS cells might develop into a tumor if used to replace or repair damaged organs or tissue.

"We wanted to see whether these newly generated neurons could result in tumor growth after transplanting them into mouse brains," said Karen Ring, UCSF Biomedical Sciences graduate student and the paper's lead author. "Instead we saw the reprogrammed cells integrate into the mouse's brain -- and not a single tumor developed."

This research, which was performed at the Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at Gladstone, has also revealed the precise role of Sox2 as a master regulator that controls the identity of neural stem cells. In the future, Dr. Huang and his team hope to identify similar regulators that guide the development of specific neural progenitors and subtypes of neurons in the brain.

"If we can pinpoint which genes control the development of each neuron type, we can generate them in the petri dish from a single sample of human skin cells," said Dr. Huang. "We could then test drugs that affect different neuron types -- such as those involved in Parkinson's disease -- helping us to put drug development for neurodegenerative diseases on the fast track."

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Skin cells reprogrammed into brain cells

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06-06-2012 13:09 Mesenchymal stem cell homing to tissue damage, umbilical cord stem cells historically used for anti-aging, mesenchymal stem cells role in immune system modulation, inflammation reduction and stimulating tissue regeneration, donor stem cell safety and testing, the role of HLA matching in donated umbilical cord-derived stem cells, umbilical cord blood safety data and historical use in blood transfusions, allogeneic stem cell persistence in human mothers. Treatment information at More information on Dr. Riordan at

Link:
Neil Riordan PhD - Stem Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury (Part 3 of 5) || Stem Cell Treatments - Video

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ws7n9p/analysis_of_micror) has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report "Analysis of MicroRNA Tools and Services Market in Europe" to their offering.

This Frost & Sullivan research titled Analysis of MicroRNA Tools and Services Market in Europe starts from the base year of 2010 with forecasts running through 2017. It offers a comprehensive market overview including key challenges, drivers and restraints, while providing valuable recommendations to market participants. The market segmentation is based on microRNA (miRNA) research in life science. This research service gives an overall analysis of miRNA tools such as qRT-PCR, microarray and functional analysis and services including expression profiling and phenotypic screening.

Market Overview

Expanded MicroRNA Research to Result in Increased Uptake of Related Research Tools

A number of large pharmaceutical and biotech companies are keen to invest in life science research. Advances in genomic technologies and molecular biology segments will boost the miRNA research and tools market in the future. MicroRNA is set to unveil a new era in molecular diagnostics and in the development of effective therapeutics.

The adoption of miRNA research in different fields is, in turn, widening the use of related miRNA tools across an ever-expanding spectrum of applications. MicroRNA profiling has already been adopted in cancer research, stem cell research, developmental biology and neuroscience, notes the analyst of this research. This has caused many other fields to develop an interest in auditing their gene expression analyses or epigenetic research by profiling miRNAs. Recently, more research and development has been promoted in finding the utility and role of miRNAs in the field of cardiovascular research, plant science, virology, endocrinology and genetic disease. As researchers discover new miRNAs and study functions, additional research fields may realise that miRNAs can play a role in their disciplines.

Market Sectors

Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:

- miRNA tools( qRT-PCR, microarray and functional analysis)

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Research and Markets: Analysis of MicroRNA Tools and Services Market in Europe 2012

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/w4spkx/life_sciences_pcr) has announced the addition of the "Life Sciences (Pcr, CellCulture, In-Vitro Diagnostics, Expression & Transfection) & Analytical Reagents (Chromatography, MassSpectrometry, Electrophoresis, FlowCytometry) Market Applications (Protein Purification, Gene Expression, Dna & Rna Analys" report to their offering.

Biotechnology (life science and analytical) reagents are the substances or compounds used to detect or synthesize another substance in order to provide a test reading. These reagents are used in the field of research, diagnosis, bioscience, and education.

The life sciences and analytical reagents market report studies the life science and analytical reagents market, by technology, end-users, and applications. The life sciences and analytical reagents market, by technology studied in this report are segmented as life science reagents and analytical reagents; of which life science segment accounted for the largest share of 59.37% of the total market in 2011. The global life science and analytical reagents market was valued at $40,308.8 million in 2011 and is expected to reach $59,319.2 million by 2016; growing at a CAGR of 8% from 2011 to 2016.

The life sciences and analytical reagents market is driven by the increasing use of reagents in therapeutics, basic research and commercial applications. The demand for biotechnology reagents is mainly dependent upon the growth of the biotechnology instrumentation market. The biotechnology instrumentation market continues to witness significant growth due to an increase in the number of biotechnology firms around the globe and increase in research and development expenditure by the biotechnology companies, thus augmenting the demand for biotechnology instruments. Continual product developments are being witnessed in various industries, such as pharmaceutical/bio-pharmaceutical, agri-biotech, and food and beverages; this is expected to facilitate market growth.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Executive Summary

3 Market Overview

4 Life Sciences & Analytical Reagents Market, By Technology

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Research and Markets: Life Sciences & Analytical Reagents Market

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MADISON, Wis., June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI), the world's largest commercial producer of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines and tissue cells, today announced the launch of its MyCell Services. These services include novel iPS cell line reprogramming, genetic engineering and differentiation of iPS cells into commercially available iCell terminal tissue cells (for example, heart or nerve cells).

"CDI's mission is to be the top developer and manufacturer of standardized human cells in high quantity, quality and purity and to make these cells widely available to the research community. Our MyCell Services provide researchers with unprecedented access to the full diversity of human cellular biology," said Bob Palay, CDI Chief Executive Officer. "The launch of MyCell Services furthers CDI founder and stem cell pioneer Jamie Thomson's vision to enable scientists worldwide to easily access the power of iPSC technology, thus driving breakthroughs in human health."

Over the past 2 years, CDI has launched iCell Cardiomyocytes, iCell Neurons and iCell Endothelial Cells for human biology and drug discovery research. MyCell Services leverage CDI's prior investment in building an industrial manufacturing platform that can handle the parallel production of multiple iPSC lines and tissue cells, manufacturing billions of cells daily.

Chris Parker, CDI Chief Commercial Officer, commented, "Not all studies requiring human cells can be accomplished by using cells from a limited set of normal, healthy donors. Researchers may need iPS cells or tissue cells derived from specific ethnic or disease populations, and MyCell Services enable them to take advantage of our deep stem cell expertise and robust industrial manufacturing pipeline to do so. Previously, scientists had to create and differentiate iPS cells themselves. Such activities consume significant laboratory time and resources, both of which could be better applied to conducting experiments that help us better understand human biology. CDI's MyCell Services enable scientists to re-direct those resources back to their experiments."

CDI pioneered the technique to create iPS cells from small amounts of peripheral blood, although iPS cells can be created from other tissue types as well. Additionally, CDI's episomal reprogramming method is "footprint-free," meaning no foreign DNA is integrated into the genome of the reprogrammed cells, alleviating safety concerns over the possible use of iPS cells in therapeutic settings. These techniques have been optimized for manufacture of over 2 billion human iPS cells a day, and differentiated cells at commercial scale with high quality and purity to match the research needs.

Modeling Genetic Diversity

CDI has several projects already underway using MyCell Services to model genetic diversity of human biology. The Medical College of Wisconsin and CDI received a $6.3M research grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), announced July 2011, for which CDI's MyCell Services will reprogram an unprecedented 250 iPS cell lines from blood samples collected from Caucasian and African-American families in the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network (HyperGEN) study. In addition, MyCell Services will differentiate these iPS cells into heart cells to investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying Left Ventricular Hypertrophy, an increase of the size and weight of the heart that is a major risk factor for heart disease and heart failure.

Researchers are also using CDI's MyCell Services to generate iPS cells and liver cells from individuals with drug induced liver injury (DILI), toward an eventual goal of identifying genetic factors linked to idiosyncratic liver toxicity. "The most problematic adverse drug event is sudden and severe liver toxicity that may occur in less than one in one thousand patients treated with a new drug, and thus may not become evident until the drug is marketed. This type of liver toxicity is not predicted well by usual preclinical testing, including screening in liver cultures derived from random human donors," said Paul B. Watkins, M.D., director of with The Hamner - University of North Carolina Institute for Drug Safety Sciences. "The ability to use iPS cell technology to prepare liver cultures from patients who have actually experienced drug-induced liver injury, and for whom we have extensive genetic information, represents a potential revolution in understanding and predicting this liability."

Screening Human Disease

While most diseases are multi-systemic, focus typically centers on only one organ system. For example, congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) is a group of rare genetic diseases with a focus on skeletal muscle, yet other systems, including heart, eye, brain, diaphragm and skin, can be involved. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying complex disease phenotypes requires access to multiple tissue types from a single patient. While some systems are readily accessible for taking a biopsy sample, for example skin, other organs are not.

Continue reading here:
Cellular Dynamics Launches MyCell™ Services

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A few blogs ago I asked, "Where, in fact, do 'the good ones' really come from?" By "good ones" I meant useful genome changes in evolution. This question stimulated some debate about whether it was possible to distinguish good changes from bad changes before they occur.

In the abstract, this may seem an overwhelmingly difficult problem. But if we think a bit about the highly organized state of the genome and non-random natural genetic engineering, biasing changes toward "good ones" becomes more conceivable.

I have already discussed purposeful, targeted changes in the immune system. The immune system illustrates how efficiently cells can target DNA restructuring by recognizing specific sequences and coupling DNA changes to transcription (copying DNA sequence into RNA).

Some evolutionists object that a somatic process like antibody synthesis provides no model for germline changes in evolution. So let's examine natural genetic engineering events in microbial cells. We'll look at mobile genetic elements targeted in ways that increase their evolutionary potential.

Mobile genetic elements come in many forms. Some operate purely as DNA. Others make an RNA copy and reverse transcribe it back into DNA as it inserts at a new location. Elements that move, or transpose, to multiple new locations are called "transposons" or "retrotransposons" (if they use an RNA intermediate).

Other mobile elements only insert in particular locations by a process called "site-specific" recombination. In bacterial evolution, this process is used in specialized structures called "integrons" that capture casettes containing protein coding sequences for antibiotic resistance, pathogenicity, and other functions.

What all mobile elements share are proteins that aid them to cut and splice DNA chains so that they can construct novel sequences, much as human genetic engineers do in their test tubes. These proteins have various names, such as "recombinase," "transposase," and "integrase." It is the specificity of the cutting reactions involving these proteins that determines where a mobile element moves in the genome.

One fascinating case of highly biased integration is the bacterial transposon Tn7. Tn7 has two specialized proteins to target its transposition. The TnsD protein directs Tn7 to insert into a special "attTn7" site in the chromosomes of many bacterial species where it does not disrupt any host functions and so causes no deleterious effects.

Another, more interesting protein, TnsE, directs Tn7 to insert into replicating DNA molecules. The reason this is important is that transmissible plasmids replicate their DNA as they transfer from one cell to another. TnsE targeting to plasmids in transit to new cells thus enhances the spread of Tn7 and the resistances it carries to many different kinds of bacteria.

Tn7 carries its antibiotic resistance determinants in an integron. Integrons and their recombinase proteins are likewise specialized to participate in plasmid spreading through bacterial populations. Plasmids enter new cells as single-stranded DNA. We learned just in 2005 that integron site-specific recombinases are special in operating on single-stranded DNA, not double-stranded molecules like previously studied recombinases. Moreover, integron recombinase synthesis is triggered by the entrance of single-stranded DNA into a cell. So integron activity is intimately linked in more than one way to plasmid transfer.

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James A. Shapiro: Can Cells Bias Natural Genetic Engineering Toward Useful Evolutionary Outcomes?

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SEATTLE -- Researchers at the University of Washington have assembled the first comprehensive genetic map of an unborn child -- a development that could help usher in a new era of prenatal testing.

By analyzing fetal DNA circulating in the mother's blood, the scientists were able to sequence the baby's genome 18 weeks into the pregnancy. The technique also worked at eight weeks, with slightly lower sensitivity.

Because the approach requires only a blood sample from the mother and saliva from the father, it poses none of the miscarriage risk associated with invasive tests such as amniocentesis. And while most existing prenatal tests are designed to check for single disorders, including Down syndrome, a full-gene scan has the power to reveal a wide range of potential problems before birth, said lead author Jacob Kitzman, a doctoral student in genetics.

"It's much more comprehensive."

The procedure is still several years away from commercialization, project leader Jay Shendure said.

But the UW study, published in the June 6 issue of Science Translational Medicine, marks a significant step forward in technology that's been developing over the past several years -- and which worries some people, said Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley, Calif.

"I think it's a game-changer," she said. Cheap, safe genome sequencing could give parents the power to practice a kind of eugenics, preselecting children based on desirable traits.

"It could become a routine part of prenatal testing ... which raises questions about what people will do with the information," Darnovsky said.

Shendure cautioned against expecting too much -- at least in the near future. Scientists may be able to sequence the 3 billion DNA units that make up each person's genetic heritage, but they still don't understand the genetic basis of most common diseases.

"The capacity of genomics to generate data is outstripping our ability to interpret it in useful ways," he said.

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Researchers assemble genetic map of an unborn child

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By contrast, the scientists say their new test would identify far more conditions, caused by genetic errors.

However, they warned it raised many ethical questions because the results could be used as a basis for abortion.

These concerns were last night amplified by pro-life campaigners, who said widespread use of such a test would inevitably lead to more abortions.

The American scientists were able to map the babys genetic code principally from tiny traces free-floating DNA, which makes its way into the mothers blood.

Blood sample DNA from the mother was also studied as well as DNA extracted from the father's saliva.

Fitting pieces of the genetic jigsaw together, scientists in the US were able to reconstruct the entire genetic code of an unborn baby boy.

They were then able to see what spontaneous genetic mutations had arisen.

Such natural mutations - called de novo mutations - are responsible for the majority of genetic defects.

By checking their prediction of the babys genetic code with actual DNA taken after the birth, the team from the University of Washington in Seattle, found they were able to identify 39 of 44 such mutations in the child.

De novo mutations are thought to play a role in a number of complex conditions such as autism and schizophrenia.

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Unborn babies could be tested for 3,500 genetic faults

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Researchers at the University of Washington have sequenced the entire genome of a fetus. The scientific advance could help detect certain diseases in the womb, but some experts worry that the trove of genetic information may prove more scary and overwhelming than useful.

Suspended in the blood of a pregnant woman along with some added information from a dad-to-bes saliva lurks enough fetal DNA to map out an unborn babys entire genetic blueprint.

It may sound like something conjured by Jules Verne, but it happened at the University of Washington: a professor and his graduate student used DNA samples from the parents of a baby boy who was still in utero and reconstructed his entire genetic makeup from A to Z.

The account, published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, takes prenatal testing to new heights, promising a motherlode of genetic information about a child who had not even been born along with a corresponding trove of data that even experts dont yet know how to interpret.

Jacob Kitzman, lead author and a graduate student in the department of genome sciences at the University of Washington (UW), was excited but cautious about his teams achievement. There have been a lot of steps toward this, but this is the first time capturing the whole genome, says Kitzman. The fact that this technology is now on the path to becoming clinically feasible is a good opportunity for a broader discussion of the implications.

Figuring out how to communicate the vast cache of information uncovered by genome sequencing remains controversial, since much of it still isnt clinically useful. But although researchers dont understand the significance of the entirety of the information revealed through whole-genome sequencing, they do know that certain genes are responsible for Mendelian, or more simple, single-gene disorders that includes more than 3,000 conditions such as cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease and some muscular dystrophies that affect 1% of pregnancies. Prenatal sequencing would allow parents to learn before delivery if their child has one of these diseases, many of which are debilitating or fatal. While genetic screening of parents before pregnancy can also identify carriers, and an increasing number of prenatal DNA-based tests can determine early in pregnancy whether developing babies have specific conditions such as Down syndrome, whole-genome sequencing is the most sophisticated way to examine a persons entire genetic code.

(MORE:Down Syndrome: With Breakthroughs in Testing, a Choice Becomes Tougher)

Prenatal genome sequencing could potentially replace more invasive procedures such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling to detect recessive Mendelian disorders on average, we all carry 20 to 30 recessive genes but it is not yet precise enough to take the place of these tests when looking for other chromosomal conditions. Nor is it a foolproof gauge of risk for many other complex diseases a category that includes most cancers and common conditions such as diabetes and heart disease because theyre influenced by multiple genes and environmental factors. Great, says Thomas Murray, president of the Hastings Center bioethics institute, we can sequence the genome of a fetus. What the hell does it tell us? Much less than most people probably believe.

Kitzman concurs. Its a really big challenge for the field, figuring out how to communicate to clinicians not only the results but the uncertainty that goes along with those results, he says. Theres no easy answer.

In this particular situation, Kitzman and Jay Shendure, an associate professor of genome sciences at UW, sidestepped the thorny issue of assessing disease risk and sharing that information with parents because the expectant couple was anonymous. Kitzman doesnt know their identity, only that they consented to have their biological samples used for genome sequencing. Their son was born healthy and full-term.

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Genetic Motherlode: Scientists Decode an Unborn Baby's DNA

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Prospective parents might soon be able to screen their unborn babies for thousands of genetic disorders, according to a study published by Science Translations Medicine.

This is potentially a two-edged sword. Although it might pick up more curable conditions, some experts worry that it may lead to more abortions

American scientists were able to map the babys genetic code form tiny traces of free-floating DNA in blood from the babys mother, who was 18 weeks pregnant. They were also able to pinpoint if the mutations came from the mother or fathers side.

If the technique is refined and the technology becomes inexpensive, as many experts predict, this type of prenatal testing could allow doctors to screen unborn babies for 3,500 genetic disorders by taking a blood sample from the mother and a swab of saliva from the father.

Now, the only genetic disorder routinely testing is Down Syndrome.

On the positive side, picking up genetic problems early may lead to better treatments, sometimes while the baby is still a fetus, sometimes right after birth and that might prevent complications, said NBC4 health expert Dr. Bruce Hensel.

Some experts believe the finding is a double-edged sword, and could potentially raise ethical concerns.

It might give peace of mind if (parents) dont find problems. On the other hand, it could lead to dilemmas what do you do about them can you treat them, might it lead to more abortions? Hensel said.

The genetic predictions in the study were confirmed by analyzing umbilical cord blood collected at the babys birth.

The test is not being used yet, and experts said the methods will have to refined before the screenings are widely used.

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Study: Testing Unborn Babies for Genetic Disorders

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Media Release

7 June 2012

MYSTERY TO THE ORIGIN OF LONG-LIVED, SKIN-DEEP IMMUNE CELLS UNCOVERED

1. Scientists at A*STARs Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) uncovered the origin of a group of skin-deep immune cells that act as the first line of defence against harmful germs and skin infections. SIgN scientists discovered that these sentry cells of the skin, called the Langerhans cells (LCs), originate from two distinct embryonic sites - the early yolk sac and the foetal liver.

2. LCs are dendritic cells (DCs) found in the outermost layer of the skin. DCs are a critical component of the immune system because they are the only cells able to see and alert other responding immune cells to initiate a protective response against harmful foreign invaders. Like sentries of the immune system, DCs are strategically positioned where they are likely to encounter harmful pathogens. Identifying the source of these specialised immune cells may hold exciting possibilities to novel strategies for vaccination and treatment of autoimmune diseases and inflammatory skin disorders.

3. In contrast to other DCs which are constantly replaced by a circulating pool of bone marrow-derived precursors, LCs has the interesting ability to maintain themselves throughout life. While it is established that these long-lived sentry cells of the skin arise from precursors that are recruited to the skin prior to birth, this is the first time that the exact origin of the precursors of LCs is revealed through advanced fate-mapping technique (a method of tracing cell lineages to their embryonic origin).

4. In this study, published in the June issue of Journal of Experimental Medicine, Dr Florent Ginhoux, and his team demonstrated that adult LCs originate from two distinct embryonic lineages in two succeeding waves. The first wave of precursor cells from the yolk sac seed the skin before the onset of the foetal liver. Interestingly, the team discovered that at the later stage of development, the yolk-sac precursors are largely replaced by a type of white blood cells from the foetal liver.

5. Said Dr Ginhoux, Principal Investigator of SIgN, Whether this unique dual origin of Langerhans cells influences their ability to maintain skin integrity or dictate their specialised immune functions in response to microbes and vaccines needs to be examined. But having identified their origin surely opens new possibilities of using them as novel vaccination strategies or as therapeutic tool for treating inflammatory skin diseases like psoriasis.

6. Scientific Director of SIgN, Professor Paola Castagnoli said, This discovery sheds light on understanding the complexities of the immune system, in particular the relationship between immune responses and human diseases. It will bring us closer to our goal of discovering novel ways of treating and preventing a range of immune diseases that will impact healthcare.

Original post:
:: 07, Jun 2012 :: MYSTERY TO THE ORIGIN OF LONG-LIVED, SKIN-DEEP IMMUNE CELLS UNCOVERED

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New studies highlighting the promise of individualized, precision medicine were released recently at a press briefing at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

These studies demonstrate that we are solidly in the era of precision medicine, in which patients benefit from a growing understanding of cancers genetic weak spots, said news briefing moderator Sylvia Adams, MD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at New York University Langone Medical Center. Todays findings promise to expand the range of effective, targeted treatments for people with cancer. They also affirm that patients in all settings, from research hospitals to smaller community institutions, can expect to benefit in the years ahead.

Key study findings include:

Media Resources:

About ASCO The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is the worlds leading professional organization representing physicians who care for people with cancer. With more than 30,000 members, ASCO is committed to improving cancer care through scientific meetings, educational programs and peer-reviewed journals. ASCO is supported by its affiliate organization, the Conquer Cancer Foundation, which funds ground-breaking research and programs that make a tangible difference in the lives of people with cancer. For more information, visit http://www.asco.org/presscenter. Patient-oriented cancer information is available atwww.cancer.net.

SOURCE: The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)

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Studies Highlight Advances In Personalized Cancer Medicine

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Miami, Florida (PRWEB) June 07, 2012

"Chronic exertional compartment syndrome now treated at the center for regenerative medicine." according to Dr. A.J. Farshchian MD the medical director for the center for regenerative medicine.

Due to the fact that patients typically present with a normal examination as well as non-impressive diagnostic findings Diagnosis is usually overlooked: Chronic exertional compartment syndrome may prove a challenge to detect, and acute compartment syndrome may require immediate surgical intervention. The cause is described as when a muscle becomes too big for the sheath that surrounds it causing pain.

The enlarged muscle blocks the flow of blood producing ischemia which in turns produces pain. The large muscle on the outside of the shin area is called the tibialis anterior and is surrounded by a sheath. This is called the anterior compartment of the lower leg. Over use of this muscle causes swelling, the compartment most often involved is the anterior.

Lateral compartment is also a common place for involvement of overuse. Usually, a patient with chronic exertional compartment syndrome has no symptoms at rest. Compartment pressures may remain elevated for up to 40-60 minutes after exercise.

The Center for Regenerative Medicine in Miami, Florida concentrates on helping arthritic and injured people to get back to a functional level of life and their activities using non-surgical techniques and Orthopedic medicine. The center's expertise is in treatment of conditions of spine, knees, shoulders and other cartilage damages. We have developed non-surgical and rehabilitation techniques focused on treatment and management of joint pain. Our team includes health professionals organized around a central theme.

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Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome Now Treated at the Center for Regenerative Medicine

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A local veterinary clinic recently added a cuttingedge treatment.

Dr. Tina Gemeinhardt, owner of Tsawwassen Animal Hospital, is excited to be offering stem cell therapy to animals suffering from arthritis and joint issues.

"I'm excited about trying to bring some relief to dogs that are living in pain," she said.

The therapy, which uses stem cells harvested from fat that is surgically removed from the dog, is, in most cases, able to offer relief from the pain and stiffness associated with

Gemeinhardt said once it's determined the therapy is the right course of treatment for an animal, body fat is surgically removed and sent to a lab in California where the stem cells are harvested. The harvested stem cells are then sent back to the vet clinic within 48 hours and injected into the joints in question.

Gemeinhardt, who added the treatment to the clinic's list of services earlier this year, said it's not quite clear exactly how the stem cells work.

"Stem cells seem to inherently know what needs to be done in that area," she said.

The treatment is not a cure-all - the arthritis is still there but the symptoms are lessened - and it does not work instantly. The vet said most animals start to notice a difference in a month or so, and some might require follow up injections.

She said about 85 per cent of animals receiving stem cell therapy have had a beneficial response, while 15 per cent saw no response.

Beatrice, a seven-yearold chow chow, has seen remarkable results. Owner Rose McClelland said Beatrice had been having problems with arthritis in her hips for years and medication wasn't working any more.

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Treatment eases arthritis pain in dogs

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

It's always troubling to see a misunderstanding concerning a recent scientific discovery. The latest concerns an Israeli team of scientists, led by Lior Gepstein, that converted skin cells from two patients with heart attack into stem cells and then heart cells.

SourceFed, one of my favorite channels on YouTube, proclaimed that Gepstein's study means that a cure for heart disease is "10, 15 years out." Similar statements were also circulated by The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, CBS News, and others.

However, the claims that SourceFed and other news outlets have made are not true. If anything, the field of heart regeneration is moving away from what the study did. If there is a cure for heart attack in 10 to 15 years, it will not be because of this study.

Generating stem cells from skin cells is relatively old news. This feat was first performed in 2006 for mice (2007 for humans) concurrently by two teams of scientists led by Shinya Yamanaka in Japan and James Thomson in the United States, respectively. Since then, the technology has evolved so fast that generating heart cells from stem cells is truly nothing new.

Stem cells often differentiate into heart cells, or cardiomyocytes, without much technical intervention. Even I, a mere undergraduate student, have generated beating heart cells several times without much trouble, from mice and rat skin cells. And I'm not even in the field of heart regeneration. I work with stem cells in neurobiology.

The technique to generate heart cells from skin-derived stem cells (or induced pluripotent stem cells) has existed for a long time. After a brief search on Google Scholar, I found a paper published in 2008 detailing how to generate heart cells from skin cells. This may not seem like a long time ago, but in the stem-cell world, that's almost an eon.

So if we have been able to generate heart cells for such a long time, why has no one actually successfully transplanted heart cells into patients? One of the reasons is that there are so many different problems with not only transplanting heart cells onto a beating heart but also with the induced pluripotent stem cells that are derived from skin cells.

When a heart is damaged, scar tissues grow over the damaged part of the heart. The scar tissue does not function like regular heart cells. Instead of beating, the scar tissue just sits there, not doing anything and getting in the way of the beating heart. It's just like a scab on your arm from a scrape. The only difference is that the scab eventually comes off, because your skin is constantly making new cells, but the scar on your heart doesn't, because heart cells rarely regenerate, if at all.

Transplanting new heart cells without removing the scars is like putting a new layer of skin over the old scab and expecting the scab to go away. The old scab doesn't go away. More likely, the transplanted tissue will just die off.

As a result, instead of trying to transplant new tissue, the field of heart regeneration is now trying to transform the cells in scar tissue into beating heart cells. Though there are also problems with this new direction, it opens up ways of solving a whole host of other problems that plague heart-cell transplantation.

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Rui Dai: Our Misunderstanding of Stem Cells

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Public release date: 6-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Elizabeth Streich estreich@columbia.edu 212-305-3689 Columbia University Medical Center

New York, NY (June 6, 2012) A clinical study has demonstrated that a new drug, a targeted molecular therapy called vismodegib (trade name Erivedge), can dramatically shrink basal cell skin cancers and prevent the formation of new ones, in patients with basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS). This rare genetic condition causes dozens, and sometimes hundreds or thousands, of skin cancers on each patient's body. The primary treatment option is surgical removal. These study results are significant as they indicate the possibility of an alternative treatment with oral medication; although side effects remain a consideration.

The phase II clinical study, led by researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center (NYPH/CUMC) and Children's Hospital of Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), was published today in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"In its current formulation, vismodegib is appropriate only for BCNS patients with very large numbers of basal cell skin cancers. Still, this is a huge step forward, pointing to the day when we can offer every one of these patients an alternative to repeated surgery, which can be disfiguring and burdensome," said study co-leader David R. Bickers, MD, the Carl Truman Nelson Professor and chairman of dermatology at CUMC and director of dermatology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/CUMC. The study was co-led by Ervin H. Epstein, Jr., MD, a senior scientist at CHORI.

The study is the first to evaluate vismodegib in patients with BCNS. Forty-two patients were randomized to receive either vismodegib (taken orally) or a placebo, for a maximum of 18 months. Overall, the study tracked more than 2,000 existing surgically eligible basal cell skin cancers (SEBs) and documented 694 new SEBs, on the 42 patients.

Patients taking vismodegib experienced an average of 2.3 new SEBs, compared with 29 for patients in the placebo group. Among patients taking the drug, the diameter of clinically significant skin cancers decreased an average of 65 percent, compared with 11 percent among controls. In light of these findings, the independent data and safety monitoring board appointed to oversee this trial recommended switching all patients into the treatment group.

"In many patients, we observed a dramatic reduction in the size of the lesions within one to two months," said Dr. Bickers.

BCNS, also called Gorlin syndrome, encompasses multiple defects that involve the skin, nervous system, eyes, endocrine glands, and bones. The hallmark of BCNS is the appearance of basal cell carcinomas, a slow-growing form of skin cancer, at or around puberty.

BCNS has been linked to mutations in a gene called PTCH1. PTCH1 is the primary inhibitor of a signaling pathway called sonic hedgehog, which helps ensure proper segmentation of the developing embryo. At birth, PTCH1 activity causes most sonic hedgehog signaling to cease. When PTCH1 is mutated, however, sonic hedgehog signaling continues postnatally. The result can be abnormal cell growth and proliferation, setting the stage for tumor formation.

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New drug found effective against rare form of basal cell skin cancer

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

06-06-2012 09:13 Alan McHughen, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, deliver remarks on "What everyone needs to know about modern genetics, or, Who's getting into your genes?" at the Jefferson Science Distinguished Lecture Series on Current Issue in Science and Technology at the Marshall Center in Washington, DC on February 28, 2012. [Go to for more video and text transcript.]

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Alan McHughen Delivers Remarks on Modern Genetics - Video

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06-06-2012 15:26 To register for this complimentary webinar, please visit: Join us in a discussion of single-cell NSC profiling and identification of profiles of other cells not differentiating in the NSC pathway. We all know that tissues are composed of heterogeneous mixtures of cells. But what does that mean when we take gene expression measurements from homogenized samples? Are we accurately accounting for the small but critical changes occurring in individual cells? View this insightful webinar and see how single-cell analysis is transforming life science research.

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Innovation in Single-Cell Gene Expression Analysis- webinar preview - Video

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ScienceDaily (June 6, 2012) An Indiana University biologist has shown that natural variation in measures of the brain's ability to process steroid hormones predicts functional variation in aggressive behavior.

The new work led by Kimberly A. Rosvall, a postdoctoral fellow and assistant research scientist in the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Biology, has found strong and significant relationships between aggressive behavior in free-living birds and the abundance of messenger RNA in behaviorally relevant brain areas for three major sex steroid processing molecules: androgen receptor, estrogen receptor and aromatase.

"Individual variation is the raw material of evolution, and in this study we report that free-living birds vary in aggression and that more aggressive individuals express higher levels of genes related to testosterone processing in the brain," she said. "We've long hypothesized that the brain's ability to process steroids may account for individual differences in hormone-mediated behaviors, but direct demonstrations are rare, particularly in unmanipulated or free-living animals."

Rosvall said the study shows that aggression is strongly predicted by individual variation in gene expression of the molecules that initiate the genomic effects of testosterone. The new work, "Neural sensitivity to sex steroids predicts individual differences in aggression: implications for behavioral evolution," was published June 6 in Proceedings of The Royal Society B.

The findings are among the first to show that individual variation in neural gene expression for three major sex steroid processing molecules predicts individual variation in aggressiveness in both sexes in nature, results that should have broad implications for understanding the mechanisms by which aggressive behavior may evolve.

"On the one hand, we have lots of evidence to suggest that testosterone is important in the evolution of all kinds of traits," Rosvall noted. "On the other hand, we know that individual variation is a requirement for natural selection, but individual variation in testosterone does not always predict behavior. This conundrum has led to debate among researchers about how hormone-mediated traits evolve."

To find such strong relationships between behavior and individual variation in the expression of genes related to hormone-processing is exciting because it tells scientists that evolution could shape behavior via changes in the expression of these genes, as well as via changes in testosterone levels themselves.

The team measured natural variation in aggressiveness toward the same sexes in male and female free-living dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) early in the breeding season. The dark-eyed junco is a North American sparrow that is well studied with respect to hormones, behavior and sex differences. By comparing individual differences in aggressiveness (flyovers or songs directed at intruders) to circulating levels of testosterone and to neural gene expression for the three major sex steroid processing molecules, the researchers were able to quantify measures of sensitivity to testosterone in socially relevant brain areas: the hypothalamus, the ventromedial telencephalon and the right posterior telencephalon.

Their results suggest selection could shape the evolution of aggression through changes in the expression of androgen receptor, estrogen receptor and aromatase in both males and females, to some degree independently of circulating levels of testosterone. They found, for example, that males that sing more songs at an intruder have more mRNA for aromatase and estrogen receptor in the posterior telencephalon, and also that males and females that dive-bomb an intruder more frequently have more androgen receptor, estrogen receptor and aromatase mRNA in brain tissues including the medial amygdala, an area of the brain that's known to control aggression in rodents and other birds. mRNA are single-stranded copies of genes that are translated into protein molecules.

The work reveals there is ample variation in hormone signal and in gene expression on which selection may act to affect aggressiveness. It also establishes a prerequisite for the evolution of testosterone-mediated characteristics through changes in localized gene expression for the key molecules that process sex steroids, and suggests that trait evolution can occur with some degree of independence from circulating testosterone levels.

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Variations in sex steroid gene expression can predict aggressive behaviors

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Public release date: 6-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lindsay Morton lmorton@plos.org 415-935-2094 Public Library of Science

Psychoactive medications in water affect the gene expression profiles of fathead minnows in a way that mimics the gene expression patterns associated with autism spectrum disorder in genetically susceptible humans, according to research published June 6 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. These results suggest a potential environmental trigger for autism spectrum disorder in this vulnerable population, the authors write.

The researchers, led by Michael A. Thomas of Idaho State University, exposed the fish to three psychoactive pharmaceuticals fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, or SSR1; venlafaxine, a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, and carbamazepine, used to control seizures at concentrations comparable to the highest estimated environmental levels.

They found that the only gene expression patterns affected were those associated with idiopathic autism spectrum disorders, caused by genetic susceptibility interacting with unknown environmental triggers. These results suggest that exposure to environmental psychoactive pharmaceuticals may play a role in the development of autism spectrum disorder in genetically predisposed individuals.

Lead researcher Michael A. Thomas remarks, "While others have envisioned a causal role for psychotropic drugs in idiopathic autism, we were astonished to find evidence that this might occur at very low dosages, such as those found in aquatic systems."

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Citation: Thomas MA, Klaper RD (2012) Psychoactive Pharmaceuticals Induce Fish Gene Expression Profiles Associated with Human Idiopathic Autism. PLoS ONE 7(6): e32917. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032917

Financial Disclosure: MAT was supported by a PhRMA Foundation Sabbatical Fellowship grant, National Institutes of Health Grant Number P20 RR016454 from the INBRE Program of the National Center for Research Resources, and grant number URC-FY2010-05 from the University Research Committee of Idaho State University. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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Fish show autism-like gene expression in water with psychoactive pharmaceuticals

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Public release date: 6-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, June 6, 2012Awareness of the risks of heart disease and signs of a heart attack vary greatly among women of different racial and ethnic groups and ages. New data that clearly identify these disparities in heart health awareness are presented in an article in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh.

In a pooled analysis from two American Heart Association surveys, Black and Hispanic women were 66% less likely than white women to be aware that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, report Heidi Mochari-Greenberger, MPH, PhD, Lori Mosca, MD, MPH, PhD, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center (New York, NY), and Kerri Miller, MA, Harris Interactive (Amherst, NH). Women younger than 55 years of age were also less well-informed about heart disease risk. Overall among women, awareness was low of the most common signs of heart attack, which tend to differ from those in men, according to the article "Racial/Ethnic and Age Differences in Women's Awareness of Heart Disease."

"Clearly, education that is targeted to racial/ethnic minority and younger women about heart disease risk is needed, as well as education of all women about the signs and symptoms of a heart attack," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health (Richmond, VA), and President of the Academy of Women's Health.

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About the Journal

Journal of Women's Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. The Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women's healthcare issues. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh. Journal of Women's Health is the Official Journal of the Academy of Women's Health.

About the Society

Academy of Women's Health (http://academyofwomenshealth.org) is an interdisciplinary, international association of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who work across the broad field of women's health, providing its members with up-to-date advances and options in clinical care that will enable the best outcomes for their women patients. The Academy's focus includes the dissemination of translational research and evidence-based practices for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for women across the lifespan.

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Racial and ethnic disparities in awareness of heart disease risk in women

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

7 June 2012

Councils protect their growers from GE

In the vacuum of inaction left by the National Government, local councils are having to lead the way in keeping New Zealand free of genetic engineering, the Green Party said today.

Hastings District Council have given official support to the GE free movement, voting unanimously in support of a proposal to declare the district GE free.

This is an exciting move made by the Hastings District Council but they have been forced to take this action because the National Government is refusing to, said the Green Party GE spokesperson Steffan Browning.

This region by region approach will be able to protect some growers but is not the real solution New Zealand needs.

The growers in the Hawkes Bay have identified that they need to be able to reap the significant branding benefits of being able to market GE free food, said Mr Browning.

These producers are receiving demand for GE free products and we need to be protecting their market for them

There are not sufficient liability protections for non GE growers should their produce get contaminated.

Farmers in Australia are already experiencing loss of income due to contamination by GE crops.

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Councils protect their growers from Genetic Engineering

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

In a development scientists are calling a "tour de force," researchers have reconstructed the genome of a fetus using DNA samples from the parents.

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Amid ongoing reports of burning eyes and emergency injuries, the makers of a popular contact lens solution have failed to adequately warn consumers about the dangers of using the product improperly, a patient safety group says.

Because their technique did not require an invasive test to take samples from the fetus itself, it's an important step toward what could become a low-risk way to identify genetic disorders early in development, experts say.

Currently, "when genetic testing is done, it's done for just a few diseases," said lead author Dr. Jay Shendure, an associate professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington.

A test based on the new technique could detect the roughly 3,000 conditions known as Mendelian disorders, each of which are the result of a single mutated gene, Shendure said. Huntington's disease, hemophilia and sickle-cell anemia fall into this category.

While each of these disorders is relatively rare, together they affect about 1 percent of births, Shendure said.

"This is amazing," said Dr. Ada Hamosh, director of the Institute of Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, of the findings. "On the other hand, in no way is this ready for prime time," said Hamosh, who was not involved with the research.

Shendure and colleagues put together the fetal genome using a saliva sample from the father, and a sample of blood plasma from the mother. About 13 percent of the DNA found outside of cells in a pregnant woman's body belongs to her fetus.

They sequenced the regions of DNA they were aiming for with 98.2 percent accuracy.

Originally posted here:
New testing could help spot genetic disorders

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

By contrast, the scientists say their new test would identify far more conditions, caused by genetic errors.

However, they warned it raised many ethical questions because the results could be used as a basis for abortion.

These concerns were last night amplified by pro-life campaigners, who said widespread use of such a test would inevitably lead to more abortions.

The American scientists were able to map the babys genetic code principally from tiny traces free-floating DNA, which makes its way into the mothers blood.

Blood sample DNA from the mother was also studied as well as DNA extracted from the father's saliva.

Fitting pieces of the genetic jigsaw together, scientists in the US were able to reconstruct the entire genetic code of an unborn baby boy.

They were then able to see what spontaneous genetic mutations had arisen.

Such natural mutations - called de novo mutations - are responsible for the majority of genetic defects.

By checking their prediction of the babys genetic code with actual DNA taken after the birth, the team from the University of Washington in Seattle, found they were able to identify 39 of 44 such mutations in the child.

De novo mutations are thought to play a role in a number of complex conditions such as autism and schizophrenia.

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Babies could be tested for 3,500 genetic faults

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