genetics

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Amazon Tribe Broods Over Poached Blood

Brazil Indians livid after discovering DNA samples sold in the US

(Newser) - An Amazon tribe is bilious after scientists took blood samples in exchange for medicine they never got, the Times reports. Doctors collected DNA from the Karitiana Indians in the late '70s and again in 1996, and then sold it to researchers for $85 a pop. But now the once remote...

Breast Cancer Can Come From Dad, Too

Stealth gene at fault in half of inherited cases; better screening urged

(Newser) - Half of congenital breast cancer victims inherit the disease from their fathers, not their mothers, according to a new study. And unless dad has female relatives with the affliction, the responsible gene may go undiscovered. The study in JAMA warns doctors, increasingly screening family trees for cancer, not to overlook...

Dog Breeders Deploy DNA Tests
Dog Breeders Deploy DNA Tests
Jun 12, 2007 8:11 AM CDT

Dog Breeders Deploy DNA Tests

Genetic screening enables breeders to design dogs to suit their needs

(Newser) - With the first map of a dog genome recently completed, scientists are hot on the trail of  genes for individual canine traits from coat color to cocking their heads in a cutesy way—and dog breeders are right behind them. Without any of the inhibitions attached to eugenics in humans,...

Genes Give Up Secrets of 7 Serious Diseases

Landmark study sheds light on diabetes, depression, more

(Newser) - In an outcome one scientist describes as a "new dawn," researchers have identified genetic variations linked to seven common diseases, opening the door to improved tests and treatments. The study, which focused on depression, Crohn's disease, coronary artery disease, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, and Type 1 and 2 diabetes,...

Chemicals in Tap Water, French Fries May Cause Breast Cancer

(Newser) - Hundreds of common chemicals—from a substance used in French fries to one found in tap water—may cause breast cancer, a new report linking the disease to everyday products suggests. Researchers say they've found a link between cancer in animals and more than 200 common chemicals, many of which...

Researchers Link Gene, Heart Disease

Common variation dramatically increases risk

(Newser) - A gene that can more than double the risk of heart disease, especially in relatively young people, is present in about half of those of European descent, researchers say. The discovery, reported this week, raises hopes of more accurate genetic testing for heart disease—the world's leading cause of death—...

Pharmaceutical Farming Generates Hopes and Fears

Benefits weighed against risk of food-supply contamination

(Newser) - The battle over genetic modification has a new player: "pharming," or pharmaceutical farming, which uses genetically modified plants to mass-produce drug compounds relatively inexpensively. By altering common plants—for instance, tobacco, which can be engineered to produce an HIV drug—researchers say pharming could transform the treatment of...

Embryos Screened for Cancer Risk
Embryos Screened for Cancer Risk
Apr 26, 2007 10:57 AM CDT

Embryos Screened for Cancer Risk

Targeting breast cancer gene raises fears of "designer babies"

(Newser) - The British government is poised to OK a procedure that screens embryos for genes that greatly increase the risk—but do not necessarily cause—breast cancer. Two couples with strong family histories of the disease are expected to pioneer the technique, already approved in principle, and crank up the debate...

Drug Targets Hundreds of Disorders
Drug Targets Hundreds of Disorders
Apr 23, 2007 8:42 AM CDT

Drug Targets Hundreds of Disorders

Magic bullet hits mutations that prompt 1,800 genetic diseases

(Newser) - A magic bullet that could treat cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia and more than 1,800 other genetic disorders could be available by 2009. Lee Sweeney of UPenn, leader of the team developing the drug, tells the Times of London: “It doesn’t just target one mutation that causes...

British Scientists Find Fat Gene
British Scientists
Find Fat Gene
Apr 13, 2007 11:45 AM CDT

British Scientists Find Fat Gene

Answer to the waistline gap may be in the chromosomes, researchers say

(Newser) - British scientists have for the first time identified a gene that contributes to garden-variety obesity, supporting ancient anecdotal evidence that birthright, not just lifestyle, shapes stomachs.  Although they can't say exactly how the gene, called FTO, works, the 16% of white Europeans carrying two "fat" variations of it...

Sperm Made From Bone Marrow
Sperm Made From Bone Marrow
Apr 13, 2007 8:54 AM CDT

Sperm Made From Bone Marrow

Scientists may be able to produce sperm from women's bone marrow

(Newser) - Scientists are getting closer to removing men from the conception equation, announcing yesterday that they have produced early-stage sperm cells from male bone marrow. Now the team of British researchers is seeking ethical approval to try the same thing with women.

Twins Found to Be &quot;Semi-identical&quot;
Twins Found to Be "Semi-identical"
Mar 30, 2007 6:21 AM CDT

Twins Found to Be "Semi-identical"

Children neither fraternal nor identical

(Newser) - A new kind of twin has been discovered, neither strictly identical nor fraternal. Now toddlers, the babies look identical but one is anatomically male while the other has ambiguous genitalia. Genetic tests show the children are identical on their mother's side but share only half their father's DNA.

NASA Shutters Ideas Factory
NASA Shutters Ideas Factory  
Mar 22, 2007 8:47 AM CDT

NASA Shutters Ideas Factory

(Newser) - In a cost-cutting move, NASA is shutting down its futuristic think tank, source of way-ahead-of-the-curve ideas, many of them worthy of a Star Trek script. Closing the Institute for Advanced Concepts will save $4 million out of NASA’s $16 billion dollar budget. But former NASA scientist Keith Cowing describes...

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