US FDA bans 23andme direct to consumer genetic testing kit

FDA Orders Genetic Testing Firm 23andme to Stop Marketing DNA Analysis Service — Blocks Sale of a Company’s Mail-Order Gene Tests – The Food and Drug Administration, USA has ordered 23andme – the maker of a popular genetic-testing kit to stop sales of its heavily marketed product, saying the mail-order tests haven’t been proven effective and could dangerously mislead people about their health.

Meat, egg and dairy nutrient essential for brain development

Meat, egg and dairy nutrient essential for brain development — Deficiency of asparagine synthetase caused by rare genetic disorder affects brain development – Asparagine, found in foods such as meat, eggs, and dairy products, was until now considered non-essential because it is produced naturally by the body. Researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital found that the amino acid is essential for normal brain development.

DNA markers in low IQ autism suggest heredity – ASD

DNA markers in low-IQ autism suggest heredity – Researchers are striving to understand the different genetic structures that underlie at least a subset of autism spectrum disorders. In cases where the genetic code is in error, did that happen anew in the patient, perhaps through mutation or copying error, or was it inherited? A new study in the American Journal of Human Genetics finds evidence that there may often be a recessive, inherited genetic contribution in autism with significant intellectual disability.

Skin cells can be morphed into brain cells in multiple sclerosis & cerebral palsy patients

Ordinary skin cells morphed into functional brain cells — Scientists at CWRU School of Medicine discover new technique that holds promise for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy – Researchers at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine have discovered a technique that directly converts skin cells to the type of brain cells destroyed in patients with multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other so-called myelin disorders.

Link between metabolism and breast cancer

NIH scientists identify molecular link between metabolism and breast cancer – A protein associated with conditions of metabolic imbalance, such as diabetes and obesity, may play a role in the development of aggressive forms of breast cancer, according to new findings by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Breast cancer’s genetic causes provide clues for new therapeutic targets

UNC Lineberger scientists lead cancer genome analysis of breast cancer — Team identifies genetic causes and similarity to ovarian cancer – The researchers, including a large group from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, reported their study about genetic characterization of 800 breast tumors, finding some of the genetic causes of the most common forms of breast cancer, providing clues for new therapeutic targets, and identifying a molecular similarity between one sub-type of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

Autism in children linked to Father’s Age

deCODE Genetics Study Finds Father?s Age?Not Mother?s Critical to New Mutations Passed to Offspring — Nature Published Study Signals Rise in Autism Spectrum Disorder May Be Partially Tied to Increasing Age of Fathers at Time When Children are Conceived – deCODE Genetics, a global leader in analyzing and understanding the human genome, in collaboration with Illumina, a global leader in the making of instruments to analyze the genome, reported in the journal Nature that a father?s age, not a mother?s, at the time a child is conceived is the single largest contributor to the passing of new hereditary mutations to offspring.

Colon cancer and rectal tumor constitute a single type of cancer

Study shows colon and rectal tumors constitute a single type of cancer — The Cancer Genome Atlas generates genomic data for colon and rectal cancers that point to potential targets for treatment – The pattern of genomic alterations in colon and rectal tissues is the same regardless of anatomic location or origin within the colon or the rectum, leading researchers to conclude that these two cancer types can be grouped as one, according to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project’s large-scale study of colon and rectal cancer tissue specimens.

Bird flu may be possible from human to human through air

Avian flu viruses which are transmissible between humans could evolve in nature — Research provides insight into feasibility of virus becoming airborne transmissible – It might be possible for human-to-human airborne transmissible avian H5N1 influenza viruses to evolve in nature, new research has found. The findings, from research led by Professor Derek Smith and Dr Colin Russell at the University of Cambridge, were published today, 22 June in the journal Science.

Largest human cancer genome data released in US

World’s largest release of comprehensive human cancer genome data helps speed discoveries — Whole genome data from hundreds of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital patients exceeds volume of all other sources combined – A comprehensive human cancer genome data is released in US for free access by the global scientific community. The amount of information released more than doubles the volume of high-coverage, whole genome data currently available from all human genome sources combined.

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