According to Stephen Kingsmore, a geneticist at the National Center for Genome Resources in Santa Fe, N.M., and leader of the new study, “We looked under a lot of rocks and we found no differences that we could replicate.” Kingsmore went on to say that the findings “points to some novel environmental trigger that must be very important to the disease. We don’t know what it is.”

This study was small; it examines only three pairs of identical twins and  one type of immune cell known to be involved in multiple sclerosis. A telling difference between sickness and health might be found in other types of cells, says Esteban Ballestar of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain.  Ballestar went on to say, “They are closing a door here, but I think, perhaps, the door should be open.” Multiple sclerosis is a disease where the immune system attacks and damages the myelin sheath that helps speed electrical communication between nerves, this is the equivalent of scraping the coating away from an electrical wire. The damage results in pain and symptoms such as loss of coordination and vision.

In the study, Kingsmore and his colleagues determined the entire genetic makeup of the immune cells called T cells from the female twin who had developed multiple sclerosis at age 30 and from her twin who had remained healthy. It was important that the twins were now old enough that the healthy one is not likely to develop the disease.

Identical twins share the same genetic makeup (it is believed that they have identical DNA), and the researchers confirmed that both women carried variants of genes already known to increase the risk of getting multiple sclerosis. Scientists had thought that maybe the sick twin had developed an additional mutation in her DNA that finally triggered the disease. But the team found no such mutations.

In some cases, previously unknown children can appear to claim part of the estate. Or, a greedy or unhappy family members may claim that a beneficiary is not a biological descendant of the deceased person. Depending on the timing of the claim, defending this claim could require exhumation or testing of autopsy specimens, neither of which is a pleasant process and which can be an expensive process.

DNA has emerged as a common tool in modern human identification and has magnificent and unparalleled applications in modern society. The best defense is a strong offense. In many cases proper legal registration of your DNA profile with your estate planner or attorney will help ensure legal and rightful administration of your estate, should the need arise.

The DNA relationship testing market has been growing steadily over the last twenty years.  Prices are decreasing and the easy of testing is increasing. Today, it is projected that the annual number of persons that will participate in some type of paternity or extended relationship test will exceed 1 million. In sharp contrast, it is estimated that less than 200,000 persons were tested in 1988. The increased demand for DNA testing has been fueled by greater public awareness of the power of DNA and the affordability and easy access to testing.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 2007 was a record year for births in the United States, there were 4,315,000 recorded births. Experts think that the increase has to do with a range of factors, including immigrants having more children, professional women delaying pregnancy until their 40s and a larger population of women in their 20s and 30s. These factors, coupled with the fact that 38.5% of all U.S. births in 2006 were from unwed mothers translates into an increasing need for education of families about the importance of knowing ones biological parents.

About DNA

DNA is the map of life and defines the essence of our individuality. Despite the size of the human genome, over 3.2 billion genetic markers, 99.9% of the DNA in all unrelated people in the world is identical. Thus, the vast differences observed in the human race are created from the minute differences in only 0.1% of DNA. An individual’s DNA can contain valuable information to help the lives of present and future generations. Locked in our DNA code are the secrets of our ancestry and medical conditions that scientists are only now beginning to understand.

PATERNITY

It is natural for families to want to know who the biological father of their baby is. Nationwide, approximately 30% of tested men are excluded as the biological father.  That means that 3 out of 10 test comes back as a negative result for paternity. A child has the right to the sense of identity that comes from knowing who both biological parents are. Knowledge of a child’s biological heritage is also very important in understanding future possible health risks. In addition, determining paternity gives a child legal right to receive financial support from the father and to inherit from the father.  This is the same if the mother is unknown.  In an era when adoption is a popular option it is important to remember that more and more people do not know either biological parent.

RELATIONSHIP TESTING

Relationship DNA testing can determine if a long lost brother or sister, grandparent, aunt or uncle is truly related to the family in question. DNA testing can also reveal if twins are identical or fraternal. Modern DNA testing can provide answers for a new world of relationships. Paternity testing can also be performed indirectly by testing relatives of an alleged father.

FORENSIC PATERNITY

If a person is deceased or unavailable for testing which is often the case in the question of estate settlement, forensic DNA testing can be an invaluable tool.  DNA can be found on evidence that is decades old. Common sources of forensic DNA evidence include: fingernail clippings, hair with roots or follicles, chewing gum, used beverage containers, eyeglasses, hats, lickable stamps or envelopes, teeth, post mortem tissue, a toothbrush, or cigarette butt.  The results that can be looked for from each item differs and it is best to contact your laboratory to see what items they recommend. For more infomation on DNA testing and how it can asssit you please contact DNA Identifiers.  Remeber regardless of you net worth it is important to have an estate plan in place and DNA can be an important part of your plan.

Muscle growth is governed by myostatin, a protein that determines whether an animal has compact muscles tuned for rapid sprints or a leaner body suited for endurance. There are three possible combination at this specific genetic marker. This test is not designed to identify how good a horse is likely to be, but rather what it will be good at.

According to Equinome, the three genetic combination that are possible are C:C, C:T and T:T.  A C:C horse is likely to be a fast, early maturing horse that performs well as a two-year-old, while a C:T horse has a mixture of speed and stamina and is the most versatile in terms of distance, and a T:T horse is best suited to races greater than 1 mile that require stamina.

Horse Genome Project coordinator Ernest Bailey of the University of Kentucky, Lexington stated that breeders have adopted genetic tests for paternity, coat color, and diseases but that performance prediction is new ground.

Equinome – The Speed Gene

By Claire Douglass for WebVet
Reviewed by Amy I. Attas, V.M.D.
All content on WebVet is reviewed annually by Vets to guarantee its timeliness and accuracy.
Article last reviewed – 8/1/2009

Some household cleaning products are loaded with chemicals, and can be harmful to your pet after prolonged exposure. Today, rates of canine cancer are increasing, following the same trend of rates of human cancers, which has caused researchers to look more closely at a shared environmental pathogenesis.

We are not immune to airborne toxins in the home. According to a 1992 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publication “Targeting Indoor Air Pollution,” the air inside the typical home is an average of 2-5 times more polluted than the air outside, and in extreme cases, it can be up to 100 times more contaminated – largely because of household cleaners and pesticides.

According to the EPA more than 50 percent of indoor pollution is a direct result of household cleaning products. Pets and their owners are all vulnerable to the effects of perpetual exposure to the chemicals in these products.  The risks that people face being exposed to cleaning products increases with duration of exposure.  Stay at home or people who work at home have a reported 54 percent increased risk of cancer pets and companion animals are at even greater risk due to their faster metabolisms and smaller lungs. Pets process these chemicals at a faster rate and absorb more of these toxins into their bloodstreams as they breathe them in more rapidly.

According to the Morris Animal Foundation, an initiative to research and cure canine cancer that is endorsed by the Children’s Oncology Group, Animal Cancer Foundation, MIT/Harvard (Broad Institute), and the Mayo Clinic, one in four dogs will die of cancer. Cancer is the No. 1 cause of disease-related death in dogs over the age of two. The National Cancer Institute, the global leader in human cancer research, has included the study of cancer in dogs within its Comparative Oncology Program since 2003.

There are solution to this issue.  There are many affordable lines of organic cleaning products available at most grocery stores, as well as countless books and articles on making one’s own effective household cleaners for far less than the cost of conventional cleaning products.  I like apple vinegar mixed with water because it smells fresh and can be used on any surface as well as cutting through residue and lingering smells.

By using the numerous organic cleaning products now so readily available, or by saving money and easily making your own cleaning products, both pet and owner can breathe easier and live healthier lives.

Web Vet

Scientist say that more research is needed before the therapy can be tested in patients, but the discovery in human colon cancer cell lines and mice with established human tumors suggests that the addition of a small molecule to the cancer drug Temozolomide disrupts repair mechanisms in a type of tumor cells that is highly resistant to treatment.

Satya Narayan professor of anatomy and cell biology at the college of Medicine and a member of the University of Florida Shands Cancer Center said that, “This is very important because aside from aggressive surgery with possibly chemotherapy, there are no specific treatments for colon cancer. The recurrence rate for this type of cancer after surgery is very high, about 30 to 50 percent, and there is an urgent need to develop new approaches to manage this deadly disease.”

The National Cancer Institute estimates there will be about 106,000 new cases of colon cancer in the United States in by the end of 2009. It is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in both men and women in the Western hemisphere.

Colon cancer forms in the large intestine and survival rates vary according to how soon the cancer is diagnosed and the treatment is started. The challenge of treating patients is that colon cancer is not a single disease but an array of disorders with distinct molecular mechanisms, with one type being quite proficient at repairing the DNA damage inflicted by the drugs currently used to treat the disease.

Narayan’s research team evaluated more than 140,000 small molecules, finally arriving at a tiny molecule that precisely blocks the ability of cancer cells to recognize and repair the DNA damage inflicted by Temozolomide, or TMZ. Narayan said, “Our idea was if you induce DNA damage (with TMZ), and at the same time block cell repair, you can synergize toxic effects to the cancer cells. We hope that with this combination treatment we can reduce the tumors drastically and expand the lifetime of patients much longer than is currently possible.”

TMZ is commonly used against certain types of brain cancer. It works by damaging the DNA of the cancer. By combining TMZ with the small molecule, Narayan’s team was able to disable the colon cancer’s ability to manufacture repair enzymes.

The UF researchers effectively used an amount of TMZ that is about 10 times lower than recommended in its studies of mice with human colon cancer tumors. According to Narayan, if only about one-tenth as much TMZ is needed to kill cancer cells, it will be possible to use lower doses of a drug that creates a great deal of adverse side effects, a partial listing of which includes anxiety, back pain, breast pain, constipation, cough, diarrhea, dizziness, drowsiness, dry skin, hair loss, headache, joint pain, loss of appetite, mouth sores, muscle aches and nausea.

“By using these strategies we can predict that disruption of DNA repair by small molecules can bypass drug resistance factors and dramatically reduce side effects caused by toxic doses of TMZ,” Narayan said.

More study is needed before the combination can be tested in patients, but Narayan believes that TMZ can be combined with the small molecule in a single dose in pill or capsule form.

Sankar Mitra, Ph.D., a professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, who did not participate in the study, said that, the research demonstrates that it is possible to sensitize colon cancer cells to TMZ more broadly than is now possible — a benefit of particular importance to patients with cancers that are as varied as colon cancer. “This could be the start of other small molecule inhibitors”

Sankar Mitra also noted that the therapeutic molecules were selected through sophisticated analysis of the structure of tens of thousands of potential small molecules from the National Cancer Institute database. The computer-based process, which can suggest likely cancer therapeutics within hours, replacing manual analysis which would normally have taken weeks or months.

Robert W. Sobol, Ph.D., an assistant professor of pharmacology and chemical biology, and human genetics, at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute said that, “There have been a multitude of studies suggesting that inhibition of DNA polymerase beta would enhance chemotherapeutic response. However, potential inhibitors have been challenging to identify and most have proven to be non-specific and/or non-selective. The compound identified by Dr. Narayan appears to be the first in what I expect to be a growing list of DNA polymerase beta inhibitors that have clinical potential.”

The research was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Science Daily

The blood test uses the mother’s plasma to extract Genetic information about their unborn baby.  The test can be used to determine if the unborn baby carries specific genetic abnormalities, such as muscular dystrophy, this test can be conducted shortly after conception.

Currently, testing for genetic abnormalities and gender cannot be carried out until at least 9 weeks and as late as 24 weeks.  The current methods of testing are either through a Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) or an Amniocentesis.

Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) is a medical procedure conducted by an OBGYN that is typically performed between 9 – 13 weeks gestational age, which is often mistakenly referred to Chronic Villus (or Villi) Sampling. CVS is a vaginal procedure that removes a very small portion of the placenta.

Amniocentesis is a medical procedure conducted by an OBGYN that is typically performed between 14 – 24 weeks gestational age. The amniocentesis procedure involves insertion of a needle into the womb and drawing out approximately 10cc’s of amniotic fluid, which surrounds the unborn baby.

Professor Michael Chapman, head of women’s and children’s health at the University of NSW, said that this new testing method was the “holy grail” of research.  “Scientists have been chasing this for about 25 years,” he said. “The biggest advantage of this in a wanted pregnancy is there is no risk of miscarriage during testing.”

The research team from the University Medical Center, in The Netherlands, used the test on 200 women. Only in 10 cases could the gender not be determined.  The procedure works by taking a sample from the mother’s blood plasma and extracting fetal DNA, which circulates in the mother’s blood. Looking for a specific gene sequence, doctors can then determine if the baby is a boy or a girl and is a carrier of specific disorders.  In most cases, the test will be performed on a seven-week-old fetus.

But Australian obstetricians warn the medical breakthrough is unlikely to be used in Australia because it could be used for gender selection and due to “ethical and moral” dilemmas.

The test did not address the fact that fetal DNA that is found in a mother’s blood can be from previous pregnancies even years later.  The research have not address how to determine if the DNA is from the current fetus.  While their are some DNA testing companies that have offered to use “simple” blood test to determine paternity for several years.  These test can often be unreliable.   While this new test promise great answer at no risk there are still some very big questions that haven’t been answered.

News.com.au

UCLA Scientists link genetic variant to autism risk. This discovery may explain the gap in autism cases between boys and girls. Dr. Stanley Nelson, professor of human genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and his team narrowed their research on a region of chromosome 17 that previous studies have tied to autism. In that region they discovered a variant of a gene (a gene that is essentially the same as another, but has mutational differences) called CACNA1G. Dr. Stanley Nelson and his team looked at the DNA of 1,046 members of families with at least two sons affected by autism for common gene variants.

According to Dr. Stanley Nelson, “We wanted to identify what was happening in this region of chromosome 17 that boosts autism risk. When the same genetic markers kept cropping up in a single region of the DNA, we knew we had uncovered a big clue.”

The researcher team traced the genetic markers to CACNA1G. CACNA1G helps move calcium between cells. They discovered a common variant that appears in the DNA of nearly 40 percent of the population studied.

“This alternate form of CACNA1G consistently increased the correlation to autism spectrum disorders, suggesting that inheriting the gene may heighten a child’s risk of developing autism,” Nelson said, but he emphasized that it cannot be considered a risk factor on its own. “This variant is a single piece of the puzzle,” he said. “We need a larger sample size to identify all of the genes involved in autism and to solve the whole puzzle of this disease.”

This study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and Cure Autism Now. The DNA samples were provided by the Los Angeles–based Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE).

For more information see:

UCLA Newsroom

In order to do a hair test for paternity, you need to have hair that still has the roots and follicles still attached. This means, cutting hair and often even taking strands from a brush will not work, you need to pull the hair from your head and look to make sure the hair follicles and roots come attached to the sample. In most cases of a paternity test, five to ten strands of hair with the root and follicles still attached are required in order to do the DNA testing. Hair test for paternity costs more than most other DNA testing and is not as reliable because it is more difficult to extract enough DNA from the follicles.

Genetic DNA paternity testing allows courts and individuals to confirm paternity of a child. Most tests do hold up in court and do provide for accurate results. In most cases tests using hair samples are not legal tests and do not hold up in court as the DNA testing company can not guarantee from whom the sample came. Most people use a clinical facility which offer legal tests, but some receive a home test kit in the mail and send the sample out for testing which are for peace of mind but are not usable in court.

Why do people need a DNA test for paternity? In some cases, genetic DNA paternity testing is done to determine the parentage of a child. This procedure allows courts, parents and other concerned individuals to know who the parents are, whether it is for the mother or the father. This information allows the custodial parent to receive support of the said child. In most states, if you receive any kind of support from the government, you need to know the paternity of the father.

Why do people need a hair test for paternity? In most cases people are trying to determine paternity without the alleged parent knowing. They want to send in a sample of the alleged parent and are unsure of what will work. TV shows make testing with hair seem simple and do not show any of the down sides of using hair. There are many types of samples that can be used and while hair is the most well know it is not necessarily the best. Some more reliable options are Band Aids, Fingernail or Toenail clippings, Dental Floss or a Toothbrush. While the results will likely not be court admissible, unless collected by a third party investigator, they do offer peace of mind.

Before genetic DNA paternity testing helped to identify a father, men who were said to be a father were just that, determined and appointed the father. Today, a simple paternity test will reveal if the individual is the legal father or not. This procedure has also aided in the overturning of many rulings by the courts when confirming that someone was a father, they have been found not to be the father, which leads to hardship for many. Check your state laws on to see what the statutes of limitations are for changing paternity.

Earlier tests conducted used the blood type of the mother and father to determine if the baby belonged to the father. Due to technological advancements the most common from of paternity testing is DNA testing, which is done by using cheek swabs from all parties concerned. Some people feel this could cause a big problem with child support agencies, as they try to collect from the real father after collecting support from the wrong father for years. In many states there are laws limiting the amount of time allowed to change the paternity of a child for that exact reason.

With the advancement of DNA testing, the entire process has helped in many areas as people use the genetic DNA paternity testing to find lost children and find missing fathers. Technology keeps advancing and so does paternity testing.

In conclusion, a home DNA test is a relatively simple and painless procedure and usually involves taking a swab of the inner cheek of both the suspected father as well as the child and, if possible, it’s mother. When choosing a home DNA test kit you should look for a kit that is AABB accredited and which offer a 99% inclusion and 100% exclusion rate. If you need or want to use the results for any legal purposes you should talk to the company offering the test and make sure the test option you choose is a legal test.

CGHT is a condition where excessive hair grows over and above the normal amount for the age, sex and race of the individual. It can develop all over the body or can be isolated to small patches. CGHT is an extremely rare but highly inheritable disorder.

Geneticist, Xue Zhang, of the Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, has set out to discover a cure, or at least a cause for this disease and has scoured China for cases he can research. His team found three affected families, including 16 afflicted members, who were willing to participate in a study.

Xue Zhang, and his research team, first conducted a genome-wide linkage scan in a large four-generation family which showed a genetic locus (location) for CGHT. Afterward, they conduced further studies on the genetic markers from the same chromosome region. (This confirmed genetic mapping previously performed.) They found that in every family a microdeletion (the loss of a tiny piece of a chromosome), within the critical region of the locus, was present in all affected individuals but was not present in unaffected family members. This research successfully and conclusively identifies CGHT as a genomic disorder. Now lets hope he can find a cure!

Click here to read the full article

A recent study focused on this issue and the rate at which pollution can damage or change DNA. It was performed by Dr. Andrea Baccarelli and a team of scientists from the Center of Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology ( Department of Environmental and Occupational Health University of Milan, Italy). This study used the DNA of 63 healthy foundry workers in Italy. Blood DNA samples were collected on the morning of the first day of the work week and again after three days of work. The study compared the samples taken on the different days and proved that the environmental pollution absorbed by the workers caused some genes to become reprogrammed, which in turn affects both the development and the outcome of cancers and other diseases, and that significant changes had occurred in four genes associated with tumor suppression in such a short period of time.

According to Dr. Baccarelli, “The changes were detectable after only three days of exposure to particulate matter, indicating that environmental factors need little time to cause gene reprogramming which is potentially associated with disease outcomes. As several of the effects of particulate matter in foundries are similar to those found after exposure to ambient air pollution, our results open new hypotheses about how air pollutants modify human health.”

For more information see:

http://www.thoracic.org/search.cfm?q=Andrea+Baccarelli&x=0&y=0

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090517-pollution-changes-dna.html