Very interesting.
The current cancer tests involve numerous blood tests or a biopsy in order to sequence a tumor. Among the cancers that the tests could detect is pancreatic, which to date lacks effective early screening capabilities.
“Down the road it might be possible to test for multiple cancers at the same time”, Professor Wong added.
Now scientists can only use blood tests to detect cancer if they have taken a biopsy and sequenced a tumour to discover which genetic signature to look for.
A group of scientists are calling on the WHO to classify aging as a disease, asserting that we need to create a better classification for what happens to our bodies as we get older.
A new controversy is brewing, as one group of scientists is recommending that aging be considered a disease.
Scientists from Insilico Medicine are highlighting the need to create a more granular and applied classification for what happens to our bodies when we age. Their work is outlined in a recent paper published in Frontiers in Genetics. The classification that they argue for is based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11), which is expected to be finalized in 2018.
Speaking to packed house of journalists, scientists and members of The Planetary Society, Bill Nye the Science Guy, along with some very, very smart people, discussed how human beings might survive for long periods of time on Mars.
Researchers have discovered breaks in nerve cells tied to varous genetically related neurological disorders.
There’s still much that we don’t understand about obesity and its underlying causes, but scientists in Germany say they’ve discovered a genetic ‘switch’ that could effectively turn obesity on or off.
The new report is based on epigenetics research — that is, the way the genes in our bodies change based on chemical and environmental factors, rather than modifications in the fundamental DNA genetic code itself. We’re all born with a certain set of genes, but these can be turned on or off, or dialled up or down, though processes inside the body (it’s part of the reason why identical twins don’t always look identical).
It’s one of these epigenetic tags that the scientists have identified, and it works like a light switch rather than a dimmer. “Once the switch is triggered, it is a lifelong, epigenetically-driven decision that ends in a stable, either a lean or obese phenotype,” lead author Andrew Pospisilik from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics. “The effect is akin to a light switch — on or off, lean or obese. Typically, we usually consider epigenetic control of disease to act much more like a dimmer, shifting phenotypes like body weight up or down gradually.”
I have nothing against the idea of designer babies. Why not better ourselves through science? There will always be a baseline version of humanity kicking around, even if it’s in cold storage,thus ensuring that any mistakes made early on don’t destroy the species. Besides, the same technology that allows us to make ourselves better could just as easily be used to repair us if we do make a mistake of some kind. TOO much red-tape, as always.
Room: B-3245.
Recent discoveries and advances in medicine are setting the bioethical world on fire. Some technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9 and fast DNA sequencing techniques, have tremendously increased our control over our own genome. GMOs, Gene Therapy and life extension are examples of applications of our new gained knowledge in genetics. For more than a few, the thought of scientists playing with the fundamental building blocks of life brings an uneasy feeling. Yet, what are the scientists really doing?
As technologies keep on advancing, it is crucial to question ourselves on the implications of genetic research, and the first step to do so is to understand what is being done in the laboratories. The goal of this presentation is to convey reliable information on the field of genomics to non-experts so that they can take on a rational stance on the issues at hand. Simultaneously, in the spirit of Philopolis, the presentation revolves around the philosophical question of what is natural and what is not.
Christophe Lachance-Brais and @[601985428:2048:Philippe Castonguay] will give the talk and animate the discussion.
The 1h presentation will be followed by a 30 minute discussion.
Posted in biotech/medical, genetics, space
Could researchers found the magic bullet for cancer? NIH thinks possibly that they have.
Epigenetic marks seen across multiple cancers may serve as a biomarker for identifying solid tumor DNA in blood samples.
NGS — news flash; gene editing corrects genetically linked liver disease.
For the first time, researchers have treated an animal model of a genetic disorder using a viral vector to deliver genome-editing components in which the disease- causing mutation has been corrected. Delivery of the vector to newborn mice improved their survival while treatment of adult animals, unexpectedly, made them worse, according to a new study by investigators from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania The team published their findings in Nature Biotechnology.
“Correcting a disease-causing mutation following birth in this animal model brings us one step closer to realizing the potential of personalized medicine,” said senior author James Wilson, MD, PhD, a professor of Medicine and director of the Orphan Disease Center at Penn. “Nevertheless, my 35-year career in gene therapy has taught me how difficult translating mouse studies to successful human treatments can be. From this study, we are now adjusting the gene-editing system in the next phases of our investigation to address the unforeseen complications seen in adult animals.” Wilson is also director of the Penn Gene Therapy Program.
The Wilson lab focused on liver as a target for gene editing since they had solved the problem of gene delivery in this organ in previous work using traditional gene therapy using vectors based on adeno-associated virus (AAV). However, gene replacement therapy with AAV is not ideal for treating genetic diseases of the liver that manifest as newborns since the non-integrating genome is lost as developing liver cells proliferate.
