Eye on DNA Headlines for 12 October 2007

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted October 12, 2007 in DNA Testing, Eye on DNA Headlines

• Please vote for Shelley Batts of Retrospectacle for this year’s Student Blogging Scholarship! She’s currently in second place but with your help, a science blogger can kick butt and take it all! She writes:

  …I could really use the money towards my PhD (my thesis is related to a cure for deafness) and paying off my undergrad debt.

  I’d say that’s a pretty good use of scholarship money.

• DNA relationship tests have solved a baby mix-up case in the Czech Republic. The parents of Veronika looked nothing like her but only until she was 10 months old did they decide to undergo DNA testing.

  [The father] became suspicious after jibes from his friends pointing out that he and his partner were dark-haired and brown-eyed but had a blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby. He secretly had a DNA test, which showed he was not the father. When Jaroslava [the mother]insisted he must be she too had a DNA test, which revealed the child was not theirs.
  
  As it turns out, Veronika had been swapped 18 minutes after birth with another little girl. Her biological parents live only 30 miles away with the daughter of her adoptive parents. The families plan to return their daughters to each other by Christmas. A very bittersweet story.

• Finally, my people have been recognized. Chinese scientists in Shenzhen claim to have completed the first map of the Chinese genome. I hate to be a pain but with all the hoohah over Chinese counterfeit goods, I’ll take this pronouncement with a grain of salt.
• deCODE genetics has launched a genetic test for risk of myocardial infarction – deCODE MI which is available only through physicians. This new test joins the deCODE T2 test for type 2 diabetes (offered direct to consumers through my company, DNA Direct) and the deCODE AF test for atrial fibrillation (also available only with physician authorization as far as I can tell). It also looks like they’ve revamped their website complete with a video. Check it out and tell me if you’re as confused by the site as I am….
• The Guardian is reporting that a genetic test for osteoarthritis may be available for less than £10 (~$20) within a few years after the completion of a two-year genomewide study.

Tags: genetics, genes, dna, science, osteoarthritis, myocardial infarction, decode genetics, health, medicine

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