Eye on DNA Headlines for 6 December 2007

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted December 6, 2007 in DNA and Disease, Eye on DNA Headlines, Personalities with DNA

• Congratulations to Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn of UCSF who has won the L’ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Award. She is a pioneer in telomere and telomerase research and is also a strong contender for a Nobel Prize.

  Dr. Blackburn’s research examines the function of the enzyme as it relates to cell aging and mutations that can cause cancer. During DNA synthesis, telomerase restores the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, called telomeres, and Dr. Blackburn’s research has found that mutant variations of telomerase impair cell division, which can contribute to aging and cancer.

• The Economist explores consumer genomics and genetic sequencing in this week’s issue.
• Nine genetic markers for schizophrenia have been uncovered using whole genome homozygosity association (WGHA) analysis. Published in PNAS, the study genotyped 500,000 markers in 178 schizophrenia cases and 144 healthy controls.

  Four of these 9 “risk ROHs” contained or neighbored genes associated with schizophrenia (NOS1AP, ATF2, NSF, and PIK3C3).

• Four times as many imprinted genes have been identified in a recent study at Duke University. Most of the imprinted genes found in this study are within genomic regions associated with cancer, diabetes, autism, and obesity.
• A small study of 102 men and 101 women found that those with one form of the AVPR1a gene were more likely to be generous when playing an online game involving money. Israeli researchers found that those with generous AVPR1a gene variant gave away 50% more money on average. I wonder if deCODEme or 23andMe will find that a disproportionate number of their customers have the “generous” AVPR1a genetic variation.

Tags: telomeres, telomerase, elizabeth blackburn, genetics, genes, dna, dna sequencing, schizophrenia

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Comment by Barry Starr

2007-12-10 18:23:33

Oooh, I liked that last comment. Just as i was toying with the idea of wasting 1000 dollars too…

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Comment by Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD

2007-12-10 18:25:38

Barry, you scrooge!

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