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Showing posts from August, 2017

Health Risks of GMOs Have Been Systematically Misrepresented

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Health Risks of GMOs Have Been Systematically Misrepresented by UK's Royal Society https://www.independentsciencenews.org/health/the-uks-royal-society-how-the-health-risks-of-gmos-have-been-systematically-misrepresented/ Excerpt: "For more than twenty years, many eminent scientists and scientific institutions have routinely claimed that genetically modified foods are safe. And because of the perceived authority of their pronouncements, most government officials and members of the media have believed them. But when the arguments these scientists employ to support their claims are subjected to scrutiny, it becomes clear that important facts have invariably been misrepresented — either deliberately or through substantial negligence. And when these facts are fairly considered, the arguments collapse. A prime example of a purportedly scientific — but in reality, inaccurate — publication on GM foods was issued by the UK’s Royal Society in May 2016. Titled “GMO Plants: Questions and ...

Rapid human genetic degradation

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Millions Of Novel Genetic Variants Found In 1000 Swedish Individuals https://scienmag.com/millions-of-novel-genetic-variants-found-in-1000-swedish-individuals/ Excerpt: "An extensive exercise to map genetic variation in Sweden has found 33 million genetic variants, 10 million of which are novel. Large-scale DNA sequencing methods were used to analyse the whole genome of 1000 individuals from different parts of the country. The study was led by researchers at Uppsala University, who have published their findings in the European Journal of Human Genetics. "This resource will benefit many national research projects investigating the association between genetic variants and diseases," says Professor Ulf Gyllensten, Uppsala University and SciLifeLab, who has led the project.   The data will also be of immediate use in clinical diagnostics to determine whether a genetic variation in a patient is a cause of disease, or if it is also present among healthy individuals in the popu...

Distinct diets explain differences between Darwin's finches

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Distinct diets result in differences in methylation patterns https://phys.org/news/2017-08-epigenetics-darwin-finches-rapid-environmental.html#nRlv Excerpt: "Epigenetics may explain how Darwin's finches respond to rapid environmental changes, according to new research published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. By studying rural and urban populations of two species of Darwin's finches on the Galapagos Islands, researchers were able to show that while there was very little genetic variation, there were substantial epigenetic differences that could be related to environmental differences resulting from urbanization. Sabrina McNew, PhD student at the University of Utah and lead author of the study said: "Urbanization of the Galapagos has happened relatively recently, so this is a good opportunity to study how animals respond to rapid environmental change."   Dr Michael Skinner, senior author from Washington State University, said: "In the fin...

Intergenerational inheritance of epigenetic information

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Intergenerational inheritance of epigenetic information - why we can observe changes in organisms https://www.news-medical.net/news/20170718/Study-provides-insights-into-intergenerational-inheritance-of-epigenetic-information.aspx Summary: Epigenetic mechanisms modulated by environmental cues such as diet, disease or our lifestyle take a major role in regulating the DNA by switching genes on and off, and activating/silencing regions of the DNA. Mother's epigenetic memory is essential for the development and survival of the new generation. Epigenetic modifications label specific regions of the DNA to attract or keep away proteins (transcription factors) that activate genes. Epigenetic marks can also change throughout our life and in response to our environment or lifestyle. Inherited epigenetic information is needed to process and correctly transcribe the genetic code of the embryo. Epigenetic marks transmitted from the mother are a fine-tuned mechanism to control gene activation du...

Different DNA structures exquisitely fine tune the activity and expression of genes

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Complex biological structures are able to perform the myriad intricate and elaborate functions of the human body https://www.nibib.nih.gov/news-events/newsroom/new-imaging-technique-overturns-longstanding-textbook-model-dna-folding Excerpt: "How can six and half feet of DNA be folded into the tiny nucleus of a cell? Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a new imaging method that visualizes a very different DNA structure, featuring small folds of DNA in close proximity. The study reveals that the DNA-protein structure, known as chromatin, is a much more diverse and flexible chain than previously thought. This provides exciting new insights into how chromatin directs a nimbler interaction between different genes to regulate gene expression, and provides a mechanism for chemical modifications of DNA to be maintained as cells divide. The results will be featured in the July 28 issue of Science. For decades, experiments suggested a hierarchical folding ...

Biological information is compressed in an astonishing way

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How much does weigh the dna of all 'species' in the world? http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/1999-06/928784618.Mb.r.html "The human genome is about 3 x 109 basepairs long, which would weigh about 40 pg (picograms: 1 pg = 10^-12 grams) per genome. Human cells are diploid, i.e. each contains two copies of the genome, so the nuclear DNA from a human cell would weigh about 80 pg."   The human DNA with epigenetic layers weighs about 10^-10 g, i.e., 100 pg. There are some ten thousands of basic groups of organisms in the world, but let's assume the number of species to be one million, so the estimate does not go too low. Thus, the total genome of all organisms in the world weighs about 0.0001 g. The mosquito weight is about 2.5 mg and its proboscis weighs approximately 1/25 of the total mosquito weight. This weight can accommodate the genetic information of all organisms in the world. This kind of hyper efficient way to pack massive amounts of biological information ...

Breakthrough device heals organs with a single touch

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Tissue healing by microRNA induced epigenetic stem cell reprogramming https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170807120530.htm Excerpt: "Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Ohio State's College of Engineering have developed a new technology, Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT), that can generate any cell type of interest for treatment within the patient's own body. This technology may be used to repair injured tissue or restore function of aging tissue, including organs, blood vessels and nerve cells. Results of the regenerative medicine study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. "By using our novel nanochip technology, injured or compromised organs can be replaced. We have shown that skin is a fertile land where we can grow the elements of any organ that is declining," said Dr. Chandan Sen, director of Ohio State's Center for Regenerative Medicine & Cell Based Therapies, who co-led the study with L. James Lee, pr...

Rapid increase in human disease-causing genomic mutations

The Annual increase of disease-causing genomic mutations was about 20,000 http://www.hgmd.cf.ac.uk/ac/index.php The number of disease-causing genomic mutations in the human genome rose to just 208,368. Thus, annual growth has been around 20,000. And modern science does not know any beneficial random mutations. Similar genetic degradation occurs in all organisms.   Evolution really does not happen.

Embryos won’t use anything else but parent's genes

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Extending human genome seems to be impossible https://www.statnews.com/2017/08/02/crispr-designer-babies/ Excerpt: "Creating “designer babies” with a revolutionary new genome-editing technique would be extremely difficult, according to the first U.S. experiment that tried to replace a disease-causing gene in a viable human embryo. Partial results of the study had leaked out last week, ahead of its publication in Nature on Wednesday, stirring critics’ fears that genes for desired traits — from HIV resistance to strong muscles — might soon be easily slipped into embryos. In fact, the researchers found the opposite: They were unable to insert a lab-made gene. Biologist Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health and Science University, who led the first-of-its-kind experiment, described the key result as “very surprising” and “dramatic.”   The “external DNA” provided to fertilized human eggs developing in a lab dish “was never used,” he told STAT. The scientists excised a mutated, heart-dis...