Logo credit: Ricardo @ mybiotechlife

A big thanks to Walter Jessen at Highlight Health for hosting this month’s Gene Genie genetics Carnival where Genetics and Health is included.  Walter has a great round-up of this months genetics’ news.

http://www.highlighthealth.com/blog-events/gene-genie-32-googling-the-genie/

Elaine Warburton  www.geneticsandhealth.com

(Image courtesy of Ricardo Vidal at My Biotech Life) 

Many thanks to Razib at Gene Expression for hosting Gene Genie#30, the carnival of genetics blogs. Click on the following link to get a great summary on all that is happening in the genetics blog word.  There are some great articles, including some from G&H.

http://scienceblogs.com/gnxp/2008/04/gene_genie_30.php

Here are links to all the previous Gene Genie Carnivals.

• Issue #1: Scienceroll
• Issue #2: Sciencesque
• Issue #3: Genetics and Health
• Issue #4: Sandwalk
• Issue #5: Neurophilosophy
• Issue #6: Scienceroll
• Issue #7: Gene Sherpa
• Issue #8: Eye on DNA
• Issue #9: DNA Direct Talk
• Issue #10: Genomicron
• Issue #11: Med Journal Watch
• Issue #12: My Biotech Life
• Issue #13: The Genetic Genealogist
• Issue #14: MicrobiologyBytes
• Issue #15: Cancer Genetics
• Issue #16: Neurophilosophy
• Issue #17: The Gene Sherpa
• Issue #18: Eye on DNA
• Issue #19: Scienceroll
• Issue #20: Bitesize Bio
• Issue #21: BabyLab
• Issue #22: Sandwalk
• Issue #23: Scienceroll
• Issue #24: biomarker-driven mental health 2.0
• Issue #25: The Gene Sherpa
• Issue #26: Sciencebase
• Issue #27: DNA Direct Talk
• Issue #28: Greg Laden’s Blog
• Issue #29: My Biotech Life
• Issue #30: Gene Expression

Happy reading!

Elaine Warburton  www.geneticsandhealth.com

It’s theme day at b5’s Science and health channel and this month’s theme is New Year’s resolutions.

I don’t really ‘do’ resolutions as I never keep them for more than a couple of weeks but here is my own ‘home-made’ recipe for a healthy, eventful and happy life.

Into life add in a large quantity of ‘everything in moderation with the occasional excess’. Sieve in ‘treat others how you would wish to be treated’. Add a large spoonful of both ’see the best in everyone’ and ‘work-life balance’ and a pinch of  ‘healthy argument and debate’. Stir ingredients together but don’t beat them, this has the effect of introducing envy and jealousy which often sours life and makes it bitter.  ‘Bending the rules’ of life’s recipe is beneficial as long as no one gets hurt. Surround with ‘experience life to the full’, ‘good deeds’, ’spirituality’ and ‘never give up’. Pour life’s combined ingredients into a mould that is content with its shape and personality and enjoy the results for as long as that life wishes to continue.

Elaine Warburton

 (From The DNA Store)

b5’s Science and Health channel correspondents are coming together to bring you our Top 5 lists for Christmas and holidays … each of us with different slant!

Here at Genetics and Health we are recomneding the following …

Straight in at Number 1 and this has to be YOUR New Year’s resolution

….. if you’ve got a family history of health problems or are worried about any aspect of your health and wellbeing  - get yourself regularly checked out  - your good health is your number one priority. Only you can look after yourself!

Now for some festive gifts:

1. Total genome analysis ($350,000) - For the man or woman in your life that has everything www.gnome.com

2. Partial genome analysis ($1,000) - For the man or woman in your life that has everything but your purse doesn’t stretch to a second mortgage www.decodeme.com, www.23andme.com, www.navigenics.com

3. SNP analysis for certain diseases ($300) -  A perfect gift for your loved one to show them you want them around for years to come www.decode.com (diabetes and heart risk), www.intergenetics.com (breast cancer risk)

4.  DNA Archive ($175) - great for all the family and best still it lasts forever! Check out DNA Direct:    DNA Storage

5. Still uncertain? Then browse The DNA Store - there’s something for everyone that will suit every purse!

                                 (From The DNA Store)                                                                                                                            

Happy shopping!!

Elaine Warburton

It’s World Diabetes Day and here is my support for the day, although it’s not quite genetics based but it’s topical for me.  One of my favorite fathers at my boys’ school is a diabetic and is having a really tough time with circulation problems.  Today he let me know he will probably lose a toe … maybe more.  He’s only in his late 30s and is a fit, healthy, happy guy.

Most people with Diabetes wear the wrong size of shoe - a mistake which could cost them a leg.  It is a well known fact that one of the problems caused by diabetics is a decline of nerve sensation in toes and feet.  This can mean small injuries such as blisters and cuts go unnoticed.

A Dundee University, Scotland study of 100 Diabetics found only 37 had well fitting shoes.  This has prompted calls for the shoe industry to provide better shoes for Diabetics.

Please do visit my fellow b5 Science and Health colleague -  Kendra at Diabetes Notes - she is awesome and is my ‘font of all knowledge’ on all things diabetic!

Elaine Warburton

Genetics and Health correspondent www.geneticsandhealth.com

Hi!  It’s the b5 media theme dayand it’s all about getting back to school. Thanks Kristina Chew at AutismVox for hosting it this month! Check out my fellow b5 bloggers, there’s some great articles!

So here’s my contribution to the day.  Not quite full on genetics but the subject matter is about our kids ever increasingly sedentary lifestyle which has a major impact on increasing a kid’s risk of developing a disease if they hold the faulty genes for a particular disease.

My kids went back last week which was a relief on the one hand - they became somewhat feral over the holidays and so needed routine back in their lives.  On the other hand there’s the endless homework, after school clubs, music lessons , sports clubs etc etc all to be juggled in between working.  My kids love sport and are constantly playing games.  They got a Wii for their recently celebrated birthdays and now get even more exercise (if you can call it exercise) by playing the sports games and sword fighting in Pirates of the Caribbean.

There are a couple of reports out from the UK today which sum up our less than active world we live in.  I imagine that the same results would be echoed across the world.  Barely 3% of UK children aged 11 are doing enough exercise, when they should be spending at least one hour a day doing some form of physical activity if they want to minimize their chances of developing diabetes type 2 or becoming obese later on in life, says an article published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood (BMJ).

Also, a new survey by Asthma UK has found that a quarter of all parents in Britain would prevent a child with asthma from playing in the football team or taking part in PE because of concerns about their health.  There are many athletes who have asthma but have gone on to be world class or Olympic champions. 

We are letting our kids down by wrapping them in cotton wool.  Let them have fun and be healthy at the same time!

Penny Harrington

Gene Genie here at Genetics and Health today. Let’s look into my crystal ball and see what’s in our genetic future.

• Dave Bridges at Biochemist in Exile discusses mutations in the PP1-GM that can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes. Perhaps an important target for future therapies.
• Lisa Lee at DNA Direct Talk works at a company that is always looking to the future. She is running a series of interviews with genetic counselor Elizabeth Varga (no, not Elizabeth Vargas) about having an inherited blood clotting disorder, factor V Leiden. And don’t miss the treasure trove of information on Ashkenazi Jewish diseases, there are more than just Tay-Sachs.
• Keith Robison at Omics! Omics! thinks back to the first time he heard about cancer and weaves it into a description of the cellular ecology of cancer. The future of cancer treatment will involve more than just understanding the tumors as isolated entities, but also the environment that surrounds them.
• Bertalan Mesko of ScienceRoll introduces GeneForum and the Genetic Alliance, two organizations that are working to make sure that genetics isn’t as incomprehensible tomorrow as it is today.
• Marie Godfrey of Gene Forum shares Eugene’s story. He noticed a family history of neurological illness and after creating a family history, Eugene confirmed that it’s been in his family for at least five generations. Marie also welcomes you to submit your own story. Look into your past to understand your future.
• Laura Collins of Are you “Eating With Your Anorexic?” wants to see into the future to know what genes are involved in eating disorders. But she also realizes that to do so, people will need to become study participants and give blood (samples).
• Kristina Chew of Autism Vox compares how the DSM diagnosis of autism has changed over time just as the definition of gene has changed as well. What will the future hold for autistic children and their families?
• Mary Emma Allen of Alzheimer’s Notes wants to know if Alzheimer’s disease is genetic. The better question to ask the crystal ball is: What specific genetic factors that cause Alzheimer’s are inherited? And how many and in what combination with environmental factors lead to the disease?

And from me at Genetics and Health, I draw your attention to the NALP1 gene that has been associated with vitiligo, a skin condition that results in irregular pale patches of skin. Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease in which the cells that make pigment in the skin, melanocytes, are destroyed. NALP1 appear to be involved in the first line of defense against viral and bacterial infection and could lead to autoimmune disease if the gene becomes overactive. Researchers predict that the NALP1 gene may be involved in other autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases such as type 1 diabetes, Addison’s disease, thyroid disease, and lupus.

Gene Genie thanks everyone for their contribution to genetic knowledge but she thinks she should buy a new crystal ball. It seems that the future of the genome revolution is full of hidden surprises. But one thing Gene Genie knows for sure - Larry Moran at Sandwalk will be hosting the next issue of Gene Genie on April 7, 2007. You can submit your post at BlogCarnival.com.

Tags: genetics, genome, genes, dna, diseases, illness, health, medicine, gene genie

Gene Genie is coming to Genetics and Health and you can be a part of it! Send me your post about genes and/or gene-related diseases and I’ll include it in a round-up this Saturday, March 24. Be on the lookout for some magical genetic moments.

This morning, Genie is wondering how spontaneous deletions and duplications of DNA, aka copy number variation, scattered throughout the genome could be involved in autism spectrum disorders. Maybe they’re the result of some other injury that led to both autism and the mutations? Maybe it’s selection bias? The people in the study with autism must differ in other ways from healthy controls. Were all known and unknown factors controlled for? Genie reserves judgment until she knows more about what the biological importance of these hundreds of mutations. For more discussion, visit Kristina Chew at Autism Vox.

Medical News Today, March 20, 2007

Tags: autism, autism spectrum disorder, genetics, genes, dna, diseases, illness, health, medicine, genetics, genes, gene genie, genome, dna, copy number variation

The theme for this issue of Tangled Bank #68 is The Voyage of Discovery and Daniel Collins is our commander.

How opportune! I just finished reading This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson and can’t get over how amazing it is. I’m hoping to make it out to Kent to visit Charles Darwin’s home, Down House, before they close it for the winter. It’s a shame that Beagle Captain Robert Fitzroy’s home was not preserved but I may venture out to visit his grave sometime.

Technorati Tags: tangled bank, charles darwin, robert fitzroy, darwin, genetics, genes, dna, science, health

Dr. Emily DeVoto is hosting this week’s Grand Rounds 3(11) at The Antidote. I especially appreciate her effort to include to all submissions because, in my opinion, Grand Rounds and blog carnivals in general should be all inclusive instead of an exclusive club open only to a few.

Here are two posts from Grand Rounds that might interest Genetics and Health readers:

• The Human Value of Knowledge at Fruit of the Womb about prenatal screening
• Live to be 100? DITM Tells You How at docinthemachine

Technorati Tags: genetics, genes, dna, grand rounds, diseases, illness, health