Yesterday, I posted about how genes influence our propensity to nicotine addiction as well as our ability (or inability) to quit smoking. Smoking causes a whole slew of illnesses in smokers and the people around them. And not surprisingly, the babies of pregnant women who smoke are more likely to experience growth retardation and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In a recent study, researchers found that smoking also directly damages a fetus’s DNA. (Smoking Changes Kids’ Genes, DrGreene.com)
Researchers compared 25 pregnant smokers, who had smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day for more than 10 …read more

No cigarette has ever been between my lips. My mind is a different matter. Movies and advertisements make smoking seem so cool and relaxing that I’ve sometimes taken a mental drag on an imaginary cigarette.
For over 1 in 5 Americans, however, cigarettes are an important part of their daily routine; it picks them up in the morning and calms them down later in the day. Most smokers know that the dangers of smoking far outweigh the good feelings, but it’s not easy to quit. Genetic make-up most likely influences a person’s susceptibility to becoming …read more

Previously, I gave three pop quizzes: “Genetic = Inherited?“, “Where is your genome located?,” and “How many chromosomes do humans have?“. It seems that everyone loves being a student so every Saturday will be Quiz Day here at the Genetics and Public Health Blog. No grades will be given and no preparation is needed. Jump in and have some fun!
This week’s question: How many genes do the following organisms have on average?
1. Human
2. Mouse
3. Fruit Fly
4. Plant (Arabidopsis thaliana)
5. Bacteria (E. coli)
Answers from the Human Genome Project:
1. Human – ~30,000 genes, 46 chromosomes
2. Mouse – ~30,000, 42 …read more

Dr. David A Sinclair’s lab at Harvard Medical School has been studying the aging process in various organisms. They’ve found some interesting clues as to how we can extend our lifespan.
From The Sinclair Lab,
Our research is devoted to understanding the key molecular events that cause organisms to grow old and die. We are studying aging in several model systems, including the budding yeast S. cerevisiae, the nematode C. elegans, and mammalian cell culture lines.
Recent findings include:

The discovery of four genes related to the SIR2 gene which is thought to influence how mice, rats, worms, flies, and yeast live longer …read more

Welcome, ProBlogger readers! You may be wondering why I keep referring to the Genetics and PUBLIC Health Blog. That was the first incarnation of this blog under About Weblogs. I’m still the same person and the content is still the same, but our name has been streamlined. Hope you’ll find this “meme” helpful and informative.
If you answer these questions for your blog, let me know via comments, trackbacks, or e-mail so I can add you to the honor roll.
Every day, as I scan through scads of news and information on genetics, medicine, and public health, I’m …read more

Breast cancer starts as a tumor in the breast and as the tumors grow, they begin to shed cancerous cells that metastasize or travel to other parts of the body, such as the lymph nodes, bones of the pelvis, spine, legs, ribs, and skull, liver, lungs, and brain. (Breast Cancer Metastasis in Women, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center)
Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York have identified a panel of genes out of 22,000 (can’t seem to find the names of the genes in either the news releases or the abstract of the original research paper) …read more

Could we be even more similar than we thought? A new study of twins shows that spouses and best friends may be almost as similar to us genetically as our own brothers and sisters. (Medical News Today, July 27, 2005) Sounds a little too incestuous to me.
Using a 130-item questionnaire that measured social background, personality, and attitudes, researchers found that identical twins (who have identical genetic make-up) tended to have spouses and best friends who were more alike. Whether they based their preferences on physical appearance or mutual likes and dislikes, the twins were attracted to the …read more

A few years ago, I was invited to give a talk at the English Salon, a weekly seminar series sponsored by the YWCA Language School in Nagoya, Japan. My topic was genetically modified (GM) food and my stance was distinctly supportive. (Don’t start throwing the rotten tomatoes now!) Despite my hour-and-a-half long presentation, I was unable to convince most of the audience that GM foods were safe to eat and had many environmental benefits as well.
GM food seems relatively benign if it’s the result of cross-breeding two organisms of the same species, such as crossing strawberry plants with a deeper …read more

Pharyngula is hosting this week’s Grand Rounds, “the weekly summary of the best of the medical blogosphere.” I participated for the first time with my post on the PRKCB1 gene and autism. Might be fun to host a Grand Rounds here at the Genetics and Public Health Blog, but I don’t know if I can be as creative and/or as snarky as everyone else.

Forbes.com has selected the Genetics and Public Health Blog for inclusion in their Best of the Web: Blogs That Matter (summer 2005 issue). One of eight health and fitness blogs featured, here’s an excerpt of the review,
She encourages readers to use information about their genetic makeup in a proactive way, to prevent disease, instead of deterministically, to play victim to it.
BEST: Lei stays on top of genetics in the news (”Oprah’s DNA Test”) and offers pop-quizzes (i.e. “Where is your genome located?”) as quick sources of interesting information, in mostly accessible prose.
This blog will be three months old …read more