DNA used to pinpoint ancestors' villages

An individual's genome can be used to accurately predict their ancestral origin, to the nearest five miles, a new study has found...[Read More]

Genetic link to fertility drug response found

Scientists have discovered a genetic mutation that may make some women less likely to respond to the ovarian stimulating hormones used in fertility treatment. Dr Maria Lalioti and her colleagues from Yale University Medical School, US, reported their findings at the 26th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Rome last week...[Read More]

NHS to sequence the genes of 10,000 patients

A London NHS hospital has started sequencing the genomes of individual patients in order to gain a better understanding of the genetic factors involved in heart disease. Over the next decade, 10,000 patients at the Royal Brompton Hospital will have their 22,000 genes sequenced...[Read More]

1,000 Genomes Project completes first phase

The largest study of genetic differences between people to date - the 1,000 Genomes Project - has completed its pilot studies. The data is now freely available...[Read More]

Gene patent for breast cancer faces legal challenge

The Australian Federal Court in Sydney is considering groundbreaking legal action of whether private companies can obtain patents on human genes....[Read More]

Jumping genes crucial for maintaining genetic diversity

Genes with the ability to jump around the genome play a bigger role in maintaining human genetic diversity than previously thought, with major implications for the study of evolution, as well as for genetic disease's such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and haemophilia....[Read More]

Synthesising a DNA genome is a major feat but is it creating new life?

Craig Venter and colleagues recently published their work on a synthesised life form. Once again scientists are charged with playing God and the associated hype and scaremongering promise cures and treatments for all sorts of human and planetary ailments, threaten a future of unknown dangers from genetically manipulated life forms, and demand a re-analysis of the meaning of life and God....[Read More]

The perils of creating synthetic life

As an ex-genetic researcher I was incredibly excited to hear in last week's news that researchers at the J Craig Venter Institute, US, have successfully constructed the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell....[Read More]

First synthetic cell created in a laboratory

For the first time artificial life has been created in a laboratory, in the form of a bacterium. US researchers have chemically synthesised the DNA of the simple bacterium Mycoplasma mycoides...[Read More]

Book Review: The Language of Life

The author of this book was head of the Human Genome Project at the time when the pioneering work to sequence the human genome was carried out. Furthermore, the cover of the paperback carries an endorsement of his work from no less than Barack Obama. So this is an important book...[Read More]

MS twin study suggests environment plays key role

Environmental factors, rather than genetics, may play a key role in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new research published in Nature...[Read More]

Genes linked to brain aneurysm risk found

Three new gene variants have been linked to increased risk of brain aneurysms in the largest ever genome-wide study of its kind. The discovery brings the total number of gene variants linked to the condition up to five and paves the way for more targeted drug treatments and early screening tests...[Read More]

US judge overturns gene patents

A US judge has invalidated a genetic testing company's patents on two breast cancer genes...[Read More]

Epigenetics in psychiatric disorders: A guide for beginners

Mental health is a huge global concern, with one in four people experiencing some form of mental health problem at some point in their lives. Psychiatric disorders are sometimes difficult to study, as they are diagnosed on the basis of observed behaviours...[Read More]

Bushmen neighbours are genetically continents apart

Comparing the genomes of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and !Gubi, a Khoisan elder from the Kalahari, reveals that, although they are geographical neighbours, their genomes are as different from each other as they are from European or Asian individuals. These findings, published in the journal Nature, reflect the extent of human genetic diversity on the African continent....[Read More]

New genetic markers for diabetes-related traits uncovered

An international team of 174 research centres has identified 13 new gene variants associated with blood glucose and insulin, with five linked to Type-2 diabetes. The findings - published last week in the journal Nature Genetics -raise hopes of better treatments for the condition....[Read More]

Tumour genes mapped in major milestone for cancer treatment

Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have sequenced the genomes of two cancers - malignant melanoma skin cancer and an aggressive form of lung cancer. Their findings were published in Nature last week and could transform cancer treatments....[Read More]

Thousands of genomes sequenced to map Han Chinese genetic variation

The first genetic historical map of the Han Chinese has been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics by scientists from the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS). Based on genome-wide variation in 8,200 individuals, the new map has provided many insights into the evolutionary history and population structure of the Han Chinese which is the largest ethnic population in the world. The map is of great importance as it has helped uncover subtle differences in the genetic ...[Read More]

Gene therapy halts deadly hereditary brain disease in two boys

Gene therapy has been used to treat two young boys with a devastating and fatal brain disease called adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). Two years after treatment, both boys showed signs that the disease had stopped progressing and that there were no serious side effects from the gene therapy. These results, published in the journal Science, show huge promise, both for the future treatment of ALD and for the revival of investigations into the use of gene therapy to treat a wide variety ...[Read More]

New DNA sequencing technology used to correctly diagnose genetic disease

A team of researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has become the first to successfully diagnose a patient through the use of a high-throughput DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) sequencing technology....[Read More]