The DNA Network |
| Scientist, GSOH. Seeks Similar. [Bitesize Bio] Posted: 19 May 2008 07:41 PM CDT You know what it’s like. You’re committed to your career, you work long hours so you don’t get to socialise as much as you needed to meet that special someone. And those people you do meet wouldn’t know their a-factor from their elbow. So what options are there for the lonely scientist who wants to find someone with whom they can share their copy of Molecular Biology of The Cell? Well, the Scientist magazine has a scientists-only dating service called Science Connection that can help with that very mission. According to their website:
Being scientists we of course need some statistics on how successful this service is and Science Connection duly provides. Their up-to-the-minute stats boast 87 marriages, 69 engagements, 274 “serious relationships” and 303 dating couples out of 15,031 individuals who have joined the service since it began. Membership fees are only $65/year… a small price to pay to find the scientist of your dreams? Photo: estherase |
| Jeffrey Sachs on our ever diminishing resources [The Daily Transcript] Posted: 19 May 2008 06:08 PM CDT I heard Sachs being interviewed in the latest Nature Podcast. Oliver Morton: I think one of the striking things, Jeff that you say very early on in [your new book, 'Commonwealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet'] is that the great crisis point is that we have a unified global economy and a divided global society and well as the big question is how can we use the first of those things to fix the second? P.S. Sb's own PZ Myers is also interviewed in the same podcast on the inner workings of the cephalopod eye. Read the comments on this post... |
| Webcast on genomic medicine on Wednesday, the 21st. [Synthesis] Posted: 19 May 2008 03:51 PM CDT Steve Murphy has asked the DNA Network, of which I’m a member, to put out the word about the webcast on Wednesday. The title is “How Genomic Medicine Is Changing the Management of Breast & Ovarian Cancer” and the link is here. Tune in around 1 PM EDT to hear a panel of experts discuss such questions as: What should a doctor and patient do when a patient tests positive? .gif) This post is about clinical practice, DNA, genetics, genomics, testingRelated posts |
| Online Doctors or Pizza? [ScienceRoll] Posted: 19 May 2008 03:20 PM CDT After writing about some medical online services, I came across this interesting link on the blog of Jay Parkinson. It’s more than funny!
        This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Google Health: The First Steps [ScienceRoll] Posted: 19 May 2008 03:15 PM CDT We’ve been all waiting for this for a long time now. Google Health is officially up and running. It aims to play the main role in the electronic/personal health record story. What is it about?
Let’s create your health profile and tell us your opinion! Anyway, when I write an e-mail in Google Mail, I get some relevant ads on the sidebar. I hope I will never get pharma ads or spams from doctors based on my Google Health profile… Further reading:         |
| The First Report Card for Genome Wide Association Studies [adaptivecomplexity's column] Posted: 19 May 2008 03:01 PM CDT Genome-wide association studies are the hottest thing in human genetics right now, but how well do they work? The idea is to look at genetic variants in hundreds or thousands of patients with a particular disease, as well as a healthy control population. Genetic variants that show up in the patient population more often than in the control population are said to be associated with the disease, although how these variants contribute to the disease requires much more detailed follow-up. |
| ZS Genetics Inc makes a bid for the X price [Next Generation Sequencing] Posted: 19 May 2008 02:40 PM CDT An article in the MIT Technology Review recently made me aware that ZS Genetics has entered the contest for the Archon X price for Genomics (100 human genomes in 10 days). ZS Genetics are developing a unique approach to DNA sequencing based on electron microscopy of labeled DNA strands. The technology can potentially sequence very long [...] |
| If you think you understand evolution... [T Ryan Gregory's column] Posted: 19 May 2008 02:07 PM CDT "If you think you understand [evolution], you don't know nearly enough about it." |
| Coolest body hack you'll see today [Bayblab] Posted: 19 May 2008 12:01 PM CDT |
| Your personal health: Google Health is live [business|bytes|genes|molecules] Posted: 19 May 2008 12:00 PM CDT I have an account, so it better be, or that is one good phishing scheme. Just kidding of course. Techmeme is all over this piece of news. The service launches with a familiar “googl-ey” look and feel to it, one that I like.
The service does not come across looking too bloated either. Right now, it is a simple Personalized Health Record with a catalog of items that can be added, e.g. procedures, medications, etc
You also have the ability to import information from a number of services (and Google has collected an impressive list)
In addition you can link your profile to a number of websites as well (e.g. The Cleveland Clinics MyConsult program). There are some interesting design choices as well. A search result opens in a new window/tab, as does clicking “read about health topics”. That’s a quick synopsis (I haven’t given the site a full test yet). I can see it evolving into partner relationships with other sites (23andme, PatientsLikeMe are obvious ones). But there are some concerns as well. I agree with a lot of what Larry Dignan had to say about the ToS, esp the lack of HIPAA protection. I also really wish there was an export option somewhere (I couldn’t find one). In the long term, the PHR ecosystem will mature, with Microsoft and Google both playing key roles, perhaps as personal aggregators, with other specialized services providing domain specific information. There is a lot of trust that needs to be gained here, so Google has to be careful. I will re-iterate my own feelings on this issue. I trust Google with my info a lot more than the government or a health care system. Technorati Tags: Google Health, Personalized Health Record, PHR  |
| Joshua Lederberg Papers on the Web (well, most of them) [The Tree of Life] Posted: 19 May 2008 09:27 AM CDT As a follow up to my previous post about a symposium in honor of Josh Lederberg that is coming up in Washington on Tuesday. There is a nice collection of his "papers" on the web - Profiles in Science: The Joshua Lederberg Papers By papers they mean everything - letters, notes, drafts, communications, etc. It is quite comprehensive and quite interesting including many discussions with other leading researchers key moments in the history of 20th century biological sciences research. It is worth checking out. I note - despite the availability of this great collection, one part of this life as a scientists is not completely freely available - his publications. Not all are at this site and many are hidden behind the walls of various journals. What a shame. Just about every one of his papers is worth reading. |
| BRCA Webcast Sherpas Repost [The Gene Sherpa: Personalized Medicine and You] Posted: 19 May 2008 08:51 AM CDT I vowed I would never post when family took precedence. I have to break that vow again today. I wish I didn't but there is something so vitally important that I must share with you. Why is this... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] |
| Bonne fete des Patriotes [The Daily Transcript] Posted: 19 May 2008 08:22 AM CDT This weekend I was back up in Montreal for my brother's wedding. It was actually held in St Antoine sur-le-Richelieu, a little picturesque town east of the city. This hamlet was also the site of a famous battle between the Brits and the local heroes, Les Patriotes. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... |
| Recycling Science [Sciencebase Science Blog] Posted: 19 May 2008 07:00 AM CDT
“It is a great honor to have my research recognized in this way but credit should be shared between all of my collaborators, especially the Advanced Photon Source beamline scientists without whom the research simply would not be possible. What makes the APS a truly world-class facility is not just its unique X-ray beam characteristics, but also the outstanding group of scientists working here. The synergy between the users and APS scientists is an absolutely crucial component for the cutting-edge research performed there.” Meanwhile, in straight chemistry news, nanotubes are feeling the heat of chilies and while analysts are musing on the lack of psychedelics in artists’ tipple absinthe. Also, this week, X-ray studies are helping in the redesign of novel anticancer compounds, while a connection the great British seaside holiday, kelp and iodine as an oxidant is revealed. Finally, plastic lasers could open the door for a new range of spectroscopic and medical diagnostics instrumentation. Get the full alchemical news here. You may also be interested in science news with a spectroscopic bent where I report on how recycling old computers and electronics can be used to make a new type of feedstock oil for the petrochemical industry. Recycling of a different kind in which parts from a CD-ROM drive have been scavenged for another purpose could help bring quick and inexpensive DNA diagnostics to the poorer parts of the world. More on that here. A post from David Bradley Science Writer |
| Building Science in a Small Country [Bitesize Bio] Posted: 19 May 2008 06:51 AM CDT I’ve been in a small European country (Cyprus) now for about five months, and recently spent a whole lot of time preparing grant applications to the national Research Promotion Foundation (RPF) here. Some observations: First off, there’s a lot of chaos in trying to build a research community from scratch in a matter of 5-10 years - a decade ago, there was no academic research in the natural sciences to speak of. And since they’re doing this all for only the first or second time, there are plenty of mistakes that it appears the RPF has made along the way with regards to the grant application process. That’s understandable in the long-run, but for the researchers who depend upon such funding for their jobs, it is agonizing to think that a minor overlooked detail could arbitrarily disqualify them from funding and have their application thrown out. And researchers here really need RPF funding, because they’re generally not able to be competitive yet with some of the institutes across the rest of the EU, which have much more experience. It’s such a young research community here. Second, grad school here is a bit different. Probably because it is such a young research community here, the research departments don’t guarantee funding to the grad students. From what I’ve seen, they have to have successful funding requests to stay in grad school, just as postdocs like myself have to be successful in the same way to stay in academia. This is a big departure from the department that I did my predoctoral work in, where my PI ensured that I was funded for the necessary length of time, and I could just go get work done. That, for me, made it easier of course, but it also left me with less experience writing grant applications than I would have had in this setting. So while here the grad student’s may be cut out of academia before they even start their career, my impression is that those who make it through will be better prepared for competing after their dissertation. But those are just some observations, and I’m still very much a neophyte in this area… Photo: Anders R. Naesset |
| HIV infection stems from few viruses [Think Gene] Posted: 19 May 2008 02:03 AM CDT A new study reveals the genetic identity of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the version responsible for sexual transmission, in unprecedented detail. The finding provides important clues in the ongoing search for an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine, said researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The UAB team found that among billions of HIV variants only a few lead to sexual transmission. Earlier studies have shown that a 'bottleneck' effect occurs where few versions of the virus lead to infection while many variants are present in the blood. The UAB study is the first to use genetic analysis and mathematical modeling to identify precisely those viruses responsible for HIV transmission. George M. Shaw, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the UAB departments of Medicine and Microbiology and senior author on the report, said the research sheds new light on potential vulnerabilities in the virus at a time when science, medicine and society are still reeling from the failure of a major HIV vaccine clinical trial. "We can now identify unambiguously those viruses that are responsible for sexual transmission of HIV-1. For the first time we can see clearly the face of the enemy," said Shaw, a project leader with the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology. The center is a National Institutes of Health-sponsored consortium of researchers at UAB, Harvard Medical School in Boston, Oxford University in England, the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and Duke University in Durham, N.C. The new HIV-1 findings are published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The new study was performed by sequencing many copies of the HIV envelope gene present in the viruses taken from 102 recently infected patients. The envelope gene encodes for a protein called Env that forms part of the outer covering of the virus, and is responsible for its infectiousness. The researchers then used sophisticated mathematical models of HIV replication and genetic change to identify the virus or viruses responsible for transmission. In 80 percent of the newly infected patients, a single virus caused transmission, though each virus was different in each patient. In the other 20 percent of patients, two to five unique viruses caused transmission. "Previously, researchers employed inexact methodologies that prevented precise identification of the virus that initiated infection," said Brandon Keele, Ph.D., an instructor in UAB's Department of Medicine and lead study investigator. "Our findings allow us to identify not only the transmitted virus, but also viruses that evolve from it." The UAB team said their work would lead to new research on how different HIV genes and proteins work together to make a virus biologically fit for transmission and for growth in the face of mounting immunity. Statistics show that while the worldwide percentage of people infected with HIV has leveled off, the total number HIV cases is rising. In 2007, 33.2 million people were estimated to be living with HIV, 2.5 million people became newly infected and 2.1 million people died from AIDS, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization. Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham Josh says: I never would have suspected that one variant of the virus is what causes the infection. The original paper is not yet available, but it sounds as though an individual may get infected with various strains of HIV, but then usually only one of them takes hold. I wonder why that’s the case… |
| Posted: 19 May 2008 02:00 AM CDT Portfolio’s public relations coordinator circulated a summary of the series (I wish I had a PR coordinator!):
Here are the four parts:
Look for David’s Book Later This Summer According to his website, Duncan is writing a book entitled Experimental Man: One Man's Intimate Journey Into Himself, Cell by Cell (although I’ve also seen it written as Experimental Man: A Molecular Autobiography) which is due to be available in late summer 2008. The book “describes and assesses a wide-range of leading-edge diagnostic tests that David has taken, from genes and environmental toxins inside him to brain scans assessing everything from his propensity to suffer from Alzheimer's Disease to the politics of his brain. He is running these tests as an Everyman in an attempt to understand and humanize the often eye-glazing science that is about to change our world.” The Experimental Man Power Point Presentation is already available. Sounds very interesting! HT: The Gene Sherpa |
| Novel enzyme inhibitor paves way for new cancer drug [Think Gene] Posted: 19 May 2008 01:56 AM CDT Combining natural organic atoms with metal complexes, scientists at The Wistar Institute have developed a new type of enzyme inhibitor capable of blocking a biochemical pathway that plays a key role in cancer development. Based on studies in human melanoma cells, the research paves the way for developing new ways to treat cancer by dampening the overactive enzyme activity that leads to uncontrolled tumor growth. Details of the study, to be published in the May 16 issue of the journal ACS Chemical Biology, show how small-molecule inhibitors can be designed to target a family of signaling proteins, called phosphatidyl-inositol-3-kinases, or PI3Ks. "The PI3K pathway has been called the most mutated pathway in human cancer," says Ronen Marmorstein, Ph.D., a professor in the Gene Expression and Regulation Program at Wistar and senior author of the study. PI3Ks are a family of lipid kinases – enzymes that transfer a phosphate group to an important signaling molecule in the cell called a lipid. They play a key role in a wide range of cellular functions, including cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, motility, survival and intracellular trafficking. Lipid kinases also drive cell division by modifying fatty acid molecules and directing cells to grow, change shape and move. Kinases have been the focus of drug development strategies for years, with some protein kinase-inhibiting compounds, such as Gleevec, already being used clinically to inhibit tumor growth. Though pharmaceutical companies have a keen interest in developing similar types of inhibitors for lipid kinases, targeting these enzymes remains a challenge. The problem is, the drugs often lack specificity, Marmorstein says. Such broad-spectrum compounds, which inhibit many different but related kinases, inevitably cause side effects and are therefore poor drug candidates. For these reasons, none of the PI3K-inhibitors developed to date have proven useful as therapeutic agents, he says. To overcome this hurdle and develop an inhibitor with greater specificity, and therefore greater potential as a drug candidate, Marmorstein and his colleagues set out to create a lipid kinase inhibitor using a metal complex in its structure. Though most protein inhibitors are created using purely organic atoms—such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur—adding a metal to the mix allows one to create compounds that are otherwise impossible to make with a purely organic toolbox, Marmorstein says. "The metal not only lends a structural support to the inhibitor but also provides the ability to form and accept a wider range of ligands, or chemical building blocks, to increase kinase selectivity," he says. Working with Eric Meggers of the University of Pennsylvania (now at the Philipps-Universtat Marburg in Germany), who has developed organometallic enzyme inhibitors for other types of kinases, the scientists combined traditional organic compounds with the metal Ruthenium to create a novel scaffold, the platform on which the inhibitor was constructed. After screening a general organometallic library of compounds designed by Meggers to identify potential agents to inhibit PI3K, the scientists identified a protein kinase inhibitor known as DW2. The scientists then used X-ray crystallography to determine the three-dimensional structure of PI3K bound to DW2, using the structure as a "starting point" to fashion more effective PI3K inhibitors. Based on what they had observed in their structural studies, the scientists were able to make several changes to the inhibitor to prepare a more potent and selective agent, Marmorstein says. To determine how well their new inhibitor, called E5, could selectively target PI3K lipid kinases, the researchers tested the agent on five different human protein kinases representing four kinase families. The study showed E5 selectively targeted the PI3K lipid kinases. In collaboration with Meenhard Herlyn, D.V.M., D.Sc., at the Wistar Institute, the Marmorstein group then tested the effectiveness of the agent using melanoma cell cultures. Melanoma was used as a model system for the study because the signaling pathway regulated by PI3K is highly mutated in melanoma, Marmorstein says. In addition to PI3K, the PI3K signaling pathway includes another kinase called AKT, and a phosphatase, PTEN, which serves as a tumor suppressor. "What you will often find is that one of those three proteins, and sometimes others, are mutated in cancer," Marmorstein says. Studies with human melanoma cells showed that E5 blocked AKT activity, thereby inhibiting the growth of cells. Further studies in 3D cultures of melanoma cells showed the agent also prevented melanoma cell invasion. "What we've shown is that our inhibitor can find the kinase that it's designed to inhibit without inhibiting other kinases, which could produce unwanted side effects," he says. Marmorstein says the group plans to improve upon the E5 compound by creating organometallic inhibitors that target other isoforms, or types, of PI3K. The PI3K family of kinases includes four types: alpha, beta, delta and gamma. Each type is associated with particular biological pathways and performs various functions in the cell. Though some of the PI3K types are associated with cancer, others are not. The trick to building inhibitors with low side effects and toxicity is to create inhibitors that knock out the troublesome isoforms without disrupting the other types, Marmorstein says. Source: The Wistar Institute Josh says: I really hope that this type of technique works for inhibitors of other molecules. The key to new medicines and drugs is for them to become more specific, which will lead to fewer side effects and allow them to be more effective. |
| New Mount Sinai research tracks effects of addictive drugs on brain [Think Gene] Posted: 19 May 2008 01:43 AM CDT Mount Sinai researchers may have unlocked the key to better understanding the effect addictive drugs have on the human brain. Researchers have just published the new breakthrough study, "Design Logic of a Cannabinoid Receptor Signaling Network that Triggers Neurite Outgrowth," in the latest issue of Science on May 16th, 2008. "The research findings give us a new window into the brain, helping us to better understand the role addictive drugs have on the inner workings of brain cells ," said Ravi Iyengar Ph.D., study author and Dorothy H. and Lewis Rosenstiel Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "This type of research provides may clues for targets within brain cells against which drugs that block addiction may be targeted." Mount Sinai researchers looked at the systems biology approach in order to study molecular networks underlying addiction. The findings start to unravel the complex interactions within brain cells, which are involved in processing signals from receptors in the brain that recognize the addictive drugs. Researchers discovered that a drug that works through the cannabinoid 1 receptor recognizing the active ingredient of marijuana activates many different transcription factors, triggering the differentiation of neurons, causing permanent changes in a person's brain. Another result of study was the discovery of a new role of the breast cancer gene BRCA 1 in neuronal differentiation and the effects of addictive drugs upon them. Source: The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine Josh says: What I find surprising in this is that the drugs appearently cause permanent changes by inducing differentiation. I always thought it would simply change some gene expression patterns. |
| Posted: 19 May 2008 12:43 AM CDT
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| Animated DNA replication [Bitesize Bio] Posted: 19 May 2008 12:24 AM CDT
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| Genomic Medicine: An Educational Resource from Helix Health [Highlight HEALTH] Posted: 19 May 2008 12:23 AM CDT The Human Genome Project has heralded a new era in our understanding of the molecular basis of disease. Genome-based medicine or personalized medicine is believed to be the future of healthcare. Indeed, genomic medicine is poised to improve disease diagnosis, therapy and prevention. Although genomics is related to genetics, there is a difference between the two terms. Genetics is the study of single genes and their effects. In contrast, genomics is the study of all the genes in the genome and the interactions among them and their environment. Genetics uses the information from one or two genes to describe a disease state, whereas genomics examines all genetic information to determine biological markers predisposing a person to disease. Genomics is especially relevant for complex or multifactoral disorders such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease and diabetes, which are due to the interaction of multiple genes and environmental factors [1]. With the sequencing of the human genome and the development of genomic technologies, medicine is entering a transition period whereby specific genetic knowledge will be critical for the delivery of effective healthcare. Many questions surround the state of this transition. A recent systematic review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association attempted to synthesize peer-reviewed published information on the delivery of genomic medicine for common adult-onset chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and coronary heart disease [2]. While advances in genetics and genomics have been extensive, the review found a large disparity between what is known and what is needed by healthcare professionals [2]:
Dr. Steve Murphy frequently discusses this disparity at Gene Sherpas: Personalized Medicine and You. Steve is also the founder of Helix Health, the country’s first stand-alone genomic medicine practice. To educate and promote personalized medicine, Steve has announced that Helix Health will host at minimum monthly podcasts on a variety of topics. The first event is a free 90-minute webcast titled “How Genomic Medicine is Changing the Management of Breast & Ovarian Cancer.” The webcast is scheduled for this Wednesday, May 21st, from 1:00 — 2:30 pm EDT [3]. The webcast will feature David Ewing Duncan, bestselling author of Masterminds: Genius, DNA and the Quest to Rewrite Life and Chief Correspondent and co-host of National Public Radio's "Biotech Nation", a panel of distinguished medical and legal professionals, and Jessica Queller, author of Pretty Is What Changes: Impossible Choices, The Breast Cancer Gene, and How I Defied My Destiny. The group will discuss how the doctor-patient relationship is changing and what the potential liability is for physicians in this transition period for genomic medicine and breast & ovarian cancer.
To register for the free webcast, point your browser here: http://event.netbriefings.com/event/helixhealth/register.html For more information, contact info@helixhealth.org or visit Helix Health. Additional resources can be found in the Personalized Medicine category of the Highlight HEALTH Web Directory. The Helix Health webcast should be very informative. I anticipate an interesting discussion on genetic testing, genomic medicine and breast & ovarian cancer, and encourage everyone to register and listen in this Wednesday, May 21st. Resources
.gif) Thank you for subscribing by RSS or email. I work hard to make the articles on Highlight HEALTH engaging and I truly appreciate your interest and readership!This article was published on Highlight HEALTH. Related articles |
Portfolio presents an interesting four-part series by 
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