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Posts Tagged ‘23andMe’

Check out the Interpretome! developed by students and staff at Stanford University. – I have 17 European alleles and 3 East Asian alleles … the genetic proof is in … white boys can’t jump. – I have 17 out of 32 Type 2 Diabetes risk alleles … put down those carbs now … and 19 [...]

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Hands shake and wobble as the decades pass … moreso in some. A recently evolved “T” allele (rs12720208) in the  3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of the FGF20 gene has been implicated in the risk of Parkinson’s Disease … namely by creating a wobbly G:U base-pair between microRNA-433 (miR-433) and the FGF20 transcript.  Since the normal function [...]

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“Listen Eric, you should think about how useful your newfangled Personal Genome is going to be.  There are a lot of reasons why all this information doesn’t tell you much” “For example, have you thought about epigenetic effects that might be environmentally induced and can be transmitted across multiple subsequent generations?  Genotypes of individuals in [...]

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Image by noahg. via Flickr If you’ve started to notice the arrival of spring blossoms, you may have wondered, “how do the blossoms know when its spring?“  Well, it turns out that its not the temperature, but rather, that plants sense the length of the day-light cycle in order to synchronize their  own life cycles [...]

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An historic find has occurred in the quest (gold-rush, if you will) to link genome variation with brain structure-function variation.  This is the publication of the very first genome-wide (GWAS) analysis of individual voxels (voxels are akin to pixels in a photograph, but are rather 3D cubes of brain-image-space about 1mm on each side) of [...]

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According to wikipedia, “Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (July 31, 1901 – May 12, 1985) was one of the most famous French painters and sculptors of the second half of the 20th century.”  “He coined the term Art Brut (meaning “raw art,” often times referred to as ‘outsider art’) for art produced by non-professionals working outside [...]

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Image via Wikipedia The A-to-T SNP rs7794745 in the CNTNAP2 gene was found to be associated with increased risk of autism (see Arking et al., 2008).  Specifically, the TT genotype, found in about 15% of individuals, increases these folks’ risk by about 1.2-1.7-fold.  Sure enough, when I checked my 23andMe profile, I found that I’m [...]

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If you’re a coffee drinker, you may have noticed the new super-sized portions available at Starbucks.  On this note, it may be worth noting that caffeine is a potent psychoactive substance of which – too much – can turn your buzz into a full-blown panic disorder.  The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for psychiatry outlines a [...]

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Image via Wikipedia In their forecast “The World in 2010” special issue, the Economist points to “The looming crisis in human genetics” wherein scientists will reluctantly acknowledge that, even with super-cheap genome sequencing tools, we may not soon understand how genetic variation contributes to complex illness.  The argument is a valid one to be sure, [...]

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Image by Scrunchleface via Flickr A recent GWAS study identified the 3′ region of the liver- (not brain) expressed PECR gene (rs7590720(G) and rs1344694(T)) on chromosome 2 as a risk factor for alcohol dependency.  These results, as reported by Treutlein et al., in “Genome-wide Association Study of Alcohol Dependence” were based on a population of [...]

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This year, my 5 year-old son and I have passed many afternoons sitting on the living room rug learning to read.  While he ever so gradually learns to decode words, eg. “C-A-T”  sound by sound, letter by letter – I can’t help but marvel at the human brain and wonder what is going on inside.  [...]

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Image by digitalART2 via Flickr In Robert Sapolsky’s book, “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers“, he details a biological feedback system wherein psychological stress leads to the release of glucocorticoids that have beneficial effects in the near-term but negative effects (e.g. ulcers, depression, etc.) in the long-term.  The key to getting the near-term benefits and avoiding [...]

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**PODCAST accompanies this post** In the brain, as in other aspects of life, timing is everything.  On an intuitive level, its pretty clear, that, since neurons have to work together in widely distributed networks, they have a lot of incentive to talk to each other in a rhythmic, organized way. Think of a choir that [...]

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Image via CrunchBase pointer to: Great Q&A on Freakonomics with 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki. Nice overview of peoples’ concerns and interests in personal genomes.

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pointer to Jen S. McCabe’s blog on healthcare management and gracious video share of her experience with her 23andMe personal genome data.

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Image by freeparking via Flickr Back in the day, when the fam would get together at my parents’ house, I would enjoy shuffling through their box of old photos.  Looking at childhood pictures of myself and relatives, it was natural to compare our adult selves to the old pictures and look for similarities – emotional [...]

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Image via Wikipedia The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, neurogenin-1 is known to regulate neural development and neurite outgrowth.  As such, it makes for a particularly interesting point to begin to understand mental illness and its complex developmental origins.  The recent paper by Ho et al., “Basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor NEUROG1 and schizophrenia: Effects on illness [...]

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Image via Wikipedia Just having some fun with SNPedia’s new release of Promethase (0.1.66) which now has a superfast analysis option ($2 via a link to your Amazon.com account) as well as the usual free regular speed option.  I had some fun comparing my 23andMe profile to my wife’s using the experimental “breeding” tool and [...]

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Image by `michelleBlack via Flickr “There is a sucker born every minute”, were the words that looped through my mind on the long train ride home after losing $200 in an unfortunate encounter with a card shark over on Canal Street, many years ago.  I recall that when the card shark (actually a kindly old [...]

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Image by sean dreilinger via Flickr I was irked to see, in today’s New York Times, a picture of a young child having his cheek swabbed so that his parents could ascertain his status at the rs1815739 C/T variant .  T-alleles at this site give rise to a premature stop codon in the alpha 3 [...]

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