Monthly Archives: April 2019

China’s human-like monkeys spark concerns

This article is just out, from news.com in Australia. These provocative experiments will undoubtedly cause world-wide concern for bioethics meetings and setting up some international rules. 🙁 DwN China’s human-like monkeys spark concerns By Natasha Christian news.com.au A computer scientist … Continue reading

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Genome-wide polygenic score (GPS) — Prediction of weight and obesity trajectories from birth to adulthood

These GEITP pages often discuss genotype-phenotype associations of multifactorial traits. Today’s multifactorial trait is “extreme obesity” (but we might consider it like other complex phenotypes such as height, type-2 diabetes, adverse drug response, or toxic effects of an environmental toxicant). … Continue reading

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A compendium of mutational signatures of environmental agents

It is well known that diverse environmental carcinogens result in distinctly different patterns of genomic responses. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of a single malignant melanoma and a single lung cancer cell line in 2010, for example, first illustrated the power of … Continue reading

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) mouse model — improved by gut bacteria ???

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a great example of a gene-environment interactions topic — i.e. fitting in perfectly to these GEITP pages. Clearly there are hundreds, if not thousands, of small-effect genes that contribute to genetic susceptibility (to be afflicted … Continue reading

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New Homo subline discovered? “Homo luzonensis” in the Philippines

Because evolution of modern man is a topic covered by gene-environment interactions, these GEITP pages have kept up-to-date on the latest advances in how we Homo sapiens got here, today. The first of our “close relatives” Homo neaderthalensis was first … Continue reading

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Diagnostic Utility of Genome-wide DNA Methylation Testing in Genetically Unsolved Individuals with Suspected Hereditary Conditions

These GEITP pages have often discussed epigenetic effects — which, as you recall, includes DNA-methylation, RNA-interference, histone modifications, and chromatin remodeling. In contrast to genetic effects (in which alterations in DNA sequence contribute to the phenotype), epigenetic effects represent non-DNA-sequence … Continue reading

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PAIN ain’t the same in boys as it is in girls

The basic theme of these GEITP emails is gene-environment interactions. In the case of this topic, the gene differences occur in males vs females, whereas the environmental signal is induction of PAIN to the individual (mouse or human). At first, … Continue reading

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A Weaning Reaction to Microbiota Is Required for Resistance to Immunopathologies in the Adult

From time to time, these GEITP pages have covered articles on the gut microbiome. It is now appreciated that — if our entire body were examined for total DNA content — more than 90% of all DNA would be found … Continue reading

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Acute and Chronic Effects Associated With Cannabis Use — Is Partly Dependent on Route of Exposure

Legalization of cannabis in a growing number of States — coupled with the perception that “marijuana is an innocuous drug” — has led to significant increases in cannabis consumption, both for its recreational properties and for its alleged medicinal properties. … Continue reading

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Admixture mapping reveals evidence of differential multiple sclerosis risk by genetic ancestry

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an example of a disease influenced by both genetic susceptibility loci and environmental factors. MS is known to be an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, which results in loss of the myelin sheath around … Continue reading

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