Most genetic association studies examine the genetic material found in
somatic cells, often overlooking mitochondrial DNA (mDNA). This DNA, like DNA of the Y sex chromosome,
is inhertied without any recombination such that it is identical between the
offspring and the parent. Mitochondrial
DNA is preserved through the maternal line, however (versus the paternal line
in the case of the Y chromosome). How
much attention does mDNA deserve as far as predicting inheritable traits? The aging process is indubitably determined
by a variety of factors beyond genetic makeup.
How much weight do you give the disocveries of the study discussed?
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Genetic Family Swap
CUTAG of the Week:
It has been common knowledge for years that certain genetic
variations inherited from our parents or ancestors can predispose us to certain
diseases. For example, a mutation in an inherited gene HER2 can predispose a
person to breast cancer. A new study has linked a mutation in a males sperm to
an increased likelihood to develop ALL, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, the most
common type of blood cancer in children. Even though it doesn’t directly cause
ALL to develop in children, do you think that men looking to have children
should now have their sperm tested for this genetic variation? For women,
knowing that your potential partner has this mutation in their sperm, would you
be less likely to have children and stay in a relationship with your partner?
For men, knowing that you have this variation, would you be less likely to want
to have children?
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Are you "normal" ?
CUTAG of the Week:
It is amazing to think about how interrelated all of our genes,
as humans, are to one another, even though our appearances make us look so
different. Scientists have found that the same inherited genetic variations in
humans lead to some of the most common mental illnesses in America. Often
times, knowing that someone has a mental disorder such as schizophrenia, they
are looked down upon as being “not normal” and perhaps in some cases this could
be the defining factor of keeping a friendship or not. If you knew that someone
close to you had a variation in these genes, would your opinion of them change?
If you yourself had this genetic variation and could change your genes to
“normal”, would you?
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Ancient DNA
CUTAG of the Week:
Serendipity, such as this case of prehistoric fossils being perfectly
preserved in a frozen climate, met with modern technology, allows for previous
records in scientific achievements to be surpassed. A 700,000 year-old ancestor to the modern
horse has recently had its DNA fully recovered allowing for the oldest genome
known to be fully sequenced. What do you
make of the use of DNA of other specimens assumed to be related to the ancestor
as references for completing the sequencing?
What other limitations should be considered should prehistoric hominid
DNA be recovered for sequencing? At what
point, if any, could older traditional methods for mapping related organisms
and their evolution become obsolete? Can
genomic sequencing become the sole method for determining how organisms evolve
and are related?
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Battlefield: Nature vs. Nurture
CUTAG:
An ongoing debate in the field of genetics is what is more
important, our genes, the “nature” in the debate, or the way we are raised, the
“nurture”. Recently scientists have found that certain transposons, or “jumping
DNA”, that previously have been found to have little effect on its’ hosts, has
developed a positive effect when inserted next to a certain gene. The effect in
this study is disease resistance in plants, an example of epigenetics at play.
What does this finding support in the nature vs nurture debate?
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