![By way of Aqua Velvet, Health and Disease © 1965 Time Inc.
This drawing on the back cover indicates the influence of external forces on the body’s interior condition.
This relationship has been reinvigorated recently on the covers of popular magazines by what is known as epigenetics. What is known about epigenetics and the environment [Nature Reviews] is limited (in comparison to similar areas of study) but there’s a growing [Heredity] body of work and thus plenty more that needs to be said at the molecular level.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/abf8cb721f5d34ba9db8cfa06af81f08/tumblr_mhudnoZIXU1qzs6yjo1_1280.jpg)
By way of Aqua Velvet, Health and Disease © 1965 Time Inc.
This drawing on the back cover indicates the influence of external forces on the body’s interior condition.
This relationship has been reinvigorated recently on the covers of popular magazines by what is known as epigenetics. What is known about epigenetics and the environment [Nature Reviews] is limited (in comparison to similar areas of study) but there’s a growing [Heredity] body of work and thus plenty more that needs to be said at the molecular level.
Fast-growing fish may never wind up on your plate
“This undated 2010 handout photo provided by AquaBounty Technologies shows two same-age salmon, a genetically modified salmon, rear, and a non-genetically modified salmon, foreground. Salmon that’s genetically modified to grow twice as fast as normal could soon show up on your dinner plate — if the company that makes the fish can stay afloat.”
Elaine R. Mardis as quoted in Eisenberg, Anne. “A Geneticist’s Research Turns Personal.” The New York Times. 2 June 2012. Web. 4 Jun. 2012 [source]
Dr. Michael Snyder, a professor and chairman of the genetics department at the Stanford University School of Medicine, sequenced his genome and learned that he had a high risk for Type 2 diabetes. Not long after learning about this risk, he caught a cold passed on to him by his children that may have helped prompt the onset of diabetes via stress. However because Dr. Snyder had analyzed his genome and monitored his molecular data (RNA, proteins, metabolites and autoantibodies) from his blood samples, he was able to make the necessary changes to his lifestyle and treat his diabetes 18 - 20 months before his next doctors visit. Dr. Snyder was thus able to avoid any serious damage by combining the new, genomic sequencing, with the old, standard blood tests.
Don’t get all of your hopes up yet, human genome sequencing is still $4,000 but according to George M. Church, a professor at Harvard Medical School, the price could fall to $1,000 or less within the next year.
You can read his study at this link, it’s pretty cool.
DNA Sequencing To Go - Technology Review
Oxford Nanopore says it will begin selling by the end of the year a disposable DNA sequencer about the size of a USB memory stick that can be plugged directly into a laptop or desktop computer and used to perform a single-molecule sensing experiment. The device is expected to sell for $900, according to the company.
The company also unveiled a larger benchtop version of the technology. It says a configuration of 20 of the benchtop instruments could completely sequence a human genome in 15 minutes.
You’ve sequenced your genome, now what?
A checklist would look something like the following. Every story on new research should include the sample size and highlight where it may be too small to draw general conclusions. Any increase in risk should be reported in absolute terms as well as percentages: For example, a “50 percent increase” in risk or a “doubling” of risk could merely mean an increase from 1 in 1,000 to 1.5 or 2 in 1,000. A story about medical research should provide a realistic time frame for the work’s translation into a treatment or cure. It should emphasize what stage findings are at: If it is a small study in mice, it is just the beginning; if it’s a huge clinical trial involving thousands of people, it is more significant. Stories about shocking findings should include the wider context: The first study to find something unusual is inevitably very preliminary; the 50th study to show the same thing may be justifiably alarming. Articles should mention where the story has come from: a conference lecture, an interview with a scientist, or a study in a peer-reviewed journal, for example.”
Only in America: Pinellas County, Fla., will stop adding fluoride to its drinking water after complaints by anti-government activists. Dentists protested the decision, arguing that fluoridation has dramatically lowered tooth-decay rates across the U.S., but Tea Party activists said it was part of a plot by “the world government to keep people stupid.”
More from our collection of strange revelations about the nation
Oh really? Well here is a list of 10 fictitious Tea Party beliefs. You know what, here’s another 14 ridiculous beliefs that Tea Party guvmint candidates believe and have stated.
Now you tell me which group is “stupid.”
