Genetics & Molecular Biology

Want to live a long life? Your genes still don't make a difference (yet) according to research on the bone health of one of the oldest persons in the world who recently died at the age of 114 The study reveals that there were no genetic modifications which could have contributed to this longevity. The research team, directed by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona professor Adolfo Díez Pérez, pointed out a healthy lifestyle, a Mediterranean diet, a temperate climate and regular physical activity as the reasons for his excellent health. They studied the bone mass and analysed the genetics of a…

A study of 90,000 people has uncovered new genetic variants that influence fat mass, weight and risk of obesity. The variants act in addition to the recently described variants of the FTO gene: adults carrying variants in both genes are, on average, 3.8 kg (or 8.5 lb) heavier. The research could lead to better ways of treating obesity. The variants map close to a gene called MC4R: mutations in this gene are the most common genetic cause of severe familial obesity. The study also highlights the power of large collections of volunteer samples to uncover common variants that influence health.…

We go back a long way with herpesviruses. Our evolutionary line has been living with these genomic parasites for more than 100 million years, and today herpesviruses infect nearly all humans, as well as all other mammals, birds and reptiles that scientists have checked. We aren't born with these viruses, but most of us acquire multiple infections of various types of herpesviruses during childhood. Unlike our relationship with many other, more notorious viruses, we've learned to peacefully coexist with herpesviruses for the most part. They set up shop in our cells, they use our molecular…

Each copy of the human genome consists of about 3,200,000,000 base pairs, and includes about 500,000 repeats of the LINE-1 transposable element (a LINE) and twice as many copies of Alu (a SINE), as compared to around 20,000 protein-coding genes. Whereas protein-coding regions represent about 1.5% of the genome, about half is made up LINE-1, Alu, and other transposable element sequences. These begin as parasites, and some continue to behave as detrimental mutagens implicated in disease. However, most of those in the human genome are no longer mobile, and it is possible that many of these…

A baby is twice as likely to be born bottom first if either or both the parents were themselves breech deliveries, according to a study published ahead of print on bmj.com. The results suggest genes are a contributing factor. The vast majority of babies are delivered head first. Fewer than one in twenty are delivered the other way round – what is known as a breech delivery. Such deliveries carry significantly greater risks for the baby: they are more likely to die or suffer from health problems. Factors such as premature delivery and low birth weight are also known risk factors associated…

You thought psychological counselling for pets was the last word in over-indulgent animal concern? Not so. Thanks to Dr. Susan Nelson, a veterinarian at Kansas State University, you can get a blood test, "Wisdom panel MX", that can determine the heritage of the family dog. That's right, your dog could turn out to be related to William Wallace's dog. "The new test uses a blood sample that looks for 'breed signatures' that are specific for more than 130 breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club, with more breeds being added as time goes on," Nelson said. "Accuracy is estimated at 84 per…

If you had one hundred unlabeled DNA samples, taken from people all around the world, could you use that DNA to determine where the original donors came from? With major improvements in genotyping technology, geneticists are now getting better and better at this game, and a recent paper in Science reports the largest study to date of human genetic diversity: 650,000 genetic differences scrutinized in nearly 1000 different individuals from 51 different populations. Studies like this one lay important groundwork to help us understand how human genomes differ around the world, how differences…

Genome-wide association studies are increasingly widely used to discover genetic variations that increase the risk of common diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Intuitively they're quite straightforward: take a few thousand individuals with a disease (cases), a few thousand healthy individuals (controls), examine hundreds of thousands of genetic variations in both groups using new large-scale genotyping technologies, and see which variants are more common in cases than controls. This simple approach has turned out to be a powerful tool, uncovering genes involved in a multitude of…

There's a class war brewing and it involves DNA. Only the wealthy can afford what is, now, around $350,000 for the kind of sequencing that can tell you if you have a disease-risk gene that can be passed on to kids. That's a Bentley. Dan Stoicescu, a millionaire living in Switzerland - "I’d rather spend my money on my genome than a Bentley or an airplane." Yet, oddly, not starving children or a cure for cancer. How positively everyman for him to think an airplane is too indulgent but a personal genome is a reasonable use of money. A high end luxury car, like a Bentley, could be passed along…

Happiness in life is as much down to having the right genetic mix as it is to personal circumstances according to a recent study. Psychologists at the University of Edinburgh working with researchers at Queensland Institute for Medical Research in Australia found that happiness is partly determined by personality traits and that both personality and happiness are largely hereditary. Using a framework which psychologists use to rate personalities, called the Five-Factor Model, the researchers found that people who do not excessively worry, and who are sociable and conscientious tend to be…