Some interesting news articles posted recently.
A conference on pubic access to their personal DNA is being held in
Washington, D.C. Governments around the world are taking up this issue
and restricting public access to personal DNA tests in some form, so
this topic is very germane to each of us.
Anyone who lives in the DC area and can attend, it would be great to
hear a first hand account of this conference. The speakers are noted
individuals in this field and should have some good points to make.
http://www.dnapolicy.org/event.registration.php?event_id=10
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Article on disease and DNA in today's Nature:
http://www.medadnews.com/News/index.cfm?articleid=414667
Human Genetics: Variants in common diseases
Nelson B. Freimer and Chiara Sabatti
Most common diseases arise from interaction between multiple genetic
variations and factors such as diet. Studies of such diseases that
exploit the rich data on variation in the human genome are just
beginning.
The results of the first genome-wide-association (GWA) surveys of common
diseases are trickling out. This trickle will soon be a flood of data,
much anticipated but challenging to interpret. These initial studies
will calibrate our expectations for future investigations, and help to
establish the principles for how they are best reported.
In a paper published on Nature's website today, Sladek et al. report the
results of such a survey of type 2 diabetes. It is the largest GWA study
so far, and tackles a very common disease that is rising in prevalence
throughout the world. More than one in three Americans born in 2000 will
develop type 2 diabetes, and its rise is particularly rapid in
populations that have recently adopted Western lifestyles — hence the
efforts to understand the interplay between genetic and environmental
risk factors in generating the high frequency of the disease. Sladek et
al. contribute to these efforts. They demonstrate an unequivocal
association between type 2 diabetes and a previously identified genetic
locus (TCF7L2), and substantial — but preliminary — evidence for several
new loci.
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The Beothuks, an extinct Native American tribe indigenous to
Newfoundland and Labrador, mtDNA has been extracted from the dentine of
Chief Nonosabasut, and wife, Demasduit. In 1819, Chief Nonosabasut and
his small tribe of Beothuks, encountered a party of ten armed English
settlers at Red Indian Lake. A conflict ensued in which the chief was
killed and Demasduit was taken prisoner, but died soon thereafter from
tuberculosis.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/114037537/ABSTRACT?
CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
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DNA in the news - Caution advised for the sensitive
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/02/06/
a_secret_at_last_unraveled/
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Nature issue of 4 January 2007 - The Making of Britain - 3book reviews.
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"President Calls for Genetic Privacy Bill"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/washington/18privacy.html?
th=&adxnnl=1&emc
=th&adxnnlx=1169136272-dzwGlyLTid2BX+EfTGIN9A
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Top News- Will Ancient Find Unravel Stonehenge Mystery? - AOL News_
(
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/will-ancient-find-unravel-
stonehenge/n2007013
0113409990003?cid=2194)
http://www.cnn.com/video/partners/clickability/index.html?url=/video/
us/2007/01/20/whitfield.forgotten.history.cnn
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One last thing,
Here is a link to the surgeon general's form for establishing a family
health history. Probably even more important than our genealogies.
Enjoy,
http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/
John Carr