Denisova APOE status
I got thinking this evening about APOE, which includes a very well-known polymorphism of three alleles, where the most ancient (ApoE4) is associated significantly with Alzheimer's Disease risk in...
View ArticleExome sequencing into Norway national health care
From Ewen Callaway: "Norway is set to become the first country to incorporate genome sequencing into its national health-care system."In its three-year pilot phase, the Norwegian Cancer Genomics...
View ArticleA story of methemoglobinemia
A story by Susan Donaldson James of a unique genetic disorder and the social stigma of inbreeding in Appalachia: "Fugates of Kentucky: Skin Bluer than Lake Louise". By the time reports appeared in the...
View ArticleFinding the scary genes
John Lauerman reports in BusinessWeek on his experience participating in the Personal Genome Project: “This is probably the most serious variant that we’ve actually seen to date in the study,” Thakuria...
View ArticleAlzheimer's long read
The New York Times has a powerful story about the genetics of early onset Alzheimer's disease, by Gina Kolata: "An Alzheimer's gene: one family's saga". Gary was pretty sure it was his family whose...
View ArticleStopping the study
Gina Kolata reports on a surprising result for a long-term study of diet and exercise in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: "Diabetes Study Ends Early With a Surprising Result".The study randomly...
View ArticleLying to patients about genetic tests is wrong
Bonnie Rochman, in the Health and Family section of Time, picks up the story of the ethics of reporting incidental genetic results to patients: "What Your Doctor Isn’t Telling You About Your DNA".The...
View ArticleChemical effects of pigmentation variation
I lectured on pigmentation in my introductory class this week, and this recent news story is relevant: "Redheads may be at higher risk of melanoma even without sun". The article describes experiments...
View ArticlePaleopathology of care
A story in the New York Times today by James Gorman covers some cases of ancient skeletons that provide evidence of long-term palliative care in prehistoric societies: "Ancient Bones That Tell a Story...
View ArticleSpace radiation
Maggie Koerth-Baker, on "How space radiation hurts astronauts". I did not know about this part:Cucinotta calls this pre-flight calibration. Scientists take a blood sample from an astronaut before the...
View ArticleThe workings of leprosy
Mo Costandi describes a paper with a really fascinating finding about the workings of leprosy: "Leprosy spreads by reprogramming nerve cells into migratory stem cells".Anura Rambukkana of the MRC...
View ArticleTracing teeth troubles with fossil bacteria
Ed Yong has a great account today of some research from Alan Cooper's lab on the oral microbiome in pre-agricultural and post-agricultural Europeans: "Prehistoric Plaque and the Gentrification of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Heart disease among the ancients
Mummy in the Louvre, photo by Jose and Roxanne (creative commons)Nicholas Bakalar covers a new paper in Lancet showing a high incidence of atherosclerosis in mummies from four ancient populations: "CT...
View ArticleCovering cracks or falling through them
A beautiful bit of medical anthropology by med student Shara Yurkiewicz: "'Good patients' cover their emotional cracks"My father sees a famous cardiologist, and he rarely asks questions. For the past...
View ArticleThe complexity of obesity
A moderately long read by David Berreby in Aeon magazine looks at a gaggle of theories about the causes and consequences of the worldwide epidemic of obesity: "The obesity era". What got me to click...
View Article
