Cytori, Osiris could be first to launch stem cell products - Apr. 5, 2007 "Two biotechs, Cytori Therapeutics and Osiris Therapeutics, each hope to get their experimental stem cell products approved by the Food and Drug Administration and into the U.S. market by 2008. ..."
Proposal to Sequence Genomes of Unique Interest for Research on Aging "The purpose of this page is to summarize and organize our efforts to sequence the genome of organisms of unique interest for aging research. We are preparing a "white paper" proposal for submission to the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). ..."
Gene discovery raises hope of treatment for memory loss | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited "A memory-enhancing pill capable of boosting people's ability to learn and remember is a step closer following the discovery of a gene in the brain that plays a crucial role in memory formation. ..."
Disease underlies Hatfield-McCoy feud - Yahoo! News "Several genetic experts have known about the disease plaguing some of the McCoys for decades, but kept it secret. The Associated Press learned of it after several family members revealed their history to Vanderbilt doctors, who are trying to find more McCoy relatives to warn them of the risk. ..."
Reason Magazine - Medievalizing Biotech Regulation "What needs regulating? Human biotechnology. Fukuyama unveiled his plan for a new agency at a conference held at the Rayburn House Office building on Capitol Hill. ..."
Alzheimer's tackled by testosterone boost - Science - Specials - smh.com.au "RESEARCHERS in Perth have made a groundbreaking discovery into the prevention of Alzheimer's disease, after showing that boosting testosterone levels in the body can lower levels of a toxic brain protein linked to the development of the crippling condition. ..."
Mid-West Community Genetics Forum "The Center for Public Health and Community Genomics (CPHCG) at the University of Michigan is launching the new Mid-West Community Genetics Forum. The purpose of this forum is to engage and educate Midwest communities on genomics and encourage feedback on issues of genomic research and practice. ..."
The Charlie Rose Science Series, Episode Three - The Science of Living Longer - Google Video"In this third episode of the Charlie Rose Science Series, we examine the science of living longer with Paul Nurse of The Rockefeller ... all » University, Leonard Guarente of M.I.T., Cynthia Kenyon of UC San Francisco, Richard Weindruch of the Wisconsin National Primate Center, Robert Butler, President of the International Longevity Center, Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois, Chicago, and Sue Levkoff of Harvard Medical School. ..."
Bioethics Quilt Project: Black Americans and Medicine "This presentation will explore the relationship between quilting, an enriched group process, and the emergence of a community narrative concerning a traumatic community experience, the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study. ..."
New Science Of Metagenomics 'Will Transform Modern Microbiology' "The emerging field of metagenomics, where the DNA of entire communities of microbes is studied simultaneously, presents the greatest opportunity -- perhaps since the invention of the microscope -- to revolutionize understanding of the microbial world, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report calls for a new Global Metagenomics Initiative to drive advances in the field in the same way that the Human Genome Project advanced the mapping of our genetic code. ..."
Amazon.com: Jewish Perspectives on Theology And the Human Experience of Disability: Books: Judith Z. Abrams,William C. Gaventa "Offers an inclusive kaleidoscopic view of Judaism and how Judaism approaches disability. Each sensitive contribution adds depth and perspective to the moral imperatives confronting Jewish law, individuals, families, communities and humanity ..."
Conference DVDs | CRS "DVDs of all CR Society conferences (except the first one) are availabe. ..."
Commentary Online Article - Jewish Genius "And so this Scots-Irish Gentile from Iowa hereby undertakes to tell the story. I cover three topics: the timing and nature of Jewish accomplishment, focusing on the arts and sciences; elevated Jewish IQ as an explanation for that accomplishment; and current theories about how the Jews acquired their elevated IQ. ..."
Columbia University Medical Center "New research from Columbia University Medical Center may explain why people who are able to easily and accurately recall historical dates or long-ago events, may have a harder time with word recall or remembering the day s current events. They may have too much memory making it harder to filter out information and increasing the time it takes for new short-term memories to be processed and stored. ..."
Effect of hormone therapy on risk of heart disease may vary by age and years since menopause "Secondary analyses of findings from the Women¡¦s Health Initiative (WHI) suggest that women who begin hormone therapy within 10 years of menopause may have less risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) due to hormone therapy than women farther from menopause. ..."
Genes found for successful smoking cessation "Physicians may some day have a new tool for tailoring smoking cessation treatments to a patient's individual genetic makeup.Researchers from Duke University Medical Center and the National Institute on Drug Abuse scanned the entire genetic makeup, or genome, of smokers and found that variants in 221 genes distinguished smokers who were successful in quitting from those who were not. ..."
It's never too late to get it back! Aging interrupted "Much research has shown that reduced calorie intake can increase health and longevity. Professor Stephen Spindler (University of California) and his collaborators* have discovered that reducing calorie intake later in life can still induce many of the health and longevity benefits of life-long calorie reduction. Importantly, this also includes anti-cancer effects. They are using this knowledge to establish a novel screening technique to find drugs which mimic this longevity effect. ..."
Stem cells speed growth of healthy liver tissue "For the first time, researchers have used adult bone marrow stem cells to regenerate healthy human liver tissue, according to a study published in the April issue of the journal Radiology. ..."
Dna Spit Kit First For City Firefighters (from Evening Times) "FIREFIGHTERS in Glasgow are the first in Scotland to be given "spit kits" to identify attackers from saliva DNA. ..."
Genetic Alliance Strategies for Success Series "Our new series, "Meet Your Neighbors", will provide short (one hour) introductions to organizations at work in the genetics community. These organizations are coalitions, professional societies, government agencies, policy and think tank organizations – all contributing to advance science, policy and medicine. ..."
International News | South Korea Bioethics Committee Removes Ban on Cloning of Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Official Says - Kaisernetwork.org "The South Korean National Bioethics Committee on Friday voted to remove a ban on human embryonic stem cell cloning research and conditionally allow the research ..."
news @ nature.com - Cancer patients opt for unapproved drug - Internet trade pre-empts clinical trial "An experimental cancer drug shrinks tumours in rats with no apparent side effects. The scientists behind the study plan to do a clinical trial in humans, but it could take years to complete. Meanwhile, dying patients begin taking the unapproved drug and collect their results on the web. Both groups desperately want to save lives: but which is the right route to follow? ..."
Precaution and analysis: two sides of the same coin? Introduction to Talking Point on the precautionary principle "However, there remain serious ambiguities and queries about the nature and appropriate role of the precautionary principle in governance (Cross, 1996; Morris, 2000; Majone, 2002; Löfstedt, 2004). For a better understanding of the debate and its implication for policy-making, it is helpful to distinguish three positions or mental framings of the precautionary principle (Resnik, 2003). ..."
Risk, precaution and science: towards a more constructive policy debate. Talking point on the precautionary principle "Few issues in contemporary risk policy are as momentous or contentious as the precautionary principle. ..."
DNA Boosts Herodotus Account of Etruscans as Migrants to Italy - New York Times"Geneticists have added an edge to a 2,500-year-old debate over the origin of the Etruscans, a people whose brilliant and mysterious civilization dominated northwestern Italy for centuries until the rise of the Roman republic in 510 B.C. Several new findings support a view held by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus but unpopular among archaeologists that the Etruscans originally migrated to Italy from the Near East. ..."
DNA Tests Offer Immigrants Hope or Despair - New York Times "Federal officials are increasingly turning to genetic testing to verify the biological bonds between new citizens and the overseas relatives they hope to bring here, particularly those from war-torn or developing countries where identity documents can be scarce or doctored.But while the tests often lead to joyful reunions among immigrant families, they are forcing others to confront unexpected and sometimes unbearable truths. ..."
Stalking Strangers DNA to Fill in the Family Tree - New York Times "Unlike paper records, which can be hard to come by and harder to verify, a genetic test can quickly and definitively tell if someone is a relative. But not all potential kin are easily parted from their DNA. Some worry about revealing family secrets. Some fear their sample could be used to pry into other areas of their lives. Some just do not want to be bothered. ..."
Online NewsHour: Report | DNA Matching Reunites Families | February 15, 2007 | PBS "In a tiny village in El Salvador recently, 21-year-old Angela Fillingim met her biological mother for the first time. Angela had left El Salvador with adopted parents 21 years ago, and it has taken DNA testing and the support of organizations and scientists in California and Central America to bring together mother and child. ..."
Biobank large-scale recruiting underway in Manchester "Following a successful pilot study, UK Biobank has begun to roll out its recruitment programme, beginning the greater Manchester area (see press release). Over the next year, tens of thousands of people aged 40-69 will receive a letter inviting them to enrol in Biobank ..."
New Product Scientifically Battles Aging at the Cellular Level "Telomerase Activation Sciences, Inc. (TA Sciences) announced on March 12 its license with Geron to develop and market non-therapeutic products using Geron's small molecule telomerase activators. Now TA Sciences announces the opening of the TA Sciences Center in Manhattan where customers can purchase TA Sciences' first product, a nutraceutical containing the telomerase activating agent "TA-65." ..."
PUBPAT > WARF Stem Cell Patents "In July 2006, PUBPAT filed formal requests with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on behalf of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights to revoke three patents owned by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation that purport to cover stem cells that are looting taxpayer funds and forcing research overseas. In its filings, PUBPAT submitted previously unseen prior art showing that the patents were - in fact - not new and, as such, should be revoked. The USPTO granted each of the requests in September 2006 and rejected all claims of each of the patents on March 30, 2007. ..."
Keeping up with the times key to successful aging | Reuters "Whether it's listening to an iPod, playing video games or keeping up with the news, staying in tune with the times may help people live to 100. ..."
Genetic conditions often lead to insurance refusal: Scientific American "People with sickle cell disease or cystic fibrosis -- two genetic disorders -- are twice as likely to be denied health insurance coverage compared with those with other chronic illnesses, according to the results of a survey. ..."
Technology Review: DNA Factories "Installing one of those prefab, snap-together wood-flooring kits is a lot easier than shaping and sanding rough planks. Adapting a similar construction strategy, a biotech startup called Codon Devices, based in Cambridge, MA, aims to streamline genetic engineering. It makes made-to-order DNA strands, freeing scientists from the finicky work it takes to put together a complicated piece of DNA the old-fashioned way. ..."
A New Kind of Twin | TIME "For the first time, researchers have identified twins that are identical on their mother's side, but share only half of their father's DNA. The twins, now toddlers, have been described as "semi-identical" caught somewhere between identical twins (the result of the cleaving of an egg fertilized by one sperm) and fraternal twins (the result of two eggs meeting two sperm). ..."
Aquilante, C. L. (2007). "Development of a warfarin-dosing algorithm in Asian patients: a pharmacogenomic approach." Personalized Medicine 4(1): 83-86. ..."
Arn, P. H. (2007). "Newborn Screening: Current Status." Health Affairs 26(2): 559-566. "Laboratory advances in tandem mass spectrometry make it possible to screen newborns for many rare inborn errors of metabolism. This raises many policy issues including screening's cost-effectiveness, ethics, quality, and oversight. ..."
Ashcroft, R. E. (2007). "Human rights and ethics in genomic research: rethinking the model." Pharmacogenomics 8(4): 391-395. ..."
Bane, A., L. Brown, et al. (2003). "Life and death decisions: America's changing attitudes towards genetic engineering, genetic testing and abortion, 1972-98." Int Soc Work 46(2): 209-19...."
Bevan, J. C. (2007). "Ethics in research." Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology 20(2): 130-136."Purpose of review: This review will examine research ethics in the context of globalization of clinical trials and recent rapid developments in bioscience. It will focus on international ethical guidelines and the functions of research ethics review boards in research governance. Consent issues in genetic research, which must comply with privacy laws by protecting confidentiality and privacy of personal health data, will be discussed., . ..."
Bhardwaj, A., G. Sethi, et al. (2007). "Resveratrol inhibits proliferation, induces apoptosis, and overcomes chemoresistance through down-regulation of STAT3 and nuclear factor-{kappa}B-regulated antiapoptotic and cell survival gene products in human multiple myeloma cells." Blood 109(6): 2293-2302. "These mechanistic findings suggest that resveratrol may have a potential in the treatment of multiple myeloma. ..."
Brian, M. and G. B. Daniel (2006). "Y-chromosomes and the extent of patrilineal ancestry in Irish surnames." Human Genetics 119(1): 212-219. "Notwithstanding differences in their early origins, all surnames have been extensively affected by later male introgession. None examined showed more than about half of current bearers still descended from one original founder indicating dynamic and continuously evolving kinship groupings. Precisely because of this otherwise cryptic complexity there is a substantial role for the Y-chromosome and a molecular genealogical approach to complement and expand existing sources. ..."
Cannella, G. S. and Y. S. Lincoln (2007). "Predatory vs. Dialogic Ethics: Constructing an Illusion or Ethical Practice as the Core of Research Methods." Qualitative Inquiry 13(3): 315-335. "The ethical conduct of research is addressed from two perspectives, as a regulatory enterprise that creates an illusion of ethical practice and as a philosophical concern for equity and the imposition of power within the conceptualization and practice of research itself. ..."
Chadwick, R. and S. Wilso (2004). "Genomic databases as global public goods?" Res Publica 10(2): 123-34."Recent discussions of genomics and international justice have adopted the concept of 'global public goods' to support both the view of genomics as a benefit and the sharing of genomics knowledge across nations. Such discussion relies on a particular interpretation of the global public goods argument, facilitated by the ambiguity of the concept itself. Our aim in this article is to demonstrate this by a close examination of the concept of global public goods with particular reference to its use in the context of genomic databases. We content that the argument for construing genomics as a global public good depends on seeing it as a natural good by focusing on features intrinsic to genomics knowledge. We shall argue that social and political arrangements are relevant and that recognising this opens the door to construing the use of global public goods language as a strategic one. ..."
Christensen, K. and J. C. Murray (2007). "What Genome-wide Association Studies Can Do for Medicine." The New England Journal of Medicine 356(11): 1094-1097. ..."
Christians, C. G. (2007). "Cultural Continuity as an Ethical Imperative." Qualitative Inquiry 13(3): 437-444. "Mainstream Western ethics defines humans as rational beings. Ethics is a system of rules external to society and culture. Qualitative inquiry defines humans in holistic terms--as cultural beings, and cultures are value centered. The master norm for qualitative research, therefore, ought to be cultural continuity. Decisions for change are controlled by cultural groups themselves. Research ought to empower them toward the locally sustainable. Research is not neutral but a catalyst for critical consciousness. ..."
Clark, M. C. and B. F. Sharf (2007). "The Dark Side of Truth(s): Ethical Dilemmas in Researching the Personal." Qualitative Inquiry 13(3): 399-416. "This article explores the sometimes problematic issue of truth when conducting qualitative research on people's lives. Four ethical dilemmas are presented relating to the potentially harmful consequences of truth encountered by the authors in their own research: a promise to share the analysis of a patient's medical record containing unflattering comments by her physicians; the unintended sharing of a traumatic event, held secret since its occurrence, by a woman inmate; a disagreement with the Institutional Review Board over what constitutes ethical practice in online research; and an interview with a recently released political dissident in a totalitarian country. The authors advocate for multiple venues in which qualitative researchers can discuss ethical dilemmas such as these to learn from one another's experience and together develop a more reflexive practice. ..."
Das, S. K., C. H. Gilhooly, et al. (2007). "Long-term effects of 2 energy-restricted diets differing in glycemic load on dietary adherence, body composition, and metabolism in CALERIE: a 1-y randomized controlled trial." Am J Clin Nutr 85(4): 1023-1030. "CALERIE study: These findings provide more detailed evidence to suggest that diets differing substantially in glycemic load induce comparable long-term weight loss. ..."
deGruy, F. (2007). "Individuals, Families, and the New Era of Genetics: Biopsychosocial Perspectives." Am J Psychiatry 164(4): 686-687. "This book takes on three tasks: it offers a theoretical structure into which clinicians can fit the issues that arise when counseling individuals and families dealing with genetic problems; it reviews and interprets the genetic dimension of nine specific medical conditions; and it takes us through the ethical, legal, policy, and professional issues associated with genetic considerations. ..."
Diergaarde, B., D. J. Bowen, et al. (2007). "Genetic information: Special or not? Responses from focus groups with members of a health maintenance organization." American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A 143A(6): 564-569. "To identify opinions about implications of genetic and other medical information among the general population, we conducted a series of focus groups in Seattle, WA. Key findings included the theme that genetic information was much like other medical information and that all sensitive medical information should be well protected. Personal choice (i.e., the right to choose whether to know health risk information and to control who else knows) was reported to be of crucial importance. Participants had an understanding of the tensions involved in protecting privacy versus sharing medical information to help another person. . ..."
Dissing, J., J. Binladen, et al. (2007). "The last Viking King: A royal maternity case solved by ancient DNA analysis." Forensic Science International 166(1): 21-27. "There have been doubts among historians whether the woman entombed was indeed Estrid. To shed light on this problem, we have extracted and analysed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from pulp of teeth from each of the two royals. . ..."
Dressler, L. G. (2007). "Biospecimen "Ownership": Counterpoint." Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 16(2): 190-191. ..."
Eaton, M. L. and J. Illes (2007). "Commercializing cognitive neurotechnology[mdash]the ethical terrain." Nat Biotech 25(4): 393-397. "Lack of recognition of the ethical, social and policy issues associated with the commercialization of neurotechnology could compromise new ventures in the area. ..."
Fargher, E. A., K. Tricker, et al. (2007). "Current use of pharmacogenetic testing: a national survey of thiopurine methyltransferase testing prior to azathioprine prescription." Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics 32(2): 187-195. "Two-thirds of the consultants surveyed in England are using TPMT enzyme-level testing, prior to AZA treatment. Uptake differs between specialities. High uptake of TPMT enzyme-level testing by dermatologists, compared with gastroenterologists and rheumatologists, may reflect national guidelines advocating its use prior to AZA. Uptake of enzyme-level testing may alter in other specialties as other guidelines are developed. ..."
Fielden, M. R. and K. L. Kolaja (2006). "The state-of-the-art in predictive toxicogenomics." Curr Opin Drug Discov Devel 9(1): 84-91."This review will survey the current state-of-the-art in toxicogenomics for predicting toxicity, both in vivo and in vitro, with emphasis on the use of classification algorithms and the importance of toxicogenomic databases for biomarker discovery and validation. ..."
Fredrik, S. (2007). "A Heideggerian Defense of Therapeutic Cloning." Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 28(1): 31-62. "I come to the conclusion that therapeutic cloning should be allowed, provided that it turns out to be a project that benefits medical science in its aim to battle diseases. Important precautions have to be taken, however, in order to safeguard the practice of procreation from becoming perverted by the aims and attitudes of medical science when the two practices intersect. The threat in question needs to be taken seriously, since it concerns the structure and goal of practices which are central to our very self understanding as human beings. ..."
Gallou-Kabani, C., A. Vigé, et al. (2007). "Nutri-epigenomics: lifelong remodelling of our epigenomes by nutritional and metabolic factors and beyond." Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine 45(3): 321-327 "The phenotype of an individual is the result of complex interactions between genotype, epigenome and current, past and ancestral environment, leading to lifelong remodelling of our epigenomes. Various replication-dependent and -independent epigenetic mechanisms are involved in developmental programming, lifelong stochastic and environmental deteriorations, circadian deteriorations, and transgenerational effects. Several types of sequences can be targets of a host of environmental factors and can be associated with specific epigenetic signatures and patterns of gene expression. Depending on the nature and intensity of the insult, the critical spatiotemporal windows and developmental or lifelong processes involved, these epigenetic alterations can lead to permanent changes in tissue and organ structure and function, or to reversible changes using appropriate epigenetic tools. Given several encouraging trials, prevention and therapy of age- and lifestyle-related diseases by individualised tailoring of optimal epigenetic diets or drugs are conceivable. However, these interventions will require intense efforts to unravel the complexity of these epigenetic, genetic and environment interactions and to evaluate their potential reversibility with minimal side effects. ..."
Gold, E. R., T. Bubela, et al. (2007). "Gene patents[mdash]more evidence needed, but policymakers must act." Nat Biotech 25(4): 388-389. ..."
Gosden, R. (2007). "Genetic test may lead to waste of healthy embryos." Nature 446(7134): 372-372. ..."
Greenwood, H. L., H. Thorsteinsdottir, et al. (2006). "Regenerative medicine: new opportunities for developing countries." International Journal of Biotechnology 8(1-2): 60 - 77."There has been a major shift in burden of disease in developing countries. Although traditionally associated with industrialised nations, epidemic levels of non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, now threaten the developing world and are straining health systems that are still struggling with persisting levels of infectious disease. Developing countries need innovative and affordable ways of dealing with this 'double burden'. The emerging field of regenerative medicine may provide new opportunities to address these health needs if employed with the goal of improving global health equity. Several developing countries themselves have recognised the potential of regenerative medicine and have initiated Research and Development work in this field. We present here the results of a survey of regenerative medicine activities in developing countries, and argue that domestic Science and Technology capacity building and innovation in regenerative medicine can help developing countries to harness its benefits towards low-cost solutions for some of their most pressing health needs. ..."
Halse, C. and A. Honey (2007). "Rethinking Ethics Review as Institutional Discourse." Qualitative Inquiry 13(3): 336-352. "In this article, the authors trace the emergence of an institutional discourse of ethical research and interrogate its effects in constituting what ethical research is taken to be and how ethical researchers are configured. They illuminate the dissonance between this regime of truth and research practice and the implications for the injunction to respect others, illustrating their case with instances from their interview study with anorexic teenage girls. The authors propose that conceptualising the regulation of research ethics as an institutional discourse opens up the possibility for asserting counterdiscourses that place relational ethics at the center of moral decision making in research. ..."
Ho, M. K. and R. F. Tyndale (2007). "Overview of the pharmacogenomics of cigarette smoking." Pharmacogenomics J 7(2): 81-98 ..."
James, I., E. H. C. Victoria, et al. (2006). "Large-scale characterization of public database SNPs causing non-synonymous changes in three ethnic groups." Human Genetics 119(1): 75-83. ..."
Jim, S., J. C. Charles, et al. (2006). "On the utility of data from the International HapMap Project for Australian association studies." Human Genetics 119(1): 220-222. ..."
Kahn, J. P. (2007). "Organs and Stem Cells: Policy Lessons and Cautionary TalesOrgans and Stem Cells: Policy Lessons and Cautionary Tales." Hastings Center Report 37(2): 11-12."The article examines lessons for the policy environment of stem cell research in the U.S. A range of ethical, legal and policy issues arose when advances in technology allowed solid organs to be transplanted. Existing policy concerning organ sales have been disrupted by the growing numbers of living donors. ..."
Kaput, J., A. Perlina, et al. (2007). "Nutrigenomics: concepts and applications to pharmacogenomics and clinical medicine." Pharmacogenomics 8(4): 369-390. ..."
Kayton, A. (2007). "Newborn screening: a literature review." Neonatal Netw 26(2): 85-95."Newborn screening is the largest genetic testing effort for newborns in the U.S. Its purpose is to identify newborns who are at risk for metabolic, endocrine, or hematologic disorders. A review of the literature was conducted to determine the benefits of newborn screening; specimen collection timing and handling; ethical considerations of screening; as well as current practices regarding consent, notification of results, and follow-up procedures. The use of tandem mass spectrometry for expanded newborn screening and postmortem diagnosis of unexplained infant death was also reviewed. This article is intended to educate health care providers in the areas of controversy that surround the U.S. newborn screening program, with the hope of encouraging further research in this mportant area of newborn care. ..."
Kennedy, M. A. (2007). "Pharmacogenomics: single genes, whole genomes and global networks." Personalized Medicine 4(1): 87-94.
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Khumalo, N. P. (2007). "Yes, let's abandon race--It does not accurately correlate with hair form." Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 56(4): 709-710. ..."
Klotz, J., P. Bryant, et al. (2006). "Population-based retrieval of newborn dried blood spots for researching paediatric cancer susceptibility genes." Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 20(5): 449-452. "Summary Klotz J, Bryant P, Wilcox HB, Dillon M, Wolf B, Fagliano J. Population-based retrieval of newborn dried blood spots for researching paediatric cancer susceptibility genes. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2006; 20: 449-452. We have demonstrated the feasibility of linking newborn blood spots, population-based cancer incidence data and birth certificate data. Incident cases of acute lymphocytic leukaemia and population-based controls were ascertained. We retrieved dried blood spot specimens, isolated and amplified DNA, and assayed the cancer susceptibility genes GSTT1 and GSTM1. The double null genotype was over-represented in the cases, consistent with previous reports based on other epidemiological methods. The design avoids issues of participation bias by cases and controls and can be used to investigate interactions of susceptibility genes and xenobiotics in semi-ecological studies. It can be useful for generating or testing hypotheses on associations of other paediatric illness and environmental contaminants. ..."
Koenig, L. B., M. McGue, et al. (2007). "Religiousness, Antisocial Behavior, and Altruism: Genetic and Environmental Mediation." Journal of Personality 75(2): 265-290. "ABSTRACT Although religiousness is considered a protective factor against antisocial behaviors and a positive influence on prosocial behaviors, it remains unclear whether these associations are primarily genetically or environmentally mediated. In order to investigate this question, religiousness, antisocial behavior, and altruistic behavior were assessed by self-report in a sample of adult male twins (165 MZ and 100 DZ full pairs, mean age of 33 years). Religiousness, both retrospective and current, was shown to be modestly negatively correlated with antisocial behavior and modestly positively correlated with altruistic behavior. Joint biometric analyses of religiousness and antisocial behavior or altruistic behavior were completed. The relationship between religiousness and antisocial behavior was due to both genetic and shared environmental effects. Altruistic behavior also shared most all of its genetic influence, but only half of its shared environmental influence, with religiousness. ..."
Marshall, E. (2007). "GENETICS: Sequencers of a Famous Genome Confront Privacy Issues." Science 315(5820): 1780. ..."
Marzano, M. (2007). "Informed Consent, Deception, and Research Freedom in Qualitative Research." Qualitative Inquiry 13(3): 417-436. "Does there exist only one, universally valid, research ethic? Are informed consent and ethical committees the best means to ensure the moral correctness of research? Again, what consequences ensue from the introduction of these instruments for the freedom of research and the quality of its results? This article addresses these issues by first recounting an ethnography conducted by its author in the oncology department of a large Italian hospital. To carry out his research the author initially had to conceal his identity and the purpose of his presence from the patients. Only later was this mode of conducting his fieldwork abandoned. The rest of the article compares this experience with very different ones reported by a number of American ethnographers. The article concludes by examining problems, such as the influence of the cultural context on the ethnographer's moral choices, or the value of informed consent and ethical committees, in the light of the empirical materials previously presented. ..."
McCann, S., D. MacAuley, et al. (2007). "Cancer genetics: consultants? perceptions of their roles, confidence and satisfaction with knowledge." Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 13(2): 276-286. "This study aimed to find out which consultants believed that genetic testing was relevant to their practice. We also wanted to determine their views of their roles in relation to genetic testing, their confidence in these roles, and the value of different educational tools. Few consultants reported having consultations related to genetic disease, receiving training in genetics and referring to genetics services. There was some dissatisfaction with their current knowledge of genetics and they believed that guidelines and educational tools may be useful. The respondents lacked confidence in undertaking some of their roles. . . ..."
Melzer, D., A. J. Hurst, et al. (2007). "Genetic Variation and Human Aging: Progress and Prospects." Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 62(3): 301-307. "In this article we thematically review progress in identifying human genetic variants associated with longevity. We also look at the bigger picture of progress in identifying genetic associates of disease and functioning and healthy aging in older people. Although much of the existing evidence is fragmentary, recent exciting findings and robust methods are taking the field rapidly forward. ..."
Mia, E. L. B., R. Chandra, et al. (2006). "Towards compendia of negative genetic association studies: an example for Alzheimer disease." Human Genetics 119(1): 29-37. "A potentially valuable tool in the gene discovery process is meta-analysis of the accumulated published data, but in order to be valid these require a sample of studies representative of the true genetic effect and thus hypothetically should include some positive and an abundance of negative reports.. ..."
Morris, A. W., Jr., S. L. Gadson, et al. (2007). ""For the good of the patient," survey of the physicians of the National Medical Association regarding perceptions of DTC advertising, Part II, 2006." J Natl Med Assoc 99(3): 287-93."The National Medical Association (NMA) remedied that in 2001 by undertaking a landmark study that gauged African-American physicians' perceptions of DTC advertising, its impact on the doctor-patient relationship and, perhaps most importantly, its role in educating underserved populations about critical health issues and potential treatments. In 2006, the NMA decided to once again poll its members on this critical issue to gauge not only current perceptions but how the community's understanding of DTC advertising has changed since 2001. ..."
Ness, R. B. and C. on behalf of the American College of Epidemiology Policy (2007). "Biospecimen "Ownership": Point." Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 16(2): 188-189. ..."
Nguyen, A., Z. Desta, et al. "Enhancing Race-Based Prescribing Precision with Pharmacogenomics." Clin Pharmacol Ther 81(3): 323-325. "In the world of medicine and therapeutics, race and ethnicity might reasonably be considered as biomarkers or predictors of drug effect. Recognizing that all biomarkers are imperfect, self-reported race can be viewed as a complex combination of genetic and nongenetic biomarkers that is used by prescribing physicians as a predictor of drug effect. The use of pharmacogenetic markers, such as haplotypes, patterns of candidate genes, and specific genotypes, may be used to enhance the precision of race-based prescribing and, when possible, should be combined with nongenetic predictors of responses to optimize the individualization of therapy. ..."
Nisbet, M. C. and C. Mooney (2007). "SCIENCE AND SOCIETY: Framing Science." Science 316(5821): 56-. ..."
Ordovas, J. M. (2007). "Medicine, genetics and race: the case of cardiovascular diseases." Personalized Medicine 4(1): 1-6. ..."
Petersen, R. P. D. (2007). "Mild Cognitive Impairment: Current Research and Clinical Implications." Semin Neurol(01): 022-031.
Rambo, C. (2007). "Handing IRB an Unloaded Gun." Qualitative Inquiry 13(3): 353-367. "Framing autoethnography as a "breach" of the academic norms regarding scientific inquiry helps her make sense of how IRB as a committee used the resources at hand--the existing religious/political context, their identities, their formal roles, and the written rules they had before them--to coconstruct a narrative that rendered her manuscript unpublishable. It is the author's hope that this performance of resistance will help facilitate the creation of a safe, defined space (similar to that of oral history) for autoethnography to occur. ..."
Relling, M. V. and J. M. Hoffman "Should Pharmacogenomic Studies be Required for New Drug Approval?" Clin Pharmacol Ther 81(3): 425-428. ..."
Riggs, J. E., L. Gutmann, et al. (2007). "Volunteering for early phase gene transfer research in Parkinson disease." Neurology 68(11): 877-a-878. ..."
Rogers, N. (2007). "Race and the Politics of Polio: Warm Springs, Tuskegee, and the March of Dimes." American Journal of Public Health: AJPH.2006.095406. "The Tuskegee Institute opened a polio center in 1941, funded by the March of Dimes. After a decade of civil rights activism, this notion of polio as a White disease was challenged, and Black health professionals, emboldened by a new integrationist epidemiology, demanded that in polio, as in American medicine at large, health care should be provided regardless of race, color, or creed. ..."
Sanders, T., R. Campbell, et al. (2007). "Narrative Accounts of Hereditary Risk: Knowledge About Family History, Lay Theories of Disease, and "Internal" and "External" Causation." Qual Health Res 17(4): 510-520. "In this study, the authors sought to examine how risk information is articulated in relation to health problems that people identify as personally important and relevant. The authors conclude that people's rationalizations about health risks often mirror the medical model of disease, suggesting that they are responsive to, and not fatalistic toward, such public health information. ..."
Siest, G., B. Bastien, et al. (2007). "From human genetic variations to prediction of risks and responses to drugs and the environment." Personalized Medicine 4(1): 95-104. ..."
Sjoberg, R. L., K. W. Nilsson, et al. (2007). "Adolescent girls and criminal activity: Role of MAOA-LPR genotype and psychosicial factors." American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B-Neuropsychiatric Genetics 144B(2): 159-164. "Recent findings among boys show that interactions between a polymorphism. in the monoamine oxidase A gene promoter region (MAOA-LPR) and psychosocial factors predict criminal activity. The objective of this study was to investigate whether this finding could be extended to adolescent girls. ..."
Srivastava, S. and P. D. Wagner (2007). "Risk-based and diagnostics-linked personalized medicine for cancer." Personalized Medicine 4(1): 33-43. "Personalized medicine is gaining momentum in healthcare by allowing physicians to determine an individual’s predisposition to different diseases and to better diagnose and treat those diseases. Personalized medicine is frequently described as the right drug for the right patient at the right time; that is, a physician will prescribe treatment based on the individual characteristics of each patient such that the patient is likely to respond to a particular treatment with minimal adverse events. The heterogeneity of cancer makes the implementation of personalized medicine a necessity. ..."
Swede, H. P., C. L. P. Stone, et al. (2007). "National population-based biobanks for genetic research." Genetics in Medicine 9(3): 141-149."Clinical practice guidelines derived from genetic research using population-based biobanks could dramatically change the nature of personal and public health medicine. Centralized population-based biobanks have been established or proposed in at least nine countries to date, and many lessons have been learned from these landmark developments. Scientific and governmental leaders in the United States are currently contemplating pending federal legislation regarding the establishment of centralized and networked biobanks. Public health practitioners and clinical care providers may be called on to serve pronounced planning roles at the state level. Possible responsibilities include: formulating legislation, gathering public comment, reviewing research proposals, and developing procedures for informed consent, participant withdrawal, and confidentiality protection. State health agencies may also need to create and/or administer banking facilities. Proper planning may ensure that individual rights are protected while research benefits are maximized., ..."
Taylor, P. L. (2007). "Research sharing, ethics and public benefit." Nat Biotech 25(4): 398-401. "Other areas of biomedical research should emulate new standards from the International Society for Stem Cell Research highlighting the importance of sharing materials, data and research rights, and requiring fair global access to resulting diagnostics and therapies. ..."
Tierney, W. G. and Z. Blumberg Corwin (2007). "The Tensions Between Academic Freedom and Institutional Review Boards." Qualitative Inquiry 13(3): 388-398. "This article outlines three ways in which Institutional Review Boards potentially infringe on academic freedom: (a) by regulating who is required to consent to research, (b) by stipulating the type of questions allowed and location of research interactions, and (c) by limiting research design. ..."
Tilley, S. and L. Gormley (2007). "Canadian University Ethics Review: Cultural Complications Translating Principles Into Practice." Qualitative Inquiry 13(3): 368-387. "Drawing from educational research, the authors conduct both in Canada and in an international context an exploration of how culture complicates both the ethics review process and the translation of ethical research principles into practice. As a result of their experiences, the authors focus specifically on issues related to consent, reciprocity, anonymity and confidentiality, and data representation. ..."
Treloar, S. A., K. I. Morley, et al. (2007). "Why Do They Do It?" Community Genetics 10(2): 61-71. ..."
Waltz, E. (2007). "Pricey cancer genome project struggles with sample shortage." Nat Med 13(4): 391-391. ..."
