Monthly Archives: October 2022

Genetics

About Bad Chest Genetics, and Whether You Can Fix Them – Healthline

Wondering if bad chest genes are real?

The answer is yes, sort of. But it depends on what you consider bad genes. What one person considers bad another person might consider good.

Your genes are units of genetic information that you inherit from your parents. They determine all your inherited traits from your eye color to your bone structure. Environmental factors such as nutrition, exposure to chemicals, and exercise habits can change the way some genes are expressed.

You can build muscle by engaging in resistance training. But genetic factors can influence how easily you add mass. Likewise, genetics can influence how easily you build muscle in a particular area such as your chest.

Keep reading as we take a look at how genetics affect your ability to build muscle in your chest.

Bad chest genes are subjective. Many people use the term to refer to having difficulty building muscle in their chest or difficulty building muscle with the aesthetics they want.

The bulk of your chest is made up of the bellies of your pectoralis major muscles, commonly referred to as your pecs. These muscles originate from your sternum and collar bone and insert into your upper arm.

Some people consider bad chest genes as having a large gap between their pectoralis major muscles or having an asymmetry between each side of their chest.

Do some people have better chest genetics than others? It depends on what your goals are and what you consider bad genetics.

Some people can build more muscle or build muscle at a faster rate in their chests than others. Genes play a role in the following factors:

Researchers are continuing to examine genes that play a role in building muscle mass. In one rodent study, researchers identified 47 genes linked to muscle growth.

Twin studies suggest that more than 50% of muscle fiber composition is estimated to be inherited from your parents.

Body dysmorphia is a mental health condition characterized by preoccupation with your bodys flaws. Muscle dysmorphia is a specific type of body dysmorphia characterized by a persistent worry that youre not muscular or lean.

Becoming preoccupied with the size of your chest could be a symptom of muscle dysmorphia. The Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory is often used as a testing tool with 13 questions that are scored from never to always. Some of the statements on this inventory include:

In a 2018 study, researchers compared rates of muscular dysmorphia between bodybuilders, strength athletes, and people engaged in general fitness. They found that bodybuilders reported more beliefs about being smaller and weaker than the other groups.

Learn more about how muscle dysmorphia is diagnosed and treated.

A chest gap is the separation of your pectoralis major muscles. Its normal to have a chest gap since theres no muscle body over your sternum. Some people have wider gaps than others as part of their natural anatomy, which is largely predetermined by genetics.

Its important to remember that the idea of bad genetics is subjective. If your goal is to build as much muscle as possible, you might consider bad genetics as having more trouble building muscle than other people around you.

But for some people, not adding muscle mass with training might be considered good genetics. For example, athletes in weight-class sports such as boxing or relative strength sports such as long jump need to build a large amount of strength without adding much extra weight.

You cant change your genetics, but you can change the way your genes are expressed by changing your training program. Consistently training your chest muscles can help you maximize your muscle size and strength. Some people find it helpful to work with a personal trainer who can build them a custom program to help them achieve their goals.

Some men opt to get pectoral implants, but these are primarily meant for people with birth deformities, such as pectus excavatum. People with muscle or body dysmorphia are not candidates for pectoral implants.

The best way to grow your chest is by training your chest muscle regularly. Many different exercises can target your chest. Here are some ideas:

Your genetics influence your ability to build muscle. The idea of bad genetics is subjective. If your goal is to build muscle, your genes might make it easier or harder than most other people to build muscle in general or specifically in your chest.

The best way to maximize your chest growth is to train your chest regularly. You may find it helpful to work with a personal trainer who can build you a custom program.

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About Bad Chest Genetics, and Whether You Can Fix Them - Healthline

Genetics

Illumina aims to push genetics beyond the lab with $200 genome – The Spokesman Review

Illumina Inc. says it can read a persons entire genetic code for as little as $200 with its new sequencing machine, bringing the company within reach of its long-promised goal of the $100 genome.

Illumina on Thursday unveiled a new line of DNA sequencing machines it says are twice as fast and accurate as its earlier models. Together, those upgrades will bring the cost per genome down two-thirds from its current technology, Chief Executive Officer Francis deSouza said.

Many consumers have been introduced to their DNA through relatively low-cost tests like those marketed by 23andMe Holding Co. that analyze small snippets of the genome for clues to disease risk and ancestry. Whole-genome sequencing can provide a far clearer, more accurate view of patients genetic makeup that doctors can use to precisely identify some diseases, including certain forms of cancer and heart disease. However, the price of performing the tests, along with their interpretation, has been a barrier for many patients that companies have been trying to bridge.

More efficient machinery and materials reduce customer cost to sequencing one genome, or the complete set of genetic material, Illumina said, adding that costs would range from less than $200 per genome, with discounts for bulk use, to $240 for a higher-quality analysis. Slashing the price of reading DNA could allow the practice to move into the mainstream, where it might be used to better tailor medications or treatments to people or have other health benefits.

This will be a huge force in terms of significantly increasing accessibility to genomics in a number of ways, deSouza said in an interview ahead of the announcement. It will democratize access to genomics by allowing sequencing to be offered to hospitals and researchers at much lower prices.

Despite promises of personalized medical care for the masses, genetic data has mostly been confined to research settings in the 21 years since an international group of scientists published the first analysis of the human genome sequence, Eric Topol, founder and director of Scripps Research Translational Institute, recently wrote. Illumina sees its new sequencing machine as a way to change that. Every meaningful price drop has rapidly led to an increase in the number of people whose genes have been analyzed, deSouza said.

Illuminas new NovaSeq X series comes in two models, with the base machine costing $985,000 and a more advanced one at $1.25 million. The new sequencers also come with new features like a simpler interface that could allow people without advanced degrees to use the machines, deSouza said.

This is a crucial test for San Diego-based Illumina at a time of increased scrutiny from Wall Street. The company cut its full-year sales outlook last month, raising questions about demand. New competitors are cropping up and threatening Illuminas dominance of the sequencing market. Moreover, the companys years-long quest to acquire early-cancer detection company Grail is in limbo and facing regulatory challenges in Europe. Shares of Illumina have lost nearly half their value this year.

Already under a microscope, the company is hosting a splashy conference in its hometown this week to unveil the technology.

Investors are closely following the event for signs Illumina can change its story. Customers, mostly drug companies and research institutions, will be paying attention to price. Before the launch, nearly three dozen sequencing customers had estimated Illumina would set its prices at $280 per genome, according to a survey from Cowen analysts.

The new machines could have real financial implications for researchers who sequence large numbers of people, said Aris Baras, who leads Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.s Genetics Center. Regeneron scours genetic data to discover new drug targets. Baras praised Illumina for continuously decreasing the price of sequencing, allowing Regeneron to screen about 2 million people.

Its a testament to Illuminas innovation pushing down costs and increasing output especially when they havent historically had too many competitors being able to match them, Baras said. Still, the price isnt low enough for Regeneron to switch to exclusively whole genome sequencing. The drugmaker mostly scans only genes of key interest, which costs between one-fifth and one-tenth the price of reading all of a persons genetic material.

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Illumina aims to push genetics beyond the lab with $200 genome - The Spokesman Review

Genetics

Are Kinks Hereditary? What Science Says About the Genetics of Desire – Glamour

That said, its important to remember that our erotic interests are the product of many factors. On the biological side, those factors can include our genetic predispositions, unique brain chemistry, and the way our bodies are laid out.

For some people, nipples are extraordinarily sensitive, Dr. Lehmiller says. For other people, theres just no sensation whatsoever. And if your body just happens to have that heightened level of sensitivity, you might be very drawn to various forms of nipple play including more intense BDSM versions of it with nipple clamps and so forth. So I think part of it is that general sensitivity in different parts of our body. That could also have a genetic component to it.

Psychological factors such as our personalities, previous experiences, and general attitudes toward sex represent another piece of the puzzle. And there are environmental factors to considerthe cultural context that, in part, determines the partners we choose and the opportunities available to us.

Whenever were talking about sexual interests, we need to talk about it from a biopsychosocial perspective, Dr. Lehmiller says. Two people can develop the same sexual interest for very different reasons, depending on the confluence of all of these factors.

Many people can pinpoint a specific childhood experience as the source of their kink or fetish. For some, it feels like a fact of life from birth. Others find their kinks later in life through solo or partnered exploration. In Dr. Brames experience, younger generations are becoming aware of their kinks earlier in life thanks to the internet. But in some cases, the culture of silence and shame around sexual kinks can delay the discovery process by decades.

You dont necessarily realize who you are until youre in your teens or maybe even your 20s, Dr. Brame says. Or maybe even your 50s, not because its totally out of the blue. But you dont realize what kink is or what it is to be kinky. Or that some of your private sexual fantasies actually align with kink.

Often the kinks emotional and sexual resonance is reinforced through masturbation.

We know that the connection between the smell centers of the brain and the memory centers of the brain and the emotional centers of the brain are very close, Gates says. And so things that we would consider to be classic kinks, like a foot fetishor rubber or leather or things that are sensorially evocative, especially through smellcan become connected with emotional content and memories to form a kind of cycle where you smell it and you have this stimulus in this memory thats very emotional. You might reinforce that through, say, masturbation to the point where it becomes a very firm pathway in your brain.

But Gates believes some people are primed to develop a kink or fetish under the right conditions.

I interviewed this wonderful guy who considered himself a macrophile, Gates says. He liked to fantasize about giant women. And he said, Nature loads the gun and nurture pulls the trigger. I like that metaphor because it sort of explains how that worksthat you can be primed biologically and neurologically to be ready for it to happen.

Dr. Brame feels strongly that kink isnt a hobbyits a legitimate sexual identity. Throughout her life, relationships that didnt align with her kinks would inevitably fail. The kink was never explicitly discussed or cited as the reason for the breakupthat discovery would come later. But in retrospect, it makes sense that certain power dynamics werent tenable for her.

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Are Kinks Hereditary? What Science Says About the Genetics of Desire - Glamour

Genetics

Study on rare genetic diseases among diverse demographics in India – The Hindu

The Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) here has undertaken a study to look for rare genetic diseases with samples collected from different castes, linguistic groups and regions across the country to understand their prevalence and analyse the mutations for taking up counselling for the affected groups.

CDFD director K. Thangaraj told Manthan-Samvaad 2022, the annual event of Manthan public discourse forum, on Sunday about 20 different centres across the country India involved in the study making use of animal models, and that a special lab for rare diseases has also been opened at the institute for the purpose.

The eminent geneticist disclosed that there are a lot more population-specific recessive diseases among the Indian and South Asian people because of the endogamous (intra-community) marriages and that has to be studied. If the disease-causing mutation is dominant, it will come out but in recessive mutations, it will be carried across generations and could arise in the off springs subsequently even if they are not related but belong to the same community, he explained.

Every Indian population is unique, yet has some kind of genetic affinities. If the Andamanese were the first to migrate from Africa, second batch moved to Europe and some towards North India called as Ancestral North Indians (ANI). These groups admixed within themselves and with Ancestral South Indians (ASI) 2,000-3,000 years ago before endogamous relationships became the norm 2,000 years ago. It refutes the Aryan invasion theory, but brought forth a large recessive disease base, said Dr. Thangaraj.

With many other populations like Jews and Parsis having migrated later, India becomes a complex nation in terms of genetics, and analysing gives lot more information about the genetic affinities between them. The endogamous impact on health and diseases like cardiac diseases was found to be more prevalent in South Asia, he said.

Since there are many populations suffering with rare genetic diseases, the need of the hour is to follow the Jewish method of genetic study to look for mutations and followed by counselling among the couples, to stop the further spread of the disease, he added.

Former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Talmiz Ahmed in his talk Indias western neighbours friends or foes called for a new strategic doctrine with emphasis on forging better ties with West Asia because of oil, trade, working population and huge remittances and others, Iran, Russia and even China despite difficulties, rather than leaning too much on the United States, whose influence and power has been diminishing.

Ex-Army officer and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research Sushant Singh said while the financial burden of huge defence pensions has forced the government hand in bringing out the Agnipath scheme of recruitment into armed forces, it is flawed. It could disturb the armed forces functioning and also damage the civic society later especially when there is large scale unemployment and the economy is down. Manthan trustees former chief secretary K. Madhav Rao and M.R. Vikram also spoke.

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Study on rare genetic diseases among diverse demographics in India - The Hindu

Genetics

$2.6M DOE Grant Supports UMD-led Study on Genetics of Plant Growth – Maryland Today

A University of Maryland researcher was awarded $2.6 million by the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate the genetics underlying how poplar trees sense nutrients and regulate their metabolisminformation that could help farmers maximize yields of this and other plants used in biofuel production.

Dedicated biomass crops like poplar, switchgrass, miscanthus and bamboo are grown on marginal lands that are not well suited to traditional crops like corn and wheat. It pays to understand how crops grown in such conditions use the nutrients available, how they metabolize and grow tissue, and how they respond to stressful conditions like drought.

Were interested in getting more information about how biomass crops like poplar sense and utilize nutrients so we can develop more informed strategies for manipulating this system and making it more efficient, said Gary Coleman, an associate professor in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture who is leading the research.

Coleman is looking at the genes that encode for the TOR protein, one of the central components of the TOR complex. Its job is to receive signals from the molecules that sense a wide range of nutrients like carbon and nitrogen, and then relay that information to the cellular machinery that activates growth and inhibits cell death.

Mutating the TOR gene is lethal, which is why its function is not well understood. Poplar is rare in that it has two copies of the TOR gene. Coleman and his colleagues previously demonstrated that they could manipulate one copy or the other without killing the plant, and the team intends to take advantage of the duplicates to investigate how the gene works.

Colemans collaborators include Yiping Qi, an associate professor of plant science and landscape architecture at UMD, Edward Eisenstein, an associate professor at the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research at UMD, and researchers at the Michigan Technological University.

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$2.6M DOE Grant Supports UMD-led Study on Genetics of Plant Growth - Maryland Today

Genetics

Genetics Influence Level of Depression Tied to Trauma Exposure, Study Finds – GenomeWeb

Genetics can influence the development of major depressive disorder (MDD) in affected individuals who were previously exposed to trauma, according to new study appearing in JAMA Psychiatry this week. Self-reported trauma exposure, particularly that occurring in childhood, has an established role in depression, and research has indicated that higher levels of trauma are linked to MDD. However, the interplay between genetics and trauma on depression has not been fully explored. In their new paper, researchers from the University of Edinburgh analyzed genomic and other data on roughly 150,000 adult participants in the UK Biobank who showed depressive symptoms and/or neuroticism and reported exposure to a range of different traumas. They find that genome-by-trauma exposure interactions can explain up to 20 percent of variation in MDD and more often in males versus females. The study results, the authors write, suggest that "exploring mechanisms underlying genome-by-trauma exposure interactions may be useful in identifying at-risk individuals and intervention targets ... [and] may provide explanations for depression prevalence differences across the different sexes."

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Genetics Influence Level of Depression Tied to Trauma Exposure, Study Finds - GenomeWeb

Genetics

Howard University’s Office of Research Awarded $11.5 Million From Chan Zuckerberg Initiative To Advance Genomics And Genetics Research – The Dig

WASHINGTON Today, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) announced a partnership with Howard Universityand the nations three other historically Black medical colleges to further support cutting-edge scientific research to address significant gaps in genomics. CZIs Accelerate Precision Health (APH) program will award $11.5 million to Howard University's Office of Research over five years, allowing the University to expand research in the genome field, bring on renowned faculty, fund post-doctoral fellows, and support grant writing for future initiatives.

The $11.5 million award represents the latest stride toward fulfilling a key research goal outlined in the Howard Forward Office of Research strategic plan to leverage Howards genetic research to attract and mobilize resources to tackle global challenges, especially as they relate to Black populations. Black communities have been historically underrepresented in clinical trials and genetics research and today are still often excluded from medical studies. Recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite Black Americans suffering a higher mortality rate than whites, many studies excluded Black participants.

To me, genetics research is more than just an academic pursuit, said Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA. As someone with sickle cell anemia, the study of genetics is not abstract. When I was born, people with sickle cell disease were told that they would not live beyond childhood. Today, a child born with sickle cell disease has somewhere around a 99% chance of living to adulthood. Those advances didnt happen by accident: Howard researchers have participated in every clinical trial that has led to FDA-approved medications for sickle cell disease treatment. This grant from CZI will allow us to continue to break new ground in genetics and genomics research for generations to come.

I am incredibly excited for this new venture with CZI to expand Howards important work in the fields of genomics and genetics, said Bruce Jones, Ph.D., Vice President for Research at Howard University. Research partnerships at Howard expand our understanding of issues impacting the Black community, from genetics and genomics and other STEM fields, to groundbreaking research in literature, the arts, law and other social science fields, leading to advancements in policy, medicine, and culture that benefit all communities.

For generations, Howard University has been at the forefront of genomics and genetics research, with a focus on the Black community. More than 50 years ago, Howard launched the Center for Sickle Cell Disease with the goal of providing care for patients and advancing research into sickle cell disease, the most frequent rare genetic disease, which mostly affects people of African descent. Twenty years ago, Howard launched the first large-scale collection of genetic profiles of African Americans.

Today, researchers at the National Human Genome Center at Howard University continue to work on the frontlines of genomics and genetics, including research by Dr. Angel Byrd on gene expression of Alibert Bazin syndrome and other lymphomas that disproportionately harm Black patients and Dr. Bernard Kwabi-Addos genetic research of prostate cancer disparities in Black communities.

The Howard University Accelerating Precision Health grant is led by co-principal investigators Kera Lawson, Ph.D., executive director of research development, and Pamela A.G. Clarke, MSc., director of research development in the Office of Research.

Specific initiatives at Howard to be funded by the CZI APH program include:

The new partnership will create new opportunities for cross-collaboration between Chan Zuckerberg Initiative staff and Howard faculty and students, including: the matching of Howard faculty expertise with other CZI research partners to foster joint interdisciplinary efforts and research; CZI professional development and training opportunities for Howard faculty; and opportunities for Howard students to learn new techniques outside of their home institution.

Pictured:Howard University'sDr. Marjorie C. Gondr-Lewis and team,whose NeuroPsychoPharmacology Laboratoryconductsprecision brain health research. Photo image courtesy of CZI.

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About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 14 schools and colleges. Students pursue more than 140 programs of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 12 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit http://www.howard.edu.

About the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded in 2015 to help solve some of societys toughestchallengesfrom eradicating disease and improving education, to addressing the needs of ourcommunities. Through collaboration, providing resources and building technology, our mission is to help build a more inclusive, just, and healthy future for everyone. For more information, please visit http://www.chanzuckerberg.com.

Media contact: Sholnn Freeman; sholnn.freeman@howard.edu

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Howard University's Office of Research Awarded $11.5 Million From Chan Zuckerberg Initiative To Advance Genomics And Genetics Research - The Dig

Genetics

CIA Just Invested In Woolly Mammoth Resurrection Tech – The Intercept

As a rapidly advancing climate emergency turns the planet ever hotter, the Dallas-based biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences has a vision: To see the Woolly Mammoth thunder upon the tundra once again. Founders George Church and Ben Lamm have already racked up an impressive list of high-profile funders and investors, including Peter Thiel, Tony Robbins, Paris Hilton, Winklevoss Capital and, according to the public portfolio its venture capital arm released this month, the CIA.

Colossal says it hopes to use advanced genetic sequencing to resurrect two extinct mammals not just the giant, ice age mammoth, but also a mid-sized marsupial known as the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, that died out less than a century ago. On its website, the company vows: Combining the science of genetics with the business of discovery, we endeavor to jumpstart natures ancestral heartbeat.

In-Q-Tel, its new investor, is registered as a nonprofit venture capital firm funded by the CIA. On its surface, the group funds technology startups with the potential to safeguard national security. In addition to its long-standing pursuit of intelligence and weapons technologies, the CIA outfit has lately displayed an increased interest in biotechnology and particularly DNA sequencing.

Why the interest in a company like Colossal, which was founded with a mission to de-extinct the wooly mammoth and other species? reads an In-Q-Tel blog post published on September 22. Strategically, its less about the mammoths and more about the capability.

Biotechnology and the broader bioeconomy are critical for humanity to further develop. It is important for all facets of our government to develop them and have an understanding of what is possible, Colossal co-founder Ben Lammwrote in an email to The Intercept. (A spokesperson for Lamm stressed that while Thiel provided Church with$100,000 in funding to launchthe woolly mammoth project that became Colossal, he is not a stakeholderlike Robbins, Hilton, Winklevoss Capital, and In-Q-Tel.)

Colossal uses CRISPR gene editing, a method of genetic engineering based on a naturally occurring type of DNA sequence. CRISPR sequences present on their own in some bacterial cells and act as an immune defense system, allowing the cellto detect and excise viral material thattries to invade. The eponymous gene editing technique was developed to function the same way, allowing users to snip unwanted genes and program a more ideal version of the genetic code.

CRISPR is the use of genetic scissors, Robert Klitzman, a bioethicist at Columbia University and a prominent voice of caution on genetic engineering, told The Intercept. Youre going into DNA, which is a 3-billion-molecule-long chain, and clipping some of it out and replacing it. You can clip out bad mutations and put in good genes, but these editing scissors can also take out too much.

The embrace of this technology, according to In-Q-Tels blog post, will help allow U.S. government agencies to read, write, and edit genetic material, and, importantly, tosteerglobal biological phenomena that impact nation-to-nation competition whileenabling the United States to help set the ethical, as well as the technological, standards for its use.

In-Q-Tel did not respond to The Intercepts requests for comment.

In recent years, the venture firms portfolio has expanded to include Ginkgo Bioworks, a bioengineering startup focused on manufacturing bacteria for biofuel and other industrial uses; Claremont BioSolutions, a firm that produces DNA sequencing hardware; Biomatrica and T2 Biosystems, two manufacturers for DNA testing components; and Metabiota, an infectious disease mapping and risk analysis database powered by artificial intelligence. As The Intercept reported in 2016, In-Q-Tel also invested in Clearista, a skincare brand that removes a thin outer epidermal layer to reveal a fresher face beneath it and allow DNA collection from the skin cells scraped off.

President Joe Bidens administration signaled its prioritization of related advances earlier this month, when Biden signed an executive order on biotechnology and biomanufacturing. The order includes directives to spur public-private collaboration, bolster biological risk management, expand bioenergy-based products, and engage the international community to enhance biotechnology R&D cooperation in a way that is consistent with United States principles and values.

The governments penchant for controversial biotechnology long predates the Biden administration. In 2001, a New York Times investigation found that American defense agencies under Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton had continued to experiment with biological weapons, despite a 1972 international treaty prohibiting them. In 2011, The Guardian revealed that the CIA under President Barack Obama organized a fake Hepatitis B vaccine drive in Pakistan that sought to locate family members of Osama bin Laden through nonconsensual DNA collection, leading the agency to eventually promise a cessation of falseimmunization campaigns.

CIA Labs, a 2020 initiative overseen by Donald Trumps CIA director, Gina Haspel infamous for running a torture laboratory in Thailand follows a model similar to In-Q-Tels. The program created a research network to incubate top talent and technology for use across U.S. defense agencies, while simultaneously allowing participating CIA officers to personally profit off their research and patents.

In-Q-Tel board members are allowed to sit on the boards of companies in which the firm invests, raising ethics concerns over howthe non-profit selects companies to back with government dollars. A 2016 Wall Street Journal investigation found that almost half of In-Q-Tel board members were connected to the companies where it had invested.

The size of In-Q-Tels stake in Colossal wont be known until the nonprofit releases its financial statements next year, but the investment may provide a boon on reputation alone: In-Q-Tel has claimed that every dollar it invests in a business attracts 15 more from other investors.

Colossals co-founders, Lamm and Church, represent the ventures business and science minds, respectively. Lamm, a self-proclaimed serial technology entrepreneur, founded his first company as a senior in college, then pivoted to mobile apps and artificial intelligence before helping to start Colossal.

Church a Harvard geneticist, genome-based dating app visionary, and former Jeffrey Epstein funding recipient has proposed the revival of extinct species before. Speaking to Der Spiegel in 2013, Church suggested the resurrection of the Neanderthal an idea met with controversy because it would require technology capable of human cloning.

We can clone all kinds of mammals, so its very likely that we could clone a human, Church said. Why shouldnt we be able to do so? When the interviewer reminded him of a ban on human cloning, Church said, And laws can change, by the way.

Even when the methods used for de-extinction are legal, many scientists are skeptical of its promise. In a 2017 paper for Nature Ecology & Evolution, a group of biologists from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand found that [s]pending limited resources on de-extinction could lead to net biodiversity loss.

De-extinction is a fairytale science, Jeremy Austin, a University of Adelaide professor and director of the Australian Center for Ancient DNA,toldthe Sydney Morning Herald over the summer, when Colossal pledged to sink $10 million into the University of Melbourne for its Tasmanian tiger project. Its pretty clear to people like me that thylacine or mammoth de-extinction is more about media attention for the scientists and less about doing serious science.

Critics who say de-extinction of genes to create proxy species is impossible are critics who are simply not fully informed and do not know the science. We have been clear from day one that on the path to de-extinction we will be developing technologies which we hope to be beneficial to both human healthcare as well as conservation, Lamm wrote to The Intercept. We will conitnue [sic] to share these technologies we develop with the world.

It remains to be seen if Colossal, with In-Q-Tels backing, can make good on its promises. And its unclear what, exactly, the intelligence world might gain from the use of CRISPR. But perhaps the CIA shares the companys altruistic, if vague, motives: To advance the economies of biology and healing through genetics. To make humanity more human. And to reawaken the lost wilds of Earth. So we, and our planet, can breathe easier.

Update: September 28, 2022, 1:00 p.m. ETThis story has been updated with a statement from Colossal co-founder Ben Lamm.

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CIA Just Invested In Woolly Mammoth Resurrection Tech - The Intercept

Genetics

Invitae Appointed to National Quality Forum Committee on Quality Standards for Healthcare – PR Newswire

First genetics testing company to sit on Forum

Genetics perspective on committee will accelerate healthcare quality standards aligning with medical and technological advancements

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Invitae (NYSE: NVTA), a leading medical genetics company, today announced the company has received a three-year appointment to a National Quality Forum (NQF) committee that provides input on recommendations for quality standards that impact how healthcare is delivered. Invitae is the first genetics testing company to join the Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) Clinician workgroup committee, representing a critical step in making genetics the standard of care in mainstream medicine and potentially improving healthcare for billions.

The MAP Clinician workgroup is a multi-stakeholder partnership with organizations such as health plans and provider organizations tasked with providing recommendations to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on the selection and removal of performance measures for federal public reporting, performance-based payment and other health programs.

"The selection of Invitae to the MAP Clinician workgroup indicates the National Quality Forum is prioritizing genomics for their work in setting standards for quality healthcare. I am glad to see NQF playing an active role to help incentivize this progress of medicine and applaud their choice of Invitae. I look forward to Invitae's contributions in this partnership," said Christine Cassel, MD, former NQF president and CEO and former planning dean for Kaiser Permanente's School of Medicine.

The MAP Clinician workgroup plays an important role for NQF's evaluation and endorsement process for implementation of standardized healthcare performance measures. Both public and private payers use measures for a variety of accountability purposes, including public reporting and performance-based payment programs. Measures are an essential part of making the quality and cost of healthcare more transparent to all, which is important for those who receive care or make care decisions for loved ones. Use of standardized healthcare performance measures allows for comparison across clinicians, hospitals, health plans and other providers.

"We believe healthcare quality, equity and patient safety cannot be addressed without the recognition that genetics plays a critical role. With this consideration, quality standards can help providers and health plans keep up with the evidence, clinical guidelines and advancement of medicine," said Chantelle Schenning, PhD, MHA, head of healthcare transformation at Invitae. "NQF's decision to invite our voice to represent the genetics perspective and expertise creates a more balanced, diverse stakeholder group that better aligns with advancements in clinical care seen in the outpatient setting today."

Each year, millions of people are screened for or diagnosed with diseases for which their genetic information can be clinically actionable for them and their families. As genetic information becomes increasingly important in driving healthcare decision-making and outcomes, quality standards should reflect and encourage the relevant use of genetics in clinical practice to help treat and prevent disease. If incorporated appropriately, the inclusion of genetics in quality measures could reduce (rather than widen) existing disparities in patient outcomes in cancer, cardiovascular disease, pediatrics and many others.

About the National Quality ForumThe National Quality Forum (NQF) works with members of the healthcare community to drive measurable health improvements together. NQF is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization that gives all healthcare stakeholders a voice in advancing quality measures and improvement strategies that lead to better outcomes and greater value. Learn more at http://www.qualityforum.org.

About InvitaeInvitae Corporation (NYSE: NVTA) is a leading medical genetics company, whose mission is to bring comprehensive genetic information into mainstream medicine to improve healthcare for billions of people. Invitae's goal is to aggregate the world's genetic tests into a single service with higher quality, faster turnaround time and lower prices. For more information, visit the company's website at invitae.com.

Safe Harbor StatementThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the company's beliefs regarding its appointment to the NQF committee, including that it will accelerate healthcare quality standards aligning with medical and technological advancements and that it represents a critical step in making genetics the standard of care in mainstream medicine and potentially improving healthcare for billions; and the company's belief that the inclusion of genetics in quality measures could reduce existing disparities in patient outcomes in many diseases. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the company's history of losses; the company's ability to compete; the company's failure to manage growth effectively; the company's need to scale its infrastructure in advance of demand for its tests and to increase demand for its tests; the company's ability to use rapidly changing genetic data to interpret test results accurately and consistently; security breaches, loss of data and other disruptions; laws and regulations applicable to the company's business; and the other risks set forth in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks set forth in the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2022. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and Invitae Corporation disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Contact:Renee Kelley[emailprotected](628) 213-3283

SOURCE Invitae Corporation

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Invitae Appointed to National Quality Forum Committee on Quality Standards for Healthcare - PR Newswire

Genetics

It was a perfect storm: How 13 rabbits caused the largest biological invasion in history – EL PAS USA

On Christmas Eve, 1859, 24 rabbits arrived at Thomas Austins hunting estate near Sydney in eastern Australia. Just two months earlier, his brother William Austin had sent him 13 rabbits from southern England. Three years later, the local press reported that there were already thousands of European leporids in the country. Thomas himself acknowledged that he had slaughtered 20,000 of the animals on his property. By 1906, the rabbits had reached Australias west coast, 4,000 kilometers (about 2,485 miles) away from Thomas Austins property. Now, a genetic study confirms that the Austin brothers rabbits started the largest biological invasion ever recorded.

The contemporary press and history books note the Austins culpability in the disaster. Even Williams granddaughter, Joan Palmer, tells her version of the story in her memoirs. But many scientists and historians acknowledge that its more complicated than that: the English settled in Australia in 1788, when the ships of the First Fleet arrived on a mission for the British crown to turn the huge island into a penal colony. Five rabbits were aboard one of the ships that made the voyage. Records show that there were another 90 shipments of rabbits over the next 70 years. Some of the animals escaped or were released deliberately, but none of them caused a biological invasion. The proliferation of wild rabbits has damaged Australian ecosystems and cornered marsupials; rabbits are the continents main agricultural pests. For over a century and a half, Australians have tried everything to stop the invasion, from rifles and fences, to ferrets and phosphorus poisons, to viruses and bacteria. So, what happened on Christmas Eve in 1859?

A group of British, Portuguese and Australian researchers have used genetics to confirm the Austin brothers responsibility for the disaster. The scientists analyzed the genes of almost 200 rabbits from Spain (the common rabbits place of origin), France (where the animals were domesticated during the Middle Ages), England, Australia and two other countries that also suffered the scourge: neighboring New Zealand and Tasmania. Several specimens come from a few years after the invasion began. This data allowed the scientists to create a genetic tree to study how the rabbits proliferation occurred. The researchers published their findings in the scientific journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America).

Their wild ancestry probably gave these rabbits an advantage, as they were better adapted to the harsh Australian landscape

Joel Alves, a researcher at the University of Oxford and the Research Center for Biodiversity and Genetic Resources in Portugal, and the studys lead author, explains what they hoped to find by recreating the rabbit gene tree: We looked for a combination of different genetic markers that we expect when populations expand. Importantly, they saw that almost all Australian rabbits are closely related, despite being separated by thousands of kilometers. Something like that would not have been possible if there had been other successful introductions, notes Alves. He adds that the further away the rabbit populations are from Victoria [the state where the invasion originated], the less genetic diversity they have. This is to be expected from a large significant expansion from a single place, because genetic diversity erodes as individuals expand rapidly. Biologists call this the founder effect.

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited exclusively through the maternal line, has allowed the researchers to estimate the number of females behind the proliferation of hundreds of millions of Australian rabbits: William sent only five females to Thomas. Genetics has also helped the scientists confirm the rabbits geographical origin. On the European branches of the genetic tree, the Australian rabbits are closest to the ones connected to the United Kingdoms southwest, where William Austins land was located. But what was so special about the Austin rabbits as compared to the ones that arrived in Australia earlier?

We have historical and genetic evidence that most of the previous introductions were domestic rabbits. Austins are the only ones explicitly described as wild and captured in a natural environment, which we have confirmed genetically, says Alves. One piece of historical proof is the memoir of Joan Palmer, William Austins granddaughter. She recalls that Thomas asked William to send him a dozen wild rabbits to release on his hunting grounds. The emigrant belonged to one of the acclimatization societies that sprang up in the 19th century. These associations imported species from their homelands to introduce them into the colonies, out of both longing and economic interests. But that had dire consequences in the many ecosystems exposed simultaneously to the actions of white settlers and invasive species. In the Austins case, William captured only six wild rabbits and bought another seven from neighbors who had trapped the animals as young and then domesticated them. The rabbits had to interbreed during the journey to match the 24 animals that appear in the historical records.

Alves explains their wild ancestry probably gave these rabbits an advantage, because they were better adapted to the harsh Australian landscape. In addition to their gray to brownish coloration, which is ideal for camouflage in the dry, semi-arid terrain, the wild rabbits retained their flight response to danger. Domestic rabbits are an easier target for predators because they have lost that reaction and are more docile and more strikingly colored.

In Australia rabbits have evolved with changes in body shape to help regulate their temperature

Francis Jiggins, a professor of genetics at the University of Cambridge and a senior author of the study, notes that there are numerous traits that could make domestic rabbits of wild origin poorly adapted for survival in the wild, but it is possible that they lacked the genetic variation needed to adapt to Australias arid and semi-arid climate. He concludes that to cope with this [environment], Thomas Austins wild rabbits and their offspring had a genetic advantage in adapting to these conditions.

Martn Nuez, a researcher at the University of Houston and an expert in invasion ecology, says that the investigations results are compelling, although they are at odds with previous research that finds rabbits spread throughout Australia from different places at different times. [Determining] why some species invade and others dont is invasion biologys holy grail. Weve been trying to find that out for decades. This study didnt find the holy grail, but it provides information about the processes through which it can happen, he explains. Nuez notes that the research shows that its not so much about the species, but about a population of potentially pre-adapted individuals. This work also demonstrates that the view of rabbits as a highly invasive species, at least outside of Europe, is wrong, since here it is very clear that a given population at a specific time was responsible [for the biological invasion], while other populations had much more limited success.

Alves acknowledges that genetics are not the only explanation for the invasion: It is likely that changes in the environment also played a role when the Austin rabbits arrived. Australia in 1788 was very different from Australia in 1859; by the mid-19th century, the country had extensive grazing land that could feed rabbits, and herders killed fewer predators. So, it was the perfect storm; the right rabbits were in the right place at the right time.

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It was a perfect storm: How 13 rabbits caused the largest biological invasion in history - EL PAS USA