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Wildcat Dancesport has been waltzing around as the official ballroom dance club at the University of Arizona for over 20 years and serves as one of the universitys most unique way of making friends, according to club president Brenna Hall.

The club held its most recent showcase on Feb. 1, where dancers got the chance to show off their skills to everyone in attendance and hoped to gain some more attention from students who may want to join.

Ballroom is inherently a social dance; you have to dance with other people, Hall said. You get a chance to meet a lot of different, fun people who are all interested in the same thing.

Hall has been in the club for five years. She graduated from the UA with a bachelors degree in ecology and evolutionary biology and is currently studying for her masters degree in epidemiology at the UA.

Hall said that she became interested in the club because of her interest in dance and desire to be more social and meet new people.

Sometimes in college things get really busy, so its a great way to be both active and social, Hall said. Its also a good way to take a break from studying for a bit.

Wildcat Dancesport focuses on two genres of ballroom dance: American Smooth, which includes the waltz, tango, foxtrot and Viennese waltz, and international Latin, which consists of the cha cha, rumba, paso doble, samba and jive.

The club has two different levels of dancers: beginners, and intermediate and advanced. Beginners are taught lessons by the more experienced dancers in the intermediate and advanced level, while dancers in the intermediate and advanced level are taught by a professional instructor.

We welcome everyone from any level of experience, Hall said. Whether they have danced ballroom before or even if theyve never danced a day in their life.

The club is not exclusive to current students. Some members, like Athena Simmons, are alumni that just couldnt step off the dance floor after college.

Simmons has been a member of Wildcat Dancesport for 10 years now. She graduated from the UA in 2015 with a degree in psychology and now works at a physical therapy office. Simmons said that since non-students are able to be in the club, she has been able to remain a member.

I love this club with all my heart for a reason, I just wanna see it prosper, Simmons said. Its been a part of my life for these past 10 years and Ive enjoyed every moment of it.

Simmons said that although she has been in the club for many years, she is still constantly learning and working hard.

Theres always something to improve upon, Simmons said. Dance teaches you how to persevere. You definitely learn about yourself.

UA junior Jessica Guise, a physiology major, has been a member of the club for two years. According to Guise, she truly began dancing through the club. She said her mother is a ballroom dance teacher and encouraged her to join while in college.

As a freshman, Guise said she was lonely and not very outgoing. But through Wildcat Dancesport, she met new friends.

She found getting to be more social in college and actually being involved in something refreshing. According to Guise, the club serves as a creative outlet for a lot of science, technology, engineering and math majors like herself who might have otherwise struggled to find one.

It feels really great to have a connection with another person when you dance, Guise said. I think you can express your creativity, meet new friends and find a new passion.

According to Hall, the club holds weekly practices, dance socials and about three competitions per year.

All dance lessons take place at the Student Recreation Center, so all attendants must have a Rec Center membership. The beginners lessons take place in the Multi-Activity Court at the Rec Center on Sundays from 10 - 11 a.m. Intermediate and advanced lessons take place Mondays in room A from 8 - 10 p.m. The beginner review lessons take place Wednesdays from 8 to 10 p.m., and open dance sessions occur every Monday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Wednesday from 9 - 10 p.m.

To learn more about Wildcat Dancesport visit their website at wildcatdancesport.com or their Facebook page, UADancesport.

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Waltz into something new with Wildcat Dancesport - Arizona Daily Wildcat

Physiology

Franke Program, blending science and humanities, hits the right note – Yale News

February 4, 2020 medical

Ambre Dromgoole and Davis Butner are hitting their scholarly stride in the sweet spot between art and science.

Their projects are quite different from each other. Dromgoole, a third-year doctoral student in religious studies and African American studies, is rediscovering a black female composer who was missing from the historical record. Butner, who earned a masters degree in architecture last year, is mapping the sounds of the sacred architecture of different faiths.

They do have one important thing in common. Theyre both bolstered by Yales Franke Program in Science and the Humanities.

Created as a launchpad for interdisciplinary projects, the Franke Program in Science and the Humanities is a Yale initiative that both lessens the isolation of academic specialization and encourages boundary-breaking projects.

We are creating an expanded community of interdisciplinary scholars across academic stages, said Priyamvada Natarajan, the Yale professor of astronomy and physics who directs the program. The radical, transformative ideas that will reshape and impact the world will come out of cross-disciplinary engagement. Our goal is to foster collaborations that will inspire creative thinkers at Yale who will leverage these new strengths to make breakthroughs.

Mapping and Knowing is the broader theme of the program, which annually supports highly imaginative projects by 15 undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows senior Alexis Hopkins analysis of mental illness within slave populations, for example, and senior Addison Lucks study of how law and environmental policy intersect in Ecuador.

Graduate student Mary Yap is using photography and drone videos to look at urbanization across Southeast Asia and Scandinavia. Another graduate student, Luna Zagorac, is creating a diagram of the ancient Egyptian heavens. Postdoctoral fellow David Merritt Johns is conducting a historical analysis of the cultural and scientific debate over elevated salt consumption.

The problems and challenges we face today are exceedingly complex and will require new approaches to tackle them, Natarajan said. Cross-fertilization of ideas developed in one discipline, applied to another, are clearly strategies needed to make advances. This requires us to boldly venture beyond our intellectual silos.

Dromgooles Franke Program project started in a taxi.

She was on her way to an academic symposium in Texas in 2017, sharing a cab with a documentary filmmaker named Jerry Zolten. During the ride, Zolten mentioned a long-abandoned project of his own: an interview with a gospel music songwriter named Roxie Ann Moore, who had since died.

Dromgoole said she immediately felt an emotional and scholarly tug. Just from Zoltens brief description, Moore sounded like so many of the talented choir directors and gospel singers Dromgoole had known while growing up in Nashville, Tennessee.

Moore was an innovative composer and guitarist who collaborated with such luminaries as Count Basie and the Dixie Hummingbirds, but often didnt get a songwriting credit for her compositions. Her songs included Love Your Fellowman, Jesus He Looked on Me, and It Wont Be Long.

Fortunately, Moore kept a trove of letters, diaries, interviews, and other documents detailing her work from 1935 until her death in 2012.

She saved copies of every letter she ever wrote, Dromgoole said. There is a deep kind of hope in that. She may have been viewed as insignificant by society at large, but she was still trying to show the importance of her work even if no one ever came along later, looking for her.

Dromgoole applied for a Franke Fellowship in 2018. By then she had a mountain of material about Moore to sift through and evaluate. She said other students and faculty mentors in the Franke Program whose expertise range from applied physics and computer science to history and comparative literature offered insights and suggested scientific tools to help her corral the data effectively. She also studied vocal physiology and pedagogy to gain a better understanding of how voice and vocal timbre are produced.

Music analysis is a science, she said. Im doing in-depth musical analysis of chord structures.

Dromgoole said Moores compositions perfectly reflect the influence of other musical genres in gospels formative years. Moore had listened to ragtime music when she was a child; she became friends with rock/gospel pioneer Rosetta Tharpe when they were both teenagers. Moore later said gospel and blues music sounded similar to her.

These cross-genre collaborations are all the more significant given Moores involvement in the Black Holiness-Pentecostal tradition, known for its strict doctrinal delineations between sacred and secular, Dromgoole said.

The project has become Dromgooles dissertation subject. She said Moores life and work offer a window into important aspects of African American culture and American religious history in the 20th century. Dromgoole plans to create a digital archive of Moores documents.

Shes been overlooked for far too long, she said.

While Dromgoole was re-establishing the relevance of a singular 20th-century gospel composer, Butner was busy mapping the sounds that fill religious buildings across the globe.

His project, Sounding Sacred, looks at the how the architectural and acoustic characteristics of temples, mosques, churches, and other religious buildings reflect the specific ways those buildings are used. The survey project includes churches in New Haven, synagogues in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, koothambalams in India, and mosques in Turkey.

For instance, Butner said, in analyzing the wooden Pogost monasteries of Northern Russia, he found that their highly ornamented exteriors masked strikingly intimate interiors and dampened acoustical properties reinforcing the collective choral techniques practiced there. Closer to home, Butner led a performance tour featuring Yales Schola Cantorum, New Havens Trinity Church on the Green, St. Thomas More Cathedral, and Christ Church, to demonstrate acoustical properties and aural techniques tailored to each worship space.

Its a project that looks at the indescribable nature of sound and how that sound plays into religious spaces, said Butner, who is continuing his Franke project while participating in a Luce Fellowship in Asia this year.

Sounding Sacred includes 40 religious buildings, representing four faith groups. It also includes animated, 3D visualizations of the way sound moved through some of the structures.

I had never done curation of this kind before, Butner said. The ways one can archive and document material are wide-ranging. The Franke Program made it easy to collaborate with scholars in other fields and get feedback.

As Butner and Dromgooles projects near completion, a new batch of Franke Program projects will soon commence. The application deadline for undergraduate fellowships is March 6 (the deadline for graduate and postdoctoral researchers is Aug. 1). Details for applying can be found at the Franke Program website.

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Franke Program, blending science and humanities, hits the right note - Yale News

Anatomy

Ride With Blake Lively in a Car Chase Scene From The Rhythm Section – The New York Times

February 3, 2020 medical

In Anatomy of a Scene, we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series each Friday. You can also watch our collection of more than 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

After watching dozens of car chase scenes in movies, the director Reed Morano said that the scariest place to be visually as an audience member was inside the car.

Anytime Ive watched one and we cut out of the car, the tension drops for me, she said in an interview.

So for her action thriller The Rhythm Section, about a woman, Stephanie Patrick (Blake Lively), who becomes an assassin, Morano wanted to build maximum tension with a car chase sequence that didnt ever leave the car. Instead, all the action is shot hand-held from the passengers seat, the camera panning front and back to capture the chaos and danger happening outside the car, as well as Stephanies expressions as she navigates the car.

The sequence appears as an unbroken shot (though it was a few stitched together) and involved some elaborate staging to put together. Moranos director of photography, Sean Bobbitt, shot from the passengers side seated on top of a sliding rail system that gave him mobility to shoot either closer to the windshield, or slide toward the back.

Outside the car, Morano said, we had these amazing stunt people that, all the way down the line, had things to do: cars, motorcycles, guys jumping out in the street, people on bikes.

It was definitely the most fun thing to shoot, she said.

Read the Rhythm Section review.

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Ride With Blake Lively in a Car Chase Scene From The Rhythm Section - The New York Times

Anatomy

Dead Vs Virtual: Will 3-D Dissection Help Anatomy Students At SCB? – Odisha Television Ltd.

February 3, 2020 medical

Cuttack: Sans required number of donated human bodies, MBBS students of SCB Medical College and Hospital here are facing hardship during their Anatomy classes and medical research. As per the Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines, only eight students are allowed to have anatomy dissection class by using one dead body. However, in SCB, there are only eight bodies (five men & three women) for 250 medical students of the government college, which means one body is used by at least 30 students for anatomy.

With such a situation prevailing for the last few months, the medicos have alleged that they are deprived of getting better anatomy classes. If more than 20 students stand around one body, those standing at the front row only can understand the lesson well. The human anatomy dissection class is held for around two hours and it is getting very difficult for us to grasp things within this short period of time, said Biswajit Sahu, president of SCB students union.

Meanwhile, the SCB hospital authorities have decided to use the 3-D dissection table for the purpose. They claimed that the 3-D dissection table which offers the most realistic virtual cadaver can be a great help for the students as they can have very interactive experience by using it.

Sources said the 3-D dissection table also has other facilities like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) scan and microscopic views. Students of surgery, neurosurgery and cardiovascular surgery will also get benefits from this table.

SCB Medical College Dean Jayashree Mohanty said, Maintaining the cadaver is a long and difficult process which includes dissection and putrefaction. The 3-D dissection table, on the other hand, is very helpful for the students which they can operate easily.

On the other hand, students of Anatomy department opined that the natural learning experience is missing when bodies are replaced by a 3-D dissection table. Cadaver cant be replaced. In future, we will have to conduct surgery on a body and conducting surgery on a body is different than seeing something that is virtual, said Amrita Nalini Manabikata, a student of Anatomy department.

Anyone can donate his/her body after death for medical research. Besides, the State Assembly had passed the Odisha Anatomy (Amendment) Act in 2013.

However, with no or very less donors, intellectuals have said that there is a necessity to create awareness among people which might inspire them to pledge their bodies and organs for donation after death. We urge the State government to encourage people so that they can donate their bodies which will help the medical students in their research and they can become good doctors, said Odisha Jana Jagaran Mancha, President, Choudhary Prabhat Keshari Mishra.

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Dead Vs Virtual: Will 3-D Dissection Help Anatomy Students At SCB? - Odisha Television Ltd.

Anatomy

Free whitepaper: a look at how employees really spend their time at work – The Drum

February 3, 2020 medical

As organizations rely heavily on collaborative tools and software platforms (IDC predicts that the market for collaborative applications will increase to $26.6bn by 2030), it has become harder to track what kind of work employees are actually getting up to.

A new Anatomy of Work Index whitepaper from Asana is all about learning how marketers actually spend their days in the office, and analyzing their overall rate of productivity. It uses this data, which has been drawn from a pool of 10,000 knowledge workers globally and includes workers in roles such as chief marketing officer, head of brand and senior marketing manager, to see where agencies and brands can improve in order to start becoming more effective in the 2020s.

Attend our free 25-minute webinar on 30 January to boost your productivity.

Some of the key learnings include the fact that the majority of global employees (60%) spend most of their time on work about work, which could be emailing someone about plans or doing practical, non-creative tasks such as micro-managing others. In comparison, just 40% spend time on skilled work like executing a campaign, and this highlights the fact that most workers are losing the battle when it comes to finding time to embrace more thoughtful, deeper work tasks.

Even more worrying is the fact that polled employees are only spending 27% of their time at work on skills based work; the craft they were actually trained and hired to carry out. Therefore it is high time we found a solution, and this whitepaper will help to provide practical advice on how you can create a more inspired team thats set up to execute their roles much more effectively.

Asanas Anatomy of Work index also explores how unbalanced workloads are crippling employees and negatively impacting their productivity. The index has found 26% of employees have too much work to do, which subsequently drives stress and feelings of being unsettled. Its goal is to inspire you to find ways to ensure workers are doing their 9-to-5 more effectively, and not wasting their time on things that create unhappiness in the workplace.

Another fascinating insight the index provides is around how many hours a day workers find themselves distracted, and youll be able to compare how UK workers compare to the US, Germany, Australia, and even Japan. The fact, on average, 1 hour and 4 minutes is wasted daily by knowledge workers globally due to distractions or procrastination shows how much room there is for improvement.

The Anatomy of Work examines how to break down those barriers that stop workers from being productive and showing how technology, such as Asanas own work management tool, can help create a system that benefits everybody when applied correctly and not just at a whim.

The most forward-thinking organizations in the world know how to leverage time-saving work management software to reimagine their workplace, and this forward-thinking piece of research will show why taking control of workloads and collaborating more thoughtfully is a must if your workers are to reach the next level.

To access the full report for free, click this link or fill in the form below.

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Free whitepaper: a look at how employees really spend their time at work - The Drum

Anatomy

TV Ratings Thursday: ‘The Good Place’ series finale improves, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ drops – TV by the Numbers

February 3, 2020 medical

Broadcast primetime live + same-day ratings for Thursday, January 30, 2020

The numbers for Thursday:

The Good Place went out with a minor uptick in this weeks Thursday primetime ratings.

The 1-hour series finale of the NBC comedy scored a solid 0.7 rating among adults 18-49 with 2.35 million viewers. That puts The Good Place up a tick from its penultimate episodes 0.6 rating and 2.12 million viewer audience last week, and also makes it the shows highest-rated and most-watched outing since its season premiere back in September. A post-finale Good Place special also raked in a 0.6 rating with 2.06 million viewers.

Additionally, Superstore stayed steady on NBC by matching its 0.7 from a week ago, and Law & Order: SVU (0.6) returned from a week off in steady fashion as well.

Elsewhere, it was a down night across for the board for ABC, starting with Station 19, which fell from its season premieres 1.2 rating last week to a 1.0 this time around. Greys Anatomy (1.1) similarly dropped three-tenths week-to-week, but remained the nights no. 1 show in the 18-49 demo, while A Million Little Things slipped from a 0.7 to a 0.6.

FOXs Thursday night lineup also experienced a variety of upticks and downticks this week, as Last Man Standing (0.7) and Outmatched (0.6) both inched down one-tenth from their last outings, but Deputy (0.6) ticked up a tenth. The CWs Supernatural (0.3) and Legacies (0.3) each rose one-tenth from their ratings a week ago as well.

On CBS, Young Sheldon (1.0), The Unicorn (0.6), Mom (0.7), and Carols Second Act (0.6) all returned from a week off with the same ratings as their previous episodes. Sheldon also, once again, raked in the largest audience of any of the nights shows (8.6 million viewers). Meanwhile, the season finale of Evil capped off the night for CBS with a 0.5 rating, up one-tenth from its penultimate outing.

Network averages:

Definitions:

Rating: Estimated percentage of the universe of TV households (or other specified group) tuned to a program in the average minute. Ratings are expressed as a percent.Fast Affiliate Ratings: These first national ratings are available at approximately 11 a.m. ETthe day after telecast. The figures may include stations that did not air the entire network feed, as well as local news breaks or cutaways for local coverage or other programming. Fast Affiliate ratings are not as useful for live programs and are likely to differ significantly from the final results, because the data reflect normal broadcast feed patterns.Share (of Audience):The percent of households (or persons) using television who are tuned to a specific program, station or network in a specific area at a specific time.Time Shifted Viewing:Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data Live, Live +Same-Day and Live +7 Day. Time-shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs. Live+SD includes viewing during the same broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of 3 a.m. local time when meters transmit daily viewing to Nielsen for processing. Live +7 ratings include viewing that takes place during the 7 days following a telecast.

Source: The Nielsen Company.

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TV Ratings Thursday: 'The Good Place' series finale improves, 'Grey's Anatomy' drops - TV by the Numbers

Genetics

Genetics and Acne – The Good Men Project

February 3, 2020 medical

Please Note: This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose or treat any illness. If you have any health concern, see a licensed healthcare professional in person.

What is acne?

Acne is a chronic, inflammatory skin condition that causes pimples and spots on the face, neck, shoulders, back, and chest. It is the most popular skin condition in the U.S., affecting 50 million Americans every year. It is common during puberty when the sebaceous glands activate. However, there is no specific age when acne occurs. It is worth noting that acne is not dangerous, but it can leave your skin with scars.

Is acne genetics?

One of the common questions you will hear people ask about acne is acne genetic? Well, acne is mainly caused by genetics. Acne is more genetic than environmental. Acne genetics establish how the immune system responds to P. acnes bacteria: one person may develop just mild blackheads, while the other person develops severe gentle and red nodules.

Genetics is also responsible for clogging your pores. For example, a certain family may have a genetic tendency of overproducing dead skin cells, leading to more clogged pores, hence causing acne. Or some family line may have a genetic tendency to overproduce sebum, making the oily skin to trap bacteria in pores, leading to more frequent acne. Additionally, since some types of acne are hormonal, a person may be genetically predisposed to produce more androgen.

What makes acne genetics so devastating is that they are unpredictable. For example, in identical twins, one may get little pimples that disappear after a few days, while the other twin may develop cysts that can scar the skin. Fortunately, you can still clear up your genetic acne.

According to the experts, if your father or mother had significant acne, you have a high possibility of developing genetic acne. Remember that there are also other environmental factors that may influence acne.

How to reduce genetic acne

Fortunately, there are ways that can help you reduce the effects of genetics and keep acne at bay. Even if you are genetically predisposed to breakouts, that doesnt mean that you cant do anything about them, you can still make informed and healthy lifestyle choices to clear up the acne. These are some of the ways you can prevent acne

Inset photo provided by the author.

Featured photo: Shutterstock

Genetics

Environmental Factor – February 2020: Parkinson’s driven by inflammation, genetics, and the environment – Environmental Factor Newsletter

February 3, 2020 medical

In 1817, James Parkinson published An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, describing the disease that now bears his surname. The British surgeons proposed treatment bloodletting proved ineffective, and the intervening two centuries led to no breakthroughs for patients.

The reality is that today, we still dont have a treatment that slows or alters the progression of Parkinsons disease, said David Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., during a Jan. 8 talk at NIEHS. He is chair of the neurology department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). We can help patients function better, but were not changing the underlying nature of the disease.

Parkinsons disease is complex, involving genetic and environmental factors, and their interaction. Guohong Cui, M.D., Ph.D., head of the NIEHS In Vivo Neurobiology Group, invited Standaert to discuss the role immunity plays in the disorder. Both researchers seek to discover ways to slow advancement of the condition and make it less severe.

Dr. Standaert is an established researcher in the Parkinsons field, which is one of the major areas my lab works in, said Cui. His team examines how pesticides interact with genetic factors associated with the disease and ways to slow dopamine loss, which is a hallmark of the disorder.

At UAB, Standaert directs the Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinsons Disease Research, one of eight such centers funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. One of his research questions is whether immune system responses to a protein called alpha-synuclein trigger neurodegeneration.

Alpha-synuclein is a cornerstone of research in Parkinsons disease, Standaert told the audience. It is a small protein present in high levels in neurons throughout the brain. It participates in virtually every form of the disease, whether through mutation, overexpression, or aggregation, which is probably the most common mechanism.

Abnormal forms of alpha-synuclein may activate immune cells in the brain, leading to inflammation that drives progression of the disorder.

For many years, it was said that this is a degenerative disease and cells are dying, so, of course, theres inflammation, he said. I think in the last few years, weve turned this around and realized that the inflammation may come first, as part of a process that leads to degeneration.

When mutated, the LRRK2 protein can worsen problems caused by alpha-synuclein. It is one of the most common genetic causes of Parkinsons. In our clinic, about 2 to 3 percent of patients have LRRK2 mutations, he noted. Those mutations may cause Parkinsons by cranking up sensitivity of the immune system they may increase the magnitude of the response to alpha-synuclein.

But other factors bear consideration. To study the mechanisms responsible for Parkinsons disease, there is a need for model systems that replicate the effects of environmental toxins, said Standaert. He highlighted research by NIEHS grantee Briana De Miranda, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh. She studies, among other things, how organic solvents may boost susceptibility to Parkinsons disease in individuals with LRRK2 mutations.

Standaert said the fact that inflammation may cause the disorder to advance more than it otherwise would means that anti-inflammatory drugs could hold promise. We have immunologic treatments for a lot of other diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis, Standaert said in an interview. Could we use one of those or something similar in Parkinsons disease to slow its progression?

(Jesse Saffron, J.D., is a technical writer-editor in the NIEHS Office of Communications and Public Liaison.)

Genetics

Do DIY DNA kits revive a harmful perceived link between genetics and race? – Penn: Office of University Communications

February 3, 2020 medical

The industry around do-it-yourself DNA kits has exploded, with tens of millions of people sending in samples to learn about their family history. But what consumers might consider a lighthearted glimpse into their backgrounds gave Penn sociologist Wendy Roth pause.

When I first heard about genetic ancestry tests, I was concerned. As social scientists, we learn that race is not genetic; its not biological, Roth says. What are these tests that take a DNA sample and report back your race? In the early days, thats how it was being described. They were selling themselves as providing you with the definitive word on your race, ethnicity, and who you are.

Roth and others in the field grew worried that the test results might inadvertently reshape racial boundaries and reinforce an archaic concept called genetic essentialism, which says that genes alone determine race, and that race alone determines a persons abilities. Even before there was any data, social scientists were writing think pieces, saying these tests were going to revive this harmful view, she says. I shared those concerns, but I wanted to answer this question empirically.

The result of that work is laid out in a new paper Roth published in PLOS ONE with colleagues ule Yaylac, Kaitlyn Jaffe, and Lindsey Richardson from the University of British Columbia and the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use. The researchers found that overall, DIY DNA tests did not lead more people to believe that race is purely genetic, but they also learned that genetic tests influence people differently.

For some, it increases their belief in racial essentialism and for others, it decreases that belief. Thats causing the effect to average out, says Roth. What seems to make the biggest difference is how much someone understands about genetics going in.

People who better grasped genetics initially came away from the test more skeptical of this racial construct than when they started. Those who understood genetics less believed in essentialism more following the test. It really seems to be a polarization, she says. For the people who dont understand genetics going into this, their views become more extreme. They take more of a laypersons understanding of what a test like this is able to say. They take it at face value.

Roth had previously conducted qualitative interviews with people who had bought genetic-ancestry tests, which helped her grasp their understanding of their test results. But interviewing people as they received results didnt allow Roth to rigorously analyze the causal effects of such tests. To do this, she designed a randomized control trial focused on non-Hispanic, native-born white Americans.

The study population of 802 people had also never before taken a genetic ancestry test, had no family results from such a test, and, perhaps most crucial, were amenable to taking one. Thats important, she says. This isnt a sample of all whites, or even all non-Hispanic, native-born whites. It really is a sample of people willing to take these tests.

All participants began the process by completing a survey to assess their understanding of the relationship between genes and race. Roth then randomly assigned participants to a control or treatment group. The former took no tests. Those in the latter took two DNA tests, one called an admixture test, which presents a persons background as a pie chart of different ancestries, and a second that follows maternal lineage back thousands of years, tracing a familys migration path around the globe. About eight weeks later, Roth asked these participants to review their results for at least 30 minutes, then take a first-reaction survey. Finally, 11 months after taking the pre-test survey, all participants answered follow-up questions that again asked about their understanding of the link between genetics and race.

Based on those questions, my co-authors and I developed a scale to measure belief in genetic essentialism of race, that your genes determine which racial category you belong to and these are discrete, not overlapping: You are black or white or Asian. Its also a belief that those racial groups determined by your genes determine your abilities, how smart you are, how athletic you are, how good you are at math, Roth explains. I compared the treatment and control groups in the pre- and post-test surveys.

There are people out there buying these tests for fun, as a lark. Theyre not really thinking about the kind of impact that they could have. Wendy Roth, Penn sociologist

According to Roth, the study findings have important implications for the DIY DNA testing industry and for the people who use these kits. Consumers need to understand the limitations of thetests, she says, and to that end, the companies who provide them need to make those limitations clear. There are people out there buying these tests for fun, as a lark, she says. Theyre not really thinking about the kind of impact that they could have, either on themselves or on people they know.

The tests could inadvertently fuel negative or hurtful behavior, too, she adds. We know that attitudes affect behaviors all the time, from voting to social ties to hostility toward neighbors. I dont want to make too much of a logical leap here, but theres a general concern with negative racial animus being on the rise, that its being permitted. The fact that something that seems harmless like a genetic-ancestry test could be potentially fueling those views is concerning.

In the future, Roth says she could see a study that looks at whether improving someones understanding of genetics changes these outcomes. She also hopes to studypopulations besides non-Hispanic, native-born whites, as well as to focus not just on people willing to take these tests but on those who have bought one in the past.

Funding for the research came from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Killam Faculty Research Fellowship.

Wendy Roth is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology in the School of Arts and Sciences and a research associate in the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Do DIY DNA kits revive a harmful perceived link between genetics and race? - Penn: Office of University Communications

Genetics

Scottish wildcat, bee and pearl at risk of ‘severe genetic problems’ – HeraldScotland

February 3, 2020 medical

SCIENTISTS have developed a world-first method to help understand and conserve genetic diversity in some of Scotlands most iconic wild flora and fauna.

The golden eagle, Scottish wildcat and red squirrel are among 25 species assessed in a new report published by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), which also includes plantlife such as heather, the Scottish bluebell and the Scots pine.

Conserving the genetic diversity the differences among individuals due to variation in their DNA of plants, animals and wild species is among the targets developed by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to encourage countries around the world to work together to reduce the rate of loss of nature.

But while there are strategies in place to assess and report on genetic diversity in agriculture, horticulture and forestry, there is a gap when it comes to wild species.

Researchers identified a list of target species of particular importance for Scotland and developed a genetic scorecard for each, assessing their genetic diversity and any associated risks.

The species were chosen for their conservation or cultural value, importance for food and medicines or because they provide crucial ecosystem services such as carbon storage.

Four of the 26 assessed species Scottish wildcat, ash, great yellow bumblebee and freshwater pearl mussel were classed as being at risk of severe genetic problems as a result of factors including non-native species, disease, habitat loss and pollution.

However, eight species were classed as being at moderate genetic risk and 14 were classed as being at negligible risk.

Conservation action is underway to address these threats, for example through the Saving Wildcats project and Biodiversity Challenge Fund cash recently announced to enhance key freshwater pearl mussel populations across Scotland.

The new method for assessing genetic diversity will help further target long-term conservation strategies and address the international target.

The report is a result of collaboration from 43 experts from 18 organisations, and follows the formal recognition last year of SNHs Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve as the UKs first area designated for genetic conservation, reflecting the importance of its ancient Caledonian pine forest.

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: Our natural environment is central to our national identity, thanks in no small part to the many unique, varied and iconic wild species that are native to Scotland.

A pivotal part of conserving some of our most at-risk biodiversity is to build a full picture of the pressures and issues that our wild species are facing including the state of their genetic diversity.

Work around conserving genetic diversity is an area where Scotland is genuinely ground-breaking. In Beinn Eighe, we were the first nation in the UK to have a site recognised for genetic conservation.

That is why this report, which provides us with new and powerful insight into the state of the genetic diversity amongst wild species is so important, and I look forward to it playing an important role driving further progress to safeguard Scotlands biodiversity.

David OBrien, SNH Biodiversity Evidence and Reporting Manager, said: Often when we talk about biodiversity the focus is on species and ecosystems, but genetic diversity is also essential for nature to be resilient in the face of pressures such as climate change, and its great that Scotland is leading the way in this field.

For the first time, this report sets out a clear scorecard method for assessing the genetic diversity of wild species and applies this to some of our most important plants, animals and birds.

Not only does it fill a major gap in addressing the international target for genetic biodiversity conservation but importantly it can be expanded to cover many more species, and adapted for use in any country in the world.

Professor Pete Hollingsworth, Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), said: Genetic diversity is the raw material that allows species to evolve and adapt to a changing environment and thus conserving genetic diversity is an important way of helping nature to help itself.

Genetic diversity is key to species adapting to changing climates, to new diseases or other pressures they may face. At a time of increasing pressures and threats, maintaining genetic diversity maximises options and opportunities for species to persist and survive.

Dr Rob Ogden, Head of Conservation Genetics at the University of Edinburgh and co-author of the scorecard report, added: The scorecard is designed as an affordable, practical tool that allows every country to assess its wildlife genetic diversity; what we measure in Scotland can now be compared around the world.

The report has been endorsed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and submitted to The Convention on Biological Diversity ahead of the Kunming summit, which will see 196 countries meet in China to adopt a new global framework to safeguard nature and its contributions to human wellbeing. The meeting aims to set the course for biodiversity conservation for the next ten years and the decades to come.