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Human Behavior

How can the health-care system reward healthy behavior? – The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Sadly, despite the highest per-capita health care spending in the world, our statistical life expectancy in the U.S. is declining for three years running. It's past time to address the issues of chronic disease at the root of this trend. But to do so, health insurance needs to take a few lessons from auto insurance.

Auto insurance companies regularly offer discounts for safe driving. Conversely, traffic accidents and speeding lead to rate increases. In addition, Car Insurance.com reports that a DUI can increase an individual's auto insurance rates anywhere from 80% to 371%.

Without these potential auto insurance policy rate increases, our roads would be less safe while being more expensive for the habitual safe and responsible drivers. Interestingly, nobody ever decries these traffic law and auto insurance policies as "nanny state" techniques.

Auto insurance rewards healthy driving while penalizing poor driving.

On the other hand, health insurance fails this sustainability test.

Via commercial insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare rates and taxes rise for everyone because of the unhealthy behavior of some while offering insignificant rewards for healthy behavior. This is a perfect recipe for financial unsustainability in any health-care system, let alone within the most expensive one on the planet.

So what is the health insurance equivalent of speeding or driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol? More importantly, what happens to an individual's health insurance premium for avoidable and well established behaviorally related health problems? Other than some rate adjustments for smoking nothing happens. Worse yet, as the total cost of care for a population increases from avoidable chronic disease states, health insurance rates for everyone increase. Plus, we pay more in taxes to fund Medicaid and Medicare.

The challenge in health insurance is to find a method to reward healthy behavior without driving up health insurance premiums for the chronically ill and those with unfortunate health-related events of no fault of their own.

We could offer relatively inexpensive health insurance to a healthy cohort of patients. Unfortunately, this policy would drastically increase health insurance rates for the sick and chronically ill. Given the extraordinary cost of health care in the United States, it is necessary to spread the cost of care over the majority of the population.

So how does a community, state, or nation rise to the challenge and find a mechanism to reward healthy behavior while disincentivizing unhealthy behavior? An advanced society with affordable health insurance will boldly address this challenge.

The answer lies in the ability to utilize the health insurance equivalents of speeding or reckless driving. Fortunately for us, the Centers for Disease Control or CDC has already accumulated the necessary data. The CDC has identified the most costly behaviors relevant to health insurance: the use of tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-based beverages. As per the CDC, the United States' health care system spends over $700 billion per year treating acute and chronic disease related to the use of these products.

In effect, the "safe drivers" among us are paying this annual $700 billion tab. It's time for a refund. We must begin rewarding healthy behavior in health insurance. Currently, the cost of public and private health insurance includes the cost of caring for many chronic diseases caused by human behavior. The public can smoke, vape, drink, chew, eat and ingest a well-documented variation of unhealthy products. Correspondingly, the price of health insurance increases for everyone.

This is why the largest physician organization in the state of Colorado has enacted policy that could help Colorado lead the nation in addressing the chronic disease epidemic. In November, the Colorado Medical Society voted to support increased taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and sugar-based beverages as long as those taxes be used to address the high cost of health care by addressing chronic disease where it starts and by rewarding those who choose a healthy lifestyle. The Mesa County Medical Society led the charge.

The policy does not support taxes on these products if the revenue is allowed to go to the general fund. If revenue is used for prevention and reducing premiums, there is a healthy return on investment for a Colorado consumer who chooses a healthy lifestyle. It is a tax that is then returned to the well- deserved healthy consumer of health insurance.

This tax policy works like our traffic laws. Healthy living is rewarded while we simultaneously work to reduce the rate and ill effects of unhealthy behavior. And, at the same time, we preserve the insurance pools such that health insurance rates don't go up for the chronically ill with "no-fault" health problems.

With enough support, Colorado could pilot this innovative health policy design for a nation in desperate need of more value per health care dollar.

To learn more, view Dr. Pramenko's TED Talk: "Marketing Healthy Behavior."

Michael J. Pramenko M.D. is the executive director of Primary Care Partners. He is chairman of the Board of Monument Health and is a past president of the Colorado Medical Society.

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How can the health-care system reward healthy behavior? - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Human Behavior

Here’s What Happened Under The Gold Dome On Thursday – InsiderNJ

Heres what happened under the Gold Dome on Thursday (December 5th):

Michael L. Testa, Jr. was sworn in as a member of the Senate for the 1st Legislative District.

SENATE ACTION (QUORUM)

Nominations Received and Referred to SJU:

TO BE A JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT:

Honorable James P. Wilson, J.S.C., of Plainfield.

Honorable Stephen J. Taylor, J.S.C., of Skillman.

Honorable Daniel R. Lindemann, J.S.C., of Wayne.

Honorable Jeffrey R. Jablonski, J.S.C., of Kearny.

Honorable Mitzy Galis-Menendez, J.S.C., of Cliffside Park.

Honorable Marlene Lynch Ford, J.S.C., of Seaside Park.

Honorable Angela White Dalton, J.S.C., of Howell.

Honorable Bradford M. Bury, J.S.C., of Watchung.

TO BE A MEMBER OF THE DELAWARE RIVER JOINT TOLL BRIDGE COMMISSION:

William E. Mandry, of Phillipsburg, to replace Garret Leonard VanVliet.

Nominations Withdrawn:

TO BE A MEMBER OF THE DELAWARE RIVER JOINT TOLL BRIDGE COMMISSION:

Philip J. Mugavero, of Phillipsburg, to replace Garret Leonard VanVliet.

Nomination Corrected Copy:

TO BE A MEMBER OF THE SITE REMEDIATION PROFESSIONAL LICENSING BOARD:

Michael J. Renzulli, of Upper Freehold Township *NOT* Robbinsville, to replace Constantine Tsentas.

Bills Introduced:

S4264 Pou,N William J Pascrell Jr. Highway-designates State Highway Route 19 REF STR

S4265 Bucco,A/OScanlon,D+1 Autistic person-voluntarily make notation on drivers lic, ID card & MV registry REF STR

S4266 Corrado,K Opioid antidote, administered-require involuntary commitment REF SHH

S4267 Cruz-Perez,N State contract award-bidder ineligible to receive if current contract in dispute REF SSG

S4268 Pou,N Cable television-incl cert fees/charges for svc in advertised price to consumers REF SCM

S4269 Weinberg,L Marriage license application-revises form, permit changes in middle and surname REF SJU

S4270 Gopal,V Energy efficiency standards-adopt for general service incandescent lamps REF SEN

S4271 Gopal,V Community College Opportunity Grant program-extend to volunteer emerg responders REF SHI

S4272 Cruz-Perez,N Municipal Rehabilitation and Economic Recovery Act-extend economic recovery term REF SCU

S4273 Gopal,V Disabled person-DEP required to develop beach accessibility guidelines REF SEN

S4274 Greenstein,L Integrated Case Management Services Program-DHS take certain measures concerning REF SHH

S4275 Smith,B Class I renewable energy-allows BPU to increase cost to customers 2022 thru 2024 REF SEN

S4276 Corrado,K Agriculture Development Committee-farmland preservation purposes;$31.153M REF SEN

S4277 Greenstein,L CBT revenues to St. Agric Devel Committee-mun planning incentive farmland grants REF SEN

S4278 Greenstein,L CBT revenues to St. Agric Devel Committee-co. planning incentive farmland grants REF SEN

S4279 Smith,B CBT rev. to State Agric Devel Committee-non-profit organizations farmland grants REF SEN

S4280 Ruiz,M Domestic violence orders-requires to be issued in other languages REF SJU

S4281 Smith,B Piscataway Regional Day School-requires State to sell land and improvements REF SSG

S4285 Sarlo,P SPRS member, 9/11 WTC-provides death benefits to surviving spouses & children REF SBA

S4287 Pou,N Insurance group-submit Corporate Governance Annual Disclosure to DOBI REF SCM

S4288 Singleton,T Homestead property tax reimbursement-proportionate owner collect entire amount REF SCU

S4289 Sweeney,S/Thompson,S Tax levy cap adjustment 2020-2021 thru 2024-2025-sch. districts losing State aid REF SBA

S4296 Pou,N/Sweeney,S+1 Health service corporation-reorganize into a mutual holding company system REF SCM

S4305 Sweeney,S Lobbyists-disclose professional services and filings w/State regulatory agencies REF SSG

Bills Recommitted:

S4204 ScaSca (2R) Sweeney,S Wages and hour and unemployment status-concerns employment status of individuals RCM SLA

Bills Reported from Committee/Given 2nd Reading:

A268 Kean,S/Egan,J+2 P.I.C.K. Awareness Act-authorize special license plate to support recovery REP

A442 AcaSca (2R) Schaer,G/Freiman,R+4 Revenue Advisory Board-establish, provide consensus revenue forecasting advice REP

A1582 AcaAcsScaSca (ACS/2R) Conaway,H/Moriarty,P+9 Dietetics and Nutrition Licensing Act-establish REP/SCA

A2431 Acs (ACS) Benson,D/Jimenez,A+13 Prescr. drug coverage-health insurers prov plans that limit patient cost-sharing REP

A3979 AcsSca (ACS/1R) Lopez,Y/Vainieri Huttle,V+10 Dignity for Incarcerated Primary Caretaker Parents Act REP/SCA

A4493 Aca (1R) Pinkin,N/Conaway,H Sexually transmitted disease-expedite partner therapy for treatment REP

A4608 Sca (1R) Zwicker,A/Downey,J+3 Behavior Analyst Lic Act-produce socially significant human behavior improvement REP/SCA

A5037 AcaAca (2R) Pintor Marin,E/Speight,S+4 Drugs, counterfeit-enhance penalties REP

A5802 Aca (1R) Greenwald,L/Downey,J+16 Family planning services-makes FY2020;$9.5M REP

S48 Sca (1R) Pou,N/Turner,S+1 Juvenile incarceration and parole-imposes restrictions REP/SCA

S469 Singer,R/Gopal,V+1 P.I.C.K. Awareness Act-authorize special license plate to support recovery REP

S618 Scs (SCS) Gordon,R/Oroho,S+2 State revenue estimating and reporting processes-reforms annual REP/SCS

S974 Singleton,T/Kean,T+3 Spinal muscular atrophy-requires newborn infants be screened REP

S993 Sca (1R) Vitale,J Sexually transmitted disease-expedite partner therapy for treatment REP

S1155 Ruiz,M/Rice,R+1 Property, vacant and abandoned-requires registration with municipalities REP

S1865 Scs (SCS) Weinberg,L/Kean,T+1 Prescr. drug coverage-health insurers prov plans that limit patient cost-sharing REP

S2448 Sca (1R) Diegnan,P/Singleton,T+2 Veterans and their spouses-waives certain prof. and occupational licensing fees REP

S2449 Sca (1R) Diegnan,P+2 Veterans and their spouses-waives commercial driver license fees REP

S2540 ScsSca (SCS/1R) Greenstein,L/Cruz-Perez,N+1 Dignity for Incarcerated Primary Caretaker Parents Act REP/SCA

S2625 ScsSca (SCS/1R) Weinberg,L/Ruiz,M Dietetics and Nutrition Licensing Act-establish REP/SCA

S2776 ScsScs (SCS) Smith,B/Greenstein,L+2 Plastic carryout bags, polystyrene & single-use straws-prohibits use REP/SCS

S2897 Madden,F/Singer,R+1 Mold hazard-DCA required to establish procedures for inspection and abatement REP

S2930 Bucco,A/Beach,J+1 Insurance producer licensing fee-exempts honorable discharged mil veterans REP

S3023 Sca (1R) Greenstein,L+2 Probation officers-union officials who represent participate in union activities REP/SCA

S3099 ScaScs (SCS) Weinberg,L/Kean,T+1 Behavior Analyst Lic Act-produce socially significant human behavior improvement

REP/SCS

S3170 ScaSca (2R) Cryan,J/Pou,N+3 Plant closings, mass layoffs-incr. prenotification time & requires severance pay REP/SCA

S3357 Sca (1R) Cunningham,S/Weinberg,L+3 Liberty St. Park Protection Act; estab. Advisory Committee & DEP related actions

REP/SCA

S3457 Sweeney,S/Andrzejczak,B+5 Hooked on Fishing-Not on Drugs Program;$450K REP

S3471 ScsSca (SCS/1R) Andrzejczak,B/Greenstein,L+2 Drugs, counterfeit-enhance penalties REP/SCA

S3759 Sca (1R) Addiego,D/Corrado,K+1 Special education unit-create within Office of Admin. Law; require annual report REP/SCA

S3870 Sarlo,P Sewerage systems, municipal-authorize alternative procedure for sale to pub util REP

S3920 Sca (1R) Pou,N Manufacturing fac-concern provisions of energy by prov cert energy related taxes REP/SCA

S3954 Oroho,S/Singleton,T+2 Labor Law Enforcement-establishes office REP

S4024 Pou,N William Paterson University;$2M REP

S4035 Pou,N/Singleton,T+1 Thomas Edison State University;$1.7M REP

S4083 Weinberg,L/Lagana,J.A. Bright side Manor, Teaneck-fund capital improvement costs;$1.5M REP

S4103 Sca (1R) Sweeney,S/Weinberg,L+1 Family planning services-makes FY2020;$9.5M REP/SCA

S4200 Ruiz,M/Turner,S Breakfast or lunch, reduced price-State pay difference REP

S4204 ScaSca (2R) Sweeney,S Wages and hour and unemployment status-concerns employment status of individuals REP/SCA

S4219 Sweeney,S Public works projects-revises definition to permit project labor agreements REP

S4225 Sca (1R) Greenstein,L/Madden,F Employer tax law-concerns joint liability for payment REP/SCA

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Here's What Happened Under The Gold Dome On Thursday - InsiderNJ

Human Behavior

The science of sewage: What your wastewater could reveal about you – New Atlas

In a way it seems so obvious: find out what kinds of things people are putting into their bodies by studying what comes out the other end. These do sound like muddy waters, but with some clever science researchers are able to draw some clear insights about the habits of different demographics of the population. And with their methods improving all the time, some see a bright future for this dark corner of science that involves real-time health monitoring, predicting disease outbreaks ahead of time and even tracking the rise of antibiotic resistance.

Just like a professional athletes urine sample can be checked for the presence of certain drugs, so too can ours. We dont all have an anti-doping official waiting at the bathroom door, but as our business makes its way into sewerage systems and pools with that of our neighbors, analysis of its chemical makeup can reveal the types of pharmaceuticals we have running through our bodies.

This field of science is known as wastewater-based epidemiology, and in the space of two decades has established itself as a valuable tool to track certain societal behaviors, but one with plenty more still to give.

In the early 2000s, scientists began to seriously explore the idea of tracking the use of illicit drugs by analyzing wastewater. This was inspired by the discovery of metabolites in lakes and rivers, which chemical analysis traced back to certain pharmaceutical compounds that had broken down in the waterways.

Some scientists saw no reason these same techniques couldnt be leveraged to track illicit drug use in the human population. The idea would be to sample wastewater at treatment plants and measure metabolites derived from illicit drugs, gathering non-incriminating drug usage data on the local population.

This is the first feasible approach to obtaining real-time data that truly reflects community-wide usage of drugs while concurrently assuring the inviolable confidentiality of every individual, wrote the EPAs Christian G. Daughton in the American Chemical Societys 2001 publication Pharmaceuticals and Care Products in the Environment. At the same time, this approach yields environmental data for a class of potential pollutants never before considered as such.

Daughton was onto something, it turns out. These days wastewater-based epidemiology has evolved to become a widely used tool by authorities all around the world. By sampling water from sewage treatment plants and measuring the chemical signals within it, scientists can make estimates on the quantity of drugs the community is using, and track the rise and fall of different drug types.

The SCORE network (Sewage analysis CORe group Europe) started out in 2010 as a collaboration between European scientists using wastewater analysis to track illicit drug use in different locations. At first, it involved 19 cities across the continent and by 2018 had expanded to cover 73 cities in 20 different European countries.

EMCDDA

This data is passed onto the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, who work it into a publicly-available online tool that visualizes drug usage trends across the eight years of monitoring so far. By toggling different options, users can see hotspots for cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA use across the continent, measured as milligrams consumed per 1,000 people each day.

And now other countries have gotten involved, helping to build a more complete picture of drug use around the world. An October paper published in the journal Addiction laid out the most recent data collected by the SCORE network, working with wastewater samples collected between 2011 and 2017, concerning more than 60 million people in 37 different countries.

It produced some interesting insights. For example, methamphetamine use was far more prevalent in North America and Australasia than in parts of Europe, though some hot spots emerged in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Cocaine remains the drug of choice in Spanish, Italian, Swiss and French cities, while an overall upsurge was observed between 2011 and 2017. Ecstasy also grew in popularity in the cities sampled over the timeframe.

With this kind of generalized data on illicit drug consumption, the idea is that governments can better understand the role drugs play in the wellbeing of their communities. In turn, that can guide policy to curtail their harmful effects, whether that be through better use of police resources, more targeted awareness campaigns or the legalization of some substances that were seeing sweep through parts of the world.

Tying it all in with human behavior

The Australian government was an early adopter of wastewater-based epidemiology, starting out with a handful of testing sites in 2009 and now with a nationwide drug monitoring program in place. Through sewage samples, this initiative monitors the usage of 13 different substances, including nicotine, cannabis and opioid-based pain relievers, with local trends tracked through the help of chemistry researchers around the country. And some of them harbor grand ambitions for wastewater-based epidemiology.

Philip Choi is a PhD student using mass spectrometry and molecular biology to measure different aspects of population health through human waste. This extends beyond illicit drug use to include things like diet and the use of anti-depressants, making new connections between consumption habits and the lifestyles of the community.

The secret is to tie it all in with census data, which is exactly what Choi and his colleagues did the last time Australia conducted a nationwide census in 2016. The scientists had workers at treatment plants around the country freeze wastewater samples during the week of the census, and then mail them into Choi's lab at the University of Queensland for chemical analysis.

In searching these samples for certain biomarkers and comparing them to the census data, the team carried out the first ever study on the links between wastewater chemicals and social and economic measures of a population.

Prior to this study, some studies used wastewater-based epidemiology to study exposure to potentially harmful chemicals or pollutants such as pesticides, herbicides, flame retardants and so forth, Choi tells New Atlas. However, drug measurement studies made up the bulk of wastewater-based epidemiology studies. Additionally, previous studies measured what people are consuming. Our study is unique in that we show why people might consume different things.

And the results of the study, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in October, reveal some intriguing insights indeed. For example, the scientists found that the opioid-based pain reliever tramadol was used more heavily in areas where more people work as physical laborers. In areas populated by people with lower levels of education, they found higher use of anti-depressants and lower levels of dietary fiber. Some of these results were more surprising than others.

Before we analyzed our data, we expected socio-economically advantaged populations to have a better quality of diet, or take less drugs, and so forth, Choi explains. What was surprising, however, was that our data was able to show how specific aspects of socioeconomic advantage or disadvantage, such as having no home internet connection, lacking high school education, or having a high skilled occupation, were linked to diet or drug consumption. For example, we did not expect to find that lack of high school education was strongly linked to lower dietary fiber intake and higher consumption of amitriptyline, an antidepressant.

Higher caffeine and citrus consumption were other examples of habits tied to a strong socioeconomic status that revealed themselves through the wastewater samples. These new relationships that scientists are uncovering between human behavior and the chemicals in their sewage may prove highly valuable in building long-term pictures of population well-being, but could they also have an immediate impact, or even act as a warning sign of impending disaster?

As it stands, wastewater-based epidemiology is a laborious process that requires scientists to gather samples from different treatment plants and run chemical analyses to find out what's inside. But there could come a time when remote sensors built into treatment plants do most of the heavy lifting, and in much more expedient fashion.

"Some wastewater-treatment plants are already using inline sensors to measure specific chemicals in wastewater, such as online continuous monitoring of ammonium," Dr Jake O'Brien, a member of Choi's research team, explains. "There has been progress on developing more sophisticated biosensors for use in wastewater. Biosensors are small devices with a biological receptor, like DNA, an antibody, or a protein, that generates a signal in the presence of an analytical target, or analyte. They are already used for detection of disease biomarkers for both healthcare and environmental monitoring."

O'Brien points to sensor research being carried out at the UK's Cranfield University as an example of the exciting progress being made. Under the guidance of Dr Zhugen Yang, a research group at the university's Water Science Institute brings together cutting-edge biomedical and chemistry techniques to build next-generation sensors that connect wastewater with environmental science and human well-being. Yang also sees huge potential in using these techniques to offer a complete and immediate picture of population health.

"Wastewater-based epidemiology is very powerful to monitor the health at the community level," he tells us. "Compared to conventional analytical tools, sensors can provide rapid response times, ultra-sensitive detection of biomolecules, and the potential to be miniaturized for portable assays requiring minimal sample processing."

These tiny sensors Yang and his team are developing could be used to track pathogens in sewage that reveal outbreaks of certain diseases earlier on. Furthermore, he says they could also be tuned to track indicators of general health risks like diabetes, high blood pressure, sexually transmitted infections and even obesity.

"A recent report demonstrated that the level of an American citys obesity could be predicted by analyzing the bacterial community structure found in sewage," he explains.

Implementing these kinds of advanced sensors on a scale large enough to track population health sounds like a huge undertaking, and an expensive one. But Yang explains that the costs are something his team is already considering, and mightn't be as prohibitive as you'd think.

"Actually, generally those sensors are not so expensive, and we can really reduce the cost of sensors by using cheap material," he says. "For example, recently I have developed a paper-origami device, using filter paper as material to build up hydrophobic and hydrophilic channel to manipulate the liquid rather than using a pump. So I dont think the cost of sensors will be a main limitation for this kind of application."

The rise of antibiotic resistance bacteria, also known as superbugs, is a growing concern among scientists with many fearful they could return us to the dark ages of medicine and kill tens of millions a year by midway through the century. Wastewater-based epidemiology could emerge as a valuable tool in tracking their evolution, and the communities that are most at risk.

"Our recent work also demonstrated a low-cost later flow assay, which can be performed at the site of sample collection, with minimal user intervention, yielding results within 45 minutes and providing a method to monitor public health from wastewater," says Yang. "This can also be used for the tracking of antibiotic-resistant genes, with my research group currently working on the development for these kinds of sensors. The sensor will enable rapid monitoring of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant genes in wastewater."

There are still technical hurdles involved in building real-time sewage monitors to track human health, however. Yang says there are currently a handful of sensors that can perform real-time monitoring of chemical elements, but building versions to identify the right biological signals in real-time presents some unique challenges.

"As most current state-of-the-art sensor technologies for chemical and biological targets are mostly based on the bio-recognition element, the bio-receptor may become too saturated for a long-term detection during deployment, especially for the detection of the complex wastewater matrix," he says. "This is our opportunity to improve those sensors for wastewater-based epidemiology, which ultimately can be deployed for the real-time monitoring."

If these kinds of problems can be overcome, we could see humankind's excrement become an early warning system for some of its biggest health concerns. And then it might no longer be seen as waste at all.

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The science of sewage: What your wastewater could reveal about you - New Atlas

Physiology

Research shows link between clock genes and vitamin A pathway in the brain of Monarch butterflies – News-Medical.net

Biologists at Texas A&M University are making strides in understanding biological clock function in several model organisms and translating these studies into broader implications for human health.

The Merlin Laboratory in the Texas A&M Department of Biology has found genetic evidence linking circadian clock genes and clock-regulated molecular pathways to the Monarch butterfly's uncanny ability to sense the changes in day length, or photoperiod -- an environmental cue that signals them to migrate and triggers the reproductive dormancy they exhibit in the process. Their work establishes a clear connection between clock genes and the vitamin A pathway within the brain of this iconic insect.

The Merlin Lab's study, published November 25 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, not only provides genetic proof for the photoperiod-clock connection but also demonstrates for the first time that it also regulates a critical vitamin A pathway necessary for seasonal responses.

Nearly all organisms adapt to the seasons by adjusting their physiology and behavior to changes in day length, or photoperiod."

Christine Merlin, Texas A&M biologist and 2017 Klingenstein-Simons Fellow

"Despite decades of research, the molecular and genetic mechanisms by which changes in photoperiod are sensed and translated into seasonal changes in animal physiology and behavior have remained poorly understood. While much remains to be learned, our findings pave the way for understanding the mechanisms by which vitamin A operates in the brain to translate day length encoding into seasonal physiological and behavioral responses in animals.

"Given that seasonal changes associated with this pathway have also been reported in the mammalian brain, it is tantalizing to speculate that the function of vitamin A in animal photoperiodism may be evolutionary conserved. If this turns out to be the case, our work in the Monarch could have implications for better understanding seasonal changes in the human brain that could lead to ailments such as seasonal depression."

For the past six years, Merlin's lab within the Texas A&M Center for Biological Clocks Research has been using the majestic Monarch as a model to study animal migration, the role of circadian clocks in regulating daily and seasonal animal physiology and behavior, and the evolution of the animal clockwork. Aided by CRISPR/Cas9 technology, her group already has succeeded in altering key biological clock-related genes in the Monarch in order to study their impact on daily circadian rhythms and seasonal migratory responses.

"Despite significant advances our lab has made in developing genetic tools to knock out virtually any genes in the Monarch genome, which has been key in this study to demonstrate the central importance of the vitamin A pathway in photoperiodic responses, the genetic toolbox in the Monarch is still far from rivaling with the one available in more conventional genetically tractable model organisms, such as Drosophila and the mouse," Merlin said.

One of the complications the Merlin lab had to overcome in the study is that vitamin A is necessary for visual function of the Monarch's compound eyes, meaning that their ninaB1 full-body knockouts would be rendered blind. As a fail-safe, Merlin's team had to find a non-genetic way to eliminate the potential function of the compound eyes as a possible tie-back to the lack of photoperiodic responses observed in these new mutant butterflies.

"We had to be creative, so we turned to arts and crafts experiments," Merlin said. "By painting the compound eyes of wild-type adult butterflies with black paint, we demonstrated that visual function was not necessary for photoperiodic responses, thereby supporting the idea that the vitamin A function in the brain and not the eyes is responsible for photoperiodic sensing and responses."

Merlin says the study raises interesting questions regarding the pathway's possible involvement in any number of intriguing scenarios, including the production of a deep-brain photoreceptor for photoperiodic sensing, the seasonal regulation of a retinoic acid-mediated transcriptional program, and/or the seasonal plasticity of the clock neuronal circuitry in the brain.

"Teasing these possibilities apart through the continued molecular and genetic dissection of this pathway in the Monarch will be necessary to increase our understanding of the mechanisms of action of vitamin A in photoperiodic responsiveness in the Monarch and animals in general," Merlin added.

Merlin credits 2015 Texas A&M biology graduate Samantha Iiams, currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics, for much of her lab's progress in this line of investigations. In addition to serving as first author for the team's PNAS paper, Iiams has received an impressive number of awards for her work forming the basis of this study -- most notably, the International Society for Research on Biological Rhythms' 2018 Patricia DeCoursey Excellence Award as well as several first-place poster prizes.

Source:

Journal reference:

Iiams, S.E., et al. (2019) Photoperiodic and clock regulation of the vitamin A pathway in the brain mediates seasonal responsiveness in the monarch butterfly. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1913915116.

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Research shows link between clock genes and vitamin A pathway in the brain of Monarch butterflies - News-Medical.net

Physiology

Reception honors this year’s Outstanding Employee Award winners – AroundtheO

More than a hundred people gathered in the Ford Alumni Center Giustina Ballroom Thursday, Nov. 21, to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of 11 Outstanding Employee Award winners. University of Oregon President Michael H. Schill and Chief Human Resources OfficerMark Schmelz congratulated this years recipients as each received individual acknowledgement and a custom-designed award to mark the achievement.

TheOutstanding Employee Awardsis a campus wide program that recognizes classified employees and officers of administration for excellence on the job. The honorees are nominated by their co-workers for outstanding achievement, such as for going above and beyond, showing exemplary leadership, building community and promoting the universitys mission.

TheOutstanding Employee Awards Selection Committeereviewed hundreds of statements submitted in support of employees across campuses.

The award recipients are profiled on theHR website. The 2019 Outstanding Employee Award winners are:

Classified employees

Kim Enbysk, housing service center specialist, University Housing.

Liz Hahn, custodian, University Housing.

Chris Hallam, custodial services coordinator, Campus Planning and Facilities Management.

Tiffany Stewart, department programs assistant, Department of Physics.

Trudi Stuber, nursing office coordinator, University Health Center.

James Tuttle, studio technician, Sports Product Design.

Officers of administration

Anni Elling, department manager, Department of Human Physiology.

Kevin Hatfield, assistant vice provost for undergraduate research, University Housing.

Lynde Ritzow, associate director, masters industrial internship program, Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.

Teri Rowe, manager of finance and administration, departments of Economics and Sociology.

Haley Wilson, coordinator of LGBTESS, Office of the Dean of Students.

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Reception honors this year's Outstanding Employee Award winners - AroundtheO

Genetics

Veritas Genetics, the start-up that can sequence a human genome for less than $600, ceases US operations and is in talks with potential buyers – CNBC

Veritas Genetics had big plans to lower the price of sequencing the human genome, making it on par with the price of buying an Apple Watch or a fancy dinner.

The company, which was the first in the world to map out a person's DNA for less than $1,000 back in 2016, just shared with customers via email that it is ceasing operations in the U.S.

"Due to an unexpected adverse financing situation, we are being forced to suspend our operations in the U.S. for the time being," the email, which was viewed by CNBC, reads. "We are currently assessing all paths forward, including strategic options."

The company also laid off the bulk of its employees based in the U.S., about 50 people, earlier this week, according to a source familiar with the company. The source asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak for Veritas Genetics.

"I can clarify this temporarily affects U.S. operations only," a spokesperson for the company said. "All of the customers outside of the U.S. will continue to be served by Veritas Europe and Latin America."

Veritas, which made this year's CNBC Disruptor 50 list, hoped to expand to millions more consumers in the coming years by bringing down the price of whole genome sequencing to just a few hundred dollars. It raised more than $50 million in financing since it got its start in 2015.

But the company's investors, including Simcere Pharmaceutical and Lilly Asia Ventures, are based in China, at a time when the Trump administration is cracking down on Chinese firms making investments in U.S. companies. Earlier this year, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States,or CFIUS, forced a health-tech company called PatientsLikeMe to find a buyer after ordering its Chinese owner to divest its stake. PatientsLikeMe eventually sold to UnitedHealth.

For Veritas, it meant that new investors who were interested in the business got skittish because of the potential for oversight from CFIUS, according to the person familiar with the company. As a result, Veritas has also been in talks with potential acquirers in recent months, said the person.

If Veritas is able to figure out a path forward, it hopes to be competitive with companies such as Ancestry and 23andMe by offering more information for about the same price. 23andMe has dabbled with offering sequencing to its customers, but currently provides only genotyping services, meaning it looks at specific parts of the genome which are known to be associated with a certain condition or trait.

While 23andMe and Ancestry primarily sell tests for people interested in their ancestral composition and wellness traits, Veritas has long stressed that it's different because it provides potentially actionable insights into its users' health.

Veritas' decision to stop selling its tests in the U.S. comes as other consumer-facing DNA testing companies report that sales have slowed. One potential factor is that people have grown more concerned about protecting their privacy, especially in the wake of high-profile news events such as the Golden State Killer case. That stoked fears about whether individuals could be found and convicted for past crimes based on distant relatives' DNA.

But for Veritas, which bills itself as more of a medical company, sales of its tests have been increasing since it dropped its price in July, according to the person familiar.

Veritas in November experienced a security breach that included some customer information, the start-up confirmed to Bloomberg. The company stressed that only a handful of people were affected.

Follow @CNBCtech on Twitter for the latest tech industry news.

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Veritas Genetics, the start-up that can sequence a human genome for less than $600, ceases US operations and is in talks with potential buyers - CNBC

Genetics

Insights into Asian Ancestry and Genetic Diversity – Technology Networks

The GenomeAsia 100K consortium analyzed the genomes of 1,739 people, which represents the widest coverage of genetic diversity in Asia to date.

The study covers 64 different countries and provides what the authors call the first comprehensive genetic map for Asia that will guide scientists in studying diseases unique to Asians, improve precision medicine and identify drugs that may carry higher risk of adverse reactions for certain ethnic groups.

Despite forming over 40 per cent of the worlds population, Asian people have previously accounted for only six per cent of the worlds recorded genome sequences.

The goal of GenomeAsia 100K, which launched in 2016, is to better understand the genome diversity of Asian ethnicities by sequencing 100,000 genomes of people living in Asia. It is a non-profit consortium hosted by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), the only academic member. Its three other members are Macrogen based in South Korea, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group in United States, and MedGenome from India/US.

NTU Professor Stephan C. Schuster, the consortiums scientific chairman and a co-leader of the study, explained the significance of GenomeAsia 100Ks initial findings on the vast genomic diversity in Asia: To put it into context, imagine we looked at all people of European and based on the level of their genetic diversity, observed that they could all be grouped into just one ancestral lineage or population. Now, if we took that same approach with our new data from people of Asian, then based on the much higher levels of genetic diversity observed we would say that there are 10 different ancestral groups or lineages in Asia.

Schuster added, GenomeAsia 100K is a significant and far-reaching project that will affect the well-being and health of Asians worldwide, and it is a great honour for Singapore and NTU to be hosting it.

Executive Chairman of GenomeAsia 100K, Mahesh Pratapneni said, The publication of this pilot study is a first milestone for GenomeAsia 100K, which is an unprecedented collaboration between academia and industry leaders in the field of genomics. We are certain more partners will join GenomeAsia 100K to accelerate medical breakthroughs for people of Asian heritage.

Chairman and CEO of MedGenome, the largest genomics and molecular diagnostics provider in South Asia with facilities in the US, Singapore and across India, Sam Santhosh, said, "We are excited that over 1000 whole genome sequence data from the Indian sub-continent will now be available to researchers; this is an initial step in covering the underrepresented geographies."

Prof Jeong-Sun Seo, at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital Consortium scientific co-chair and Chairman of Macrogen, said, I hope this Asian-focused study serves as a stepping stone for the democratization of health care and precision medicine in Asia.

How the database of Asian genomes was formed

Over the course of the last three decades prior to the pilot project, thousands of blood and saliva samples have already been collected by scientists and anthropologists from donors across Asia in hopes that one day, a deeper analysis to gain insights into the Asian community can be done.

Of particular interest were participants from remote and isolated communities, who have long been the subjects of study by anthropologists but have not yet undergone genomic analysis, until the GenomeAsia 100K project was kickstarted.

The pilot study included 598 genomes from India, 156 from Malaysia, 152 from South Korea, 113 from Pakistan, 100 from Mongolia, 70 from China, 70 from Papua New Guinea, 68 from Indonesia, 52 from the Philippines, 35 from Japan, and 32 from Russia.

Genomic DNA extracted from the blood and saliva samples was then sequenced in laboratories of the four consortium members in the US, India, South Korea and Singapore. The digital sequencing data were subsequently sent to Singapore for processing and storage.

Singapore was selected by the consortium as the host, as the country offered good travel connections for collaborating scientists, strong supercomputing facilities to crunch the data, and the required cybersecurity standards in its data centre for handling sensitive genetic data.

The combined data was compiled and analyzed by NTU scientists, including Assistant Professor Hie Lim Kim, a population genomics expert at the Asian School of The Environment, with the help of the National Supercomputing Centre Singapore (NSCC) and international collaborators.

Different Asian ethnic groups respond differently to mainstream drugs

Every person has approximately 3.2 billion different nucleotides, or building blocks, in their genome, which form their DNA code.

Its estimated that for the genomes of any two people, 99.9 per cent of this code is the same and on average, 0.1 per cent or three million nucleotides, are different between them.

This genetic variance help humankind colonize the most diverse environments on the planet and make it resilient to disease, but it also results in differential response to many medicines.

Genetic variance is the reason we are distinctively different from each other including differences in the diseases that each of us suffer from during our lifetimes. Understanding these differences is the most important source of clues that we have for driving the discovery of innovative new medicines, said Dr Andrew Peterson, an author of the paper and an expert in the use of genetics to drive drug discovery.

Peterson was head of Molecular Biology at Genentech while this work was being carried out, is now Chief Scientific Officer at MedGenome, where he leads drug discovery efforts at MedGenomes Seven Rivers Genomic Medicines division.

The frequencies of known genetic variants related to adverse drug response were analyzed for the genomes collected in this study.

For example, warfarin, a common anticoagulant drug prescribed to treat cardiovascular diseases, likely has a higher than usual risk of adverse drug response for people carrying a certain genetic variant. This particular genetic variant has a higher frequency to appear in those with North Asian ancestry, such as Japanese, Korean, Mongolian or Chinese.

Using data analysis, scientists can now screen populations to identify groups that are more likely to have a negative predisposition to a specific drug.

Knowing a persons population group and their predisposition to drugs is extremely important if personalized medicine is to work, stressed Prof Schuster: For precision medicine to be precise, you need to know precisely who you are.

Hie Lim Kim, who leads the projects efforts in population genetics, added: Only by sequencing the entire genome of an individual can a persons ancestry and genetic background be known. Their genome explains why some people are afflicted by certain diseases while others arent. Scientists know that there is no single drug that works well for everybody and our latest findings not only reinforce this, but suggest how specific groups could be harmed by specific medicines.

Moving forward, the GenomeAsia 100K will continue to collect and analyze up to 100,000 genomes from all of Asias geographic regions, in order to fill in the gaps on the worlds genetic map and to account for Asias unexpected genetic diversity.

Reference

GenomeAsia100K Consortium. (2019) The GenomeAsia 100K Project enables genetic discoveries across Asia. Nature. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1793-z

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Insights into Asian Ancestry and Genetic Diversity - Technology Networks

Genetics

Veritas Genetics suspends its US operations – STAT

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Veritas Genetics suspends its US operations - STAT

Genetics

Press Registration for the 2020 ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting Is Now Open – PRNewswire

BETHESDA, Md., Dec. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) heads to a new destination in sunny San Antonio, Texas in 2020. Named one of the fastest growing meetings in the USA by Trade Show Executive Magazine, the ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting continues to provide groundbreaking research and news about the latest advances in genetics, genomics and personalized medicine. To be held March 17-21, the 2020 ACMG Annual Meeting will feature more than 40 scientific sessions, 3 Short Courses, workshops, TED-Style talks and satellite symposia, and over 800 poster presentations on emerging areas of genetic and genomic medicine.

Interview those at the forefront in medical genetics and genomics, connect in person with new sources and get story ideas on the clinical practice of genetics and genomics in healthcare today and for the future. Learn how genetics and genomics research is being integrated and applied into medical practice.

Topics include gene editing, cancer genetics, molecular genomics, exome sequencing, pre- and perinatal genetics, biochemical/metabolic genetics, genetic counseling, health services and implementation, legal and ethical issues, therapeutics and more.

Credentialed media representatives on assignment are invited to attend and cover the ACMG Annual Meeting on a complimentary basis. Contact Kathy Moran, MBA at kmoran@acmg.net for the Press Registration Invitation Code, which will be needed to register at http://www.acmgmeeting.net.

Abstracts of presentations will be available online in January 2020. A few 2020 ACMG Annual Meeting highlights include:

Program Highlights:

Cutting Edge Scientific Concurrent Sessions:

Three half-day Genetics Short Courses on Monday, March 16 and Tuesday, March 17:

Photo/TV Opportunity: The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine will present bicycles to local children with rare genetic diseases at the Annual ACMG Foundation Day of Caring on Friday, March 20 from 10:30 AM 11:00 AM at the Henry B. Gonzlez Convention Center.

Social Media for the 2020 ACMG Annual Meeting: As the ACMG Annual Meeting approaches, journalists can stay up to date on new sessions and information by following the ACMG social media pages on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram and by usingthe hashtag #ACMGMtg20 for meeting-related tweets and posts.

Note be sure to book your hotel reservations early.

The ACMG Annual Meeting website has extensive information at http://www.acmgmeeting.net.

About the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine (ACMGF)

Founded in 1991, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) is the only nationally recognized medical society dedicated to improving health through the clinical practice of medical genetics and genomics and the only medical specialty society in the US that represents the full spectrum of medical genetics disciplines in a single organization. The ACMG is the largest membership organization specifically for medical geneticists, providing education, resources and a voice for more than 2,300 clinical and laboratory geneticists, genetic counselors and other healthcare professionals, nearly 80% of whom are board certified in the medical genetics specialties. ACMG's mission is to improve health through the clinical and laboratory practice of medical genetics as well as through advocacy, education and clinical research, and to guide the safe and effective integration of genetics and genomics into all of medicine and healthcare, resulting in improved personal and public health. Four overarching strategies guide ACMG's work: 1) to reinforce and expand ACMG's position as the leader and prominent authority in the field of medical genetics and genomics, including clinical research, while educating the medical community on the significant role that genetics and genomics will continue to play in understanding, preventing, treating and curing disease; 2) to secure and expand the professional workforce for medical genetics and genomics; 3) to advocate for the specialty; and 4) to provide best-in-class education to members and nonmembers. Genetics in Medicine, published monthly, is the official ACMG peer-reviewed journal. ACMG's website (www.acmg.net) offers resources including policy statements, practice guidelines, educational programs and a 'Find a Genetic Service' tool. The educational and public health programs of the ACMG are dependent upon charitable gifts from corporations, foundations and individuals through the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine.

Kathy Moran, MBAkmoran@acmg.net

SOURCE American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

http://www.acmg.net

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Press Registration for the 2020 ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting Is Now Open - PRNewswire

Genetics

UK-first study to assess role of whole-genome screening in primary care – The Institute of Cancer Research

Image from Pixabay.

People in the UK will for the first time have their entire genetic code read from samples taken at a GP practice as part of a pioneering study to assess the potential benefits of screening for gene faults that increase the risk of disease.

Researchers aim to screen the genomes of around a thousand GP patients in London to assess the feasibility of testing for faulty genes that increase the risk of cancer and heart disease, and how acceptable screening is to patients.

The initiative, launched today (Friday), will aim to establish whether whole-genome sequencing in a healthy population can have a significant impact on peoples health by helping diagnose cancer, heart disease and other illnesses much earlier.

The new study is the first in the UK to assess whether whole-genome sequencing can be used to screen for a range of genes linked to disease or response to medicines, and what effect this has on patients healthcare. If successful, it could be a key step towards much more routine use of genetic testing to predict and manage patients future health in the NHS.

The research, called the 90S Study, is led by Professor Ros Eeles, a world-leading expert in cancer genetics at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, and Dr Michael Sandberg, a GP at 90 Sloane Street a private GP practice from which patient volunteers will be recruited.

The study involves further experts from The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden plus expert cardiologists at Royal Brompton Hospitaland is under the auspices of the 90 Sloane Street Genetic centre, a collaborative team of five consultant geneticists.

The first 20 patients will be evaluated for the psychological effects of genetic screening as part of a study funded by donations to The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and through support from the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at The Royal Marsden and the ICR,and 90 Sloane St.

The study will then be expanded to around a thousand patients initially recruited at 90 Sloane St, with NHS GP practices lined up to join the pilot in a subsequent stage.

There has been huge progress over the last 25 years in identifying inherited causes of disease, such as BRCA gene faults predisposing to breast and ovarian cancer, and Lynch syndrome gene alterations which increase the risk of bowel and uterine cancer. In cardiovascular disease, familial hypercholesterolaemia causes inherited high cholesterol, variants in the long QT genes can cause dangerous heart rhythm disturbances and other gene faults can cause heart muscle disorders.

Advances in the technology to read peoples DNA have made it so much faster and cheaper that it is now practical to screen patients by sequencing their whole genome. There is considerable public interest in genetics, as shown by the growing popularity of unreliable and simplistic direct-to-consumer tests. But until now, there has been no thorough investigation of how properly controlled and validated genomic medicine could be integrated into primary care in the UK.

In the new initiative, researchers will analyse the entire genetic code of people attending a GP surgery and report on around 600 separate genetic changes known to be associated with disease, or in some cases affect how patients respond to or metabolise certain medicines. The study is looking only for actionable gene alterations which if detected would alter choices for an individual such as lifestyle improvements, specific screening and sometimes targeted treatments. It will not report on risk of diseases for which there are no current actions that can be taken.

The study will assess how frequently genetic alterations are picked up by whole-genome sequencing in people with a family history of cancer or heart disease compared with people who do not half of the volunteers will be from each group.

The researchers aim to expand the study to incorporate other partner GP practices and widen the possibility for people to take part. Evidence gathered will inform decision making around the use of whole-genome sequencing in a primary care setting in both the NHS and private practice.

The initiative differs fundamentally from direct-to-consumer testing in that patients will receive genetic screening as part of a detailed medical review. All patients will also have an on-site echocardiogram a heart ultrasound to provide crucial extra information and to reassure those with some genetic risk of heart disease but no signs that this is actually affecting their health.

The project leaders are not suggesting that future population genetic screening would necessarily need to be done with this level of resources and they will be looking for ways of simplifying and improving processes to be suitable for large-volume NHS screening.

Study leader Professor Ros Eeles, Professor of Oncogeneticsat The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Consultant in Clinical Oncology and Oncogenetics at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said:

Weve seen incredible progress over the last quarter of a century in identifying genetic alterations that are linked to the risk of disease, opening up the possibility to intervene early to improve patients health.

Our new initiative takes cutting-edge science on the genetics of disease into a primary care setting, by sequencing patients entire genomes from samples taken at a GP surgery and testing for the presence of 600 key genetic alterations. What we hope is that genetic screening is practical as a way of picking up genes associated with cancer and heart disease, is psychologically acceptable to patients, and can alter the way they are managed by their GP.

The project will give us crucial information about whether genetic screening in primary care could be feasible, and how we should go about seeking to implement it within the NHS.

Dr Michael Sandberg, General Practitioner at 90 Sloane Street and Co-Principal Investigator for the 90S Study, said:

Genetic information will help us to target and identify high-risk patients, so as to find diseases at an earlier stage and give greater precision to screening and health optimisation in general practice.

Working in partnership with experts at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden means we can integrate whole-genome sequencing into screening in primary care with the genetic support that is essential. There is no doubt that primary care is the future setting for whole-genome screening which will be carried out by specially trained practice nurses supported by GPs and consultant geneticists.

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UK-first study to assess role of whole-genome screening in primary care - The Institute of Cancer Research