A black Anguscow from Coaldale, Alta.sold for a record $140,000 earlier this month, setting a record for a southern Alberta auction house and the industry as a whole.

Listed as U2 Erelite 109z in the auction catalogue, the salewas part of U2 Ranch Ltd.'s complete herd dispersal, held atthe Perlich Bros.Auction Marketin Lethbridge, Alta.

It was standing room only at the auction,with buyers from Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe all hoping to get the chance to own the prized animal.

"The sale started on Monday, Nov. 12," recalls Ken Perlich,one of the five family partners who own and operate the auction.

"We sold all through the red [Angus] andthe top seller there was $65,000. That was very impressive. Then the next day when the black [Angus] came in, theytopped-out the the two-day sale at at $140,000. That was truly amazing," Perlich said.

"I think the [seller's] family was surprised. We were surprised," Perlich said.

"I don't think there was anybody there that expected that kind of price range."

The auction catalogue included a detailed description of the $140,000 cow.

"109z is the most influential cow to walk our pastures," itreads.

"She is admired by all with her unique blend of massive power and exquisite femininity. She and her daughters are beyond compare for teat spacing and udder quality."

Every rancher is lookingfor different traits in a bred cowto improve the quality of theirherd. The Canadian Angus Association evaluates about 25 different traits.

That's why there's so much detail in the auction catalogue descriptions like those listed above.

"[109z]ranks in the top one percent for Weaning Weight, Yearling Weight and Total Maternal Value. Since 2015 she has had a perfect production record and turned into a very productive donor," read the catalogue.

$140,000 seems like a lot of money for one cowto many outside thecattle industry.

But insiders say that a price for bovine that's higher than a Buick shouldn't be a surprise.

"It's not uncommon for an Angus female to sell for $25,000up to $50,000," saidMylesImmerkar,Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Angus Association.

ManyAngus bred cows will sell for $1,000 to $2,500 each.

When it comes to 109zspecifically, Immerkar says the value of that cow came down to her total maternal value.

If you're buying 109z, you're not buying her for meat. You're buying her for her production record and her pedigree.

When it comes to her breeding potential, 109zis a pregnant 8-year old cow. She's no spring chicken, but in those years she's proven herself.

All three of her sonshave sold to purebred herds.One bull, named Coalition, sold for $32,000. Anothercalled Temptation soldfor over $47,000.

While 109z is entering her twilight years, she's not done producing yet.

She's likely got another two to sevenbreeding years left in her.

Every year she'll give birth to a single calf and produce another 25 to 30 embryos, which can be transplanted into surrogate cows or sold for hundreds of dollars each.

If all goes well, 109z could produce over two dozen calves every yearfor the rest of her fertile life, which could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So what does all this mean for the average Canadian beef eater?

Nothing directly. You're never going to find cuts from a $140,000dollar animal on sale at Safeway or Loblaws.

However, the meat from her lineagewilleventually end up on your kitchen table because 109z'sprogeny will pass her expensive genetics to the greater North American Angus herd.

Some of those genes will end up in the commercial sector, which provides meat for fine butchers, steak houses even on the menuat mass-market burger chains such asMcDonalds or Harvey's.

Genes matter because producers are always striving to breed better beef.

Sciencecan't help usgrow a better burger, so instead it helps the herd through selective breeding.

"Well, certainly [109z] isa recordwithin our association in Canada for a female selling," saidMylesImmerkar,Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Angus Association.

"Earlier this year we did have another record where a bull sold for$200,000," he said.

At the Perlich Bros. Auction, the sale of 109z will stand as an important day in the market's 52-year history.

"It was a historic thing fornot just the cattle industry or the Angus industry but for our family business," saidMaureen Perlich-Kasko, whowas on the block during the historic sale.

"I don't think we'll ever be a part of anything so momentous. It's something we're very proud of, that it got to happen here and that we werea part of that day."

Written and produced by Tracy Fuller.

See more here:
A $140,000 lesson in the economics of bovine genetics and breeding - CBC.ca

Imagine this: you are a cash-strapped early-career health scientist, looking for your next big project. One day, you get your big break the chance to study half a million people, and the freedom to focus on virtually any topic you like, from DNA mutations to blue cheese intake.Best of all, this study will cost you virtually nothing.

Its easy to imagine that organisations like the UK Biobank make anything possible. Biobanks are huge repositories containing health, genetic, and demographic information from volunteers. Researchers look through the vast amount of data to find new health patterns and trends. There are few limits: you can analyse scans of volunteers hearts, infer their sexual behaviours, or study their reasoning skills.

Over 850 UK Biobank papers have been published, with new studies appearing in journals constantly. Studies so far have found results which could improve global health, such as a study showing that anyone, regardless of their genetic background, can reduce their risk of dementia with a change in lifestyle.

Criticisms of the project include that the research coming out of the UK Biobank will only benefit certain people, and even then, the usefulness of the health associations found are under question.

Compared to the 2011 UK census, Black, Indian, Pakistani and Chinese participants are all underrepresented in the Biobank by at least one third. David Curtis, at University College London, tested whether this under-representation of ethnic minority groups has any impact on schizophrenia genetics research.

Also read:How Do We Stop Genetic Medicine From Perpetuating Inequality?

He found that calculating the risk for schizophrenia when using Biobank data is only accurate for white European populations. This means that in the future, white people could be offered genetic tests for certain health conditions, while other people could be offered incorrect or no testing at all.

This is because of the complex evolutionary history of humans. While humans who migrated out of Africa and settled in Europe faced bottlenecks where their genetic diversity was reduced dramatically, Africans have maintained large and diverse populations, and so have a more unique genetic makeup.

Other researchers are investigating the Biobanks data as well. Na Cai, a statistical geneticist at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and European Bioinformatics Institute, began thinking about howwhat gets putinto the Biobank affects what conclusions come out of it, similar to Curtis study on schizophrenia.

In herstudy, currently a pre-print posted on bioRxiv, Cai and colleagues decided to focus on major depressive disorder. Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders, and has been a major topic of investigation in genetic association studies.

Because of this, Cai was concerned that researchers might not be investigating depression specifically, but instead looking at the genetics of poor mental health in general.

Cai defined depression in five different ways, using both strict and loose criteria. For example, some people might tell their doctor that they feel depressed, but not meet the specific psychiatric definition of major depressive disorder. She looked to see if the same genetic variants were associated with each different definition of depression.

The results were surprising. She found less of a genetic contribution towards all the looser definitions of depression compared to the full assessment used by psychiatrists.

Also read:DNA Sequencing Is Inadvertently Exacerbating Social Biases and Inequalities

First, it shows that researchers do not have the power in their studies that they assume they do. Previously, it was assumed that it didnt matter too much if researchers defined depression loosely. It could be that these broader definitions are just milder cases of depression, or show less of a genetic association because more people in these groups are misdiagnosed, which dilutes the signal.

However, when the researchers controlled for these factors, nothing changed. The strict psychiatric definition of depression was still genetically distinct from these other versions, meaning that it had more genes associated with it, and there wasnt much overlap in the genes which all the definitions did share.

A technician works at a genetic testing laboratory in China. Photo: Reuters

This throws into question whether papers which have found links between depression and genes are coming to the right conclusions. Are they finding a genetic basis for major depressive disorder, or are they showing something else like the less specific genetic basis for poor mental health in general?

Both Cai and Curtis conclude that we need to rethink how we collect biobank data. Both issues are the result of design flaws present since the UK Biobanks inception. Cai does not necessarily think all participants need to be assessed by a psychiatrist. She suggests that we use new technologies, such as computer assessments and smartphone behavioral tracking, to diagnose people with clinical depression.

But tackling the lack of diversity in biobank data requires those in charge to recognise that the current design excludes marginalised and hard-to-reach groups.

John Savill, the Chief Executive of the UK Medical Research Council, the organisation which provided major funding for the Biobank, was reported by the Guardian to say in response to Curtis research that I do not think it is helpful to cast concerns over experimental design as equalities issues.

Also read:Widely-Available Genetic Risk Tests Arent Always Useful and Could Even be Harmful

However, David Heel, who is the Chief Investigator of the East London Genes & Health Project, which aims to improve the health of South Asian people in the UK, thinks that the UK Biobanks recruitment tactic of mailing a letter meantBritish-Bangladeshi and British-Pakistani people missed out. When reached via email, Heelsaid that, in regards to volunteers in the project, A much better response rate comes from a face to face discussion, or a trusted setting such as talking at a doctors office.

Curtis also thinks more can be done, but is not optimistic that we can save the UK Biobank from this bias. He saidIt may be too late to try to make the UK Biobank more representative. We may need to look to other initiativesand to look to samples recruited in other countries.

The article was originally published onMassive Science.You can read ithere.

Read the rest here:
Genetic Databases Are Leaving Marginalised People out of Their Data - The Wire

Genetics and weather are coming against Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who have the highest incidence of arthritis in Canada.

One in four Newfoundlanders and Labradorians suffer from one form of arthritis or another.

That from the Arthritis Societys Jennifer Henning. She says arthritis is an inflammation of the joint, but there are some 100 different types of the disease which is split into two major categories, inflammatory and degenerative.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune attack on the joints by the bodys own immune system. It can happen at any time, and affect the entire body.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form and comes as the result of wear and tear, injury or the general aging process. It involves a degeneration of the cartilage between the bones of the joint.

Both types of arthritis result in significant pain and loss of mobility.

Henning says unfortunately, weather doesnt help.

She says in laymans terms, the body is tighter because its cold, and when its wet the tissues swell, causing a greater amount of pain and inflammation.

She says genetics also play a strong role especially in the inflammatory type of arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is more common in women and is often triggered by a traumatic event like childbirth, injury or illness.

Here is the original post:
Genetics and Weather in NL Producing Highest Incidence of Arthritis in Canada - VOCM

As the quest to understand the complexities of Alzheimers continues, researchers have now identified genetic mutations related to autism that may play a role in the neurodegenerative disease as well.

The study, out of Tel Aviv University, pinpointed thousands of genetic mutations in aging human brains that overlapped with mutations involved in autism and intellectual disability. They also found that many of these mutations occurred in the cell skeleton/transport system, a network of proteins that help organize cells.

We were surprised to find a significant overlap in Alzheimers genes undergoing mutations with genes that impact autism, intellectual disability and mechanisms associated with the cell skeleton/transport system health, Illana Gozes, lead author of the study, said in a news release. Importantly, the cell skeleton/transport system includes the protein Tau, one of the major proteins affected in Alzheimers disease, which form the toxic neurofibrillary tangles

Two decades ago, Gozes and the team at the laboratory discovered a protein known as ADNP. ADNP is mainly known for its connection to ADNP syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder that includes intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder. But the team of researchers identified that ADNP also experiences mutations in the brains of people with Alzheimers.

Gozes built on that in the latest study, which aimed to create a paradigm shift in how people understand Alzheimers. That viewpoint focuses on how genetic alterations that are not inherited, known as mosaic somatic mutations, lead to brain pathology and disease.

The researchers hope the research will help lead to new therapeutic channels down the road.

We found in cell cultures that the ADNP-derived snippet, the drug candidate NAP, inhibited mutated-ADNP toxicity and enhanced the healthy function of Tau, Gozes said. We hope that new diagnostics and treatment modes will be developed based on our discoveries.

Genetics continues to be a large area of research around Alzheimers and dementia. Recently, researchers discovered that a genetic mutation known as APOE3ch delayed a womans high risk of developing Alzheimers by three decades.

More here:
Alzheimer's and Autism: Researchers Pinpoint Genetic Mutations Overlapping in Both Diseases - Being Patient

A DNA test can reveal surprising facts about us certain genes make us more inclined to have dry earwax, for example, and others make us more likely to sneeze when we see a bright light. Some genes even result in people being more attractive targets for mosquitoes, so if youve ever felt personally singled out by the insect during the summer months, its not a cruel conspiracy its your DNA.

Innocuous facts like these were what DNA kits were used for finding out when they first became commercially available. However, as the tests have become more sophisticated, the companies behind them have shifted their marketing focus. Users of at-home DNA tests have been known to uncover deep-rooted facts about themselves, from discovering long-lost relatives to learning of their ancestors origins and their susceptibility to genetic diseases.

Finding out that you have a pre-existing health condition might not seem like the best idea for a Christmas present, but that hasnt stopped the test kits from enjoying a surge in popularity. MIT Technology Review estimates that by the start of 2019, more than 26 million people had taken an at-home ancestry test. The market is expected to be worth $45bn by 2024.

Nevertheless, despite the emerging industrys rampant growth, there have been mounting concerns that its practices could infringe on consumers rights. Whenever people fork out $100 to $200 for a DNA test, the hidden cost of that transaction is their personal data which, from then on, is held in the databases of a private company. Once these companies obtain genetic information, its very difficult for users to get it back.

By taking DNA tests at home, many have unwittingly stumbled upon long-kept family secrets. Some have seen their parents go through a bitter divorce after their test revealed they were actually conceived through an affair

Ignorance is blissLong before people were able to take DNA tests from the comfort of their own home, psychologists worried about their possible impact on peoples mental health. Ever since the Human Genome Project was started in 1990, many scholars have maintained that DNA tests should be used with caution, on the grounds that understanding ones own health risks could lead to anxiety or depression.

Conversely, a study by the Hastings Centre found that discovering an increased risk of developing Alzheimers disease did not make people more depressed or anxious. And in the event that people discover a particularly urgent health risk like a mutation of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, which puts individuals at a high risk of developing cancer at a young age any adverse psychological effects are presumably worth it to obtain this life-saving information.

However, at-home DNA tests could still pose a risk to mental health, in part because they remove medical professionals from the equation. Adrian Mark Thorogood, Academic Associate at the Centre of Genomics and Policy, warned that this is far from best practice for receiving a DNA test result. Results should be communicated through a medical professional who can interpret the result in the individuals specific context, and offer a clear description of the tests limits, he told The New Economy.

Without a professionals assistance, users could be left alone to battle with a troubling revelation about their health. There is also a danger that without guidance, some people could misinterpret their test result, placing undue stress on their mental health.

There is another unpleasant discovery that people can make through a DNA test one they may be even less prepared for. By taking DNA tests at home, many have unwittingly stumbled upon long-kept family secrets. Some have seen their parents go through a bitter divorce after their test revealed they were actually conceived through an affair. Others have discovered they were conceived by rape and that their mother decided to never tell them. What began as a seemingly harmless urge to find out more about their heritage ends in psychological trauma and family breakdown.

Brianne Kirkpatrick, a genetics counsellor, is part of a growing sector of therapy specifically tailored towards helping people come to terms with receiving unexpected DNA results. One cant help but wonder whether her patients end up wishing theyd never taken the test at all.

I dont recall anyone saying they wish they could go back and not learn the truth, Kirkpatrick said. But I have had a number of people say to me they wish they had found out their shocking information from a person, rather than a computer.

While we might think wed prefer to suffer a DNA leak than a leak of our credit card details, genetic data has its own unique set of complications

The fact that virtually anyone can now find out their real parentage through a simple DNA test has wide-reaching repercussions for the accountability of paternity. Historically, men have always had a much greater ability to conceal their status as a parent, as they dont have to bear the child. The world of direct-to-consumer DNA testing blows this capacity for anonymity out of the water.

This is particularly problematic when it comes to sperm donation. Anonymity is a key selling point for many potential donors, but now all their future biological offspring has to do is swab the inside of their cheek to completely compromise that anonymity. Research suggests that we could see a drop in donor rates as a result. A 2016 study in the Journal of Law and the Biosciences found that 29 percent of potential donors would actually refuse to donate if their name was put on a registry.

The wave of parental discoveries made through direct-to-consumer DNA tests raises questions about where the responsibility of the seller sits in all this. Most health professionals recommend that individuals seek out genetics counselling once they receive DNA results. Some, like Invitae, offer counselling services but arent direct-to-consumer companies. Many of those that are including 23andMe do not offer such a service. It could be argued that this shows a certain disregard for the consequences of using their product. Unfortunately, irresponsible decisions like this have tended to characterise the industrys path to success.

Genetic Wild WestIn September 2019, 17 former employees from the Boston-based genetic testing company Orig3n accused the firm of giving consumers inaccurate results. Allegedly, if a customer took the same test twice, their results could be extremely different each time. A former lab technician produced a leaked report to Bloomberg Businessweek that revealed 407 errors like this hadoccurred over a period of three months.

Part of Orig3ns USP was that it offered advice supposedly calculated based on a consumers genetic profile. Former employees have cast doubt over the companys modus operandi by claiming that the advice they gave was in fact routinely lifted from the internet. The advice given ranged from the technically correct but uninspired to the broadly unhelpful such as telling people to eat more kale and the utterly bogus, like advising clients to eat more sugar to eliminate stretch marks.

Although Orig3n is a relatively small player in the sector, news of this scam nonetheless illustrates how little protection consumers have in this nascent market. Analysts say we are currently witnessing a Wild West period in the consumer genetics space thanks to a lack of regulation, raising concerns over whether we can trust these companies with our genetic data. While we might think wed prefer to suffer a DNA leak than a leak of our credit card details, genetic data has its own unique set of complications.

In the United States, if my social security number is stolen, that is difficult, but not impossible, to get frozen, changed, etc, said Natalie Ram, an associate professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and a specialist in bioethics and criminal justice. But theres literally no way to change your genetic code.

Genetics platforms like 23andMe, AncestryDNA and FamilyTreeDNA are now sitting on a goldmine of very personal data. In 2013, a 23andMe board member told Fast Company that it wanted to become the Google of personalised healthcare. If this statement makes anything clear, its that the company wasnt planning on making its millions simply by selling DNA test kits: its mission was always to amass significant amounts of data on its users, which it could then monetise.

There is a wide range of reasons why companies might want to buy genetic data. Perhaps the most benign is medical research, which genetics platforms allow users to opt in or out of. But other companies might use your genetic data to better sell you products or, conversely, deny them to you for instance, one sector that would see a clear monetary value in obtaining genetic data is insurance. In the US, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 prevents employers and health insurers from using a persons genetic information when making decisions about hiring, firing or raising rates. However, this does not include life insurance or short or long-term disability insurance.

At first glance, it seems as if theres a simple solution: if users are concerned about these risks, they should just choose for their data to be kept anonymous. However, choosing this option is not as foolproof as it once was. As long ago as 2009, researchers demonstrated that they could correctly identify between 40 and 60 percent of all participants in supposedly anonymous DNA databases by comparing large sets of that data with public datasets from censuses or voter lists. Since that experiment, DNA databases have grown massively.

With access to four to five million DNA profiles, upwards of 90 percent of Americans of European descent will be identifiable, said Ram. Its verging on a comprehensive DNA database that no US state or jurisdiction has suggested would be appropriate.

Shaping the lawWith comforting statements like your privacy is very important to us (ancestry.co.uk) and we wont share your DNA (familytreedna.com) emblazoned on their websites, some genetics platforms seem to be making privacy their number one priority. In the US, 23andMe and Ancestry are part of the Coalition for Genetic Data Protection, which lobbies for privacy protection in the DNA space. However, while the coalition advocates genetic data privacy in a specific context, it argues for a one-size-fits-all policy concerning all data. By comparison, the EUs General Data Protection Regulation regards genetic information as personal data, which makes DNA unique from other kinds of data.

There is a fundamental legal problem with boxing genetic data in with all other varieties, including the data that social media websites collect about us. In most cases, what a person does on the internet implicates them alone genetic data is different. We share our DNA with members of our family, which means that sharing it without their consent can be problematic.

Even if I can consent to using my DNA to identify me, that should not extend to my ability to consent to using my DNA to identify my relatives, said Ram. The reason I think thats a really critical distinction is because genetic relatedness is almost always involuntarily foisted upon us. So we dont choose our parents, we dont choose how many siblings we have. Its a product of biology, not a product of choice.

The legal issues surrounding genetic relatedness were put to the test in 2018 when police discovered the true identity of the Golden State Killer, who terrorised California in the 1970s and 1980s in a homicidal spree. Law enforcement officials were able to convict him only because they had succeeded in connecting the DNA of the suspect with that of a family relative on GEDmatch, a genetic database in the public domain. Across the US and around the world, people celebrated the arrest of a notorious criminal. The only problem was that the means of capturing him was not necessarily legal.

Prior to the case, GEDmatchs site policy made no explicit reference to the potential use of consumers data by law enforcement. However, the company defended itself by saying that users should have assumed it could be put to that use.

While the database was created for genealogical research, it is important that GEDmatch participants understand the possible uses of their DNA, including identification of relatives that have committed crimes or were victims of crimes, said GEDmatch operator Curtis Rogers in a statement.

Some genes even result in people being more attractive targets for mosquitoes, so if youve ever felt personally singled out by the insect during the summer months, its not a cruel conspiracy its your DNA

However, privacy advocates like Ram argue that users consent for law enforcement to look at their data should not have been assumed. At least from a constitutional perspective in the United States, individuals ought to be recognised to have whats called an expectation of privacy in their genetic data, even if they use one of these services, she told The New Economy.

After the case, genetics platforms updated their policies to clarify their position on law enforcements use of peoples data. Interestingly, they took very different stances. While 23andMe and Ancestry said they would not allow law enforcement to search through their genetic genealogy databases, FamilyTreeDNA updated its policy to say it would give up data to officials, but only in the investigation of violent crimes. Users didnt know it at the time, but FamilyTreeDNAs policy update was already too little too late: in January 2019, it was revealed that the company had been secretly working with the FBI for nearly a year to solve serious crimes, without informing its users.

The Golden State Killer case exposed how little protection consumers really had in the direct-to-consumer genetics market. It showed that genetics platforms were capable of suddenly changing or contradicting their own policies and even, in the case of FamilyTreeDNA, betraying the trust of consumers.

Some might argue that this infringement on genetic privacy is simply the price we must pay to catch dangerous criminals. Of course, without the use of a genealogy database, the Golden State Killer may never have been caught. But the fact that genetic data can be harnessed to solve very serious crimes should not justify law enforcements unbridled access to such databases. Abuses of power do happen and, in the context of direct-to-consumer DNA tests, they already have: in 2018, for example, Canadian immigration officials compelled a man to take a DNA test and upload his results to FamilyTreeDNAs website. They then used the website to find and contact some of his relatives in the UK to gather more evidence in order to deport him.

Todays consumers are continually adjusting to shrinking levels of privacy. From the introduction of video surveillance and the mapping of residential areas on Google Earth to the revelation that Facebook harvests vast amounts of user data, we have seen the public react in the same way again and again: there is an initial public outcry, and then consumers simply adjust to the new level of diminished privacy. Our response to the rise of genetics platforms risks the issue being consigned to the same fate.

It is up to regulators to protect individuals right to privacy. While our genetic data may be something of a genie out of the bottle, that should not give the companies that collect it free rein over who sees it and what they choose to do with it.

More here:
Collection of genetic data leads to privacy concerns - The New Economy

Protecting frogs against the invisible killer called chytrid was never going to be easy. The fungus has already wiped out more species than any other known disease. But a recent study of the worldwide spread of the fungus shows that the task will be even harder than scientists expected.

The study is the first to use skin swabs from amphibians to identify the major strains of the fungus. Researchers found regions where strains could combine into deadly hybrids. They also found a previously unknown variant in Southeast Asia, which has not yet spread globally.

The findings, published Sept. 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that ecologists will need to track these distinct fungal variants to protect frogs more fully. Mutations in the fungus make it a moving target in much the same way as the ever-shifting influenza virus.

There [are] amazing, last vestiges of really diverse amphibian communities, said environmental scientist Erica Bree Rosenblum of the University of California, Berkeley, senior author of the study. If we can protect them from having a really deadly chytrid strain, that would be great.

Chytrid infects the thin, moist skin frogs use to absorb water and balance their levels of sodium, chloride and potassium. An infected frog, unable to maintain a steady heartbeat, will die of a heart attack. The fungus then releases spores into the water to infect the next frog. This deadly cycle is responsible for the decline of more than 500 amphibian species. About 90 species have gone extinct in the past 50 years, ecologists believe, including Australias Mount Glorious torrent frog (Taudactylus diurnus), last seen in 1979.

Some chytrid variants are deadlier than others. However, most genetic tests only reveal whether any fungus is present. The current way to identify the lineage of a fungus is to sequence its entire genome, a time-consuming step.

Rosenblums team, including first author Allison Byrne at UC Berkeley, devised a less laborious approach: a genetic test that works on small amounts of low-quality DNA. They tested 222 frog skin swabs from six continents and 24 countries. The massive international collaboration mobilized 30 co-authors.

The tests uncovered a new variant in China, Indonesia and the Philippines, which fits scientists understanding that the disease probably started in Asia. Researchers also found variants in unexpected places. For example, a lineage previously reported in Europe and Africa also turned up on frogs in Latin America.

This paper has been a long time coming, said evolutionary biologist Timothy James of the University of Michigan, who was not involved in the study. It validates some hypotheses and shows the way forward.

Many regions hosted multiple strains of the fungus. In some cases, frogs with different variants lived within meters of each other. That proximity worries Rosenblum. Strains could form deadlier hybrids in places like Brazil, where American bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) are farmed as pets and food. The new skin swab genetic test could allow officials to screen shipments of frogs before they go overseas, Rosenblum has proposed.

The teams approach could also help scientists learn how chytrid became so deadly to begin with. Museum samples have shown that the fungus existed on frogs collected in the early 1900s. However, mass die-offs didnt begin until the 1970s. Museum archives, examined with the new test, could identify what changed: from tweaks in the genetics of the fungus to the rise of international amphibian trade and global travel.

The effects of globalization for disease transmission around the world are so palpable, Rosenblum said. If were worried about moving diseases around the world for our own species, then we should also be worried about moving diseases around the world for other species.

Citation

Byrne, A. Q., et al. (2019). Cryptic diversity of a widespread global pathogen reveals expanded threats to amphibian conservation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,116(41), 20382-20387. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908289116

Jonathan Wosen (@JonathanWosen) is a graduate student in the Science Communication Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Other Mongabay stories produced by UCSC students can be found at https://news.mongabay.com/list/ucsc/

Visit link:
Rapid genetic test traces spread of fungus that kills frogs, reveals new strain in Southeast Asia - Mongabay.com

FARGO At Bethany Retirement Living on South University Drive, 108-year-old Helene Sandvig walked to her own birthday party on Monday, Nov. 25.

Sandvig lives independently, walks on her own and has sharp memories about her life on a farm near Leonard, N.D.

Many have asked the former country school teacher, Sunday school superintendent and 4-H Club leader what her secret is to living a long life.

She has a very practical explanation.

"Everyone asks me and I say it is in the genes," Sandvig said. "My folks lived to be into their 90s and two of my brothers lived over 90. But of course, we worked hard and kept healthy and busy."

Since Sandvig has no immediate family, Bethany organized the party with Sandvig's friends and old neighbors.

Continue reading here:
Fargo woman credits her 108 years to genetics and healthy living - INFORUM

TEMPLE CITY, Calif., Nov. 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fulgent Genetics, Inc. (FLGT) (Fulgent Genetics or the company), a provider of comprehensive genetic testing and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) solutions, today announced that its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ming Hsieh, Chief Financial Officer Paul Kim, and Vice President of Commercial Operations Brandon Perthuis are scheduled to participate in the 31st Annual Piper Jaffray Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, December 4, 2019 at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in New York, New York.

These representatives of the company will participate in a question-and-answer session with the host analyst beginning at approximately 12:30 p.m. ET.

A live webcast of the question and answer session will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Fulgent Genetics website at ir.fulgentgenetics.com. A replay of the webcast will be accessible at ir.fulgentgenetics.com beginning approximately one hour following the completion of the event.

About Fulgent Genetics

Fulgent Genetics is a technology company with a focus on offering comprehensive genetic testing to provide physicians with clinically actionable diagnostic information they can use to improve the quality of patient care. The company has developed a proprietary technology platform that allows it to offer a broad and flexible test menu and continually expand and improve its proprietary genetic reference library, while maintaining accessible pricing, high accuracy and competitive turnaround times. The company believes its test menu offers more genes for testing than its competitors in todays market, which enables it to provide expansive options for test customization and clinically actionable results.

Investor Relations Contacts:The Blueshirt GroupNicole Borsje, 415-217-2633, nborsje@blueshirtgroup.com

Visit link:
Representatives of Fulgent Genetics to Participate in the Piper Jaffray 31st Annual Healthcare Conference - Yahoo Finance

Japan has the worlds oldest population, with 28 percent of all citizens comprising of elderly people above the age of 65. The secret to longevity lies not only in their healthy diet and lifestyle choices, but is influenced by a specific set of genes. Yes, the reason the country has 146 people over the age of 110 (referredto as supercentenarians) is simply good genes. This factor enabled them to stave off cancer and other deadly diseases for more than a century.

A new study conducted by the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Science (IMS) and Keio University School of Medicine in Japan sought to understand the genetics behind aging in supercentenarians by analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing.In the paperthat was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists investigated the immune cells of seven supercentenarians and made comparisons to the five subjects with ages between 50 and 80 years.

Researchers looked at 41,208 cells altogether from the elders with ages over 110, and 19,994 cells in the control group. The two cells part of the bodys immune response, which are B-cells and T-cells, were studied.It was found that B-cells had a lower count in the supercentenarians, while T-cells were at the same number in both groups.

However, the major finding was that supercentenarians had more of a particular subset of T-cells, namely CD4 T-cells that are capable of killing harmful cells, which wasonly possible by cytotoxic CD8 T-cells until then. In fact, 80 percent of the T-cells were composed of CD4 markers, whereas 10 to 20 percent of the T-cells had the marker in people of ages between 50 and 80.

The secret to aging may lie in your genes. Photo courtesy of Pexels

Since T-cells with CD8 markers are known to be cytotoxic, this means the CD4 markershad changed to acquire the new function, as per the researchers. This was not the case with the relatively younger subjects, this was the single most unique genetic characteristic of supercentenarians.

"This research shows how single-cell transcription analysis can help us to understand how individuals are more or less susceptible to diseases. CD4-positive cells generally work by generating cytokines, while CD8-positive cells are cytotoxic, and it may be that the combination of these two features allows these individuals to be especially healthy," Piero Carninci, IMS Deputy Director, said.

To understand the unusual phenomenon better, the researchers further studied the cells of two older participants, only to find another interesting fact about the CD4 T-cells: They had descended and multiplied from a single ancestral cell.

"We believe that this type of cells, which are relatively uncommon in most individuals, even young, are useful for fighting against established tumors, and could be important for immunosurveillance. This is exciting as it has given us new insights into how people who live very long lives are able to protect themselves from conditions such as infections and cancer," Carninci added.

Read more:
The Secret To Longevity Could Be Genetics - Medical Daily

$99.99 (Originally $199) [You save $99.01]

The 23andMe kit is one of the most in-depth at-home DNA tests you can take. Not only will it break down your ancestry, but it will also discover your genetic health risks for diseases like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, carrier traits for diseases like Cystic Fibrosis and Sickle Cell, report on your wellness with details like sleep patterns and lactose intolerance, and other genetic traits. If you're only interested in learning your ancestry you can buy the genetics kit for $20 off.

View post:
Some of the top DNA kits are deeply discounted for Black Friday - here's a break down of each one - Business Insider India