Afsaneh Khetrapal | July 12, 2017 | News Medical

The term tongue twisting comprises rolling, folding, rotating, adjusting, and turning of the tongueAll aspects of a person are in some way influenced by genetics. Likewise, the tongue structure or its movement is controlled by ones respective gene patternTongue twisting is not a genetic disease or disorder, but a unique activity by a person using his tongue.

The early history of tongue genetics stated that the ability of tongue twisting is due to the influence of traitsThe tongue rolling ability occurs due to the influence of a dominant allele of the gene. A person who has either one or two copies of the dominant allele will be able to twist their tongue. In the case that a person is born with two recessive alleles, they cannot twist their tongue. In most cases, parents with a twisting-tongue ability can give birth to non-tongue twisters, and vice versa.

After a long-drawn out struggle, geneticists and researchers have finally proved that tongue twisting does not occur by genetic transformation. Genetic inheritance has only a minimal role to play in tongue twisting skills.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Genetics of Tongue Twisting

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ABS Global announced July 12 the launch of NuEra Genetics, a new brand that encompasses all proprietary ABS beef breeding programs, evaluations, and indexes in order to deliver differentiated and superior terminal genetics for beef supply chain profitability.

ABS said NuEra Genetics symbolizes the next chapter in the history of ABS beef genetics and a new era of ABS beef genetic improvement.

This new brand provides customers access to continuous genetic improvement and a wider array of tailored evaluations and indexes that deliver genetic progress and profit faster, ABS said.

How will customers benefit? According to ABS, the answer is found in the NuEra Genetics tagline: Efficiency. Profitability. Sustainability. With NuEra, the goal is to optimize the customers efficiency, leading to greater profitability, and ultimately allowing for a sustainable system.

The new brand will strive to:

Customers should look for new products to be released under the NuEra Genetics brand in the coming months. Such products include proprietary indexes tailored to specific customer needs, making it easier for customers to select the most efficient and profitable genetics. In the long-term, NuEra will consistently deliver robust genetic improvement, year-on-year, to our customers, raising the bar of what is possible for them to achieve.

As we see dairymen focus the adoption of sexed genetics on their high-ranking females, NuEra Genetics will provide these producers with elite beef genetics for those lower-ranking cows, adding a significant revenue stream to their businesses, said Nate Zwald, chief operating officer of ABS Globals dairy division.

Jerry Thompson, chief operating officer of ABS Globals beef division, said NuEra Genetics has the potential to add significant value to the beef industry globally. Weve only really just scratched the surface and creating our own genetics to drive customer profitability will help us tap into many areas of growth opportunity.

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ABS Global launches NuEra Genetics beef program - Feedstuffs

What happened

Shares of Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ:MYGN), a company focused on genetic testing, rose more than 26% in June, according to data fromS&P Global Market Intelligence.

Investors can credit the gains to a trio of positive announcements.

First, Myriad announced results from a 2,000-patient study using its myRisk Hereditary cancertest. Data from the study showed that 50% of breast cancer mutationsare missed with current testing guidelines and that 34% of these mutations were notpredicted by family history. This data helped to demonstrate the clinical advantages of the using company's test and could help to spur demand.

Image source: Getty Images.

Second, Myriad said that 17 health insurance plans have decided to cover the company's EndoPredict breast cancer test. Those 17 plans represent more than 35 million lives and bring the company's private pay coverage total up to109 million lives.

Finally, the company reported clinical results from its phase 3 OlympiAD trial with partner AstraZeneca. Data from the trial showed that Myriad's BRACAnalysis CDx companion test helped to identify patients with BRCA-mutated HER2-metastatic breast cancer. Physicians then used that identification to treat patients with either AstraZeneca's drug olaparib or standard chemotherapy. The data showed that using olaparib led to a meaningfulgain in progression-freesurvival. Myriad plans on using the data to seek FDA approval for this new test, which, if approved, could triple its addressable market.

Myriad's stock continues to climb back from the drubbing that it took last year. That beating was caused by falling profits due to pricing pressure in the company's corehereditary cancer testing business. Given the declines, it is easy to understand why the company is putting an emphasis on its other fast-growing testing products.

In spite of the advances, Wall Street doesn't have a lot of hope for this company's long-term profit growth potential. In fact, current estimates call for Myriad's profits to decline by more than 7% annually over the next five years. For that reason, I think that investors would probably be best served by looking elsewhere for investment opportunities.

Brian Feroldi has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Why Myriad Genetics Stock Rocketed 26.3% Higher in June -- The ... - Motley Fool

For one week this summer, students from local high schools came together to study genetics in Project GENES, and even take a look at their own genes.

The project, supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, involves students from Gray Stone Day School, Independence High School and Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology in hands-on activities, labs and field trips involving DNA.

These students recently met for a residential camp at Pfeiffer University, where biology professors Dane Fisher and Laura Reichenberg guided them through genetics investigations.

Our goal is to do STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] outreach to high school students, with a focus on students underrepresented in science, Reichenberg said. We collaborate with their high school science teachers and the teachers recruit students each year.

The students recruited take part in Project GENES for one year. Fisher and Reichenberg visit their high schools for DNA modules that increase in complexity, then the students come together for the summer camp, where they put in practice what they have learned.

Theyre basically isolating their own DNA. They get to amplify one of their own genes, Reichenberg said.

Students run tests on their PTC gene, a gene that determines a persons ability or inability to taste a specific flavor. Students then get the chance to try to taste the flavor, comparing those results with their lab work.

This year, students attending the camp took a field trip to the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, where they looked at samples under microscopes and tested them for antimicrobial properties.

According to Reichenberg, several students who attended the Project GENES camps in previous years have since graduated and gone on to STEM careers.

The former Oakboro Elementary is scheduled to open in August as Oakboro Choice STEMSchool for kindergarten through eighth grade.

Marina Shankle is a freelance contributor for The Stanly News &Press.

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IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GENES: High school students participate in genetics camp - Stanly News & Press

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) Kailos Genetics said today that it has received a strategic investment from In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit that invests in technologies to support the mission of the US intelligence community.

Terms and financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Kailos said it plans to use the investment in a partnership with In-Q-Tell to develop its next-generation sequencing laboratory and software for the benefit of the intelligence community.

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The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) has honored Dr. Arthur L. Beaudet, Henry and Emma Mayer Professor in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, with the 2017 Victor A. McKusick Leadership Award.

This award, named in honor of the late Dr. Victor A. McKusick, recognizes individuals whose professional achievements have fostered and enriched the development of human genetics as well as its assimilation into the broader context of science, medicine and health.

It is an honor to accept the 2017 McKusick Award, said Beaudet, who also is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor and physician at Texas Childrens Hospital. The American Society of Human Genetics is a prominent organization for genetics specialists all over the world, and I am proud to join the ranks of past award winners, all of whom have contributed significantly to the field.

In the 1980s, Beaudet and colleagues were the first to document uniparental disomy, a phenomenon in which a person receives two copies of a chromosome from one parent and zero from the other. In the following years, they drew an important distinction between genetic and epigenetic diseases that both lead to altered expression of the same genes and identified ways to study these and better understand the conditions they caused. Currently, his research focuses on neuronal carnitine deficiency as a risk factor for autism; the role of genomic imprinting in diseases such as Prader-Willi syndrome, Angelman syndrome and autism; and prenatal genetic diagnosis based on fetal cells isolated from maternal blood.

In addition to his scientific leadership, ASHG also honors Beaudets contributions to the Society as well as the broader research community. A longtime member of ASHG, he belonged to its Program Committee from 1984-86, its Board of Directors from 1987-90, and its Awards Committee from 2010-12, and served as President in 1998. He received the Societys William Allan Award in 2007, and belonged to the Editorial Board of the ASHG-published The American Journal of Human Genetics from 1986-1989. In addition, he was awarded the Texas Genetics Society Barbara H. Bowman Award in 1999 and the March of Dimes Colonel Harland Sanders Award for Lifetime Achievement in Genetic Research and Education in 2002. He has published more than 350 articles in scientific literature.

Dr. Beaudets outstanding leadership in human genetics has transcended all aspects of the academic mission from clinical care, education and training, to basic and translational research, said Dr. Brendan Lee, the Robert and Janice McNair Endowed Chair and professor of molecular and human genetics, chair of the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor and ASHG Executive Committee member.

ASHG will present the McKusick Award, which will include a plaque and $10,000 prize, to Beaudet on Tuesday, Oct. 17, during the organizations67th Annual Meetingin Orlando, Fla.

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Dr. Beaudet recognized for leadership in genetics - Baylor College of Medicine News (press release)

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) The GenomeWeb Index rose 2 percent in June, outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq which gained less than 2 percent and lost 1 percent, respectively but vastly underperforming the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, which gained nearly 9 percent.

Stock performance in the June GenomeWeb Index was mostly positive with 19 of the 26 stocks seeing gains and only seven seeing losses.

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LONDON, July 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Nano-magnetic Devices Market: Overview

Rigorous scaling down of the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) has occurred for improvement of electronic appliance performances. However, it has come to a stage where further scaling of these devices are no longer possible due to their physical and fabrication limitation. The nano-magnetic devices are useful in these scenarios as they can reduce size of electronics considerably and also increase its efficiency. These devices also helps in reduction of size and increase in product longevity. Nano-magnetic devices have multiple advantages like low static power dissipation, high density, robustness towards thermal noise room temperature operation, and radiation hardened nature. Radiation-resistant is another feature of nano-magnetic devices.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4743088/

Global Nano-magnetic Devices Market: Top Drivers and Key Restraints

One of the major driving force for nano-magnetic devices market is the growing demand for nanotechnology and increasing usage of sensors across various sectors such as building automation and HVAC system. Nano-magnetic devices are also anticipated to be used in building automation, HVAC systems, and communication system. Also, the augmented use of nano-magnetic devices in industrial applications is also forecasted to primarily drive the global nano-magnetic devices market over the next few years to come. Increasing industrialization and manufacturing industries require high end technologies which are highly efficient and low energy consuming, nano-magnetic devices helps in full filling this requirement. The demand for these devices are more prominent in the developed countries due to their expensive nature and high implementation cost. However, its extensive usage in a variety of applications across various advanced manufacturing processes is driving this market during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024. These devices are constantly being incorporated in several segments and also its application in new segments are increasingly driving global demand for this market. Increasing usage of nano-magnetic devices in sensors, medical and genetics segments is forecasted to increase the global market of nano-magnetic devices over the forecast period of 2016-2024.

The increase in demand for the nano-magnetic devices is also driven by the increasing usage of nano technology-enabled sensors that are used in chemical, physical, and biological sensing. These sensors empower increased recognition specificity, multiplexing capability, sensitivity, and portability for a wide variety of health, safety, and environmental assessments.

Global Nano-magnetic Devices Market: Geographic Analysis

Nano-magnetic devices market is segmented on the basis of type and region. On the basis of type, the market is divided as sensors, separation, data storage, medical and genetics, imaging and others. On the basis of regional segmentation, nano-magnetic devices market is segmented into five regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Latin America. Regionally, North America accounted for the largest market share in 2015 thereby leading the market due to its extensive usage in building automation and advanced manufacturing, followed by the regions of Europe and Asia-Pacific. The region of Asia Pacific is forecasted to grow with the highest growth rate over the forecast period. Asia Pacific has been maintaining the constant adaptation of these nano-magnetic devices owing to the rapid increase in demand for consumer electronics and growing awareness over environmental issues.

Global Nano-magnetic Devices Market: Competitive Landscape

In this report, nano-magnetic devices have been analyzed in a very detailed manner. Major players of this market have been incorporated into this report. Their financial details and strategic overview have been studied here. This strategic overview showcase agenda and development of these key players in this market segment. With it, competitive outlook of these key players have been studied as well. SWOT analysis of key players have also been incorporated in this report. In this report, global nano-magnetic devices market have been analyzed on the basis of revenue and the projection period runs from 2016 to 2024.

Some of the major players operating in Nano-magnetic devices market are Intel Corporation (the U.S.), Samsung Electronics (South Korea), LG Electronics Inc. (South Korea), among others.

Global Nano-magnetic Devices Market, 2016 2024: By Product Type

Sensors Biosensors and bioassays Giant magneto resistive (GMR) sensors Separation Data Storage Hard disks MRAM Others Medical and Genetics Imaging Others

Global Nano-magnetic Devices Market, 2015 2023: By End-User Industry

Electronics & IT Medical & Healthcare Energy Environment

Global Nano-magnetic Devices Market, 2015 2023: By Geography

North America Europe Asia Pacific (APAC) Middle East & Africa Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4743088/

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VOL. 132 | NO. 135 | Monday, July 10, 2017

A pair of scientists in Memphis is using almost $2 million in grant money to make improvements to an online database and open-source software system called GeneNetwork, used by researchers to study genetic differences and evaluate disease risk.

Drs. Robert Williams and Saunak Sen, both part of the faculty at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, won a grant from the National Institutes of Health for the project. GeneNetwork was launched in 2001 as part of a NIH Human Brain Project grant to UTHSC and was one of the first websites designed for gene mapping.

Williams, who chairs the Department of Genetics, Genomics and Informatics at UTHSC, said the grant money will be used to support major upgrades for the software infrastructure for gene mapping and analysis for the system. One of the systems main uses, he said, is being able to predict more accurate health outcomes from genetic and environmental data.

The system itself is like a combination of Microsofts popular Excel spreadsheet software paired with large amounts of financial data. Except in this case, its biological rather than financial data, combined with a sophisticated spreadsheet that allows users to perform their analyses.

Those users include undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students. The biggest slice of users is scientists, Williams said, who are interested in understanding the relationship between genetic differences and health status.

The grant has four major aims that will be stretched out over four years, Williams said. The first is to make this more useful to a larger community of users. Getting data in and out of GeneNetwork is quite a bit of work, so were going to be building some software that allows easier data entry into GeneNetwork.

The team at UTHSC which is where the GeneNetwork hub exists also wants to make some statistical improvements to the system. Theyll also be developing new analytical methods as well as tools so that the system is accessible not only to students and scientists but also professional statisticians, computer scientists and users at big pharmaceutical companies who Williams said need a different type of interface than what exists now.

The team supporting GeneNetwork actually extends beyond Memphis, spanning the globe, in fact. Other key members include Dr. Pjotr Prins, a computer programmer based in the Netherlands whos responsible for the software architecture. Dr. Karl Broman, a statistical geneticist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is also contributing to the project. And at UTHSC, Dr. Yan Cui, a computational biologist in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry, is also working on the project.

According to Dr. Sen, GeneNetwork will facilitate reproducible research because of the way it gives researchers open access to both the data and the software code used to process it. Reproducibility, he said, is essential to the scientific method, and were proud to be part of the open science movement.

The second generation of the service, called GeneNetwork 2, can be accessed at http://gn2.genenetwork.org/.

There are exponentially growing databases on humans and mice and rats and plants, Williams said. And its really difficult to handle all those huge data sets. So what we need are online tools for analyzing and integrating those data sets, and GeneNetwork is a tool for doing just that.

It provides access to a lot of data sets and the genotypes of subjects, and it allows you to analyze what the relationship is between genetic differences and outcome measurements. Like, how much do you weigh, are you likely to have diabetes, how long will you live, things like that.

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Memphis Researchers Planning Big Upgrades to Online Genetics Database - Memphis Daily News

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