Martin Ogando and his 91-year-old grandmother, Delia Giovanola, flip through a stack of photos until they reach an image of a man Ogando never saw in life: his father.

The two share similar skin tone and blue eyes products of the same genetics that finally allowed Ogando to discover his birth identity through DNA tests in November 2015.

The tests showed that he's the biological son of Jorge Ogando and Stella Maris Montesano, a child born in captivity in a clandestine detention center and taken away from parents who were forcibly disappeared in 1976 during Argentina's dictatorship.

"I found out the truth about my life," Ogando said of the tests that also reunited him with his grandmother. "A beautiful, but heavy truth."

During the 1976-1983 dictatorship, Argentina's military rulers systematically stole babies born to political prisoners, most of whom were then killed. Some 30,000 people died or were disappeared for political reasons during the dictatorship, according to human rights groups.

The search for those children spearheaded by the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo human rights group, led to breakthrough advancements in DNA identification.

The group emerged from gatherings of grandmothers who marched every week in front of the main square in Buenos Aires to demand the missing children. They also traveled around the globe in search of experts to find out if it was possible to determine the parenthood of the stolen babies, perhaps from blood samples.

"What were we supposed to do?" said Giovanola, one of the founders of the Grandmothers group. "Blood from whom? First we needed to find the baby. And then, the problem was that we lacked the blood samples from the parents. That's why the whole family on the mother and the father's side began to give blood."

The Grandmothers turned for help to U.S. geneticist Mary-Claire King, who in 1984 worked with Argentine colleagues to identify by genetic analysis the first confirmed stolen child. She later developed a system using mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited only from mothers, to identify individuals.

That led officials in the post-dictatorship era with strong prodding from the Grandmothers to pass a law formally creating Argentina's National Genetics Bank, the first of its kind in the world, which is now celebrating its 30th anniversary.

The institution's head, Mariana Herrera, noted that the institution was created by the government to solve crimes committed by the state itself. "There's nowhere else where this has turned into a policy to repair human rights abuses," she said.

The bank contains a database of blood samples collected from families searching for kidnapped children as well as adults who suspect they might have been stolen as infants.

To date, 122 cases of stolen children have been resolved most by the Genetics Bank but several hundred remain unaccounted for.

The bank has become a world authority in the matter, helping Colombia, Peru and El Salvador find the disappeared from their own conflicts. It's also provided information to the group Bring Back Our Girls of Nigeria, which has been hunting for the children stolen by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

The 40-year-old Ogando, a Doral, Florida, resident who was known for most of his life as Diego Berestycki, contacted the Grandmothers and carried out the test after the man who raised him died.

"I would have loved to have met my parents. From what my grandma tells me, I looked a lot like my dad. I even walked like him," Ogando said.

Continued here:
Genetic bank that ID's Argentina's stolen babies turns 30 - ABC News - ABC News

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Researchers have known that genes contribute to autism since the 1970s, when a team found that identical twins often share the condition. Since then, scientists have been racking up potential genetic culprits in autism, a process that DNA-decoding technologies have accelerated in the past decade.

As this work has progressed, scientists have unearthed a variety of types of genetic changes that can underlie autism. The more scientists dig into DNA, the more intricate its contribution to autism seems to be.

Since the first autism twin study in 1977, several teams have compared autism rates in twins and shown that autism is highly heritable. When one identical twin has autism, there is about an 80 percent chance that the other twin has it too. The corresponding rate for fraternal twins is around 40 percent.

However, genetics clearly does not account for all autism risk. Environmental factors also contribute to the condition although researchers disagree on the relative contributions of genes and environment. Some environmental risk factors for autism, such as exposure to a maternal immune response in the womb or complications during birth, may work with genetic factors to produce autism or intensify its features.

Genetics in motion: The secret to understanding autism lies largely in our DNA.

Not really. There are several conditions associated with autism that stem from mutations in a single gene, including fragile X and Rett syndromes. But less than 1 percent of non-syndromic cases of autism stem from mutations in any single gene. So far, at least, there is no such thing as an autism gene meaning that no gene is consistently mutated in every person with autism. There also does not seem to be any gene that causes autism every time it is mutated.

Still, the list of genes implicated in autism is growing. Researchers have tallied 65 genes they consider strongly linked to autism, and more than 200 others that have weaker ties. Many of these genes are important for communication between neurons or control the expression of other genes.

Changes, or mutations, in the DNA of these genes can lead to autism. Some mutations affect a single DNA base pair, or letter. In fact, everyone has thousands of these genetic variants. A variant that is found in 1 percent or more of the population is considered common and is called a single nucleotide polymorphism, or SNP.

Common variants typically have subtle effects and may work together to contribute to autism. Rare variants, which are found in less than 1 percent of people, tend to have stronger effects. Many of the mutations linked to autism so far have been rare. It is significantly more difficult to find common variants for autism risk, although some studies are underway.

Other changes, known as copy number variations (CNVs), show up as deletions or duplications of long stretches of DNA and often include many genes.

But mutations that contribute to autism are probably not all in genes, which make up less than 2 percent of the genome. Researchers are trying to wade into the remaining 98 percent of the genome to look for irregularities associated with autism. So far, these regions are poorly understood.

No. At the molecular level, the effects of mutations may differ, even among SNPs. Mutations can be either harmful or benign, depending on how much they alter the corresponding proteins function. A missense mutation, for example, swaps one amino acid in the protein for another. If the substitution doesnt significantly change the protein, it is likely to be benign. A nonsense mutation, on the other hand, inserts a stop sign within a gene, causing protein production to halt prematurely. The resulting protein is too short and functions poorly, if at all.

Most mutations are inherited from parents, and they can be common or rare. Mutations can also arise spontaneously in an egg or sperm, and so are found only in the child and not in her parents. Researchers can find these rare de novo mutations by comparing the DNA sequences of people who have autism with those of their unaffected family members. Spontaneous mutations that arise after conception are usually mosaic, meaning they affect only some of the cells in the body.

Perhaps. Girls with autism seem to have more mutations than do boys with the condition. And boys with autism sometimes inherit their mutations from unaffected mothers. Together, these results suggest that girls may be somehow resistant to mutations that contribute to autism and need a bigger genetic hit to have the condition.

Clinicians routinely screen the chromosomes of a developing baby to identify large chromosomal abnormalities, including CNVs. There are prenatal genetic tests for some syndromes associated with autism, such as fragile X syndrome. But even if a developing baby has these rare mutations, there is no way to know for sure whether he will later be diagnosed with autism.

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Autism genetics, explained - Spectrum

June 27, 2017 by David Slipher In this mouse cortex, a mutation in the CHD8 gene caused increased brain size, or megalencephaly, a condition also present in people with autism spectrum disorder. The colored sections correspond to different layers of the developing cortex. Credit: Alex Nord/UC Davis

While the definitive causes remain unclear, several genetic and environmental factors increase the likelihood of autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, a group of conditions covering a "spectrum" of symptoms, skills and levels of disability.

Taking advantage of advances in genetic technologies, researchers led by Alex Nord, assistant professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior with the Center for Neuroscience at the University of California, Davis, are gaining a better understanding of the role played by a specific gene involved in autism. The collaborative work appears June 26 in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

"For years, the targets of drug discovery and treatment have been based on an unknown black box of what's happening in the brain," said Nord. "Now, using genetic approaches to study the impact of specific mutations found in cases, we're trying to build a cohesive model that links genetic control of brain development with behavior and brain function."

The Nord laboratory studies how the genome encodes brain development and function, with a particular interest in understanding the genetic basis of neurological disorders.

Mouse brain models

There is no known specific genetic cause for most cases of autism, but many different genes have been linked to the disorder. In rare, specific cases of people with ASD, one copy of a gene called CHD8 is mutated and loses function. The CHD8 gene encodes a protein responsible for packaging DNA in cells throughout the body. Packaging of DNA controls how genes are turned on and off in cells during development.

Because mice and humans share on average 85 percent of similarly coded genes, mice can be used as a model to study how genetic mutations impact brain development. Changes in mouse DNA mimic changes in human DNA and vice-versa. In addition, mice exhibit behaviors that can be used as models for exploring human behavior.

Nord's laboratory at UC Davis and his collaborators have been working to characterize changes in brain development and behavior of mice carrying a mutated copy of CHD8.

"Behavioral tests with mice give us information about sociability, anxiety and cognition. From there, we can examine changes at the anatomical and cellular level to find links across dimensions," said Nord. "This is critical to understanding the biology of disorders like autism."

By inducing mutation of the CHD8 gene in mice and studying their brain development, Nord and his team have established that the mice experience cognitive impairment and have increased brain volume. Both conditions are also present in individuals with a mutated CHD8 gene.

New implications for early and lifelong brain development

Analysis of data from mouse brains reveals that CHD8 gene expression peaks during the early stages of brain development. Mutations in CHD8 lead to excessive production of dividing cells in the brain, as well as megalencephaly, an enlarged brain condition common in individuals with ASD. These findings suggest the developmental causes of increased brain size.

More surprisingly, Nord also discovered that the pathological changes in gene expression in the brains of mice with a mutated CHD8 continued through the lifetime of the mice. Genes involved in critical biological processes like synapse function were impacted by the CHD8 mutation. This suggests that CHD8 plays a role in brain function throughout life and may affect more than early brain development in autistic individuals.

While Nord's research centers on severe ASD conditions, the lessons learned may eventually help explain many cases along the autism spectrum.

Collaborating to improve understanding

Nord's work bridges disciplines and has incorporated diverse collaborators. The genetic mouse model was developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory using CRISPR editing technology, and co-authors Jacqueline Crawley and Jill Silverman of the UC Davis MIND Institute evaluated mouse behavior to characterize social interactions and cognitive impairments.

Nord also partnered with co-author Konstantinos Zarbalis of the Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine at UC Davis to examine changes in cell proliferation in the brains of mice with the CHD8 mutation, and with Jason Lerch from the Mouse Imaging Centre at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, to conduct magnetic resonance imaging on mouse brains.

"It's the act of collaboration that I find really satisfying," Nord said. "The science gets a lot more interesting and powerful when we combine different approaches. Together we were able to show that mutation to CHD8 causes changes to brain development, which in turn alters brain anatomy, function and behavior."

In the future, Nord hopes to identify how CHD8 packages DNA in neural cells and to determine the specific impacts to early brain development and synaptic function. Nord hopes that deep exploration of CHD8 mutations will ultimately yield greater knowledge of the general factors contributing to ASD and intellectual disability.

Explore further: Study shows connection between key autism risk genes in the human brain

More information: Andrea L Gompers et al. Germline Chd8 haploinsufficiency alters brain development in mouse, Nature Neuroscience (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nn.4592

Journal reference: Nature Neuroscience

Provided by: UC Davis

A new study reveals an important connection between dozens of genes that may contribute to autism, a major step toward understanding how brain development goes awry in some individuals with the disorder.

In a collaboration involving 13 institutions around the world, researchers have broken new ground in understanding what causes autism. The results are being published in Cell magazine July 3, 2014: "Disruptive CHD8 Mutations ...

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It wasn't just coincidence to Bobby Burton. The 47-year-old Houston native had been covering college football recruiting for more than 20 years. With increased frequency, the best players he saw were more Americanized than American.

Burton lives in a Houston recruiting hotbed, but what he increasingly saw created a recruiting quandary. Who were these kids with the strange names? They were polite, dedicated and often studs.

They absolutely were Nigerian, or the second-generation offspring of Nigerians playing the hell out of American football.

"You're always looking for the next thing in recruiting," said Burton, a writer for 247Sports.

This one hit him between the eyes.

All of it made sense when Burton did the math. Nigeria is the seventh most populous nation in the world (190 million). It has the planet's largest black population. There are more Nigerian immigrants in the United States (376,000) than anywhere in the world. The Houston metro area is home to most Nigerians in the country (about 150,000).

Somehow their culture, their drive, their family structure and, oh yes, their bodies seemed to fit football.

With some meticulous research, Burton determined that in the 2016 NFL Draft there were as many players taken from Lagos, Nigeria, as from the city of Chicago (three).

"Unbelievable, unbelievable," said Hakeem Olajuwon, the acknowledged pied piper for Nigerian athletes after coming out the University of Houston in 1984 prior and becoming a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

"You can see the talents coming out."

It turns out, this phenomenon was bound to happen.

"I think it was kind of that moment in time," Burton said. "It's gone past the point of coincidence It's no longer just a anomaly. It's part of the fabric of football and football recruiting in this country."

Their story goes beyond college football -- or even college athletics. Forget any athletic stereotype, Nigerians have a fierce family pride and dogged belief in education -- particularly higher education -- that allows them to succeed in this country.

These noble West African natives and their descendants are the American Dream.

"There is an honor about them," Southern California Trojans coach Clay Helton said.

Helton counts at least five first- or second-generation Nigerians on his roster.

"They're such a regal people," said Chris Plonsky, the women's athletic director at Texas Longhorns .

Oh, and they can play. In the space of four picks at the end of the first round and beginning of the second of that 2016 NFL Draft, three were of Nigerian descent ( Ole Miss Rebels ' Robert Nkemdiche , Texas A&M's Germain Ifedi and Oklahoma State Cowboys 's Emmanuel Ogbah ).

While the NCAA doesn't keep statistics on nationality (only race), Nigerian influence on college sports is obvious. Among the Power Five, only the SEC didn't have at least one player of Nigerian heritage on its all-conference first or second teams in 2016.

The last three seasons, at least one player of Nigerian heritage has finished in the top 25 nationally in tackles.

At least 80 players of Nigerian ancestry have populated professional football, soccer, basketball and even car racing in recent years. In 1987, Christian Okoye ("The Nigerian Nightmare") became the first Nigerian-born NFL player.

Before Okoye, Olajuwon was the inspiration.

"You're totally right," said Emmanuel Acho , a Nigerian-American who played linebacker at Texas and in the NFL. "If you want to start with Hakeem Olajuwon or you want to start with Christian Okoye, [it doesn't matter]."

Hakeem's background in soccer and handball helped his footwork in basketball. Those Phi Slama Jama teams in the mid-1980s changed the game.

But what about the scores of second-generation Nigerians -- those born into a family with at least one Nigerian-born parent? In the 2016 draft alone, there were three times as many Nigerian players with hereditary ties to the country's dominant tribe -- the Igbo -- (six) than draftees from Florida State Seminoles (two).

Oluwole Betiku might be the next Nigerian phenom in that draft. The sophomore linebacker is already the talk of USC where they affectionately they call him "Wole" (woe-lay).

Betiku was discovered at a basketball camp in Nigeria. At age 15, he rode 11 hours in a bus to that camp in hopes of finding a better life for his impoverished family.

Desperation doesn't begin to describe it. Seventy percent of the Nigerian population is below the poverty line. Forty percent of the population is illiterate. The AIDS rate there is the highest in the world.

"We have oil everywhere," said Sonny Acho of his native land.

Acho is father of Sam and another Texas/NFL linebacker, Emmanuel. Sonny has become an icon not only in his Dallas community but also for his Nigerian outreach.

"We have a corrupt culture: Get all you can!" he said of Nigeria. "Only a few politicians live large. Millions live in poverty. These are the people that we are trying to go help."

Sam and Emmanuel have been on an estimated 15-20 mission trips back to their parents' homeland. They have recruited friends and teammates to provide basic needs to villages.

"People talk about modern-day miracles," Sam explained. "I saw a lady that was blind, and she received her sight through prayer."

That required some reconfirmation. The mission trip did include some doctors who were removing cataracts. Wasn't that what Sam witnessed?

"She starts praying, praying, praying," Sam said. "The next thing she says is, 'Amen.' I'm standing around the way just kind of seeing what's going on. The lady starts freaking out. They hold up this card and ask her what color it is.

"She says, 'Yellow.'"

A more conventional miracle: Out of that Nigerian camp, Betiku eventually got referred to former Penn State Nittany Lions star LaVar Arrington, who became his legal guardian and brought him to the U.S. Betiku didn't take up football until he was a sophomore at Serra High School in Los Angeles.

At that point, he was so nave to the sport, Wole shed his shoulder pads as an annoyance. Just getting on the field for the Trojans for five games as a freshman was a win.

"I'll never forget him absolutely breaking down into tears one day in our defensive team meeting," Helton said. "They had showed some tape on him and a little bit of praise. He said, 'Coach, if you could imagine where I was a couple of years ago to where I'm sitting right now. I just thank God for this opportunity.'"

If you want to secure one of these talents, you might want to place a call to Lou Ayeni. He is as plugged in to the Nigerian recruiting scene as anyone. Both parents of Iowa State Cyclones 's running backs coach are from Lagos, Nigeria's capital.

Babs and Flora have PhDs. Dad is a statistical engineer. Mom is a biomedical statistician. One sister, Tina, is a nationally noted oncologist who treated the mother of Iowa State coach Matt Campbell.

"She's trying to find a cure for ovarian cancer," Lou said. "My mom makes fun of me. You went to Northwestern Wildcats to coach football? I don't understand it."

That was after playing tailback and safety for the Wildcats under Randy Walker and surviving eight surgeries in his career. That was after his mother all but hand-picked the elite school for her son.

"My mom says, 'You're going to the best academic school you can go to,'" Lou recalled. "I was high school player of the year in Minnesota Golden Gophers . I was enamored with Wisconsin Badgers . My first Big Ten visit was Iowa Hawkeyes . They were really intriguing schools to me."

Flora then interjected: Nothing is happening until you visit Northwestern.

"We go through the academic piece. First thing she says is, 'You're coming here,'" Lou said. "Some Nigerian families are like that."

As an Ayeni, Lou did take the road less traveled. He knows those Dallas and Houston hotbeds.

Running back Kene Nwangwu was the state high jump champion out Dallas, not the kind of player to come to Ames, Iowa. He was offered by every Big 12 school. Iowa State got him.

"It was an easy sell for me," Ayeni said. "His family is very similar to my family -- 4.0 GPA, yes sir, no sir."

Ayeni says he can see Nigerian talent just by watching tape.

"Some of them," he said. "If I hear the name and watch them, I'll know if they're Nigerian."

Their names are often lyrical, peaceful and meant to convey both their faith and future -- Blessing, Sunday, Passionate, Peace, Promise, Princess.

Former Iowa State offensive lineman Oni Omoile was part of a royal bloodline in Nigeria. His nickname on the team quickly became "Prince."

"We know each other by our last names," Sonny Acho said. "You give me somebody's last name, not only will I know that person is from Nigeria, I will even tell you where the person is from. It tells you the tribe and the language the person speaks."

"Acho" means "I have found what I'm looking for," according to Sonny. Burton says he knows Nigerians by another definition.

"I've been doing this a long time," he said. "I can't remember a Nigerian kid ever having grade problems. It's not the physical nature of their ability. It's the maximization of what they have."

There are other cultures that stress education and family. Why are Nigerians different to be the subject of this talent/recruiting boom?

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was a direct result of the growing civil rights movement. It relaxed immigration quotas. The Refugee Act of 1980 made it easier for African immigrants to come here. That was important for those fleeing conflict-impacted areas, such as Nigeria.

That Nigerian U.S. population of 376,000 is roughly the size of New Orleans. That sample size has produced an athletic revolution.

WNBA players Chiney and Nneke Ogwumike -- from the Houston suburb of Tomball -- were the only other siblings besides the Mannings to be drafted No. 1 overall in a U.S. professional sports league (2014).

They are part of the fabric of a metro area. Half of all African immigrants in Houston are from Nigeria

"Why is there such a concentration in Houston?" asked Stephen Klineberg, a sociology professor at Rice Owls . "It's the classic story of immigration. You go where you know people. You go there because your cousin is there."

And the climate is roughly the same. The humidity and warmth of Houston is similar to Lagos. That gives rise to the some of the first families of Nigerian-American sports -- the Achos, the Orakpos, the Okafors.

All-American linebacker Brian Orakpo came out of Houston to win a national championship at Texas. He has been selected for the Pro Bowl in half of his eight pro seasons.

Emeka Okafor was the first member of his Nigerian family born in the United States. The former UConn basketball star and No. 2 overall draft pick played 10 NBA seasons. Distant cousin Jahlil Okafor was the No. 3 pick overall in 2015 out of Duke Blue Devils .

The Nigerian surge in athletics is best described another way: Half of all Nigerians have arrived in the country since 2000. Twenty-nine percent of those immigrants age 25 or older hold a master's degree. That's compared to 11 percent of the overall U.S. population. Eight percent of those Nigerians hold doctorate degrees compared to 1 percent of the U.S. population. This 2008 story calls them the most educated ethnicity in the U.S.

The NCAA's antiquated bylaws constantly remind us a degree doesn't necessarily equal an education. But in the Nigerian culture, education is the foundation for life.

Sam Acho could have played anywhere. His athletic talent was evident. But he was also being recruited by elite schools including several in the Ivy League. Sonny had to be convinced Texas was worthy of his son.

"Sam got into Texas' McCombs School of Business," Sonny said. "That solved the problem. Mack Brown basically knew we were strong people. Anything outside of that was going to cause a problem. They allowed us to be involved in the boy's lives. It's all about academics first and football second."

In 2010, Sam won the Campbell Trophy, the so-called "Academic Heisman" for the nation's top football scholar-athlete. Sam has a master's in international business. Emmanuel has a master's in psychology.

As kids, they led somewhat of a cloistered life. Such is the influence of parents. Sonny said former USC coach Pete Carroll once pulled Sam from a group of 300 and tried to get him to commit.

So you can sort of understand a natural skepticism.

"My kids couldn't do sleepovers," Sonny said. "I don't know what you have going on in your house I'm not willing to let my son go over there and something goes wrong and then they accuse my son of raping Many African parents will be like that."

A large part of this story is simple math and demographics. One in eight of the world's population is from Africa. The only countries larger are Pakistan, Brazil, Indonesia, the United States, India and China.

Nigeria also has the largest black population. There are more native Nigerians in the U.S. than from any other African nation.

In 1980, that number was 25,000. As those laws began to loosen, in every decade from the 1980s through the 2000s, at least 10 million immigrants came to the U.S.

Eighty-eight percent of those were of Asian, Latin American, Caribbean or African descent, Klineberg said.

"It's a new immigration stream that has never existed before in American history," he added.

Nigerian families tend to be large, accomplished and -- as mentioned -- extremely close. Florida State All-ACC defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi says he talks to each of his six siblings daily via social media.

"Every day we have a whole group chat," he said.

A brother, Bradley, is an actor in Southern California. A sister, Ashley, got into the nursing program at Old Dominion Monarchs . Derrick somehow ended up the kid with his hand in the dirt -- although one with a 3.12 GPA last semester.

"I have four jobs," Derrick said. "Go to class, study, get conditioned, play football. That really boils down to two jobs."

You shouldn't even have to ask. Consider his father, Fred Nnadi. He came to the U.S. with his brother decades ago determined to carve out a life as an engineer.

But like a lot of immigrants, he was hindered by his nationality and the language barrier.

"I went to a job interview one time. I had three degrees going in," Fred said. "I applied to be a meter reader. The supervisor doesn't have the degree I have.

"He hired me and didn't say a word. When I left, he started tell me he wished he had the education I had. I had to feed my family. That's why we emphasize education."

But perhaps the only reason Derrick is at Florida State in the first place is that Fred survived the brutal Nigerian civil war from 1967-70.

Up to two million may have died in the bloody conflict. It evolved as Nigeria was finding its identity as an independent nation after separating from the United Kingdom in 1960.

As a teenager, Fred voluntarily joined what he said were the equivalent of U.S. Army Rangers, fighting behind enemy lines. This was in the days of governmental conscription.

"It was a war of genocide It was a terrible war," Fred said. "That war, they have not recovered. I'm not kidding you. I don't care what anybody says."

Those who survived at least had the chance to pass on their genes in the United States. Fred's father had been a tribal chief back in the homeland with "many wives" who "when he walked on land, the ground shook."

"I have so many brothers and sisters," Fred said. "We were in the hundreds. He was a very great man. I have to tell you, when you look at Derrick, he's black and big You're looking at my father."

That memory of Chief Ezeoha explains some of the why the 6-foot-1, 312-pound Derrick became one of three "Seminole Warriors" on the team by throwing up 525 pounds on the bench.

"I have a video if you want to see it," Derrick said proudly. "I will never shy from showing the video."

After that civil war, a series of oppressive dictators emerged. Lately, the ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram have terrorized Nigerians.

Like all Nigerian athletes spoken to for this story, they seem to be Americans first. Some have been back to the homeland. All of them can't forget it.

"Killing this goat right in front of us and slicing it's neck," USC tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe said while recalling a visit from his childhood. "[I remember] it running it around. We ate it later in the day. It was spicy."

In one sense, Imatorbhebhe is as American as the corner McDonald's. He was born in Nigeria but grew up in suburban Atlanta before signing with Florida Gators and immediately transferring to USC.

Imatorbhebhe's mother is a biomedical consultant. His father worked for a mortgage company before the financial crash. His brother, Josh, is a Trojans receiver.

"It's tough because it's like we're not really seen as in the some mold as an African-American kid," Daniel said. "Teammates have always said, 'Y'all are just built different. What do you attribute that to? Is it what you eat?'"

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How culture, passion and genetics are fueling a Nigerian takeover of US sports - CBS sports.com (blog)

Trust may depend, at least in part, on genes. But, a new study suggests people may not inherit distrust in the same way.

The study explores distrust as a separate and distinct quality from trust. Lead author Martin Reimann, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Arizona, said:

This research supports the idea that distrust is not merely the opposite of trust. Both trust and distrust are strongly influenced by the individuals unique environment, but whats interesting is that trust seems to be significantly influenced by genetics, while distrust is not. Distrust appears to be primarily socialized.

For the study, researchers studied sets of adult identical twins, who have identical genetic relatedness, and adult fraternal (or non-identical) twins, who have different genetic relatedness.

Based on the core principles of behavioral genetics, if genetics explain variations in distrust and trust behaviors, then identical twins should behave more similarly to each other than fraternal twins, since the genes of identical twins are shared, while the genes of fraternal twins are only imperfectly correlated, Reimann says.

Studying the two different types of twins allowed researchers to estimate the relative influence of three different factors on twins trust and distrust trust behaviors:

For the research, 324 identical and 210 fraternal twins were asked them to decide how much money to send to another study participant (representing trust) and another task that asked them to decide how much money to take away from another participant (representing distrust).

Identical twin pairs behaved more similarly than the fraternal twin pairs in their trust behaviors but not their distrust behaviors, suggesting that genetics influence trust, but not distrust.

Overall, analyses estimated that trust is 30 percent heritable, while distrust is not at all heritable.

Meanwhile, the estimated contribution of shared environment to distrust was 19 percent, while shared environment didnt contribute at all to trust.

Unshared environment or the twins independent experiences in life had the biggest impact on both trust and distrust, with unshared experiences contributing 81 percent to distrust and 70 percent to trust.

In other words, whether a person has a propensity to trust or distrust is not inherited or commonly socialized. Instead, its influenced by unique experiences in life.

We all have a stock of past experiences that we draw on to help determine how we are going to behave in different situations, and future research should look at what particular types of life experiences could be the most influential on trust or distrust, Reimann says. Disposition to trust, however, is not a product of experience alone; genetic influence is also significant. But we dont see the same genetic influence with distrust.

Image: Argya Diptya CC-BY

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Trust Is Influenced By Genetics But Distrust Is Not - ReliaWire

Accelerated Genetics and Select Sires Inc. announced June 22 that they will be joining forces as a unified cooperative, effective July 1.

At a special delegate meeting held June 22, Accelerated Genetics delegates voted in favor of uniting Select Sires Inc. with Accelerated Genetics, formally finalizing the agreement recommended by both cooperatives' boards of directors.

Related: Select Sires, Accelerated Genetics to unify

Accelerated Genetics has been searching for a partner who could enhance the business and move it forward, Accelerated Genetics board chair Scott Dahlk said. Joining forces with Select Sires is a positive move for both member-owners and producers worldwide.

The official agreement states that Select Sires will acquire all Accelerated Genetics assets, integrating employees and independent sales representatives in each of their geographic member organizations. The decision to merge coincides with an already collaborative business relationship between the two cooperatives that began in 2001 under which each company shares ownership of World Wide Sires Ltd., which serves as the international marketing arm for both companies in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Oceania.

By working together, we will be stronger, said David Thorbahn, Select Sires president and chief executive officer. The value and expertise gained by joining the people from both organizations allows us to offer our customers a broader genetics program in addition to an outstanding animal health product line." He added that working with the Accelerated Genetics team gives the organization "the ability to expand genetic research, technical support, service and programs with people who are passionate about the dairy and beef industries.

Accelerated Genetics and Select Sires are built on the same cooperative business principles and share similar operating structures. Each organization stems from innovative breeders who had a common vision to move the dairy and beef industries forward. Both cultures value the input of their member-owners and recognize the importance of their guidance in driving the need to produce superior genetics and outstanding reproductive programs.

The unification of both cooperatives will create a well-rounded genetics program and solution-based animal health care product line that will fit the needs of dairy and beef producers worldwide, the announcement said. Producers can expect to continue working with highly qualified, passionate individuals who know and understand the cattle breeding industry.

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Accelerated Genetics votes to join with Select Sires - Feedstuffs

With New Zealand (NZ) sheep genetics in the flock, it might be possible to reduce the labour requirement around lambing.

That is according to Teagasc Post Doctoral Researcher, Fiona McGovern, who is carrying out a study on the Ireland New Zealand across breed Animal Comparison (INZAC) flock.

The research has shown that NZ sheep have a lambing difficulty of 2.2%. This was compared to 3.6% for the 5-star replacement Irish sheep and 9.7% for the 1-star replacement Irish sheep.

NZ sheep also produced more milk when compared to the two Irish groups, according toTeagascResearch officer for Beef and Sheep Genetics,Nirn McHugh.

The INZAC flock was originally formed in 2015, with sheep imported from New Zealand.

The flock consists of 180 ewes: 60 of NZ origin; 60 5-star replacement Irish; and 60 1-star replacement Irish. Each group of 60 was split into 30 Texels and 30 Suffolks.

These two breeds were selected because they are the two most popular terminal breeds in Ireland, with the flock bred using artificial insemination (AI) during autumn 2015.

The stocking rate for the INZAC flock is 12 ewes/ha and the total area allocated is 15ha: three farmlets of 5ha. Some 130kg of chemical nitrogen/ha per year is applied. The flock is mid-season lambing within a grass-based production system.

According to the results of the study, the type of breed had a direct impact on the performance of the lamb.

The NZ breed had fewer days-to-slaughter when compared to the elite Irish and Irish low. It took 155 days to slaughter the NZ lamb and 164 days to slaughter the elite Irish, whereas it took 178 days for the Irish low.

96% of NZ lambs were drafted from grass, while 82% of elite Irish and 69% of Irish low were drafted from grass. Almost all NZ lambs were slaughtered from a grass-based diet only.

Speaking at the Teagasc Sheep Open Day in Athenry on Wednesday, June 21, McGovern said the study which isa four to five-year project and will continue for another two years did not take into accountthe area of labour requirement.

Apart from the INZAC flockstand, the open day also showcased stands that focused on grassland management, ewe prolificacy and age of lambing.

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Are New Zealand sheep genetics the way forward? - Agriland

Clay Siegall, CEO, Seattle Genetics

In the wake of Seattle Genetics announcement that a disturbing tilt in deaths pointed to a likely safety problem for its late-stage cancer drug vadastuximab talirine (SGN-CD33A), the FDA has stepped in to yank the IND and officially put any human testing on hold.

The biotech $SGEN reported the FDAs move in a filing with the SEC this morning.

Seattle Genetics had already hit the brakes on its R&D work on the drug three days ago, scrapping the Phase III for acute myeloid leukemia and ordering a halt to any other testing until they can get a better read on the situation. It will also have to convince regulators that the drug is safe for testing after the FDA had lifted its first clinical hold on the drug just three months ago. That first hold on its early-stage work came after four patients died.

Those deaths were linked to liver toxicity, a classic red flag on safety. But this time one of the few clues provided by Seattle Genetics is that liver toxicity did not appear to be behind the disturbing rate of deaths investigators were seeing.

Back in March the biotech reported that it was getting restarted on the clinical work after it came up with revised eligibility criteria and stopping rules for veno-occlusive disease.The FDA agreed to lift the hold only two months after it was dropped on Seattle Genetics.

With its big Immunomedics deal axed by activists and its lead clinical drug in big trouble, Seattle Genetics CEO Clay Siegall will come under heavier pressure to diversify beyond Adcetris.

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FDA padlocks any new human tests on Seattle Genetics' cancer drug in the wake of more deaths - Endpoints News