Neuroscience

Fenves and Johnston: Kirk Watson Transformed Health and Health Care in Austin – The Alcalde

ByGregory L. Fenves and Clay Johnston in 40 Acres on April 30, 2020 at 11:28 am |

Dear Senator Watson,

In your final week as a Texas state senator, we have been reflecting on the extraordinary impact you have had on our community and your special legacy in shaping the health care mission of The University of Texas at Austin.

In the early 2000s, there was much talk of building a medical school in Austin. It was an ambition that had been discussed for decades but had never materialized. A medical school in one of the largest cities without one felt like an idea that would be perpetually pushed to the future for a later generation to take on.

But in 2011, you changed everything. Your 10 Goals in 10 Years for Health Care lit the fire. Immediately, the pathway forward for our city and county was illuminated.

The No. 1 goal on your 10 in 10 list was to build a medical school. This was your priority because you understood the tremendous talent and resources available at our university. You knew that UT Austin had the ability to build a medical school like no other and train generations of doctors who could serve our city, county, state and nation. So, you did what you do best brought people together to make it happen.

You made sure that a broad coalition worked collaboratively on a shared vision for health in Texas. You helped people see health care as a fundamental issue that affects everyone regardless of background, beliefs or politics. And you made your case for change by telling your personal story as a cancer survivor, and people responded. Nobody else could have done that.

It all came together in 2012, when Travis County voters in an unprecedented move approved a ballot measure to invest in the creation of a new medical school. That commitment launched the Dell Medical School. And with strong support from the UT System Board of Regents, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and so many others in our Longhorn community, Dell Med welcomed its first class of 50 students in 2016.

And here we are now, nearly four years later, with Dell Meds inaugural class preparing to graduate next month.

Senator Watson, you made it possible for Dell Meds nearly 200 students to receive a world-class medical education right here in our states capital. And now, the first graduates are going to pay it forward all have matched with residency programs across the country and almost half of them will remain in Texas (11 will stay right here in Austin) to practice medicine and serve at a time when they are needed to help lead us through an unprecedented public health crisis.

And your impact on the universitys health care mission goes beyond our students and future doctors: UT Health Austins medical workers have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis and are delivering patient-centered, value-focused care to our community; our unique partnerships with Central Health and Ascension Seton are further elevating the level of care in Austin; in 2014, the Livestrong Cancer Institutes emerged to pioneer new approaches to cancer treatment and care; in 2016, the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences took shape to advance patient treatment and neuroscience research; and just last year, your tireless work helped to prioritize the mental health needs of patients and families at the Austin State Hospital, which is now poised to become a premier center of brain health.

There is an old saying: Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. You were the leader who lit the fire that sparked a health care revolution that started on our campus and is growing across Central Texas. Generations of Texans will benefit from all you have done.

You may be a University of Houston Cougar now, but forever in our community, you will be known as a Longhorn. Thank you, Senator Watson. We are deeply grateful.

Gregory L. Fenves is President of The University of Texas at Austin.

S. Claiborne Clay Johnston is dean of the Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin.

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Fenves and Johnston: Kirk Watson Transformed Health and Health Care in Austin - The Alcalde

Neuroscience

Researchers Move Toward Once-Yearly Treatment for HIV – HealthDay

THURSDAY, April 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have reformulated an HIV medication into a version they hope can eventually be taken as infrequently as once a year.

The work is only in the early stages, having been studied in lab animals. But the goal is to create an HIV drug that can be injected annually -- offering protection from infection or control of the virus in people who already have it.

The researchers, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, started with a drug that is already in clinical trials, called cabotegravir. It's an injection drug being developed for both HIV prevention and treatment, and designed to be given once every month or two.

The investigators chemically modified cabotegravir to become a "prodrug" -- an inert substance that, once in the body, is converted into an active form. In this case, that conversion happens gradually, with the drug being released for up to a year in lab animals.

The findings, published online April 27 in the journal Nature Materials, are an initial step, and much more work remains.

"We haven't studied this in humans yet," said researcher Dr. Howard Gendelman, who heads the department of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience at the Nebraska center.

And it's hard to predict how long it could take to move ahead, according to Gendelman.

"We're repurposing a medication that other people invented," he said, and there will be "multiple facets" to getting it into human trials.

Cabotegravir is being developed by North Carolina-based ViiV Healthcare. It belongs to a relatively newer class of HIV drugs called integrase inhibitors. They work by blocking an enzyme the virus needs to replicate itself and spread.

A prevention trial is underway to see if cabotegravir injections, every eight weeks, can lower infection rates among people at high risk of HIV. Other trials are testing the drug for maintaining HIV suppression in people who've gotten the virus down to very low levels with standard medication; there it's given in monthly injections along with another drug, called rilpivirine.

The idea is to free people from needing daily pills.

Oral medications for HIV, which came to market in the 1990s, have changed the face of the epidemic. They are no cure, but when people can stick with their medication regimen, the virus can be suppressed for years.

"The main challenge we face today is adherence," said Dr. Melanie Thompson, former chairwoman of the HIV Medicine Association.

Taking pills every day, for life, is "not so easy," noted Thompson, who was not involved in the new study. People can simply forget, she said, or fail to bring their medication on a trip. They can also run out of pills, or have trouble paying for them.

Longer-acting medications could be helpful in that regard. On the other hand, Thompson said, safety becomes an even bigger concern if a drug is going to persist in the body for a long time.

"If you take it and you don't do well, you're stuck with it," she said. "You can't take it away."

Another question, Thompson said, is what happens toward the end of the drug's life in the body. Does it suddenly shut off? Or do levels of the drug wane to where they would no longer be protective, but possibly allow the virus to develop resistance to it?

The safety concerns also include possible drug interactions: What if someone on a long-acting drug develops an infection and needs medication? Or, Thompson said, what if she becomes pregnant?

With a yearly formulation, instead of every two months, those issues loom even larger.

"The idea of moving toward something that's given once a year is exciting," Thompson said. But, she stressed, many unknowns would have to be addressed.

Gendelman said that while the cabotegravir injections currently in trials could free people from daily pills, they would still require frequent doctor visits -- and a regular jab into the buttocks muscle, which can be uncomfortable for days.

That's what led him and colleague Benson Edagwa, an assistant professor, to the current project.

Edagwa, a chemist, designed the modifications necessary to turn cabotegravir into a "nanocrystal." After it's injected, much of that modified substance takes up residence in muscle, some of it in the liver and spleen, Gendelman said. Over time, the body's own enzymes "very slowly" convert it into active drug.

At least that's what happens in lab mice and rhesus macaque monkeys. Results in humans are often different than in animals.

And Thompson said more animal research is needed to evaluate safety. The results of the ongoing prevention trial, where cabotegravir is being given every eight weeks, should be informative, she said.

If a once-a-year version were ever to be used for HIV treatment, it would have to be paired with another long-acting medication -- since, Thompson noted, HIV is never treated with a single drug.

More information

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has more on HIV treatment.

SOURCES: Howard Gendelman, M.D., chairman, department of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha; Melanie Thompson, M.D., former chairwoman, HIV Medicine Association, Arlington, Va.; April 27, 2020, Nature Materials, online

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Researchers Move Toward Once-Yearly Treatment for HIV - HealthDay

Neuroscience

Forward-Looking Approach of BJ Klock, the CEO of Advisight – The Ritz Herald

Advisight, award-winning Market Research Centre, providing services from over a decade with professional expertise in Media Research, Neurosciences, Data Insights leading Strategy, and so many more is organizing an Influencer-Con Event which will definitely change your perspective towards Branding & Marketing and stimulate your business acumen.

With a network of over 650 million people, Advisight is expert in lifting their members KPIs by employing cutting edge technology.

There is a saying that A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is it is what consumers tell each other it is. With that in mind, Advisight attracts loyal fans with their revolutionary Neuroscience research which creates a ubiquitous brand. Their key motto behind all these scientific ways of projecting brands is to inspire people to live their dreams, create opportunities that generate yield for everyone, and have a constructive impact holistically.

Within a few years, Advisight scored quite a numerous award which underscores their recognition to target markets attention nationally and internationally with an effective and efficient way, to name a few:

The CEO of Advisight, BJ Klock who is the topmost growth hacker on the pyramid of branding and marketing strategies is considered one of the best entrepreneurs in the world. He has the honor to share his expertise and knowledge with some of the famous brands, billionaires, and celebrities. Bj was also featured as an Expert Contributor for Success in Huffington Post & Forbes. Aside from running Advisight, BJ is an advisor with The Oracles & elite member of METal International

In an interview with BJ, the nucleus of his thinking was that we should consider future developments when making plans, especially when you want to see your brand on the next level.

His forward-looking approach towards Brand Amplification, Advertising & Marketing is crystal clear which helps him extending the following services to his valued clients:

Advisight has also created a fund called Advisight Research Fund. The main goal of this activity is to fund the research of the worlds most sought-after answers.

Influence-Con will be taking place on Saturday, September 26, 2020, interested brands can visit their website to secure a VIP pass as General category is already sold out.

Alternatively, feel free to reach out to them over phone 1-833-800-GROW (4769) or visit their website.

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Forward-Looking Approach of BJ Klock, the CEO of Advisight - The Ritz Herald

Neuroscience

Spinal Cord Injuries: UVA Scientists Probe Individual Cells to Find Better Treatments – University of Virginia

Two top scientists at theUniversity of Virginia School of Medicineare seeking answers to questions about spinal cord injuries that have long frustrated the development of effective treatments.

The scientists, Jonathan Kipnis and Kodi Ravichandran, are teaming up to understand why critical nerve cells called neurons continue to die after spinal cord injuries. So little is known that doctors arent even certain if the bodys immune response is beneficial or harmful.

By understanding that process, Kipnis and Ravichandran hope to pave the way for more effective treatments, either by enhancing or limiting the immune response. Their work has received $350,000 in backing from the philanthropicChan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Bringing someone of Ravis caliber, who is a world expert in phagocytic clearance, to study questions related to brain and spinal cord injuries is exactly what this CZI initiative is about, said Kipnis, chair of UVAs Department of Neuroscience and director of UVAs Brain Immunology and Glia Center, or BIG. Merging complementary expertise and focusing on one common goal could lead to a real scientific breakthrough.

The researchers aim to understand what happens after spinal cord injury at the level of individual cells. Theyll do this using a new probe developed by Ravichandran that causes dying cells to glow under the microscope. He and Kipnis will be able to track the dead cells as they are swallowed up by immune cells, called phagocytes, that remove them from the body.

This will provide important insights into how the body responds to spinal cord injury. For example, the researchers will seek to determine if neurons are dying because immune cells called microglia arent up to the task of removing harmful debris. Or if other immune cells, called macrophages, cant get to where theyre needed.

By determining what types of cells are involved in the injury response, and exactly what those cells are doing, the researchers will identify potential avenues to improve the treatment of spinal cord injuries.

Knowing what cell type is the phagocyte at the site of damage would allow us to specifically target that cell type or subtype of cells to eat more of the cellular debris after the brain or spinal cord injury, explained Ravichandran, chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology. Plus, via these single-cell analyses, we will also learn how the genetic program of the cleaning crew changes at the injury site over time, and this would help us to mold the response toward better tissue repair.

Ravichandran said he is excited by the opportunity to explore new territory.This is a fun collaboration because Jony is highly creative, and we get to take approaches and pursue a topic that each of us may not have normally done on our own, he said.

The financial backing from theChan Zuckerberg Initiative is part of $14 million in funding the group is awarding to 29 interdisciplinary teams to explore the role of inflammation in disease.

Knowing more about inflammation at the level of affected cells and tissues will increase our understanding of many diseases and improve our ability to cure, prevent or manage them, said CZI Head of Science Cori Bargmann. We look forward to collaborating with these interdisciplinary teams of researchers studying inflammation.

To learn more, visithttps://chanzuckerberg.com/newsroom/14-million-support-inflammation-research/.

A full list of funding recipients is available athttps://chanzuckerberg.com/science/programs-resources/single-cell-biology/inflammation-projects/.

To keep up with the latest medical research news from UVA, subscribe to theMaking of Medicineblog.

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Spinal Cord Injuries: UVA Scientists Probe Individual Cells to Find Better Treatments - University of Virginia

Genetics

What Do Your Genetics Have to Do With Your Chances of Dying From Coronavirus? – Vanity Fair

Six weeks ago, with little fanfare, a network of geneticists launched an obscure but potentially game-changing initiative. Their aim: to learn why people with particular DNA profiles end up dying from the coronavirusor completely avoiding its effects. Ultimately, they want to devise ways for scientists to cook up new therapies that might alter how our nanosize genes operate as a way of reversing or accelerating the pathogens progress. Called the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative, the project now involves close to 700 scientists and researchers, worldwide, who are busily comparing DNA data from pandemic victims to literally millions of existing DNA profiles of millions of people.

To appreciate how our genes might be impacted by the onslaught of COVID-19, imagine this: that a tiny, invisible bug is hovering over the surface of a cell inside your bodysay a lung cell. You dont know it yet, but youve just been infected with SARS-Cov-2. Maybe it came from that jogger who whizzed past you on the sidewalk, or that tabletop you touched before rubbing your eyes. Whatever its source, there it is, circulating inside you: a fuzzy, sphere-shaped pathogen thats less than 1/1000 the width of a human hair. Prickly, with spikes on its outside, its searching for a place to plug into and enter your cell. Its a little like a key and a lock, where the key (the virus) wants to slip into the keyhole (a receptor on the cell) and then release a payload that will be up to no good.

Except that, in some people, the virus-key doesnt fit the lock and is blocked from entering the cell. In others, it slips right in, leading to illness and sometimes to rapid deterioration and even death. One potential differencesay geneticists who are working day and night to better understand how SARS-Cov-2 invades and attacks our cellsmight be because your DNA code differs from mine. Yours might inherently spurn the virus at the cellular level; mine might make me more susceptible.

So what determines who gets dangerously sick? We know that people who are older and have underlying diseases like diabetes and heart disease are at higher risk for having a bad response to COVID-19, explained Mark Daly, a 52-year-old geneticist and the director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine in Helsinki, Finland. Other factors include higher risk biases that involve ethnicity, class, vocation, geographic location, and the medical resources available at the time of treatment. And yet, according to Daly, this doesnt explain why relatively healthy people, including young people, are sometimes having severe and life-threatening reactions such as very high fevers, pneumonia, and difficulty with breathing that requires oxygen and sometimes a ventilator. Most likely this has something to do with differences in their genes.

Daly should know. With his Paul Reverelike ponytail, circular hippie glasses, and lean, determined face, hes a pioneer of modern genetics who was a key player during and after the Human Genome Project, the huge international effort in the 1990s and early 2000s that sequenced the first-ever human genome. And as the pandemic has been raging, Daly, a physicist, decided to help spearhead a remarkable hive-mind effort: the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative.

The project was announced on March 16 in a tweet posted by Dalys cohort Andrea Ganna: Goal: aggregate genetic and clinical information on individuals affected by COVID-19. The response was immediate. Within days, scientists from over 150 organizations in more than 30 countries on six continents agreed to join. Thats the ideal use of the hive mind: a conglomeration of big brains and, in this case, their disparate data sources, to solve one huge problem. Participants have come not only from Harvard and MIT (institutions with which Daly has ongoing affiliations) and the usual institutional suspects in North America, Europe, and the wealthier Asian countries, but also from the Qatar Genome Program, Vietnams SARS-Cov-2 Susceptibility Program, and CLHORAZbased in Burkina Faso.

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What Do Your Genetics Have to Do With Your Chances of Dying From Coronavirus? - Vanity Fair

Genetics

Study of twins reveals genetic effect on Covid-19 symptoms – The Guardian

Symptoms of Covid-19 appear to be partly down to genetic makeup, researchers at Kings College London have discovered.

The finding is based on data collected through the Covid-19 Symptom Tracker app, launched by the team last month.

While members of the public are encouraged to use the app to track how they feel day to day, the team also asked thousands of twins in the UK, who were already part of another research project, to use the app and record whether they had symptoms or not. The team employed machine-learning algorithms, together with data from the 2.7 million app users many of whom have been tested for coronavirus to work out the combination of symptoms that indicate an individual is likely to have Covid-19.

The team then focused on data from just over 2,600 twins to try to establish whether the symptoms experienced by those predicted to have Covid-19 was related to genetic makeup.

The idea was to basically look at the similarities in symptoms or non-symptoms between the identical twins, who share 100% of their genes, and the non-identical twins, who only share half of their genes, Prof Tim Spector, one of the scientists leading the endeavour, told the Guardian. If there is a genetic factor in expressing the symptoms then wed see a greater similarity in the identical [twins] than the non-identical [twins] and that is basically what we showed.

The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, took into account whether the twins were in the same household, with the results revealing that genetic factors explained about 50% of the differences between peoples symptoms of Covid-19.

More specifically, the team found a substantial genetic influence for the symptoms of fever, diarrhoea, delirium, and losses of taste and smell. By contrast, a hoarse voice, a cough, skipped meals, chest pain, and abdominal pain were not linked to genetic makeup.

What is Covid-19?

Covid-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it a pandemic.

What are the symptoms this coronavirus causes?

According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough. Some patients may also have a runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion and aches and pains or diarrhoea. Some people report losing their sense of taste and/or smell. About 80% of people who get Covid-19 experience a mild case about as serious as a regular cold and recover without needing any special treatment.

About one in six people, the WHO says, become seriously ill. The elderly and people with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, or chronic respiratory conditions, are at a greater risk of serious illness from Covid-19.

In the UK, the National health Service (NHS) has identified the specific symptoms to look for as experiencing either:

As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work, and there is currently no vaccine. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system.

Should I go to the doctor if I have a cough?

Medical advice varies around the world - with many countries imposing travel bans and lockdowns to try and prevent the spread of the virus. In many place people are being told to stay at home rather than visit a doctor of hospital in person. Check with your local authorities.

In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.

This disease is very weird, the way it has a very different presentation in the population in different people what we are showing is that isnt random, Spector said. It is not mainly due to where you live or who you have seen; a lot of it is something innate about you.

I think you can say that your likelihood of getting it at all, or getting it severely, is under some genetic control.

The team hopes the findings will help scientists ascertain the mechanisms by which Covid-19 acts on the body, as well as offering a possible way to predict those most at risk from the disease.

Understanding how symptoms of [the disease] Covid-19 pass through the population may indicate the pathogenic mechanisms of [the virus] Sars-CoV-2 infection, as well as offering utility in the allocation of scarce healthcare resources, particularly intensive care beds, the team writes.

They say the results could also help researchers around the world identify genetic variants that play a role in explaining why some individuals show no, or only mild, symptoms of Covid-19, which could in turn aid the development of drugs for the disease.

But there were other possible targets, Spector said, noting that genetics were closely linked to the immune system and microbes found in the gut.

It reassures everyone that it is worth exploring this whole triangle of genes, immune system and gut microbes, he said.

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Study of twins reveals genetic effect on Covid-19 symptoms - The Guardian

Genetics

This is how you do the genetics heritage filter on Instagram that everyone’s doing – The Tab

Rogue Instagram filters have been a saving grace right now as were all quickly running out of things to do. The newest one that most people are loving is the genetics heritage scanner filter. This filter scans you and makes you think its going to tell you what percentage of a certain nationality you are, but then actually morphs your face into a weird human/animal creature.

This filter merges surprise, ugly faces and animals all in one the perfect combination to guarantee a laugh every single time, without fail.Get involved, then get your mum involved, then (for some real comedy gold) send to your grandparents and get them to make one. Its a great time and this is how you do it.

Its a filter on Instagram that pretends to scan your face at first a load of different nationalities flick past (Welsh, French, Italian, etc) as well as a percentage. At this point, youll think its just boring and slightly problematic but then suddenly it lands on 85 per cent pangolin and morphs your face into a messed up (but hilarious) animal shape. Like so:

There are a lot of different animals you can get. We dont know exactly how many but weve seen crab, mole, rat, dog, pangolin, slug, limpet, llama, wasp and chameleon.

The official name for the filter is genetics scanner and it was created by iamcraiglewis2. If someone on your Insta uses it, youll see the name of the filter in the top left corner, you can then click on this and save it.

You can also search for the filter on your phone. If you go onto your camera on Insta, scroll right through all the filters at the bottom until you find the search icon. Then search genetics and it will come up, save it onto your phone and youve got hours of fun right there.

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This is how you do the genetics heritage filter on Instagram that everyone's doing - The Tab

Genetics

DNA data from genetics tests to be used on Covid-19 symptoms research – Express

Tens of thousands of patients who bought self-testing kits from 23andMe have agreed to document their experience with the disease.The experiment is being carried out in aid to have further understanding why some patients suffer more sever symptoms than others.

The kits were initially bought with the purpose of finding out more about the persons family history, or if they had a genetic propensity to conditions from baldness to diabetes, or even Alzheimer's.

Over the years, 23andMe has accumulated a information of more than 10 million genetic profiles, and claims that 80 percent of its customers have agreed to the use of that data, once anonymised, for research.

Earlier this year 23andMe disclosed that it had sold the rights to an anti-inflammatory drug that it had developed using consumer data to the Spanish pharmaceutical firm Almirall.

The comprehensive questionnaire hopes will eventually have hundreds of thousands of entries.

The survey to assist the creation of a coronavirus treatment by identifying which genes may contribute to worsening its symptoms.

Adam Auton, 23andMes Principal Scientist leading efforts on its coronavirus research, said: We need to develop therapeutics to help treat this disease,

We are trying to contribute to the basic research that will move the scientific field forward... making it available to the scientific community at large and that will include pharma, including our partners as well.

Mr Auton claims the surveys findings should be ready by the summer.

The results of the research will be freely available to access.

READ MORE:How Google 3D Animals combat coronavirus lockdown loneliness

There is no guarantee that a clear genetic link will be found, but any clues may help in treatment probes.

There really is tremendous value in being able to use genetic information to help understand why diseases take the courses that they do, and present opportunities to intervene and prevent people some getting very sick, says Mr Auton.

The study asks 23andMe customers to fill in a questionnaire that includes questions like whether they've had flu or COVID-like symptoms? Have they had a test? Was that test positive?

If it was positive, how were they, and what were their symptoms? Did they seek medical attention, were they hospitalised?

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Those who complete the survey are also given the opportunity to describe the experiences of consenting relatives.

Mr Auton said: By using this kind of survey type approach we hope we're able to collect data from quite large numbers of individuals, which is really kind of the necessary requirement for these types of genetic studies.

There is, he says, a reasonably short list of genetic suspects which the research will analyse to see if they influence the diseases progress.

Generally, a part of the genome known as the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system is considered relevant as it establishes how the immune system responds to infections.

Immune response is an important topic of research into coronavirus as an overactive reaction can complicate symptoms.

Another area of research is the gene known as ACE2, which produces a protein believed to be a principal route into human cells for coronaviruses.

That is something we will certainly be paying particular attention to, says Mr Auton.

In 2015, 23andMe introduced a therapeutics divisions in a bid to capitalise on drug research through its genetic data and in 2018 signed a $300m deal with GSK to refine the UK pharma firms drug development targets.

Earlier this year GSKs CEO Emma Walmsley said that the first such target selected using 23andMe would be recommended for clinical tests by the end of this year.

Frankly, developing novel medicines and novel therapies is very, very difficult and requires huge numbers of people working for many many years on reasonably uncertain projects, says Mr Auton.

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DNA data from genetics tests to be used on Covid-19 symptoms research - Express

Genetics

Data On Thousands Of Twins Reveals How Genetics Influences Covid-19 Symptoms – IFLScience

Taking a deep look at data on thousands of twins has shown how some Covid-19 symptoms might be more influenced by our genetics than others.

Researchers at Kings College London analyzed data on 2,633 identical and fraternal twins who have been using their Covid-19 Symptom Tracker app, which also includes the data of 2.7 million other users.The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, can be found on the preprint server medRxiv.

Their preliminary findings suggest that genetic factors could be responsible for about 50 percent of the differences between peoples symptoms of Covid-19, the list of which seems to be ever-growing.The development of some key Covid-19 symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, shortness of breath, diarrhea, and the loss of taste and smell, appear to be strongly influenced by genes. On the other hand, environmental factors appear to explain the development of symptoms such as a hoarse voice, cough, chest pain, and abdominal pain. Thispotentially explains why the virus appears to impact some people severely while others experience relatively mild or no symptoms.

The Covid-19 Symptom Tracker app asks people in the UK on a daily basis about the presence or absence of common symptoms. You can check out the latest figures from the app on itsinteractive map.The +2,600 twins using the app were recruited from TwinsUK, one of the most detailed research projects on twins in the world. Together, this information was used to see whether typical symptoms of a likely COVID-19 infection were more or less common in identical twins (who share 100 percent of their genes) compared with non-identical twins (who share 50 percent of their genes,just like regular full siblings).

The idea was to basically look at the similarities in symptoms or non-symptoms between the identical twins, who share 100 percent of their genes, and the non-identical twins, who only share half of their genes, Professor Tim Spector, a genetic epidemiologist at Kings College London, toldThe Guardian.This disease is very weird, the way it has a very different presentation in the population in different people what we are showing is that [it] isnt random. It is not mainly due to where you live or who you have seen; a lot of it is something innate about you."

There are some drawbacks to the research, namely because all the results are based on self-reporting, which means a fair amount of subjectivity might sneak into the results. Nevertheless, the unique project offers a rare opportunity for scientists to study large amounts of data on Covid-19 from people who have not sought out medical attention.

Our twins are fantastically committed, enthusiastic health research participants who have already been studied in unprecedented detail, putting us in a unique position to provide vital answers to support the global fight against Covid-19, Professor Spector said in a statement.

The more of the public that also use the app, the better the real-time data we will have to combat the outbreak.

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Data On Thousands Of Twins Reveals How Genetics Influences Covid-19 Symptoms - IFLScience

Genetics

Genetic testing helps find cancer possibilities: Waco nurse dealt with breast cancer caused by mutation – Waco Tribune-Herald

Shawnna Latino had few concerns as she awaited the results of her biopsy for breast cancer in 2015. After all, she was a registered nurse who understood the ramifications of the disease, and she had done all the right things regular self-examinations and never-missed yearly mammograms.

So when a mammogram detected calcifications in one of her breasts, she thought they were simple benign calcium deposits.

When the results came back from the biopsy, I was shocked, she said. She had tested positive for breast cancer.

The diagnosis was particularly troubling because of Shawnnas family medical history, which is fraught with cancer. Her mother at age 70 had been diagnosed with breast cancer just eight months before her daughters test results.

At the same time, Shawnnas brother was battling aggressive prostate cancer, which eventually took his life. Their maternal grandmother had died of cancer, as had the grandmothers five sisters. A maternal aunt had died of pancreatic cancer, and her daughter, Shawnnas cousin, was diagnosed with the same disease soon afterward.

Shawnna Latino with her mom, Dietra Dede Lucas (left), and her daughter, Bailee Norris, during Shawnnas chemo and radiation treatment.

When Shawnna consulted with her oncologist, Dr. Thomas J. Harris at Texas Oncology in Waco, he wanted to conduct genetic testing, something that is done as needed at the oncology clinic.

She thought it unlikely that she might have a gene mutation, which can indicate a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer as well as other cancers. The mutation affects only a small percentage of the population.

However, once more, Shawnna found herself with a positive test result, this time for mutation of the BRCA-2 gene.

I never imagined it would be positive, she said.

They then tested her mother and discovered the same genetic problem. The women found out later that Shawnnas maternal cousin was in the same boat. She has the exact mutation that my mom and I have, she said.

Mutation

BRCA 1 & 2 are tumor suppressor genes that prevent uncontrolled cell growth and help keep normal cells from becoming cancerous. If either is mutated, a woman will have a 40-70% risk of having breast cancer and 27-44% chance of ovarian cancer during her lifetime.

In men, such mutations can result in male breast cancer (6% risk) or prostate cancer (20%). Both genders are also at risk for melanoma and pancreatic cancer.

Just as troubling, if not more so, is the fact that people of either gender with the mutation have a 50% chance of passing it to their children, which keeps the cancer cycle going throughout generations.

The last thing you want to do is pass it on to your child, Shawnna said. Her biggest fear was that her daughter, Bailee Norris, may have inherited the mutation. However, genetic testing showed that Bailee had not, a great relief to her mother.

Dr. Carlos Encarnacin, breast cancer and genetics specialist at Texas Oncology, said, Cancer is a genetic disease, but it is not always inherited.

Most cancers are sporadic, he said, caused by lifestyle choices like smoking or other unknown factors, but some develop through a mutated gene (like BRCA) inherited from either parent.

Dr. Carlos Encarnacin, a breast cancer and genetics specialist at Texas Oncology, says genetic testing has become an integral part of oncology.

The doctors at Texas Oncology treat all types of cancer using radiation and drugs, but they also work to identify cancer risks in a timely manner.

Our focus is early detection and prevention, Encarnacin said.

A person considered at high probability because of family history or other factors should have a risk assessment, starting with an interview and an estimation of risk. If testing is deemed necessary, a blood or saliva test can be done to see if theres a mutation. The price of testing has gone down dramatically, and insurance often covers the cost or at least part of it.

Importance

Is genetic counseling important for much of the population?

Absolutely, Encarnacin said. If a patient had cancer or has family history of cancer, he or she should have a risk evaluation and maybe genetic testing.

He suggests that people discuss this with their family doctor and be referred to a specialist if necessary. Its important that the counseling and testing be administered by those who are specifically trained for it.

Genetics has become an integral part of oncology, and it will keep changing over time, he said. Researchers found the first cancer-related gene, BRCA-1, in the mid-1990s, but new genes related to various types of cancer are being identified regularly.

Reduction of cancer risk in BRCA carriers can be achieved in a couple of ways, including hormone blocker pills or preventative mastectomies.

However, he said of the mastectomy, Not everyone with a BRCA mutation has to choose that. They may prefer an enhanced cancer surveillance program.

Women with BRCA mutations who do not intend to have more children should strongly consider having their ovaries removed to lessen their chance of a deadly ovarian cancer, Encarnacin said.

Decisions

For Shawnna, when she learned of her breast cancer and gene mutation, the choice was clear. Though the cancer was only in one breast, she said, I decided to have both removed and be done with it.

After surgery for the removal and reconstruction, she went through chemo and radiation treatments, continuing to work as a nurse every day except for Wednesdays, her treatment days.

I think that had a lot to do with my well-being, she said.

Genetic testing showed that Shawnna Latinos mom Dietra Dede Lucas also has a gene mutation, but her daughter Bailee Norris does not.

Later that year, she had a complete hysterectomy to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.

Because she has the BRCA mutation, she is screened each year for pancreatic cancer and also must be seen by a dermatologist once a year to check for melanoma.

In the meantime, Shawnna and her husband, dentist Chad Latino, and children Bailee, Aidan and Tristan are moving on with life by enjoying every day to the fullest. And, along with friends and business partners Scott and Michelle Irwin, they have begun a new enterprise.

The four of them will be keeping their current jobs but are planning to open a hatchet-throwing business whenever the current pandemic subsides. Stumpys Hatchet House, which is in a Waco historic building at 924 Austin Ave., was due to open before the coronavirus hit.

With a laugh, she says of the venture, It was kind of a coincidental thing. Sure, we said. We all have full-time jobs. Lets start a business!

Shawnna has a joyful attitude that is apparent. Of her cancer experiences, she said, There were so many blessings in that journey. I never asked why me? It was always why not me?

She considers genetic testing essential.

Its so important to know your health history and your family history, she said. It can save your life. Knowledge is power, and its very empowering to know about yourself.

As Shawnna found out, sharing your medical history with family is also highly important to alert others to possible inherited genetic mutations.

Read more from the original source:
Genetic testing helps find cancer possibilities: Waco nurse dealt with breast cancer caused by mutation - Waco Tribune-Herald