Embryology

Dead fish breathes new life into the evolutionary origin of fins and limbs – EurekAlert

image:The holotype specimen of the fossil Tujiaaspis vividus from 436 million year old rocks of Hunan Province and Chongqing, China. view more

Credit: Zhikun Gai

A trove of fossils in China, unearthed in rock dating back some 436 million years, have revealed for the first time that the mysterious galeaspids, a jawless freshwater fish, possessed paired fins.

The discovery, by an international team, led by Min Zhu of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Bejiing and Professor Philip Donoghue from the University of Bristols School of Earth Sciences, shows the primitive condition of paired fins before they separated into pectoral and pelvic fins, the forerunner to arms and legs.

Until now, the only surviving fossils of galeaspids were heads, but these new fossils originating in the rocks of Hunan Province and Chongqing and named Tujiaaspis after the indigenous Tujia people who live in this region, contain their whole bodies.

Theories abound on the evolutionary beginnings of vertebrate fins and limbs the evolutionary precursors of arms and legs - mostly based on comparative embryology. There is a rich fossil record, but early vertebrates either had fins or they didnt. There was little evidence for their gradual evolution.

First author Zhikun Gai, a University of Bristol alumnus, said: The anatomy of galeaspids has been something of a mystery since they were first discovered more than half a century ago. Tens of thousands of fossils are known from China and Vietnam, but almost all of them are just heads nothing has been known about the rest of their bodies until now.

The new fossils are spectacular, preserving the whole body for the first time and revealing that these animals possessed paired fins that extended continuously, all the way from the back of the head to the very tip of the tail. This is a great surprise since galeaspids have been thought to lack paired fins altogether.

Corresponding author Professor Donoghue said: Tujiaaspis breathes new life into a century old hypothesis for the evolution of paired fins, through differentiation of pectoral (arms) and pelvic (legs) fins over evolutionary time from a continuous head-to-tail fin precursor.

This fin-fold hypothesis has been very popular but it has lacked any supporting evidence until now. The discovery to Tujiaaspis resurrects the fin-fold hypothesis and reconciles it with contemporary data on the genetic controls on the embryonic development of fins in living vertebrates.

Corresponding author Min Zhu of VPP, Beijing, added Tujiaaspis shows the primitive condition for paired fins first evolved. Later groups, like the jawless osteostracans show the first evidence for the separation of muscular pectoral fins, retaining long pelvic fins that reduced to the short muscular fins in jawed vertebrates, such as in groups like placoderms and sharks. Nevertheless, we can see vestiges of elongate fin-folds in the embryos of living jawed fishes, which can be experimentally manipulated to reproduce them. The key question is why did fins first evolve in this way?

Bristols Dr Humberto Ferron used computational engineering approaches to simulate the behaviour of models of Tujiaaspis with and without the paired fins. The co-author said: The paired fins of Tujiaaspis act as hydrofoils, passively generating lift for the fish without any muscular input from the fins themselves. The lateral fin-folds of Tujiaaspis allowed it to swim more efficiently.

Co-author Dr Joseph Keating at Bristol modelled the evolution of paired fins. He said: Fossil jawless vertebrates display a dizzying array of fin types, which has provoked extensive debate about the evolution of paired fins.

Our new analyses suggest that the ancestor of jawed vertebrates likely possessed paired fin-folds, which became separated into pectoral and pelvic regions. Eventually, these primitive fins evolved musculature and skeletal support, which allowed our fishy ancestors to better steer their swimming and add propulsion. It is amazing to think that the evolutionary innovations seen in Tujiaaspis underpin locomotion in animals as diverse as birds, whales, bats and humans.

Paper:

Galeaspid anatomy and origin of vertebrate paired appendages by Zhikun Gai, Qiang Li, Humberto G. Ferrn, Joseph N. Keating, Junqing Wang, Philip C.J. Donoghue and Min Zhu in Nature.

Contact details: Philip Donoghue phil.donoghue@bristol.ac.uk +44 (0)7598189545

Observational study

Animals

Galeaspid anatomy and origin of vertebrate paired appendages

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Dead fish breathes new life into the evolutionary origin of fins and limbs - EurekAlert

Embryology

Jehangir Hospital launches state of the art IVF centre with best facilities – Devdiscourse

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], September 30 (ANI/NewsVoir): Jehangir Hospital Pune launched state-of-the art IVF centre under Jehangir Hospital Assisted reproductive technology or JH-ART . The most modern & state of the art IVF centre [ JH ART ] is equipped fully to offer range of service which include IUI IVF ICSI, Laser Hatching, Egg Donation programme, Onco-fertility for sperm preservation, Social Egg Freezing, Vitrification of Gametes and Embryos, Surrogacy, and donor egg programmes, Ovarian Rejuvenation, PGT-A, pre-implantation genetic testing for aneuploidies and ni (non invasive) PGTA along with Androplus which is a specialized male infertility clinic and Implantation Clinic.

The set up hosts state of the art equipment's along with 3 beds recovery room, Andrology Lab, Embryology Lab with some extremely sophisticated equipment. A well-equipped lab has several types of powerful microscopes, state-of-the-art embryo incubators, and IVF micro tools. In order to grow and develop properly, an embryo requires a complex set of environmental controls at every stage. The air quality in an embryology lab has an enormous effect on the health and viability of embryos. The units in an IVF lab should generate enough air pressure that the air in the room is entirely replaced a minimum of 20 times an hour, hence High-quality air filtration system has been installed in the lab along with the careful light and temperature control.

Embryos are exquisitely sensitive to changes in ambient light and temperature as they develop. Both of these factors are profoundly important. These specialized embryology labs have a vital role to play in IVF, and access to a great IVF lab can greatly raise the chances of success in the fertility treatments along with the team of specialist doctors and the support staff. Jehangir Hospital IVF centre understands the need of an hour and the fact that the standard of an IVF lab plays a crucial role in the treatment cycle and that the quality of an IVF lab is perhaps the most important factor.

Androplus a dedicated male infertility service of JHART highly respects the emotion of 'I WANT TO BE A FATHER', Androplus will focus on helping out men with low sperm counts & azoospermia by various medical treatments and microTESE to achieve their own genetic baby . A specialised IMPLANTATION CLINIC has been installed to evaluate and treat couples with previous IVF or IUI failures. These couples are agonised, they desire a thorough evaluation and specialised one to one care (individualised) for fertility success. Implantation clinic is an unique service installed and long awaited in Pune.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Vinod Sawantwadkar, CEO Jehangir Hospital said, "IVF centre was the only missing link in our comprehensive Mother and Child Unit and with Jehangir - ART we now are a complete one stop solution for all the mother and child services. According to Mr Sawantwadkar, The ultimate advantage of IVF is achieving a successful pregnancy and a healthy baby. IVF can make this a reality for people who would be unable to have a baby otherwise: Around 14% of married couples are going through infertility issues and it continues to grow approximately 10% annually. Hence, it is extremely important to have more such centres." Many couples desire planned pregnancy in view of work and career pressures. Fertility preservation by egg, sperm or embryo freezing helps them to take control of 'having the programmed pregnancy suiting their time line' said Dr Sachin Kulkarni, who heads the centre and brings with him a vast experience. Lady suffering from abnormal conditions like endometriosis or early menopause in family can opt for preservation if planning pregnancy late. Fertility preservation at JHART will also be available for women and men who are suffering from cancers and planning chemotherapy. One can safely freeze eggs, sperms prior to chemotherapy and plan pregnancy after the therapy is over added Dr Kulkarni.

A team of experienced IVF & fertility consultants Dr. Sachin Kulkarni , Dr. Sharayu Mohite will be taking care of needy couples. JH ART will provide ethical & evidence based treatment to the couple. Everyone wishes to have baby with their own genetic potential. For female with very low ovarian reserve treatment with ovarian rejuvenation, PRP therapy is available at JHART. For men with azoospermia with microTESE own sperm can be used to have a baby at JH ART.

Shared decision making between doctors and couple after a thorough discussion is the key to success. JHART understands a typical Indian family has inputs from near and dear who also need counselling. FERTILITY COACHING services at JHART will offer family counselling sessions , this will help decrease overall stress and aid a faster pregnancy success .It will also provide the preconception counselling, lifestyle modifications & dietary advice related to fertility.

Being most advanced and accredited tertiary care centre Jehangir hospital will be the best place for fertility treatments for women with heart disorders, diabetes, obesity, hypertension and women planning pregnancy after 40 years. The back-up of trusted medial team will assure safety of all IVF procedures. This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content in this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Jehangir Hospital launches state of the art IVF centre with best facilities - Devdiscourse

Embryology

Merck Foundation Together with African First Ladies Mark ‘World Heart Day 2022’ – The Week

Merck Foundation in partnership with African First Ladies and Ministries of Health provided more than 720 scholarships of one-year Post-Graduate Diploma and two-year Master Degree in Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine, Diabetes and Endocrinology to doctors from 45 countries in Africa, Asia and beyond. These scholarships are included in the total 1450 scholarships Merck Foundation provided to doctors from 47 countries in 32 critical and underserved medical specialties such as oncology, fertility, respiratory medicine, acute medicine, orthopaedic and many more

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India&Nairobi, Kenya Business Wire India

Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany marks World Heart Day 2022 in partnership with African First Ladies, Ministries of Health, Medical Societies, and Academia, through their long-term commitment toward transforming patient care landscape and building health care capacity in Africa, Asia and beyond.

Senator, Dr. RashaKelej, CEO of Merck Foundation emphasized, Merck Foundation mark World Heart Day 2022 in a very unique way, that is by providing more than 720 scholarships of one-year Post-Graduate Diploma and two-year Master degree in Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine, Diabetes and Endocrinology to doctors from 45 countries. This will contribute to improving cardiovascular care in general since we focus on countries nationwide and not only the capitals. Moreover, I am also very proud that we have provided in total more than 1450 scholarships of one-year diploma and two-year master degree for doctors from 45 countries in 32 critical and underserved medical specialties such as; acute care, Pediatric Emergency, Advanced Surgery, Intensive care, Fertility, Embryology, Oncology, Respiratory and many more.

This is a great milestone to improve patient access to quality and equitable healthcare solutions across Africa and beyond. This achievement is the highlight of my career and my life.

So far, out of the 1450 scholarships, Merck Foundation has provided more than 120 scholarships for Cardiovascular care specialty training to young doctors from the following 23 countries: Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, UAE, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Dr. Tatenda Hamilton Tengwana, Merck Foundation alumnus from Zimbabwe says, I always wanted to excel in my field and help patients suffering from heart diseases and other related issues and also help people to prevent heart disease if they are prone to it. I would like to thank Merck Foundation for making this dream a reality. I successfully completed my PG Diploma in Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine, the skills I gained from this program are tremendous and have helped me to gain confidence to treat cardiovascular patients in my country. I applaud Merck Foundation for supporting doctors like me who are eager to learn and serve their communities.

Moreover, Merck Foundation together with African First Ladies, has also introduced Awards for Media, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, Musicians/ Singers, and new potential talents in these fields from African countries to Promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness about prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension. Details of the awards:

1. Merck Foundation Media Recognition Awards 2022 Diabetes & Hypertension:

Media representatives are invited to showcase their work through strong and influential messages to promote a healthy lifestyle raise awareness about prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

Submission deadline: 30th October 2022. Click here to view more details.

2. Merck Foundation Film Awards 2022 Diabetes & Hypertension: All African Filmmakers, Students of Film Making Training Institutions or Young Talents of Africa are invited to create and share a long or short FILMS, either drama, documentary or docudrama to deliver strong and influential messages to promote a healthy lifestyle raise awareness about prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

Submission deadline: 30th October 2022. Click here to view more details.

3. Merck Foundation Fashion Awards 2022 Diabetes & Hypertension: All African Fashion Students and Designers are invited to create and share designs to deliver strong and influential messages to promote a healthy lifestyle raise awareness about prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

Submission deadline: 30th October 2022. Click here to view more details.

4. Merck Foundation Song Awards 2022 Diabetes & Hypertension: All African Singers and Musical Artists are invited to create and share a SONG with the aim to promote a healthy lifestyle raise awareness about prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

Submission deadline: 30th October 2022. Click here to view more details.

Entries for all the awards are to be submitted via email to: submit@merck-foundation.com

Join the conversation on our social media platforms below and let your voice be heardFacebook: Merck FoundationTwitter: @MerckfoundationYouTube: MerckFoundationInstagram: Merck FoundationFlickr: Merck FoundationWebsite: http://www.merck-foundation.com

About Merck Foundation

The Merck Foundation, established in 2017, is the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people and advance their lives through science and technology. Our efforts are primarily focused on improving access to quality & equitable healthcare solutions in underserved communities, building healthcare and scientific research capacity and empowering people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with a special focus on women and youth. All Merck Foundation press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Foundation Website. Please visit http://www.merck-foundation.com to read more. To know more, reach out to our social media: Merck Foundation; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Flickr.

To View the Image, Click on the Link Below:

Senator Dr. RashaKelej and Prof. Dr. Frank StangenbergHaverkamp with Merck Foundation Alumni

(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with Business Wire India and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWRPWR

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Merck Foundation Together with African First Ladies Mark 'World Heart Day 2022' - The Week

Embryology

The LA Times gets abortion and the Church dramatically wrong – Angelus News

I dont think Ive ever come across an op-ed that was so obviously wrong but led with claims that are so obviously true.

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, a science writer and artist named Margaret Wertheim opens by noting that the reality of a pregnant woman does not fit into the system of categorization thats long been the de facto standard for Western culture.

This checks out.

She goes on to say that in modern Western philosophy, a person is conceived of as an entity with independent intellectual agency.

As the kids say today, facts.

But then things get weird. Wertheim insists that modern philosophers like Descartes who famously said, I think therefore I am were simply translating into secular terms the view of the Catholic Church. And this view is that human being-ness is predicated on an individual self with free will, and thus the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong.

She then does the math. In light of our post-Dobbs debate: the fetus which is described as a small bunch of cells, clearly doesnt have independent intellectual agency, free will, or the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Abortion debate over, right?

The problem, Wertheim argues, is that pro-lifers who claim that the fetus is a person are going back to a medieval vision of the human person, one which the modern Western philosophical tradition reacted against.

But then things get even stranger. She moves to undermine her own argument by noting that the mother-fetus relationship stands outside Western obsessions with individuality and that a mother bearing a child is at once an individual and collective.

To be clear, the traditional Catholic view of the human person is that we are created as individuals-in-relationship, not only with our mother from the very moment we become a member of the Homo sapiens family (which every embryology textbook in the world teaches begins at fertilization) but with God, our family, other human beings, and all of creation. This anthropologic vision of radical relationship has at least 16 centuries of Christian Trinitarian thought behind it.

This is one reason feminist theologians have emphasized the analogy drawn between the bond of the pregnant woman with her baby and the intimacy of our relationship with God.

The fact of radical relationship, however, does not negate the individuality of those who are in such a relationship. This is one important difference between Christianity and eastern religions, which claim that individuality is an illusion.

The three persons of the Trinity are still individual persons. We are still individuals in our intimate relationship with a God we call Abba or Daddy. And the prenatal human remains an individual even as she has a nearly unimaginably intimate relationship with her mother.

Yes, they share an organ (the placenta); yes they exchange cellular tissue; yes, what the mother eats, drinks, smokes, and even speaks dramatically affects her baby. This is clearly a relationship unlike any other.

But the child is also an individual member of the species Homo sapiens. She has her own separate genetic code. She very often has a different blood type. She develops a four-chambered heart that pumps blood only six weeks after fertilization. If a hormone isnt released during pregnancy, the mothers immune system will attack the prenatal child as an individual separate and different from the mother.

So a Catholic understanding far from suffering from its pre-modern view of the human person is able to account for both the individuality and radical relationship involved in pregnancy precisely because its view of the human person comes out of its ancient and medieval reflections on the Trinity. Reflections that are not beholden to the idea that a human being is a thinking thing with free will. Indeed, those capacities dont develop until well after birth.

Anyone who wants to totally subsume those involved in the radical relationship of pregnancy as nonpersons are missing something essential about the relationship: both mother and baby exist as individuals and both have a right to life. This is one reason why pro-lifers need to do a much better job explaining (in the face of often cynical attempts to suggest otherwise) that in life-threatening situations, medical intervention to save the mothers life is the top priority.

But it also means that any polity that makes the prenatal child with a beating heart into a nonperson is participating in what Pope Francis calls throwaway culture. People use dishonest language like small bunch of cells to ignore or distract from the individuality of the child in order to make her easier to discard as a being who simply doesnt have a moral status.

As pro-life feminists have pointed out for decades, the fact that throwaway culture used to do this to women indicates that the ideology behind abortion rights has merely redistributed the oppression to another class of human beings.

Happily, a Catholic vision of the human person stands ready to honor both the individuality of the mother and baby as well as their radical relationship by working for prenatal justice, saving the life of her mother, and insisting that the broader community support their familial relationship with substantial resources.

Is it such a shame that the Church, which catechized Wertheim as a child, apparently didnt pass this wonderful vision of the human person on to her. If we had, she would have written a very different op-ed, one that honors the full individuality of mother and child in the midst of a beautifully radical relationship.

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The LA Times gets abortion and the Church dramatically wrong - Angelus News

Genetics

Stroke genetics informs drug discovery and risk prediction across ancestries – Nature.com

Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, University of Bordeaux, Inserm, UMR 1219, Bordeaux, France

Aniket Mishra,Quentin Le Grand,Ilana Caro,Constance Bordes,David-Alexandre Trgout,Marine Germain,Christophe Tzourio,Jean-Franois Dartigues,Sara Kaffashian,Quentin Le Grand,Florence Saillour-Glenisson&Stephanie Debette

Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany

Rainer Malik,Marios K. Georgakis,Steffen Tiedt&Martin Dichgans

Iwate Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Iwate Medical University, Iwate, Japan

Tsuyoshi Hachiya,Makoto Sasaki,Atsushi Shimizu,Yoichi Sutoh,Kozo Tanno&Kenji Sobue

Estonian Genome Centre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

Tuuli Jrgenson,Kristi Krebs,Kaido Lepik,Tnu Esko,Andres Metspalu,Reedik Mgi,Mari Nelis&Lili Milani

Institute of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

Tuuli Jrgenson

Department of Statistical Genetics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan

Shinichi Namba,Takahiro Konuma&Yukinori Okada

Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA

Daniel C. Posner,Kelly Cho,Yuk-Lam Ho&Jennifer E. Huffman

TIMI Study Group, Boston, MA, USA

Frederick K. Kamanu,Nicholas A. Marston,Marc S. Sabatine&Christian T. Ruff

Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Frederick K. Kamanu,Nicholas A. Marston,Marc S. Sabatine&Christian T. Ruff

Division of Molecular Pathology, Institute of Medical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Masaru Koido,Takayuki Morisaki&Yoishinori Murakami

Laboratory of Complex Trait Genomics, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Masaru Koido,Mingyang Shi,Yunye He&Yoichiro Kamatani

Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

Marios K. Georgakis,Livia Parodi,Jonathan Rosand,Christopher D. Anderson,Ernst Mayerhofer&Christopher D. Anderson

Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

Marios K. Georgakis,Livia Parodi,Phil L. de Jager,Jonathan Rosand,Christopher D. Anderson,Guido J. Falcone,Phil L. de Jager,Ernst Mayerhofer&Christopher D. Anderson

Laboratory of Clinical Genome Sequencing, Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Yi-Ching Liaw&Koichi Matsuda

Department of Public Health and Institute of Public Health, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

Yi-Ching Liaw,Pei-Hsin Chen&Yung-Po Liaw

Department of Internal Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

Felix C. Vaura&Teemu J. Niiranen

Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Turku, Finland

Felix C. Vaura&Teemu J. Niiranen

Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Kuang Lin,Zhengming Chen,Cornelia M. van Duijn,Robert Clarke,Rory Collins,Richard Peto,Yiping Chen,Zammy Fairhurst-Hunter,Michael Hill,Alfred Pozarickij,Dan Schmidt,Becky Stevens,Iain Turnbull,Iona Y. Millwood,Keum Ji Jung&Robin G. Walters

Department of Research and Innovation, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

Bendik Slagsvold Winsvold,Ingrid Heuch,Linda M. Pedersen,Amy E. Martinsen,Espen S. Kristoffersen&John-Anker Zwart

K. G. Jebsen Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

Bendik Slagsvold Winsvold,Sigrid Brte,Kristian Hveem,Ben M. Brumpton,Jonas B. Nielsen,Maiken E. Gabrielsen,Anne H. Skogholt,Ben M. Brumpton,Maiken E. Gabrielsen,Amy E. Martinsen,Jonas B. Nielsen,Kristian Hveem,Laurent F. Thomas&John-Anker Zwart

Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

Bendik Slagsvold Winsvold&Anne H. Aamodt

Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

Vinodh Srinivasasainagendra,Hemant K. Tiwari&George Howard

Department of Neurology and Cerebrovascular Disease Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea

Hee-Joon Bae

Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, India

Ganesh Chauhan,Amit Kumar&Kameshwar Prasad

Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute, David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Michael R. Chong&Guillaume Par

Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Michael R. Chong&Guillaume Par

Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Liisa Tomppo,Jukka Putaala,Gerli Sibolt,Nicolas Martinez-Majander,Sami Curtze,Marjaana Tiainen,Janne Kinnunen&Daniel Strbian

Center for Genomic and Precision Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

Rufus Akinyemi,Abiodun M. Adeoye&Mayowa O. Owolabi

Neuroscience and Ageing Research Unit Institute for Advanced Medical Research and Training, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

Rufus Akinyemi

Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Gennady V. Roshchupkin,Maria J. Knol,Cornelia M. van Duijn,Najaf Amin,Sven J. van der Lee,Mohsen Ghanbari,Mohammad K. Ikram&Mohammad A. Ikram

Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Gennady V. Roshchupkin

The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

Naomi Habib&Anael Cain

Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

Yon Ho Jee

Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Copenhagen University HospitalRigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark

Jesper Qvist Thomassen,Anne Tybjrg-Hansen,Marianne Benn&Ruth Frikke-Schmidt

Department of Molecular and Functional Genomics, Weis Center for Research, Geisinger Health System, Danville, VA, USA

Vida Abedi&Jiang Li

Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA

Vida Abedi

Stroke Pharmacogenomics and Genetics Laboratory, Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain

Jara Crcel-Mrquez,Nuria P. Torres-Aguila,Natalia Cullell,Elena Muio,Cristina Gallego-Fabrega,Miquel Lleds,Laia Lluci-Carol&Israel Fernndez-Cadenas

Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Jara Crcel-Mrquez

The Danish Twin Registry, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

Marianne Nygaard&Kaare Christensen

Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark

Marianne Nygaard&Kaare Christensen

Center for Alzheimers and Related Dementias, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

Hampton L. Leonard&Mike A. Nalls

Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

Hampton L. Leonard&Mike A. Nalls

Data Tecnica International, Glen Echo, MD, USA

Hampton L. Leonard&Mike A. Nalls

Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

Chaojie Yang,Ani Manichaikul,Stephen S. Rich,Wei Min Chen,Michle M. Sale&Wei-Min Chen

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

Chaojie Yang

British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Ekaterina Yonova-Doing,Michael Inouye&Joanna M. M. Howson

Department of Genetics, Novo Nordisk Research Centre Oxford, Oxford, UK

Ekaterina Yonova-Doing&Joanna M. M. Howson

Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

Adam J. Lewis,Jing He,Seung Hoan Choi&Lisa Bastarache

Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Renae L. Judy

Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Tetsuro Ago&Takanari Kitazono

Original post:
Stroke genetics informs drug discovery and risk prediction across ancestries - Nature.com

Genetics

About Bad Chest Genetics, and Whether You Can Fix Them – Healthline

Wondering if bad chest genes are real?

The answer is yes, sort of. But it depends on what you consider bad genes. What one person considers bad another person might consider good.

Your genes are units of genetic information that you inherit from your parents. They determine all your inherited traits from your eye color to your bone structure. Environmental factors such as nutrition, exposure to chemicals, and exercise habits can change the way some genes are expressed.

You can build muscle by engaging in resistance training. But genetic factors can influence how easily you add mass. Likewise, genetics can influence how easily you build muscle in a particular area such as your chest.

Keep reading as we take a look at how genetics affect your ability to build muscle in your chest.

Bad chest genes are subjective. Many people use the term to refer to having difficulty building muscle in their chest or difficulty building muscle with the aesthetics they want.

The bulk of your chest is made up of the bellies of your pectoralis major muscles, commonly referred to as your pecs. These muscles originate from your sternum and collar bone and insert into your upper arm.

Some people consider bad chest genes as having a large gap between their pectoralis major muscles or having an asymmetry between each side of their chest.

Do some people have better chest genetics than others? It depends on what your goals are and what you consider bad genetics.

Some people can build more muscle or build muscle at a faster rate in their chests than others. Genes play a role in the following factors:

Researchers are continuing to examine genes that play a role in building muscle mass. In one rodent study, researchers identified 47 genes linked to muscle growth.

Twin studies suggest that more than 50% of muscle fiber composition is estimated to be inherited from your parents.

Body dysmorphia is a mental health condition characterized by preoccupation with your bodys flaws. Muscle dysmorphia is a specific type of body dysmorphia characterized by a persistent worry that youre not muscular or lean.

Becoming preoccupied with the size of your chest could be a symptom of muscle dysmorphia. The Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory is often used as a testing tool with 13 questions that are scored from never to always. Some of the statements on this inventory include:

In a 2018 study, researchers compared rates of muscular dysmorphia between bodybuilders, strength athletes, and people engaged in general fitness. They found that bodybuilders reported more beliefs about being smaller and weaker than the other groups.

Learn more about how muscle dysmorphia is diagnosed and treated.

A chest gap is the separation of your pectoralis major muscles. Its normal to have a chest gap since theres no muscle body over your sternum. Some people have wider gaps than others as part of their natural anatomy, which is largely predetermined by genetics.

Its important to remember that the idea of bad genetics is subjective. If your goal is to build as much muscle as possible, you might consider bad genetics as having more trouble building muscle than other people around you.

But for some people, not adding muscle mass with training might be considered good genetics. For example, athletes in weight-class sports such as boxing or relative strength sports such as long jump need to build a large amount of strength without adding much extra weight.

You cant change your genetics, but you can change the way your genes are expressed by changing your training program. Consistently training your chest muscles can help you maximize your muscle size and strength. Some people find it helpful to work with a personal trainer who can build them a custom program to help them achieve their goals.

Some men opt to get pectoral implants, but these are primarily meant for people with birth deformities, such as pectus excavatum. People with muscle or body dysmorphia are not candidates for pectoral implants.

The best way to grow your chest is by training your chest muscle regularly. Many different exercises can target your chest. Here are some ideas:

Your genetics influence your ability to build muscle. The idea of bad genetics is subjective. If your goal is to build muscle, your genes might make it easier or harder than most other people to build muscle in general or specifically in your chest.

The best way to maximize your chest growth is to train your chest regularly. You may find it helpful to work with a personal trainer who can build you a custom program.

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About Bad Chest Genetics, and Whether You Can Fix Them - Healthline

Genetics

Illumina aims to push genetics beyond the lab with $200 genome – The Spokesman Review

Illumina Inc. says it can read a persons entire genetic code for as little as $200 with its new sequencing machine, bringing the company within reach of its long-promised goal of the $100 genome.

Illumina on Thursday unveiled a new line of DNA sequencing machines it says are twice as fast and accurate as its earlier models. Together, those upgrades will bring the cost per genome down two-thirds from its current technology, Chief Executive Officer Francis deSouza said.

Many consumers have been introduced to their DNA through relatively low-cost tests like those marketed by 23andMe Holding Co. that analyze small snippets of the genome for clues to disease risk and ancestry. Whole-genome sequencing can provide a far clearer, more accurate view of patients genetic makeup that doctors can use to precisely identify some diseases, including certain forms of cancer and heart disease. However, the price of performing the tests, along with their interpretation, has been a barrier for many patients that companies have been trying to bridge.

More efficient machinery and materials reduce customer cost to sequencing one genome, or the complete set of genetic material, Illumina said, adding that costs would range from less than $200 per genome, with discounts for bulk use, to $240 for a higher-quality analysis. Slashing the price of reading DNA could allow the practice to move into the mainstream, where it might be used to better tailor medications or treatments to people or have other health benefits.

This will be a huge force in terms of significantly increasing accessibility to genomics in a number of ways, deSouza said in an interview ahead of the announcement. It will democratize access to genomics by allowing sequencing to be offered to hospitals and researchers at much lower prices.

Despite promises of personalized medical care for the masses, genetic data has mostly been confined to research settings in the 21 years since an international group of scientists published the first analysis of the human genome sequence, Eric Topol, founder and director of Scripps Research Translational Institute, recently wrote. Illumina sees its new sequencing machine as a way to change that. Every meaningful price drop has rapidly led to an increase in the number of people whose genes have been analyzed, deSouza said.

Illuminas new NovaSeq X series comes in two models, with the base machine costing $985,000 and a more advanced one at $1.25 million. The new sequencers also come with new features like a simpler interface that could allow people without advanced degrees to use the machines, deSouza said.

This is a crucial test for San Diego-based Illumina at a time of increased scrutiny from Wall Street. The company cut its full-year sales outlook last month, raising questions about demand. New competitors are cropping up and threatening Illuminas dominance of the sequencing market. Moreover, the companys years-long quest to acquire early-cancer detection company Grail is in limbo and facing regulatory challenges in Europe. Shares of Illumina have lost nearly half their value this year.

Already under a microscope, the company is hosting a splashy conference in its hometown this week to unveil the technology.

Investors are closely following the event for signs Illumina can change its story. Customers, mostly drug companies and research institutions, will be paying attention to price. Before the launch, nearly three dozen sequencing customers had estimated Illumina would set its prices at $280 per genome, according to a survey from Cowen analysts.

The new machines could have real financial implications for researchers who sequence large numbers of people, said Aris Baras, who leads Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.s Genetics Center. Regeneron scours genetic data to discover new drug targets. Baras praised Illumina for continuously decreasing the price of sequencing, allowing Regeneron to screen about 2 million people.

Its a testament to Illuminas innovation pushing down costs and increasing output especially when they havent historically had too many competitors being able to match them, Baras said. Still, the price isnt low enough for Regeneron to switch to exclusively whole genome sequencing. The drugmaker mostly scans only genes of key interest, which costs between one-fifth and one-tenth the price of reading all of a persons genetic material.

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Illumina aims to push genetics beyond the lab with $200 genome - The Spokesman Review

Genetics

Are Kinks Hereditary? What Science Says About the Genetics of Desire – Glamour

That said, its important to remember that our erotic interests are the product of many factors. On the biological side, those factors can include our genetic predispositions, unique brain chemistry, and the way our bodies are laid out.

For some people, nipples are extraordinarily sensitive, Dr. Lehmiller says. For other people, theres just no sensation whatsoever. And if your body just happens to have that heightened level of sensitivity, you might be very drawn to various forms of nipple play including more intense BDSM versions of it with nipple clamps and so forth. So I think part of it is that general sensitivity in different parts of our body. That could also have a genetic component to it.

Psychological factors such as our personalities, previous experiences, and general attitudes toward sex represent another piece of the puzzle. And there are environmental factors to considerthe cultural context that, in part, determines the partners we choose and the opportunities available to us.

Whenever were talking about sexual interests, we need to talk about it from a biopsychosocial perspective, Dr. Lehmiller says. Two people can develop the same sexual interest for very different reasons, depending on the confluence of all of these factors.

Many people can pinpoint a specific childhood experience as the source of their kink or fetish. For some, it feels like a fact of life from birth. Others find their kinks later in life through solo or partnered exploration. In Dr. Brames experience, younger generations are becoming aware of their kinks earlier in life thanks to the internet. But in some cases, the culture of silence and shame around sexual kinks can delay the discovery process by decades.

You dont necessarily realize who you are until youre in your teens or maybe even your 20s, Dr. Brame says. Or maybe even your 50s, not because its totally out of the blue. But you dont realize what kink is or what it is to be kinky. Or that some of your private sexual fantasies actually align with kink.

Often the kinks emotional and sexual resonance is reinforced through masturbation.

We know that the connection between the smell centers of the brain and the memory centers of the brain and the emotional centers of the brain are very close, Gates says. And so things that we would consider to be classic kinks, like a foot fetishor rubber or leather or things that are sensorially evocative, especially through smellcan become connected with emotional content and memories to form a kind of cycle where you smell it and you have this stimulus in this memory thats very emotional. You might reinforce that through, say, masturbation to the point where it becomes a very firm pathway in your brain.

But Gates believes some people are primed to develop a kink or fetish under the right conditions.

I interviewed this wonderful guy who considered himself a macrophile, Gates says. He liked to fantasize about giant women. And he said, Nature loads the gun and nurture pulls the trigger. I like that metaphor because it sort of explains how that worksthat you can be primed biologically and neurologically to be ready for it to happen.

Dr. Brame feels strongly that kink isnt a hobbyits a legitimate sexual identity. Throughout her life, relationships that didnt align with her kinks would inevitably fail. The kink was never explicitly discussed or cited as the reason for the breakupthat discovery would come later. But in retrospect, it makes sense that certain power dynamics werent tenable for her.

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Are Kinks Hereditary? What Science Says About the Genetics of Desire - Glamour

Genetics

Study on rare genetic diseases among diverse demographics in India – The Hindu

The Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) here has undertaken a study to look for rare genetic diseases with samples collected from different castes, linguistic groups and regions across the country to understand their prevalence and analyse the mutations for taking up counselling for the affected groups.

CDFD director K. Thangaraj told Manthan-Samvaad 2022, the annual event of Manthan public discourse forum, on Sunday about 20 different centres across the country India involved in the study making use of animal models, and that a special lab for rare diseases has also been opened at the institute for the purpose.

The eminent geneticist disclosed that there are a lot more population-specific recessive diseases among the Indian and South Asian people because of the endogamous (intra-community) marriages and that has to be studied. If the disease-causing mutation is dominant, it will come out but in recessive mutations, it will be carried across generations and could arise in the off springs subsequently even if they are not related but belong to the same community, he explained.

Every Indian population is unique, yet has some kind of genetic affinities. If the Andamanese were the first to migrate from Africa, second batch moved to Europe and some towards North India called as Ancestral North Indians (ANI). These groups admixed within themselves and with Ancestral South Indians (ASI) 2,000-3,000 years ago before endogamous relationships became the norm 2,000 years ago. It refutes the Aryan invasion theory, but brought forth a large recessive disease base, said Dr. Thangaraj.

With many other populations like Jews and Parsis having migrated later, India becomes a complex nation in terms of genetics, and analysing gives lot more information about the genetic affinities between them. The endogamous impact on health and diseases like cardiac diseases was found to be more prevalent in South Asia, he said.

Since there are many populations suffering with rare genetic diseases, the need of the hour is to follow the Jewish method of genetic study to look for mutations and followed by counselling among the couples, to stop the further spread of the disease, he added.

Former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Talmiz Ahmed in his talk Indias western neighbours friends or foes called for a new strategic doctrine with emphasis on forging better ties with West Asia because of oil, trade, working population and huge remittances and others, Iran, Russia and even China despite difficulties, rather than leaning too much on the United States, whose influence and power has been diminishing.

Ex-Army officer and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research Sushant Singh said while the financial burden of huge defence pensions has forced the government hand in bringing out the Agnipath scheme of recruitment into armed forces, it is flawed. It could disturb the armed forces functioning and also damage the civic society later especially when there is large scale unemployment and the economy is down. Manthan trustees former chief secretary K. Madhav Rao and M.R. Vikram also spoke.

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Study on rare genetic diseases among diverse demographics in India - The Hindu

Genetics

$2.6M DOE Grant Supports UMD-led Study on Genetics of Plant Growth – Maryland Today

A University of Maryland researcher was awarded $2.6 million by the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate the genetics underlying how poplar trees sense nutrients and regulate their metabolisminformation that could help farmers maximize yields of this and other plants used in biofuel production.

Dedicated biomass crops like poplar, switchgrass, miscanthus and bamboo are grown on marginal lands that are not well suited to traditional crops like corn and wheat. It pays to understand how crops grown in such conditions use the nutrients available, how they metabolize and grow tissue, and how they respond to stressful conditions like drought.

Were interested in getting more information about how biomass crops like poplar sense and utilize nutrients so we can develop more informed strategies for manipulating this system and making it more efficient, said Gary Coleman, an associate professor in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture who is leading the research.

Coleman is looking at the genes that encode for the TOR protein, one of the central components of the TOR complex. Its job is to receive signals from the molecules that sense a wide range of nutrients like carbon and nitrogen, and then relay that information to the cellular machinery that activates growth and inhibits cell death.

Mutating the TOR gene is lethal, which is why its function is not well understood. Poplar is rare in that it has two copies of the TOR gene. Coleman and his colleagues previously demonstrated that they could manipulate one copy or the other without killing the plant, and the team intends to take advantage of the duplicates to investigate how the gene works.

Colemans collaborators include Yiping Qi, an associate professor of plant science and landscape architecture at UMD, Edward Eisenstein, an associate professor at the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research at UMD, and researchers at the Michigan Technological University.

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$2.6M DOE Grant Supports UMD-led Study on Genetics of Plant Growth - Maryland Today