Direct-to-consumer genetic test results are questionable, research suggests
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests provide an inaccurate prediction of disease risk and offer little benefit to consumers, scientists claim...
Complex diseases are caused by the interaction of multiple genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.
Examples include type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests provide an inaccurate prediction of disease risk and offer little benefit to consumers, scientists claim...
Nearly twenty years ago, a medical school I know well was deciding whether to incorporate the university genetics department. One senior medical professor cautioned that science-focused geneticists would be well advised to stop studying fruit flies, snails and other animal species in favour of 'real genetic research' into human genetics....
This week saw the culmination of an international effort to devise guidelines to strengthen and standardise the reporting of genetic risk prediction studies...
An international research consortium has discovered 13 new genetic markers and confirmed ten previously identified markers associated with heart disease. The study, one of the world's largest, more than doubles the known genetic risk factors for coronary artery disease, a common cause of heart attacks and strokes....
by Dr Carolina Gemma and 1 others
In recent years, significant progress has been made in identifying some of the genetic factors that underlie common complex diseases such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension and cancer. This has been possible due to the genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach that involves comparing genetic variants in large numbers of individuals that have the disease versus those that do not...
by Vicki Kay
US scientists have shown for the first time how a virus, a toxin and a genetic mutation interact to cause Crohn's disease. The study, in mice, may help explain why many people with disease risk genes don't develop the condition...
by Maren Urner
The UK's 'Genetic Interest Group' (GIG), a national charity representing individuals with genetic conditions, today became the 'Genetic Alliance UK'...
Certain variations of mitochondrial DNA are protective against strokes, according to a recent study in The Lancet Neurology....
Environmental factors, rather than genetics, may play a key role in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new research published in Nature...
by Sandy Starr
From our perspective at the Progress Educational Trust (PET), one of the most welcome aspects of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee's new report 'Genomic Medicine' is its consideration of public engagement issues. This section of the report appears to anticipate and complement PET's plans for its 2009 annual conference, entitled 'Does Genetics Matter? Help, Hype and the New Horizon of Epigenetics', which will take place in East London on Wednesday 18 November....
BioNews, published by the Progress Educational Trust (PET), provides news and comment on genetics, assisted conception, embryo/stem cell research and related areas.