Daily Archives: January 22, 2020

A visiting professor at Oakland University has spent the last six years mapping human genomes in Russia in an attempt to fill in the blanks for the worlds ninth most populous country.

Taras Oleksyk, assistant professor of biological sciences, and a team of international scientists launched the project with the goal of charting the genetic diversity of several populations in Russia. Their findings were recently published in the scientific journal Genomics.

As people have spread across the world over centuries, they have gained different genetic characteristics, either at random or due to adaptation to their local environments. These differences are crucial for understanding who people are and where they came from, Oleksyk said. Russia is a treasure trove of previously undescribed genetic variations. Mapping them will allow scientists to chart the vast genetic diversity of Russian populations and fill in the largest gap on the genetic map of humankind.

The DNA of 264 adults in six geographic areas has been so far mapped for the project, including Western Russia and the Yakutia region of Eastern Siberia.

We established the borders to show areas where people are more genetically similar to each other sort of like genetic countries, Oleksyk said. This shows that history and geography shape our genomes. Where we are from largely defines the genetic characteristics we carry. And that has important implications, particularly for genes that influence our health.

The study found correlations of higher risk for certain diseases to geographic proximity with neighboring regions. In Yakutia, the researchers found the population was at a higher risk for lactose intolerance and a slower response to blood thinners, matching with genome mapping results from east Asia.

The goal is to give doctors the ability to tailor medical treatments to their patients genetic profile, Oleksyk said. For example, making sure that patients dont have a genetic predisposition that prevents them from metabolizing certain drugs. We need genome maps in order to lay the groundwork for this type of personalized medicine.

The full study can be found at sciencedirect.com.

Reroot Pontiac, an environmental nonprofit focused on studying green infrastructure, is helping to collect donations for residents of Puerto Rico.

It's going to take more than shrimp pasta and a bottle of wine to solve southeast Michigan's regional transit woes.

The influenza B strain of the flu virus has arrived earlier than normal, according to experts.

A Milford Township man considered a fugitive for allegedly committing sexual assault and assault with intent to do great bodily harm fled auth

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Oakland University professor filling world's largest gap in human genome map - The Oakland Press

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The search for a cancer cure has led researchers in the OICR, to stumble on a ground-breaking discovery. Previously unknown and undetected in the sequences of non-coding DNA, which can transform into cancer-causing agents in the host cell. Prior to this discovery, this was largely unknown until now.

An investigation into the mutagenic gene demonstrated new ways that it can multiply and advance cancer further. Since it was practically hidden, then specialists are pointing their crosshairs on where to begin. More data uncovered will give more clues on how to tame cancer, later on, better tests to detect it and devise better-targeted therapy for patients.

What made this study more conclusive than those before it, that only covered 2% of the gene for producing proteins needed inside the cell. Furthermore, it dug deeper into more mutation probabilities that weren't explored until this is study. Going further into unknown territory into the non-coding parts of the human genetic matrix. Trying to figure out what causes the genes to get tripped and activated. Which triggers the formation of cancer-causing mutation wholesale inside the host cell.

The lead of the study, Dr. Jri Reimanda, and investigator at OICRsaid that mutation caused by altered proteins are not common in large coding regions. It is this far proximity that does not make it suspect at all. Analyzing data based on these will be challenging to analyze too.

Armed with improved statistical tools and more complete genomic information makes it more accurate. Data that was collected from 1,800 patients is the base of the genomic data, that produced evidence of molecularly based ways that led to cancer, and worse tumors too.

Researchers had a go at 100,000 sections of each patient, now paying more attention to the unexplored non-coded location on the sequence to interact with. One location in the genome is determined to control and anti-tumor gene in cancerous cells. It was located as far as, 250,000 base pairs away from the gene located in the three-dimensional genome. To gain an idea of how it worked more, they did gene editing and experiments in host human cells. To test how potent cancer is in this non-coded location in the genetic sequencing.

Throughout the process of investigating the region involved, several conclusions about the non-coding region that is involved in the development of cancer cells. So far, with more specialized algorithms and data about cancer genomes will lead to analysis and cures. Just one of the findings that lead to a better cure for patients, or detecting it before it gets worse.

All the data gained from "Reimand's" study is free and for use by other scientists studying cancer. Everything from the statistical algorithms to overall methods is tried and tested for accuracy. Anyone has free access to add more to this relevant research.

It cannot be stressed enough that genes are grossly affected by non-coding gene sequences, with easy turning on or off. When a mutation happens, it will cause abnormal functions inside the cell to become cancerous. Another fellow, Helen Zhu a student and author as well, mentioned the method called "ActiveDriverWGS" zeroes in on cancer in the genome.

Finding the mutations that drive development to cancer is the key to track what causes it. Finding and digging up more about it should help in developing medicines to suppress it. This will give rise to better analyses and cures for patients that should be a good development for everyone.

Read: New tumor-driving mutations discovered in the under-explored regions of the cancer genome

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Mutation Responsible for Tumors Are Discovered in Concealed Sequences in the Cancer Genome - Science Times

When asked whats so special about Drosophila melanogaster, or the common fruit fly, Gerry Rubin quickly gets on a roll. Rubin has poked and prodded flies for decades, including as a leader of the effort to sequence their genome. So permit him to count their merits. Theyre expert navigators, for one, zipping around without crashing into walls. They have great memories too, he adds. Deprived of their senses, they can find their way around a roommuch as you, if you were suddenly blindfolded, could probably escape through whichever door you most recently entered.

Fruit flies are very skillful, he appraises. And all that skill, although contained in a brain the size of a poppy seed, involves some neural circuitry similar to our own, a product of our distant common ancestor. Thats why, as director of Janelia Research Campus, part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, hes spent the last 12 years leading a team thats mapping out the fly brains physical wiring, down to the very last neuron.

Janelia researchers announced a major step in that quest on Wednesday, releasing a wiring diagram of the fly brain that contains 25,000 neurons and the 20 million connections between them. The so-called connectome corresponds to the flys hemibrain, a region thats about 250 micrometers acrossthe size of a dust mite, or the thickness of two strands of hair. Its about a third of the total fly brain, and contains many of the critical regions responsible for memory, navigation, and learning.

Rubin hopes wiring diagrams such as this one, showing neurons involved in navigation, will give researchers a better sense of how brain circuits work.

Researchers like Rubin believe a physical blueprint of the brain could become a foundational resource for neuroscientistsdoing for brain science what genome sequences have done for genetics. The argument is that to get anywhere with understanding brain circuits, you first need to know what the circuits are, and what kinds of cells they join. That physical schematic becomes a road map for all kinds of inquiries, Rubin says, anything from understanding the role of the brains wiring in psychiatric disorders to how our brains store memories.

Obviously, it would be nice to pursue those questions with a complete human connectome. But thats a long way off. Fully analyzing even the tiniest amount of brain matter requires an enormous amount of time and treasure.

Hence, the brain of the humble fruit fly, with one-millionth the number of neurons of our own. Drosophila is only the second adult animal to have its brain circuitry mapped at this level of detail, following the nematode C. elegans back in 1986. That task was far more modest. The entire nervous system spanned 302 neurons and 7,000 connectionssmall enough for researchers, with enough effort, to get the job done by physically shaving off layers of cells, printing off images taken with an electron microscope, and tracing them with colored pencils. The complexity of the fly brain is two orders of magnitude greaterthus the three-decade gap in getting it done.

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The Most Complete Brain Map Ever Is Here: A Fly's 'Connectome' - WIRED

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --LifeOmic, the creator of the LIFE mobile apps and the Precision Health Cloud (PHC) platform in use at major medical and cancer centers, today announced a partnership with the Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank, a unique resource established by researchers at Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center and Indiana University School of Medicine, to improve breast cancer research. The Komen Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center will utilize the PHC for genomic, clinical and imaging data aggregation and analysis, as well as its health care compliant survey capabilities.

The Komen Tissue Bank is the only repository in the world for normal breast tissue and matched serum, plasma and DNA. The tissue bank advances breast cancer research by offering high quality, richly annotated tissue samples to scientists worldwide. Scientists who access the Komen Tissue Bank's Virtual Tissue Bank can query the medical history of donors, request tissue and download existing data. The current system does not support genomic data.

"We are passionate about sharing our research resources with scientists worldwide," said Jill Henry, chief operating officer of the Komen Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center. "Using LifeOmic's PHC will expand the Virtual Tissue Bank'scapabilities to help fuel ongoing treatment and prevention discovery."

LifeOmic and the Komen Tissue Bank will work together to deploy the Virtual Tissue Bank onto the PHC's secure, reliable and scalable platform. The new platform enables researchers around the world to query an extended data model including whole-genome sequencing data. The use of analytics tools in the PHC allows researchers to overlay data reported from participants' clinical history with all other data available in the PHC, including genomic, clinical and imaging data.

"The Precision Health Cloud was created to break down silos that exist between current systems, to help advance precision health," said Dr. Don Brown, CEO and founder of LifeOmic. "We are thrilled to partner with the Komen Tissue Bank because of our shared goal to break down silos and help its mission to end breast cancer by enabling advanced research using PHC."

For more information on LifeOmic's PHC, visit: https://lifeomic.com/products/precision-health-cloud/.

About LifeOmic:

LifeOmic is the software company that leverages the cloud, machine learning and mobile devices to power precision health solutions for providers, researchers, health care IT, pharma and individuals. The company's cloud-based software securely aggregates, stores and analyzes patient data to accelerate the development and delivery of precision health treatments. LifeOmic's core competency is the Precision Health Cloud, a cloud-based repository of all patient data such as a basic profile, whole genome sequences, gene expression levels, lab results, medical images and more. The company's product lines also include security software platform JupiterOne and consumer-centric LIFE mobile apps.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Indianapolis, LifeOmic was created by serial entrepreneur Don Brown and boasts a team of highly experienced engineers, scientists and security specialists.

For more information, visit https://lifeomic.com.

About The Komen Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center:

The Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank, a resource established by researchers at Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center and Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, is uniquely positioned to characterize the molecular and genetic basis of normal breast development and compare it to the different types of breast cancer. The bank was established expressly for the acquisition of normal tissues from volunteer donors with no clinical evidence of breast disease and/or malignancy, providing a resource to investigators around the globe. More than 6,000 women have donated breast tissue since 2007. In all, more than 12,000 women also have donated DNA and blood to the tissue bank.

For more information, visit https://komentissuebank.iu.edu/

Contact:

Katie GrantBAM Communications(858) 284-7768katieg@bamcommunications.biz

Michael SchugIndiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center(317) 278-0953maschug@iu.edu

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lifeomic-partners-with-indiana-university-based-healthy-breast-tissue-bank-to-advance-breast-cancer-research-300991167.html

SOURCE LifeOmic

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LifeOmic Partners with Indiana University-based Healthy Breast Tissue Bank to Advance Breast Cancer Research - P&T Community