Category Archives: DNA

DNA evidence has finally ended the debate about where the ancient Etruscans an ancient civilization whose remains are found in Italy came from.

According to almost 2,000 years worth of genomic data, collected from 12 sites across Italy, these enigmatic people did not emigrate from Anatolia (a region that's now part of Turkey), but shared genetic heritage with people who lived nearby in ancient Rome.

All were descended from pastoralists who moved into the region from the steppes during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age. Given that the steppes are thought to be where Indo-European languages originated, the finding underscores another Etruscan mystery that of their (now extinct) non-Indo-European language, which managed to persist for centuries.

"This linguistic persistence, combined with a genetic turnover, challenges simple assumptions that genes equal languages," said anthropologist David Caramelli of the University of Florence in Italy, "and suggests a more complex scenario that may have involved the assimilation of early Italic speakers by the Etruscan speech community, possibly during a prolonged period of admixture over the second millennium BCE."

There's a lot we don't know about the Etruscans. Some evidence of their presence remains, obviously. We know they were remarkable craftspeople, skilled metalworkers, and politically sophisticated. But we only partially understand their extinct language, which has made teasing out their origins complicated, particularly in the absence of solid genetic evidence.

One school of thought, championed by Greek historian Herodotus, was that the Etruscans migrated into Italy from Anatolia or the Aegean, and that their culture was descended from Greek origins. This interpretation is not favored by modern scholars; archeologists have uncovered very little evidence in support of migration.

The other option is that the Etruscan civilization emerged from an indigenous population that had already been settled in the region what is known as an autochthonous civilization.

Led by anthropologist Cosimo Posth of the University of Tbingen in Germany, a large international team of researchers sought to get to the bottom of the mystery by studying ancient DNA. They collected genetic samples from 82 individuals spanning a timeframe from 800 BCE to 1000 CE across Etruria and southern Italy, and compared them to DNA from other ancient and modern populations.

They found that the Etruscans shared a genetic profile with neighboring populations, such as the Latins that inhabited Rome at the same time, even though the two groups had significant linguistic and cultural differences.

As with most other European populations, a large proportion of this genetic profile can be attributed to steppe-related ancestry. It's unclear, then, how such significant differences arose between the Etruscans and their neighbors.

The Etruscan language is not, however, completely unique. It belongs to a proposed group called the Tyrsenian languages, all of which are extinct. This group includes Rhaetic, once spoken in the Alps, and Lemnian, from Lemnos in the Aegean sea.

This could suggest that these languages may have spread via a sea-borne expansion from the Mediterranean, but the genetic profile of the Etruscans shows no evidence of this origin. Instead, the researchers suggest, perhaps the Tyrsenian languages spread from Etruria as a point of origin. Further investigation is definitely warranted.

The team's analysis also revealed the results of major changes in Italy. When the Roman Empire rose, the ancient DNA revealed, the Etruscan population experienced a significant genetic shift as people from the eastern Mediterranean mixed with the Italian population, likely as the result of the Roman importation of slaves and soldiers.

"This genetic shift clearly depicts the role of the Roman Empire in the large-scale displacement of people in a time of enhanced upward or downward socioeconomic and geographic mobility," said anthropologist Johannes Krause of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany.

In the Middle Ages, following the collapse of the Roman Empire, genetic profiles changed again, with northern European ancestries spreading across the Italian peninsula. This was probably the result of the invasion of the Lombards, from Germany and Sweden, who conquered and then ruled most of Italy from 568 to 774 CE.

From about 1,000 CE, however, the genetic profiles of people in Tuscany, Lazio, and Basilicata have remained more or less unchanged. This is consistent with the genetic profile of people in Rome, the researchers said. Future studies including additional datasets from other regions of the Roman Empire will help substantiate these findings.

"The Roman Empire appears to have left a long-lasting contribution to the genetic profile of southern Europeans, bridging the gap between European and eastern Mediterranean populations on the genetic map of western Eurasia," Posth said.

The research has been published in Science Advances.

Read more here:
DNA Has Finally Revealed The Mysterious Origins of The Ancient Etruscans - ScienceAlert

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Viral Vectors And Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market Size By Product Type, By Application, By End Product, By Geographic Scope And Forecast" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Viral Vectors and Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market was valued at USD 583.71 Million in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 1,866.90 Million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 15.40% from 2021 to 2028.

A growing number of patients opting for gene therapy is a major factor propelling the growth of the Viral Vectors and Plasmid DNA Manufacturing market. Gene therapy is a leading field in medical science, which promises new treatment development for patients suffering from various disease. Genetically modified therapies have emerged as a promising treatment approach for various diseases (primarily ones that currently have no cure), including inherited disorders and certain viral infections. Demand for plasmid DNA is rising steeply because of a boom in gene therapy development.

This report provides an all-inclusive environment of the analysis for the Viral Vectors And Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market. The market estimates provided in the report are the result of in-depth secondary research, primary interviews and in-house expert reviews. These market estimates have been considered by studying the impact of various social, political and economic factors along with the current market dynamics affecting the Viral Vectors And Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market growth.

Along with the market overview, which comprises of the market dynamics the chapter includes a Porter's Five Forces analysis which explains the five forces: namely buyers bargaining power, suppliers bargaining power, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, and degree of competition in the Viral Vectors And Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market. It explains the various participants, such as system integrators, intermediaries and end-users within the ecosystem of the market. The report also focuses on the competitive landscape of the Viral Vectors And Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market.

The report will provide a valuable insight with an emphasis on the global market including some of the major players such as Merck KGaA, Lonza, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies U.S.A., Inc., Cobra Biologics Ltd., Brammer Bio, Waisman Biomanufacturing, Genezen, YPOSKESI, Advanced BioScience, Laboratories, Inc. (ABL, Inc.), Novasep Holding S.A.S, ATVIO Biotech Ltd, and Others.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

3.1 Market Overview

3.2 Global Viral Vectors and Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market Regional Insights

3.3 Global Viral Vectors and Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market Geographical Analysis

3.4 Global Viral Vectors and Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market, by Product Type

3.5 Global Viral Vectors and Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market, by Application

3.6 Global Viral Vectors and Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market, by End Product

3.7 Future Market Opportunities

3.8 Global Market Split

4 Market Outlook

4.1 Global Viral Vectors and Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market Outlook

4.2 Market Drivers

4.2.1 Increasing Number of Patients Opting for Gene Therapy

4.2.2 Rising Prevalence of HIV/Aids and Growing R&D Funding from Several Organizations

4.3 Restraints

4.3.1 Manufacturing Challenges Pertaining to Large Scale Production of Vectors

4.4 Opportunities

4.4.1 Growing Healthcare Infrastructure and Government Support

4.4.2 Growing Number of Gene Therapy Candidates, Coupled With Their Rapid Progression Through Various Phases of Clinical Development

4.5 The Impact of Covid-19

4.6 Porters Five Force Model

4.7 Product Life Line

5 Market, by Product Type

5.1 Overview

5.2 Viral Vector

5.3 Plasma DNA

5.4 Non-Viral DNA Vectors

6 Market, by Application

6.1 Overview

6.2 Cancer

6.3 Inherited Disorder

6.4 Infectious Diseases

6.5 Others

7 Market, by End Product

7.1 Overview

7.2 DNA Vaccines

7.3 Gene Therapy

7.4 Immunotherapy

7.5 Others

8 Market, by Geography

8.1 Overview

8.2 North America

8.3 Europe

8.4 Asia-Pacific

8.5 Row

9 Competitive Landscape

10 Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/cnmete

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Read more:
Viral Vectors and Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market 2021; Growing Number of Gene Therapy Candidates, Coupled with their Rapid Progression through...

A Massachusetts cold case unit cracked the unsolved murder of a teen girl using old-fashioned investigative work not advances in DNA technology and arrested a suspect in Georgia after more than three decades, authorities said Wednesday.

Rodney Daniels, 48, was arrested without incident in Georgia on Monday in connection to the 1991 fatal shooting of Patricia Moreno at an apartment in Malden, Massachusetts, where she lived with her foster family, law enforcement officials announced.

BODY OF MISSING MICHIGAN WOMAN, 18, BELIEVED FOUND BURIED IN FRESH DIRT OUTSIDE HOME: POLICE

"This is a case that was solved not by a new development in forensic science, but as a result of relentless investigative work and a change in circumstances for some parties involved," said Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Malden Chief of Police Kevin Molis announced that Rodney Daniels has been charged with the murder of 17-year-old Patricia Moreno that occurred on July 20, 1991, in Malden, Massachusetts. (Middlesex District Attorney)

On July 20, 1991, police responded just after 3 a.m. to the third-floor apartment in Malden, where officers found Moreno laying on the fire escape landing with a single gunshot wound to the head.

Moreno was still breathing when she was rushed to the hospital, where doctors determined she suffered an irreversible brain injury. Moreno died later that day.

Daniels, who was in a relationship with one of the teenage daughters of Morenos foster mother, was present in the apartment at the time of the shooting, Ryan said.

LAS VEGAS MAN ARRESTED 47 YEARS AFTER COLD CASE KILLING IF 7-ELEVEN CLERK

Daniels had told police at the time that he was asleep in an armchair in the living room when the sound of two gunshots woke him up. He then found Morenos body on the fire escape and alerted the foster mother, who called 911.

During the investigation, police had found no signs of forced entry into the apartment and did not recover a weapon or bullet casings from the scene.

Investigators learned that Daniels possessed multiple handguns around the same time of the murder and that he had threatened Moreno in the weeks before her death, but no arrests were made.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In 2020, the district attorneys offices cold case unit reviewed the murder and through reconstructing the crime scene, determined that the position of the entry wound and the bullets downward trajectory were consistent with the shooter firing the gun from the doorway of the apartment.

Investigators also located a witness who had lived on the second floor at the time of the shooting and recently returned from outside the country. The witness said he heard the noise from the gunshot and immediately looked to the fire escape, where he saw a person go back into the apartment and close the door.

The witnesss description of the person on the fire escape matched the appearance of Daniels, investigators said.

Daniels faces a charge of murder and was due to arrive back in Massachusetts on Thursday for his arraignment.

Excerpt from:
Cold case murder of Massachusetts teen solved without DNA technology, suspect arrested in Georgia - Fox News

As a child, Kim Wederfoort was fixated on the mystery of her familys origins. I thought about it probably more often than a person should, said Wederfoort, 24.

As a mixed-race person, she regularly fielded questions from classmates about where she got her complexion or curly hair. Her initial answer, Im from New Jersey, was rarely satisfactory, forcing her to map out her familys origins: a mother who was Dutch and Indonesian by way of Suriname, a father from Curacao whose blend of Spanish, Dutch, and Indian ancestries reflected the colonial history of the Caribbean.

It was no surprise, then, that during freshman orientation at West Chester University in 2015, one presentation in particular grabbed her attention: a call for volunteers for the DNA Discussion Project. The initiative, run by Anita Foeman and Bessie Lawton, professors of communication and media at West Chester University, studies students responses to the results of DNA-based ancestry tests and how those results can shift personal narratives and shape their relationships to others.

Since the projects inception in 2006, more than 3,000 students have participated, and their experiences form the backbone of Foeman and Lawtons recent book, Who am I?: Identity in the Age of Consumer DNA Testing.

For many, DNA test results change what is believable and whats not believable, Foeman said. You have a different data point, and it changes the conversation.

They hope their research will make it easier to have conversations about race, especially at a time when many companies are devoting more resources to diversity training.

Lawton, whose interest lies in intercultural communication, said DNA tests offer a way to level the playing field in conversations about diversity. Everybodys DNA has gone through the same process of analysis, Lawton said.

Foeman said that the emotional experience of learning where you came from or discovering family secrets could create bonds between people.

DNA also offers a framework to talk about multiracial identities, which Lawton noticed was missing from the way race was traditionally handled on forms where people have to choose a single option.

Ancestry DNA tests break down the fraction of a persons DNA that resembles genomes from different parts of the world. Although more than 99% of the human genome is shared between people, the remaining pieces can be traced back through generations to ancestors hailing from a particular region. Ancestors from different places lead to a combination of genetic markers.

Direct-to-consumer genetic tests dont sequence the entire genome, but instead skim it, like a person tasked with reading a long text quickly. By reading less than 0.05% of the three billion pieces of the genome, the test can focus on parts that differ between ancestries and quickly compare each persons genetic sequence to a database of people from around the world.

As this database grows over the years, and technology improves, the test gets more precise: For example, early tests used to tell Lawton that she was from Asia. Now, they can discern that she is Filipino and Chinese, even pinpoint the specific part of China.

For the DNA Discussion Project, volunteers fill out a survey about their self-perceived race and attitudes about it before taking a test from AncestryDNA. The survey includes open-ended questions about how people identify racially, how peers identify them, gaps in personal narratives, and how they felt about learning new information from their DNA.

Although there are more than 14,000 students at West Chester University, more than three-quarters are white, motivating the researchers to actively recruit a more diverse cohort.

Student volunteers then spit into a tube and send off their sample. Six weeks later, they receive an annotated map alongside a pie chart breaking down how much of their ancestry is attributed to each region.

When Foeman first started the project 15 years ago, it was hard to find labs that could run DNA tests that werent forensic. The tests were slow and expensive. Foemans first grant of $1,500 bought just four DNA tests; now, direct-to-consumer tests are less than $100.

After getting their results, students then take another survey and participate in a series of workshops and discussions.

The researchers have seen only a handful of people who had a single ancestry composing 100% of their pie chart, although many students assume that could happen before taking the test. In a study of 45 participants, more than three-quarters were surprised by their results. But still, more than half were positive about what they had learned.

When Wederfoort received her DNA test results, she was absolutely blown away.

I didnt expect the map to be so diverse and so colorful, she said. Her big surprise? The test revealed that she had African ancestry. None of her relatives could explain it.

Lawton thought that adding scientific data to family narratives would change peoples perceptions. But survey results showed that often wasnt the case. Identity negotiation is a product of so many different things. Its not just DNA samples, Lawton said.

One student was East Asian but adopted into a German family. Even after the DNA test placed her ancestry in East Asia, she continued to identify as German. Her lived experience was a stronger factor in identification than this paper, Lawton said.

Every family has a narrative, Foeman said, and it often implicitly carries a genetic story with it. DNA tests dont always make these narratives more stable.

Foeman found that people of color were more moved by DNA tests to reshape their stories, but white people were not. In fact, white participants were more likely to try to explain away DNA test results that suggested non-white ancestry. The reality is they dont have anything to gain by being multiracial, Foeman said. People are going to try to stick to the best narratives they can get.

Wederfoort doesnt see herself any differently now that she knows more about her ancestry, but she does feel empowered to make different choices. For example, she now feels more comfortable wearing a scarf to bed to protect her natural hair, a common practice among people with African ancestry.

She also believes that she can bond with other multiracial people more easily now that she has a clearer picture of her own heritage. Foeman saw this kind of camaraderie forming as soon as results were shared in the discussion sessions, with high fives exchanged between students who shared unexpected ancestries.

Thats why they see a role for DNA tests in diversity training. DNA tests that look for markers of health conditions, distinct from the ancestry tests that the DNA Discussion Project uses, have already begun to appear in the workplace as part of the benefits offered by Philadelphia-area employers such as Jefferson Health and the Teamsters.

In Lawtons research, she noticed that diversity training often seems to deepen divisions between people by enforcing roles of minority or majority. But psychologists suggested that the more effective approach to reduce prejudice was to increase contact between groups and emphasize commonalities. A forum such as the one created in the DNA Discussion Project, which has people from different backgrounds coming together to discuss the results of a test that they all took, could be a more effective strategy, she said.

Lets start our conversation by emphasizing how similar we are, and then were 1% different? Lets deal with that, Lawton said. But first, lets understand that we are all important parts of this institution.

As Foeman enters her final year at West Chester, she and Lawton plan to recruit 300 incoming freshmen to take DNA tests and participate in the last iteration of the project that she will lead.

The goal is really to normalize a conversation about race and for West Chester to be a place where we talk about race in a functional, positive way whenever and wherever it comes up, Foeman said.

Foeman remembers the very first round of surveys she administered solicited such responses as I dont know what Ill do if I find that I have African ancestry. But learning about the diversity in their background can make them realize they arent as different from others, she said.

Now, when people ask Wederfoort where shes from, she has a clear answer: Shes African American and Asian, the two largest pieces of her ancestry pie. She hasnt always been in close contact with her father, but they met up recently and she learned that he, too, had taken a DNA test and found a large proportion of African ancestry.

Foeman and Lawton have also taken direct-to-consumer DNA tests. In Foemans results 23% European ancestry, a tiny piece of Asian ancestry, and the rest from the Gold Coast of Africa she sees her story as one shared by millions of Black Americans: people abducted from the Gold Coast, enslaved on plantations in the South, and the eventual Great Migration of freedmen to the North.

When she first saw these results, she had an instant flashback to a trip she took to Ghana, where she visited the Door of No Return, a gate that enslaved Africans were forced through to board ships to the Americas.

Some of my relatives probably walked through that door, and thats pretty stunning, Foeman said. Were looking at DNA but it just splays out into every aspect of human experience.

The Future of Work is produced with support from the William Penn Foundation and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the projects donors.

Read the original here:
Talking about race is hard. West Chester University researchers think DNA tests can make it easier. - The Philadelphia Inquirer

In recent years, Tim Dunn, chief executive officer of CrownQuest Operating, has seen public companies come under tremendous pressure to show capital discipline and return capital to investors.

Its a philosophy private companies, such as his, impose on themselves because theyre using their own capital, he said during a panel discussion to wrap up the Permian Basin Petroleum Associations Annual Meeting.

He said its not fair public companies get all the blame for not making money earlier as they spent huge sums drilling new wells in the developing unconventional resource plays like the Permian Basin.

No one held a gun to investors heads and made them put $30 billion into the Marcellus, he said. It costs $20 million to drill a well, double production, the price falls and theyre shocked! And dismayed!

Of course, he admitted, it is a two-person dance, and the operators took that money and drilled all those new wells.

Dunn said when he recently spoke with investors, we told them they need to stop asking about individual well economics and start asking about last well economics.

Agreed Ken Beattie, CrownQuest senior vice president and chief operating officer, You want that last well added to a development project to deliver strong economics.

Asked by moderator Scott Kidwell, PBPA chairman, about the challenges currently facing the industry, Dunn said the industry has brought many of those challenges upon itself.

Our product is so valuable and so transformative and has lifted so many people out of poverty, he said. It is such an integral part of life that people line up to buy it. We dont have to sell anything, we dont have to market it. As a result, the industry has allowed others to frame its work and products.

The biggest direct risk for the industry on the horizon, he said, is if the oil business doesnt fight back.

Asked about ESG, Dunn noted that his family bought and renovated the Green Acres miniature golf and entertainment complex. You cant get more social than that. As for governance, he estimated that almost all of CrownQuests 250 employees are substantial owners of the company.

Rather than focusing on how profitable an investment might be, he advised first considering if that investment will make the community better. He pointed to the Ally Village development and the development currently being planned by the Johnson family of Summit Petroleum and the Faskens as falling into that category.

Continued here:
Private companies have capital discipline in their DNA - Midland Reporter-Telegram

DNA connects suspect to scene, police say

by: David Charns

A 22-year-old man is accused of killing another man in May by using a cinder block to hit his head, records showed. (KLAS)

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A 22-year-old man is accused of killing another man in May by using a cinder block to hit his head, records showed.

Police arrested James Espinoza on Monday on a charge of murder with the use of a deadly weapon, records showed. Espinoza is accused of killing William Hallett, 53, on May 1 in an alley near 10th Street and Bonanza Road, court documents said.

Dispatchers had received an anonymous 911 call that a man was found with significant injuries. Investigators were initially unsure if Hallett police had been killed or if he had fallen.

Detectives said they matched Espinozas DNA with blood found at the crime scene, including on a cinder block. On July 9, police arrested Espinoza on an active warrant for DUI. Detectives were then able to obtain a DNA sample, which they said connected Espinoza to the scene.

The Clark County Coroners Office determined Hallett died of blunt force trauma to his head.

Police also determined Espinoza lived in an apartment near the parking lot, they said.

Espinoza was due in court Wednesday.

Read more here:
DNA leads police to 22-year-old man accused of murder with cinder block - KLAS - 8 News Now

VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) -- Carrie Newton said her childhood was filled with joy, and happiness, alongside her mom, stepdad, and siblings.

"I thought my mom's first husband was my dad, and I had never met him because I was raised by my stepdad," Newton, now 52 years old, remembered.

Thoughts of tracking down her biological father rarely entered her mind until she was older. It wasn't until three years ago that she hopped on the trend of submitting a DNA heritage test.

"I just wanted to find out where I was from geographically, Newton said.

Little did she know that DNA kit would change her life forever.

"I kept getting emails saying, 'You have a fifth cousin'. I didn't care about that. Then about a year later, I checked my email, and it said, 'You have a half-sister and a niece, said Newton.

It turns out that half-sister got a similar notification around the same time because she took the same DNA heritage kit. The two eventually came into contact, leading Newton to her biological father, Mario Gonzales.

"My daughter from my previous marriage called me and goes, 'Dad, did you date a girl by the name of Kay when you 18?' And it was complete silence," said Gonzales.

He was shocked because, at 18, he dated Newtons mother until she moved back to Seattle, and he'd never hear from her again.

"My daughter gave me her number, and I immediately called her and said, 'Honey, this is your dad,' and she started crying, she made me cry, Gonzales said.

Gonzales said he never knew Newtons mother was pregnant. Sadly, in 2004 Kay lost her battle with cancer, taking that secret with her.

Finally, after a long-awaited year amid COVID-19, the duo met at San Diego International Airport.

As Newton came down the escalator, years of distance evaporated in mere moments as she and Gonzales embraced each other with tears of joy.

The cost of these DNA kits unearthing a priceless connection.

"It was like we were two peas in a pod. Every time we talked, it's like we get each other," Newton said.

This story was first reported by Vanessa Paz on 10news.com.

See the article here:
DNA kit links father and daughter after 52 years - ABC Action News

Embark Dog DNA Test: Most Accurate & Highest Reviewed Dog DNA Test

$30 off Breed + Health Kit use code FALL30 or $30 off Breed ID Kit use code BREED30

8,457 five star reviews and counting

Getting her from a shelter and not knowing anything about her history always bothered me. We were always getting asked what she was and could never say for sure. Knowing what she is now is a great feeling. The results were so surprising and blew us all away.

One of my dogs has a hereditary issue. Embark notified me immediately before completing the rest of the tests. I took Allie to the vet, unknown health issues were fixed and she is now on preventative treatment (prescription dog food). So grateful!

Embark provided amazingly thorough detail, not only on my dog's breed, but health risks to watch for and matching with other relatives in the database with similar DNA matches which was cool to see. Embark is the real deal!

It satisfied my curiosity about my dog's background and it has been informative for my vet - now knowing potential health risks due to my dog's breed and genes. This enables us to be proactive about her health vs reactive should she ever face disease or other health issues.

You were able to find a genetic abnormality in her liver. Knowing this could have saved her life in the future. With this knowledge we are working with her vet to find what her normal liver value is so we are prepared for any change. We cant thank you enough.

Animated Block Will I shed like crazy? Am I a high flyer? Are doggie bladder stones in my future? Decoded: The MC5R gene Decoded: The ACSL4 gene Decoded: The MC1R gene Why do I look like Batman? Your pups facial fur can look like a black mask or widows peak depending on this result. Decoded: The EPAS1 gene Decoded: The SLC2A9 gene Will I make serious gains? Find out if your dog is likely to be a heavy, seasonal, or light shedder. You might have a body builder on your hands. Find out if your pup is likely to bulk up. Your pup can climb the highest heights with you if theyre tolerant of low oxygen levels. Common in certain breeds, doggie bladder stones can be easily prevented if you know to look for them. Decoded: The KRT71 gene Where did I get my waves from? You might be jealous of your pups luscious locks, depending on this result.

Excerpt from:
Embark Dog DNA Test: Most Accurate & Highest Reviewed Dog ...

The number of Americans who self-identify as multiracial leapt a staggering 276% on last year's Census, as compared with the results 10 years prior a trend that NPR reports could stem in part from the rise of at-home DNA testing.

Still, a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center two years ago found that just 16% of people had taken a mail-in DNA test from the likes of MyHeritage or 23andMe (ME), suggesting that the user base has room to grow.

In fact, 23andMe Co-founder CEO Anne Wojcicki told Yahoo Finance that she "absolutely" anticipates a future in which everyone receives DNA sequencing at the outset of their lives.

The widespread adoption of DNA testing will enable a new model of personalized healthcare that determines the treatment we get and the drugs we take based on our specific genetic code, said Wojcicki, whose company went public through a SPAC merger in June.

"If you ask any medical professional, everyone says there's absolutely a world where everyone is sequenced at birth," she says.

"But the path to get from today to that moment in time is undefined," she adds. "And frankly, that's one of the things that 23andMe is doing is we are actually the ones defining that path."

A boom in at-home DNA test sales from 2015 to 2018 culminated with as many customers purchasing such tests in 2018 as did in all previous years, according to an analysis from the MIT Technology Review. But sales of the tests slumped over the ensuing years, causing layoffs at 23andMe in early 2020.

The company has since seen a recovery in the market as COVID-19 "reignited" consumer interest in healthcare, Wojcicki said.

More than 80% of 23andMe customers consent to the use of their DNA information for research, giving the company a vast database that has facilitated its entry into drug development.

This illustration picture shows a saliva collection kit for DNA testing displayed in Washington DC on December 19, 2018. RIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images

Story continues

In 2018, 23andMe established a $300 million partnership with British pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for the discovery of drugs using DNA research.

23andMe sees the expansion into therapeutics as part of a broader shift toward healthcare that will consider the genetic makeup of each patient, Wojcicki says.

"There's a huge opportunity to say, 'I'm going to deliver true personalized care,'" she says. "'I'm going to help you understand what your risks are, and then potentially help you manage how to prevent."

"Then there's this opportunity for us to all come together, and crowdsource: What does the human genome actually mean?" she adds.

Wojcicki, who has led 23dandMe since its founding in 2006, spent nearly a decade on Wall Street as a healthcare analyst. Her scientific background dates back at least as far as her college education at Yale University, where she earned a degree in biology.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Wojcicki said that as DNA becomes a more prominent part of the way people understand themselves, it can help them see past other differences.

"DNA is the ultimate connector of humanity," she says. "We all have a common root."

"I look at it, and I look at [how] each mutation tells a phenomenal story of our survival," she adds. "We're all unique and different and optimized to survive in different types of environments."

Read more:

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.

Follow this link:
Absolutely a future where everyone's DNA sequenced at birth: 23andMe CEO - Yahoo Finance

Viking invasions made a lasting impression on the DNA map of Ireland according to a massive study carried out by Trinity College Dublin.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin reported in 2018 that they believe the Viking and Norman invasions of Ireland may have made a more striking impression on the DNA makeup of the country than previously thought.

In January 2018, they also discovered 23 new genetic clusters in Ireland not previously identified, leading to the belief that we may have far more Viking and Norman ancestry than previously evidenced.

The long and complex history of population dynamics in Ireland has left an indelible mark on the genomes of modern inhabitants of the island co-author of the study Professor Russell McLaughlin told the MailOnline.

We have shown that using only genetic data, we can accurately reconstruct elements of this past and demonstrate a striking correlation between geographical provenance and genetic affinity.

By comparing 1,000 Irish genomes with over 6,000 genomes from Britain and mainland Europe, genetic clusters within the west of Ireland, in particular, were discovered for the first time, leading the researchers to investigate if invasions from the Vikings and Normans to the east may have influenced genetics in that part of the country.

The Vikings made a lasting impact on Ireland (iStock)

The genetics of the worlds estimated 80 million people who claim Irish heritage may now be more complicated than originally believed but research such as this could go some way to identifying if there are any specific traits or illnesses that are linked to these genetic clusters.

This subtle genetic structure within such a small country has implications for medical genetic association studies, said Trinity College Dublin geneticist Dr. Ross Byrne.

As it stands current corrections for population structure in study designs may not adequately account for this within-country variation, which may potentially lead to false-positive results emerging."

Love Irish history? Share your favorite stories with other history buffs in the IrishCentral History Facebook group.

We feel this will be particularly important in the analysis of rare variants as these are expected to be less uniformly distributed throughout a country."

We intend to explore this further and identify if this structure should be accounted for in corrections.

The research from Trinity came just weeks after the Royal College of Surgeons and the Genealogical Society of Ireland in Dublin released their own research to suggest a strong influence of the Vikings on the DNA makeup of Ireland.

This team discovered genetic evidence of the Vikings in Ireland for the first time, although they only identified ten different genetic clusters across the country. These clusters were more in line with the ancient kingdoms and provinces in Ireland.

* Originally published in 2018. Updated in 2021.

Read the rest here:
The impact Viking and Norman DNA had on the Irish - IrishCentral