Category Archives: Human Genetics

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) Biotech pioneer Amgen Inc., in a bid for a big edge in using people's genetic information to find better ways to attack diseases, is buying human genetics research and analytics leader deCODE Genetics for $415 million.

Amgen, the world's largest biotech company by revenue, and deCODE, based in Reykjavik, Iceland, announced the all-cash deal Monday.

DeCODE, founded in 1996, has discovered genetic risk factors for dozens of diseases, ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer.

Probably its key asset and the reason for the deal is deCODE's huge database of the genetic and medical information of Iceland's population. That data can help researchers find links between genetic variations and characteristics that increase a person's risk of getting a particular disease and also affect patients' response to a drug.

"DeCODE Genetics has built a world-class capability in the study of the genetics of human disease. This capability will enhance our efforts to identify and validate human disease targets," Amgen CEO Robert Bradway said in a statement.

"This fits perfectly with our objective to pursue rapid development of relevant molecules that reach the right disease targets while avoiding investments in programs based on less well-validated targets," Bradway added.

That's important because the vast majority of experimental drugs, after years of expensive testing, eventually turn out not to work well or to have dangerous side effects. Drugmakers worldwide are trying to find ways to make their drug-development process more efficient to avoid spending tens of millions of dollars testing drugs that end up failing.

UBS Securities analyst Matthew Roden wrote in a note to investors that Amgen management stressed to him that being able to more efficiently identify and confirm targets for future development would help the company spot promising candidates, as well as likely failures, earlier.

"It is not surprising that Amgen is building out this R&D capability," given that some of its key experimental drugs were identified based on human genetics work, Roden wrote.

He has a "Buy" rating for Amgen and a 12-month share price target of $96, higher than its shares have ever been and significantly above its $89.95 peak over the last year. Roden noted Amgen will use off-shore cash for the deal and will not issue debt to cover it.

Continue reading here:
Amgen buying deCODE Genetics for $415 million

200000 Year Old Annunaki Cities Discovered in Africa
200000 Year Old Annunaki Cities Discovered in Africa Publisher and producer Michael Tellinger discussed his study of ancient ruins at the southern tip of Africa, which he believes were associated with a vanished civilization that ET visitors, the Annunaki, brought together over 200000 years ago, when they came here to mine gold. The ruins, which he #39;s investigated along with Johan Heine, consist of thousands of stone structures over a large area. The structures show evidence of their extreme antiquity through erosion and patina growth, he detailed. One of the most important ruins he referred to as "Adam #39;s Calendar," a monolithic stone calendar that could mark time out by the day. The Annunaki tinkered with human genetics to make their mine workers, Tellinger said, referencing the work of Zecharia Sitchin. Among the ruins are hexagonal shapes clustered together like honeycombs, which he speculated could have been used as cloning tanks. Further, he suggested that many of the structures, made out of stones that contain quartz, were used as energy devices to power the large settlements. By studying the area using aerial maps, Tellinger determined there were three great cities, some 60 x 60 miles each, one of which included Great Zimbabwe. Among the ruins, the first pyramids can be found, and details carved into some of the rocks include the Ankh symbol-- thousands of years before the Egyptian civilization used it, he reported. Biography: Michael Tellinger is a scientist in the ...From:TopSecretNews1Views:463 24ratingsTime:01:19:13More inNews Politics

Continued here:
200000 Year Old Annunaki Cities Discovered in Africa - Video

Genetics Video
Please read: This is an informative video created for our Human Genetics class final. It gives basic information about schizophrenia. If you would, please take a survey after watching the video, so that we may collect information about it. The survey is here: http://www.surveymonkey.comFrom:Olivia PowersViews:6 0ratingsTime:06:22More inEducation

Original post:
Genetics Video - Video

AgOnline Introduction: GEN 340
Jack Girton introduces his online course GEN 340 - Human Genetics.From:iowastatecalsViews:0 0ratingsTime:01:48More inEducation

Visit link:
AgOnline Introduction: GEN 340 - Video

STOCKHOLM, December 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Online audiences have an opportunity to pose questions to Nobel Laureates, other prominent scientists and thought leaders about genetics and genomics at a unique science conference, titled Nobel Week Dialogue, taking place on December 9th 2012. Focusing on the theme of "The Genetic Revolution and its Impact on Society", this one day meeting will review current and future prospects for personalised medicine, genetically modified organisms and human evolution and biology. The conference will be streamed live onnobelweekdialogue.org. Due to great interest, the conference is now fully booked.

Questions can be submitted ahead of time with and during the live streaming of the afternoon group discussion panels where topics will include: The Promised Land of Genomic Medicine: Where Can the Science Take Us and How Do We Actually Get There; Genetics in Agriculture and the Environment: Where Are We Going and How Can We Get There?;Genetics and Nurture: Understanding the Interactions Between Genetics and the Environment;Human Evolution: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?; and Human Biology: The Great Deal We Don't Know and How to Discover It. These questions may contribute to shaping the discussions. Questions can be submitted via Google Moderator or email: nobelweekdialogue@gmail.com For more information: http://www.nobelweekdialogue.org/programme/live-event-webcasts/

Participating Nobel Laureates include Bruce Beutler (2011), Steven Chu (1997), Joseph Goldstein (1985), Craig Mello (2006), Christiane Nsslein-Volhard (1995) James Watson (1962) and Kurt Wtrich (2002).

Additional participating experts include Mary-Claire King, President of the American Society of Human Genetics, Eric Lander, founder of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, John Dupr, Director of the ESRC Centre for Genomics in Society and Janet Woodcock, Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration. For a complete list of participants, see: http://www.nobelweekdialogue.org/participants/

Follow Nobel Week Dialogue event blog: http://www.nobelweekdialogue.org/media/blog/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NobelWeekDialogue

Or Twitter: @nobelweekdialog #nwd12

About Nobel Week Dialogue

During the annual Nobel Week, held each December in Stockholm, the current year's Nobel Laureates participate in a whirlwind of events and activities leading up to 10 December, when they receive their Nobel Prize and attend the Nobel Banquet. This year, the roster of activities has been expanded to include a new conference: Nobel Week Dialogue, taking place on December 9th.

Go here to see the original:
Submit Questions to Nobel Laureates and Other Experts about Genetics and Society

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --23andMe has received grants totaling $573,000 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support three projects that utilize 23andMe's unique web-based research platform. These include projects to better understand the genetics of allergies; to assess accuracy of new sequencing technologies in clinical applications; and to develop tools that will take advantage of the genotypic and phenotypic information in the 23andMe database to further accelerate the pace of human genetic research.

"These NIH grants recognize the ability of 23andMe's unique, web-based research platform to accelerate our understanding of human genetics," said Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and CEO of 23andMe. "23andMe is pleased to bring public funding to bear on data and research driven by the public our more than 180,000 customers."

The first of the grants will support genome wide association studies (GWAS) to discover genetic factors affecting allergic disease risk, and to assess gene environment interactions, as well as treatment responses. Asthma and allergies are extremely common, affect one in five Americans, and represent a substantial public health burden. GWAS of complex traits with both genetic and environmental contributions such as allergies - are most effective when a large cohort is used in the study. The 23andMe research cohort includes more than 25,000 individuals reporting one or more allergies, more than 8,000 reporting an asthma diagnosis and more than 5,000 reporting having eczema. In addition, the 23andMe research cohort includes more than 100,000 individuals serving as controls.

Identifying genetic associations improves understanding of disease mechanisms in the body and can inform work towards improved diagnostics and treatments of allergic conditions.

"This grant will enable 23andMe to effectively partner with leading experts and researchers in the genetics of asthma and allergies," said Principal Scientist at 23andMe, David Hinds, Ph.D. "Top experts will work together and with our data set seeking to discover genetic variants associated with allergies and asthma."

23andMe will also be investigating error rates from next-generation sequencing technologies to help define data-quality metrics and technical specifications to support a sequencing-based Personal Genome Service. This project was informed by the June 2011 FDA Public Meeting, "Ultra High Throughput Sequencing for Clinical Diagnostic Applications- Approaches to Assess Analytical Validity." In this project, 23andMe will focus on the accuracy of technology used to sequence 150 exomes, including 50 new exomes sequenced for this project, and 100 whole genomes.

"Novel genetic sequencing technologies are emerging rapidly, and before they can be broadly adopted the accuracy of their results must be validated, whether viewed by a clinician or by individual consumers," said 23andMe Founding Scientist Brian T. Naughton, PhD.

Naughton, principal investigator for this project, will oversee sequencing of 50 exomes known to carry disease-associated variants. This project will work toward creating a pipeline for next-generation sequence annotation that combines stringent quality control based on genotyping array and Sanger sequencing data; manually curated data from human genetics literature; and computational analysis of variants of unknown significance.

Principal investigator Nicholas Eriksson, PhD. will lead the development of tools to expand the utility of the 23andMe database, which includes phenotypic and genetic data from more than 180,000 customers. This project will measure and improve the reliability of self-reported data, analyze and organize survey responses for hundreds of new traits, and will extract more robust data to demonstrate the feasibility of the web-based approach to studying a broad range of conditions. This effort will establish the foundation for development of new surveys and data collection tools to support longitudinal studies and prepare for the depth of genetic data associated with whole-genome sequencing.

"A research engine will enhance not only research outcomes from 23andMe efforts," said Dr. Eriksson, "but also the research value of the data for clinical and pharmaceutical partners to identify causes, diagnoses and treatments for genetically based conditions and accelerate the translational process of moving research discoveries to practical applications for patients."

Excerpt from:
23andMe Scientists Receive More Than $500,000 In Funding from the National Institutes of Health

CLAM CHOWDER IS DOPE (The Hidden)
#9658; #9658; #9658; Enjoy the video? Subscribe! bit.ly #9668; #9668; #9668; Download Here: http://www.hidden-source.com What is The Hidden? "In the early 1950s human genetics experimentation was taking its first, tentative steps. Amongst many other black projects, a team of British scientists working at an Infinitum Research experimental station stumbled across some remarkable phenomena involving DNA manipulation. This led to deeper research with dangerously unpredictable results, often leading to human patients losing their lives in irresponsible and immoral experiments. Time passed on, and by the mid 1990s the failure rate of the experiments had been reduced from 75% to a mere 15%, enough for Infinitum to move onto the next stage Biological Light Refraction. The British team were hoping to unravel the possibilities of light manipulation to create the perfect covert military agent. Early into the new millennium, due to a gross miscalculation, a series of tests on Subject 617 led to a massive synaptic trauma leaving the patient with multiple genetic anomalies. The subject was left in constant pain and with unstable DNA. The subject escaped captivity, killing anyone that got in its way. The IRIS (Infinitum Research Interception Squad) team have been deployed to return the subject to a maximum security Infinitum Research facility for further study and dissection. The entire project was considered a failure: all funding ceased and development was discontinued while all records and traces of the experiments ...From:SeaNannersViews:287610 10003ratingsTime:03:00More inGaming

Go here to read the rest:
CLAM CHOWDER IS DOPE (The Hidden) - Video

MLG MICK JAGGER (The Hidden)
#9658; #9658; #9658; Enjoy the video? Subscribe! bit.ly #9668; #9668; #9668; Download Here: http://www.hidden-source.com What is The Hidden? "In the early 1950s human genetics experimentation was taking its first, tentative steps. Amongst many other black projects, a team of British scientists working at an Infinitum Research experimental station stumbled across some remarkable phenomena involving DNA manipulation. This led to deeper research with dangerously unpredictable results, often leading to human patients losing their lives in irresponsible and immoral experiments. Time passed on, and by the mid 1990s the failure rate of the experiments had been reduced from 75% to a mere 15%, enough for Infinitum to move onto the next stage Biological Light Refraction. The British team were hoping to unravel the possibilities of light manipulation to create the perfect covert military agent. Early into the new millennium, due to a gross miscalculation, a series of tests on Subject 617 led to a massive synaptic trauma leaving the patient with multiple genetic anomalies. The subject was left in constant pain and with unstable DNA. The subject escaped captivity, killing anyone that got in its way. The IRIS (Infinitum Research Interception Squad) team have been deployed to return the subject to a maximum security Infinitum Research facility for further study and dissection. The entire project was considered a failure: all funding ceased and development was discontinued while all records and traces of the experiments ...From:SeaNannersViews:208483 8567ratingsTime:03:07More inGaming

See the rest here:
MLG MICK JAGGER (The Hidden) - Video

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) Nearly three-quarters of mutations in genes that code for proteins -- the workhorses of the cell -- occurred within the past 5,000 to 10,000 years, fairly recently in evolutionary terms, said a national consortium of genomic and genetic experts, including those at Baylor College of Medicine.

"One of the most interesting points is that Europeans have more new deleterious (potentially disease-causing) mutations than Africans," said Dr. Suzanne Leal, professor of molecular and human genetics at BCM and an author of the report. She is also director of the BCM Center for Statistical Genetics. "Having so many of these new variants can be partially explained by the population explosion in the European population. However, variation that occur in genes that are involved in Mendelian traits and in those that affect genes essential to the proper functioning of the cell tend to be much older." (A Mendelian trait is controlled by a single gene. Mutations in that gene can have devastating effects.)

How events affected genome

The amount variation or mutation identified in protein-coding genes (the exome) in this study is very different from what would have been seen 5,000 years ago, said Leal and her colleagues in the report that appears online in the journal Nature. The report shows that "recent" events have a potent effect on the human genome.

Eighty-six percent of the genetic variation or mutations that are expected to be harmful arose in European-Americans in the last five thousand years, said the researchers.

The researchers used established bioinformatics techniques to calculate the age of more than a million changes in single base pairs (the A-T, C-G of the genetic code) that are part of the exome or protein-coding portion of the genomes (human genetic blueprint) of 6,515 people of both European-American and African-American decent. The research was an offshoot of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Exome Sequencing Project.

Human population increase

"The recent dramatic increase in human population size, resulting in a deluge of rare functionally important variation, has important implications for understanding and predicting current and future patterns of human disease and evolution," wrote the authors in their report.

Others institutions that took part in this research include the University of Washington, Seattle; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Funding for the research came from the GO (Grand Opportunity) Exome Sequencing Project (NHLBI grants RC2 HL-103010 (Heart GO), RC2 HL-102923 (Lung GO) and RC2 HL-102924 (WHISP). The exome sequencing was supported by NHLBI grants RC2HL-102925 (Broad GO) and RC2 HL-102926 (Seattle GO).

Excerpt from:
Human genetic variation recent, varies among populations

The Hidden - Sukuninja and Rcruzval - Part 1 - How do You..?
What is The Hidden? "In the early 1950s human genetics experimentation was taking its first, tentative steps. Amongst many other black projects, a team of British scientists working at an Infinitum Research experimental station stumbled across some remarkable phenomena involving DNA manipulation. This led to deeper research with dangerously unpredictable results, often leading to human patients losing their lives in irresponsible and immoral experiments. Time passed on, and by the mid 1990s the failure rate of the experiments had been reduced from 75% to a mere 15%, enough for Infinitum to move onto the next stage: Biological Light Refraction. The British team were hoping to unravel the possibilities of light manipulation to create the perfect covert military agent. Early into the new millennium, due to a gross miscalculation, a series of tests on Subject 617 led to a massive synaptic trauma leaving the patient with multiple genetic anomalies. The subject was left in constant pain and with unstable DNA. The subject escaped captivity, killing anyone that got in its way. The IRIS (Infinitum Research Interception Squad) team have been deployed to return the subject to a maximum security Infinitum Research facility for further study and dissection. The entire project was considered a failure: all funding ceased and development was discontinued while all records and traces of the experiments were destroyed. Infinitum Research denies all knowledge of any form of human DNA ...From:ThoughtlessGamesViews:14 0ratingsTime:03:54More inGaming

View original post here:
The Hidden - Sukuninja and Rcruzval - Part 1 - How do You..? - Video