Category Archives: Transhuman News

At-home DNA test kits like 23andMe have been around for years. In fact, according to a recent CR survey, about 20 percent of Americans have taken a genetic test, perhaps with the hope of finding answers about their family origins or potential health problems. But as Consumer Reports explains, although you might take the test for fun, the results can be serious.

Though some of these tests can help determine if youre likely to develop diseases such as breast cancer or Alzheimers, they could also give you a false sense of reliefor fear.

While a positive result from these tests can mean you do have a higher risk of a certain disease, a negative result doesnt necessarily mean youre out of the woods, because there could be other variants that can cause that disease not detected by the test.

23andMe says it clearly explains test limitations to users.

While DIY DNA tests can be helpful, some may find the results confusing, misleading, or upsetting.

In the CR survey, about 10 percent of people who used these tests said their reports contained unsettling information, such as the news that someone thought to be a biological relative wasnt actually related to them at all.

If you think these kits are going to give you a complete picture of your ancestry and your health, youre going to be disappointed. And there is also the possibility that it could reveal information you may not even want to know about your family.

Bottom line: A DIY DNA test kit might be right for you as long as you understand what your results may or may not signify.

Consumer Reports would also like to remind you that there are very few laws that regulate what a company can do with your genetic data once they receive it, so it could be sold to a third party without you ever knowing about it.

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The truth about DNA testing kits - wtkr.com

When it comes to the environment, few countries rival Costa Rica in terms of action and ambition.

The tiny Central American nation is aiming for total decarbonisation by 2050, not just a net zero target. It has regrown large areas of tropical rainforest after suffering some of the highest rates of deforestation in the world in the 1970s and 1980s. Costa Ricans play a major role in international environmental politics, most notably Christiana Figueres, who helped to corral world leaders into agreeing the Paris accord.

Now Costa Rica has turned its attention to securing an ambitious international agreement on halting biodiversity loss. In January, more than 50 countries committed to the protection of 30% of the planets land and oceans as part of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, spearheaded by Costa Rica, which is a co-chair alongside France and the UK.

The coalition hopes the target will become the headline aim for an international agreement on halting biodiversity loss for this decade, set to be negotiated in Kunming, China, later this year.

Our approach is to lead by example. As Mandela said, It always seems impossible until its done, Costa Rican president Carlos Alvarado Quesada told the Guardian. Conservation is one of the key factors that scientists point out as relevant for protecting biodiversity and also for addressing the climate crisis. But working alone, its not as effective.

The world has never met a single target to stem the destruction of wildlife and life-sustaining ecosystems. But the 41-year-old leader believes this time might be different.

We will be running a series of occasional articles looking at the key issues and people involved at the Cop15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity scheduled to be held in Kunming, China, in 2021. The meeting will bring together governments from around the world to sign up toaParis-style agreementon biodiversity that setsgoals for the next decade.

Quesada swept to power in April 2018, defeating a conservative evangelical pastor who had campaigned against same-sex marriage. It was a rare victory for a centre-left candidate in a time of rising global rightwing populism and led Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz to conclude that Costa Rica was a beacon of enlightenment for its commitment to reason, rational discourse, science and freedom.

But the pandemic and resulting blow to Costa Ricas ecotourism industry forced Quesada to enter painful negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, raising fears of large cuts in a country that puts human development at its core, alongside environmentalism.

Costa Rica, now an OECD member, has no standing army, invests heavily in education and boasts a universal healthcare system. The prospect of internationally enforced austerity caused rioting in October last year, and Quesada pulled out of talks. In January, the IMF and the Costa Rican government agreed a $1.75bn (1.25bn) package that avoided some of the more controversial proposals.

Despite the difficult choices, the president said he was encouraged that global action on the environment will result from the pandemic, especially after the election of Joe Biden as US president, with whom he spoke recently.

It was a very close conversation. We have lots of things in common. We talked about working together in addressing the climate crisis, Quesada said. I think the message of appointing Senator [John] Kerry as ambassador in this area is very strong. Its going to be a key priority.

Quesada did not speak to Donald Trump during the latters presidency. But the Costa Rican president said the climate crisis and the breakdown of nature were already causing significant problems in the region, including the migrant caravans heading to the US border that often dominate the concerns of US Republicans.

More and more, the real impacts of the climate crisis on our societies is evident. Just in this past year, Central America was hit by two consecutive hurricanes: Hurricane Iota and Hurricane Eta. Particularly in Nicaragua and Honduras, not only in terms of deaths but also in terms of production and the potential in terms of unemployment, the migrations that it could produce mean you cannot only see the storms in isolation as hurricanes, he said.

Scientists say that hurricanes in the region have become more frequent and stronger. This is going to have effects in our societies in terms of economic growth, of jobs, of inequality, of inequality in terms of women, on migration.

Alongside larger partners, Costa Rica will continue to encourage other governments to take bold action on biodiversity at Kunming through the HAC for Nature and People. But the road ahead is not easy. The negotiations cover conservation and the sustainable use of nature a topic that will involve difficult choices about agriculture, chemical use and resource extraction by far more influential powers.

Quesada acknowledges these challenges but says that although such issues also exist in Costa Rica, he will continue to focus on being an example.

Environmental policies do not necessarily have unanimous consensus. For the past decades, they have been the dominant DNA of Costa Rica but there are also some people saying that perhaps we should be exploiting more. But still, I believe thats very far away from our DNA.

Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features

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It's in our DNA: tiny Costa Rica wants the world to take giant climate step - The Guardian

Alien hunting is a hopeful activity and one reason behind our space programs that the public generally supports. Looking for other life is a strong incentive to be venturing out into space, despite having found none so far. A top British space scientist, Professor Monica Grady, gave all cosmic explorers a big dose of such hope in a recent speech. She is certain there's some form of life on Jupiter's moon, Europa.

This life would not look human, but more like an "octopus," and is likely residing in the cold waters under the moon's sheets of ice.

Grady, a Professor of Planetary and Space Science and Chancellor at Liverpool Hope University, thinks there's a great likelihood of undiscovered life somewhere in our galaxy.

She also supposes that the deeper caves and cavernous spaces of Mars could be harboring some subterranean creatures, likely bacteria, there to escape the solar radiation. They could be getting water from the ice buried deep down.

"When it comes to the prospects of life beyond Earth, it's almost a racing certainty that there's life beneath the ice on Europa," she said in a February address.

She thinks these life forms on Europa, 390 million miles from Earth, could be higher in sophistication than the Martian bacteria, possibly having "the intelligence of an octopus."

Where would the creatures live on this moon of Jupiter? Somewhere below the very thick layer of ice, which goes 15 miles deep in some places. It's possible there is liquid water beneath all that ice, keeping whatever lives inside protected against radiation and the impact of asteroids and similar smashing bodies.

The likelihood of life on Europa is bolstered by the possible hydrothermal vents on its ocean floor. Such vents are cradles of life on Earth.

Grady thinks that our solar system doesn't have to be particularly special and that statistically speaking, as we explore other stars and galaxies, we should be able to find conditions for life. "I think it's highly likely there will be life elsewhereand I think it's highly likely they'll be made of the same elements," stated the professor.

Neil deGrasse Tyson wants to go ice fishing on Europa

Grady did not want to guess whether we would contact extraterrestrials any time soon, citing the fact that distances between us and likely aliens might be gigantic.

On the other hand, she added, if you look at a grain of sand, you "can see that most of it is made up of silicates, but it's also got little patches of carbon in itand that carbon is extra-terrestrial, because it also contains nitrogen and hydrogen, which is not a terrestrial signature."

This tiny sample, says Grady, shows it was hit by meteorites, asteroids, and interstellar dust, pointing out "It's giving us an idea of how complex the record of extra-terrestrial material really is."

As for Europa, it has certainly figured in conversations about alien life previously. As NASA explains, scientists call Europa an "ocean world" due to decades of observations that predict an ocean under its sheets of ice.

In 2019, water vapor was confirmed there by NASA for the first time. While it might just have the right conditions for life, does this moon have little octopus E.T.s swimming about? Future studies will tell.

Water Vapor Above Europas Surface Deteced for First Time

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Watch first ever dancing DNA video made by researchers - Big Think

This is only the tip of the iceberg. For example, the vidiprinter also flagged a goal for Kenji Gorre in Portugal's Liga NOS, for Nacional. In that same league on Friday night, Angel Gomes had swept home a superb free-kick for Boavista. Back to domestic matters, the teatime game was the big one in the Premier League as Everton won the Merseyside derby at Liverpool.

The Man of the Match? Michael Keane, a member of our last FA Youth Cup-winning side. While watching him 'in the zone' at Anfield, repellingeverything Jurgen Klopp's men could muster, I recalled conducting his first club-media interview, alongside his twin brother Will (who is now with Wigan Athletic), at the Aon Training Complex many years ago. I could not have been more thrilled with his exceptional performance against Liverpool. He and Will are just two of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.

Football is, of course, not merely about goals or even good performances. There was a big transfer story earlier in the day with Ryan Shawcross signing for Inter Miami, the Major League side owned by David Beckham and managed by Phil Neville. Our former defender enjoyed a wonderful 14 years at Stoke City and you only have to look at the way Potters fans responded to his departure to understand how much his sterling service was appreciated. He's another success story for our Academy and we all wish him well for his new adventure in the United States.

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Why Man Utd DNA is spread throughout league and beyond - Manchester United

Photo by Russell Cothren

Anastasia Makhanova.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. Variation in a specific gene could be related to traits that are beneficial to bonding and relationship satisfaction in the first years of a marriage, according to a new study by a University of Arkansas psychologist.

Recent research indicates that a variation called CC in the gene CD38 is associated with increased levels of gratitude. Extending that line of work, U of A psychologist Anastasia Makhanova and her colleagues used data from a study of genotyped newlyweds to explore whether a correlation existed between the CD38 CC variation and levels of trust, forgiveness and marriage satisfaction. They found that individuals with the CC variation did report higher levels of perceptions considered beneficial to successful relationships, particularly trust.

Marriage satisfaction tends to start high then drop, said Makhanova, assistant professor of psychology and first author of the study, published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. We were interested in seeing if some of the reasons that people might have a harder time maintaining relationship satisfaction in the newlywed period is due to some potential underlying genetic predispositions.

For the work, researchers studied 142 newlyweds 71 couples a subset of a larger group used for other studies. The newlyweds DNA was collected three months after being married, and they also completed a survey at that point as well as one every four months for three years. At the end of the study, researchers compared survey results with the CD38 variations and found that those with the specific CC variation reported higher levels of traits corresponding to marriage satisfaction.

CC individuals felt more grateful for their partner, reported higher trust in their partner, were more forgiving of their partner, and were more satisfied with their marriages than were AC/AA individuals, the researchers wrote.

While the work points to a possible genetic link to marriage satisfaction,Makhanova notes that it doesnt mean those without the CD38 CC variation will not have successful relationships.

So it's not that people who don't have the CC genotype are doomed to have problems, she said. It's just that they're more likely to have issues in some of these domains, and so those people might have to work a little bit more in those domains.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.

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Study Suggests Link Between DNA and Marriage Satisfaction in Newlyweds - University of Arkansas Newswire

Major advancements in medical science and technology, coupled with the increasing adoption of personalized medicine initiatives are likely to aid in expansion of the global DNA & RNA banking services market during the forecast period set between 2020 and 2030. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) share a correlative relationship wherein the DNA stores and transfers information of the genetics whereas RNA acts as a messenger between the ribosomes and DNA and produces proteins for the body. The increasing cases of cancer worldwide have propelled the need for saving and storing DNA and RNA samples for future uses. This is likely to aid in expansion of the market for DNA and RNA banking services worldwide.

The global DNA & RNA Banking Services market is classified on the basis of specimen, service, application, end use, and region. In terms of service, the market is grouped into processing, data storage, quality control, storage, transportation, and others. Based on specimen, the market is bifurcated into buccal swabs & hair follicles, blood, and others. With respect to end use, the market is classified into hospitals & diagnostic centers, pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, academic research, and others. Based on segmentation by application, the market for DNA & RNA Banking Services is segmented into clinical diagnostics, drug discovery & clinical research, therapeutics, and others.

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The report on the global DNA & RNA Banking Services market is based on a comprehensive analysis and provides an elaborate overview of the market and its prime growth trajectories. This includes factors pushing up the growth rates of the market or creating hurdles for it. The report also emphasizes on the table of segments, and mentions the name of the dominating segment with its attributed factors. Furthermore, the report highlights the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on this market, analyzes the strategies that may turn out to be fruitful for the growth of the market in the years to follow.

DNA & RNA Banking Services Market: Competitive Landscape

Major vendors of this market are adopting various tactics to widen their presence in the overall market competition. Some players are investing heavily on research and development, of better storage options for RNA and DNA specimens and on clinical trials so as to ensure their quality and purity and to generate more revenues for their brand in order to emerge as a top leader or maintain their already existing position in the worldwide competition. Other players are indulging in joint ventures, partnerships, and similar collaborations to emerge as a strong contestant and gain a foothold in the competition.

Some of the players functioning in this global market for DNA and RNA banking services are;

DNA & RNA Banking Services Market: Trends and Opportunities

The increasing number of newly constructed and recently functioning imaging biobanks serves as the key factor aiding in expansion of the global market for DNA and RNA banking services market. In addition to this, the advancement in medical imaging and the use of computed tomography for identification and validation of non-invasive biomarkers for collecting images will also promote the growth of the market in the coming years.

DNA & RNA Banking Services Market: Regional Analysis

Geographically, the global DNA and RNA banking services marker is widespread into the regions of North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. These regions are further classified on the basis of nations. Among these, North America emerged dominant and is likely to continue the same in the coming years as well, attributed to the presence of multiple biobanks. Moreover, the continuous efforts made by the government of Canada and the U.S. on storing tissue, blood, and other forms of specimens will also help the region witness significant growth.

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DNA & RNA Banking Services Market | Exclusive Report on the Latest Trends and Opportunities - BioSpace

A study published this week in Science Translational Medicine describes how urinalysis could potentially be used to detect some forms of cancer.

Currently, cancers are detected and diagnosed using more invasive methods such as surgical biopsies of suspected tumors and blood draws. Urinalysis has long been used to detect and manage many diseases and disorders, but not cancer.

Emily Kumlien608-516-9154ekumlien@uwhealth.org

Researchers investigated whether fragments of cell-free DNA in urine could be analyzed to detect early-stage cancer. Previously, DNA fragments in urine were thought to be degraded at random and were too short to provide any meaningful information about complex diseases such as different forms of cancer. However, in an initial proof-of-concept study, the research team found that DNA fragmentation patterns in urine samples were not random, and that patterns could allow them to distinguish between healthy individuals and those with pancreatic cancer or certain types of pediatric cancers.

The study was led by Dr. Muhammed Murtaza, visiting associate professor of surgery and Center for Human Genomics and Precision Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. The work was performed while Murtaza was at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Arizona.

There are many steps between where we are now and where we want to go confirming cancer from a urine sample but without doubt this is an encouraging first step, said Murtaza. We are eager to continue this research further and hope it will someday enable us to detect cancer earlier, which could improve mortality by enabling treatment at earlier stages.

While early results are promising, the researchers indicate the need to test their findings in much larger populations of cancer patients in comparison to healthy individuals, and identify differences between men and women, different ages, and those with co-morbidities, such as diabetes and other chronic diseases.

Murtaza is available for interviews on this topic today, and a pre-recorded video interview is also available.

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Study finds analyzing DNA in urine could help detect cancer - University of Wisconsin-Madison

Gif: A. L. B. Payne et al., 2021/Nature Communications

Scientists have captured the highest-resolution images ever taken of DNA, revealing previously unseen twisting and squirming behaviors.

Deoxyribonucleic acid, otherwise known as DNA, can be surprisingly active when crammed and contorted inside a cell, according to new research published in Nature Communications. These hidden movements were revealed by computer simulations fed with the highest-resolution images ever taken of a single molecule of DNA. The new study is exposing previously unseen behaviors in the self-replicating molecule, and this research could eventually lead to the development of powerful new genetic therapies.

Seeing is believing, but with something as small as DNA, seeing the helical structure of the entire DNA molecule was extremely challenging, Alice Pyne, the first author of the paper and a materials scientist at the University of Sheffield, said in a statement from the university. The videos we have developed enable us to observe DNA twisting in a level of detail that has never been seen before.

Scientists have previously used microscopes to gaze upon DNA and its twisted ladder-like configuration, but these were limited to static views of the molecule. What scientists havent been able to see is how the intense coiling of DNA affects its double-helical structure. To accomplish this, Pyne and her colleagues combined high-resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) with molecular dynamics computer simulations, which revealed the writhing.

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Long, highly organized strands of DNA are crammed tightly inside our cells. As the new study shows, this results in some surprisingly dynamic physical behaviors.

Agnes Noy, a lecturer at the University of York and a co-author of the study, said the microscopy images and the computer simulations agreed so well that they boosted the resolution of their experiments, allowing the team to track how each atom of the double helix of DNA dances.

For the study, the researchers analyzed DNA minicircles, in which a small strand is joined at both ends, forming a loop structure. DNA minicircles have been described before, and theyre believed to be important indicators of health.

Microscopic images of DNA minicircles in their relaxed position (i.e. no twists) revealed very little movement, but extra twists brought the loop to life, resulting in more vigorous movements. These dynamic moves may serve an important purpose, helping the DNA to find binding partners and facilitate growth.

The new atomic force microscopy shows, with remarkable detail, how wrinkled, bubbled, kinked, denatured, and strangely shaped the DNA minicircles really are, which we hope to be able to control someday, Baylor College of Medicine biologist Lynn Zechiedrich, who supplied the minicircles for the study, said in the University of Sheffield statement.

Indeed, further insights into DNA, and how its able to get so compact, could lead to the development of completely new medical interventions, including improved DNA-based diagnostics and therapeutics, according to the researchers.

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Highest-Resolution Images of DNA Reveal It's Surprisingly Jiggly - Gizmodo

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New Delhi: An estimated 50 per cent of the Indian population is less susceptible to severe Covid-19, and its probably because Neanderthals and modern humans got naughty with each other tens of thousands of years ago. Or so claims a group of researchers from Japan and Germany.

According to researchers behind a study published in PNAS last week, nearly half the Indian population has inherited a 75,000-character-long DNA sequence from Neanderthals that is believed to reduce the risk of severe disease due to Covid-19.

Conducted by researchers from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) in Japan and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany, the study sought to examine a gene variant that was linked to a 22 per cent reduced risk of severe Covid-19 and ICU admissions in another study conducted in December. It found the variant identical to one found in three different Neanderthal specimens.

This is not the first piece of research to find a link between Neanderthals, a species of ancient humans that became extinct 40,000 years ago, and Covid susceptibility in modern human beings.

In July last year, a study by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology found that a piece of the human genome that increases the risk of severe illness from Covid-19 was inherited from Neanderthals over 60,000 years ago. An estimated 30 per cent of South Asians are believed to carry this gene sequence.

Its quite amazing that despite Neanderthals becoming extinct around 40,000 years ago, their immune system still influences us in both positive and negative ways today, Svante Pbo of OIST said in a statement released with the study.

Hugo Zeberg, one of the authors of the study, told ThePrint that nearly 50 per cent of Indians carry this DNA sequence. The frequency of this gene variant is 49.5 per cent in Gujaratis, and 48 per cent in the Telugu population, he added.

Also read: Neanderthals were no brutes. They were precise workers capable of caring for the weak

Neanderthals evolved in western Eurasia about half a million years ago. However, their genes continue to have a biological impact on the physiology of modern humans, since they mingled with human populations during the last tens of thousands of years of their existence.

The Neanderthals adapted to environments outside Africa over the hundreds of thousands of years they lived there. During this time, they also likely adapted to infectious diseases.

Interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans who are believed to trace their roots to Africa is said to have led to the exposure of each species to novel viruses, and exchange of adaptive gene variants that provided resistance against these viruses.

For example, two gene variants that decrease the susceptibility to Helicobacter pylori infectious bacteria that cause stomach inflammation and some types of stomach cancer are believed to have been inherited from Neanderthals.

The aforementioned July 2020 study said a gene variant in a region on chromosome 3, inherited from the Neanderthals, increased the risk of becoming critically ill upon infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

Chromosomes are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of cells. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Each chromosome is made of protein and a single molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

DNA contains the specific instructions or genetic code that makes each individual unique.

In December, a team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh found that gene variants located on chromosome 12 reduce the risk that an individual will require intensive care after infection by about 22 per cent.

The study published in PNAS last week shows that this variant is almost identical to those found in three Neanderthals a 50,000-year-old Neanderthal from Croatia, and two from southern Siberia, one dating back 70,000 years and the other, 120,000 years.

Chromosome 12 spans almost 134 million DNA building blocks (base pairs) and represents between 4 and 4.5 per cent of the total DNA in cells.

The gene variant sequence mentioned in this paper is about 75,000 base pairs.

Three genes in the sequence of 75,000 base pairs code for enzymes that are produced upon viral infection and, in turn, activate other enzymes that degrade viral genomes in infected cells. Simply put, three genes help the body kickstart the biological process that attacks the virus when it infects cells.

It seems that the enzymes encoded by the Neanderthal variant are more efficient, reducing the chance of severe consequences to SARS-CoV-2 infections, Pbo said.

Also read: The Neanderthal gift thats serving us humans well

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Why 50% Indians will be happy to have some Neanderthal DNA. Hint: It has to do with Covid - ThePrint