Category Archives: Transhuman News

Bet you thought the mess that was Trumpcare was about as horrible a piece of legislation that could be concocted for ruining a lot of people's health. Nope. A bill called the Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act, currently under enthusiastic review by Congress, will allow employers to charge their employees a higher insurance premium if they refuse to provide them with their personal genetic information. It is hard to think of a worse idea.

An individual's genetic code can reveal a vast amount of information. It can show whether you suffer from an existing medical condition, the odds that you will develop a certain disease in your lifetime, information about your kids' genetic health and your ancestry.

Until now, no titan of industry could snoop into your DNA. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their genetic data. In addition to prohibiting discrimination, GINA also forbids employers from penalizing employees if they refuse to provide genetic information.

Under the ill-advised PEWPA legislation, if an employer hires a company to institute a wellness program to try to create a healthier workforce and if these hired helpers want to require genetic testing, then you either spit in a cup to give a DNA sample or pay up to 30 percent more on your health insurance premium. Permitting huge penalties clearly allows employers to bully their employees into revealing their genetic information in the name of keeping them fit. Under this regressive bill, not only will your boss have access to your DNA profile, but there is also no prohibition about sharing it with third parties.

If PEWPA passes, you or your relatives who have certain genetic traits may face significant hurdles not only in getting a job but also in acquiring life insurance, disability insurance and health care. Employers looking to hire new employees may opt not to hire those with genetic traits that put them at risk for certain diseases even if those diseases do not materialize for decades or at all.

Fretting about the harm of killing genetic privacy is not hypothetical. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported that it received 201 complaints of genetic discrimination in 2010 and 333 complaints 2014. Many complaints involved allegations from workers that knowledge of the genetic risk of getting, say, breast cancer led to their termination.

There is one other huge problem with asking workers to turn over their genetic information to third-party health promoters paid for by their employers. There is little data to show that wellness programs work. Giving up your genetic privacy for an employer-imposed program that is not likely to help you lose weight, lower your blood pressure or manage stress makes no sense at all. But, so far that has not stopped Congress from nudging this bill along.

Congress has shown itself incapable of dealing with health care insurance, and its members are not doing better with genetic testing. Genetic information ought to stay where it is under your control and no one else's.

Arthur L. Caplan is director of medical ethics at the New York University Langone Medical Center's Department of Population Health.

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Should your boss get a peek at your DNA? - Chicago Tribune

The time frame for when bison the most successful mammal in colonizing North America after humans came to the continent from Asia has long been a matter of debate.

But a group of Canadian scientists, using genetic and geologic information, recently were able to pinpoint a time frame of when these beasts came across the Bering Land Bridge.

According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Bison came to North America between 135,000 and 195,000 years ago a lot sooner than the 640,000 years ago stipulated in previous estimations.

Bison also apparently fared quite well in their new home, quickly multiplying their number, diversifying and becoming the dominant grazers on the plains of North America. They displaced mammoths, Pleistocene horses and other mammals that arrived on the continent earlier.

"They became very successful very quickly," Duane Froese of the University of Alberta, lead author of the study, told the Alaska Dispatch News. "Outside of humans, it's pretty much the most successful mammal invasion into North America."

The findings rely heavily on DNA extracted from the worlds oldest known bison fossil, which was discovered almost a decade ago near the Gwich'in indigenous village of Old Crow in Canada's Yukon Territory.

The fossil was discovered under a layer of ash from an enormous eruption that happened about 130,000 years ago in southwestern Alaska. The ash basically acted as a time marker in the earth that allowed scientists to figure out the age of the Yukon bison fossil and confirm it as the oldest known bison fossil in North America.

Because radiocarbon dating doesnt work past the ages of about 40,000 to 50,000 years, the DNA analysis was necessary. Using new technology, researchers compared the DNA from the Yukon fossil with that of a younger fossil found near Snowmass, Colorado. Both fossils then were compared with dozens of younger bison fossils.

From their research, scientists were able to determine that all bison shared a common ancestor 135,000 to 195,000 years ago during a period when the Bering Land Bridge was exposed. Scientists were also able to determine that bison migrated over the land bridge in a second wave 21,000 to 45,000 years ago.

"It's been kind of a long puzzle in the world of paleontology and paleobiology," Froese said.

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DNA technology, volcanic ash help pinpoint when bisons ...

INDIANAPOLIS A bill allowing law enforcement to collect DNA samples from people at the time they are arrested on felony charges advanced to the full House.

On Thursday, Senate Bill 322 passed the House Judicial Committee by a 9-1 vote.

The bills author, Sen. Erin Houchin, R-Salem, told the committee that collecting the DNA sample at the time of the felony arrest will help law enforcement identify perpetrators much earlier in the crime cycle.

Studies have shown that serial criminals will commit seven or eight crimes before they are identified. Houchin said.

Houchin cited the case of John Clements, 82, who was shot and killed last fall outside his Zionsville home. A suspect was identified through DNA that was in a database in Ohio, where samples are collected at the time of arrest.

If the bill becomes law, Indiana would be the 31st state to implement DNA testing at the point of arrest.

DNA samples are removed from the system under three circumstances: the person is acquitted of all felony charges or charges are converted to misdemeanors, all felony charges against the person are dismissed, or no felony charges are filed against the person within 365 days.

A similar bill was filed in the House. House Bill 1577 required that the DNA sample be removed from the database if no charges are filed within 30 days, but Houchin said that was too little time to do any good.

Both the state police and prosecutors thought that 30 days was too short of a time frame, Houchin said. We looked at the national averages and theyre anywhere from one to three years.

Rep. John Young, R-Franklin, argued that collecting DNA at the time of arrest is an invasion of privacy even though the samples might be eventually removed from the database.

To me this is a dragnet sweep to collect peoples DNA, Young said. I cant think of anything more personal then my own DNA.

Houchin said that arrestees will be informed of their right to remove the DNA sample if cleared and be provided a form with instructions on how to do so. Under the law the DNA will not automatically be removed the person who gave the sample will have to petition the court for its removal.

The only time it is sent to the database is if there is an arrest on probable cause or an arrest with a warrant, Houchin said.

Young said the bill is unconstitutional.

Guilty people do walk away free on technicalities, Young said. Thats a price that we pay to live in a free society.

If the bill becomes law, it would take effect on Jan. 1, 2018.

Kayla Walker is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

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House committee OKs bill to collect DNA samples in felony arrests ... - Greensburg Daily News

Inovio Pharmaceuticals in Plymouth Meeting is collaborating with the University of California San Francisco, which received a $6.95 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, to test the biotech company's DNA-based vaccine to reduce or prevent the HIV virus.

Inovio's immunotherapy, Pennvax GP, will be tested in HIV-positive patients to see if it generates killer T cells in the body's immune system to attack the HIV virus.

Current antiviral drugs work well against HIV, "but people have to take these drugs every day for decades," said Steven Deeks, the grant's principal investigator and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. For many people around the world the drugs "are just not feasible" due to side effects or costs, he said. "We're trying to find a way to enable the immune system to do what antiretroviral drugs do, which is to prevent the virus from replicating and spreading in the person."

Nearly 36 million people have died from HIV related causes and 35 million are living with HIV, a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS.

"Inovio has developed an approach which has worked quite well in other settings, for example HPV infection in women who might be developing cervical cancer," Deeks said. "We want to take their approach, which we think is very exciting, to see if we can generate these powerful CD cells that can recognize and kill HIV. In theory if we are lucky, it will allow us to one day stop antiretroviral drugs and let the immune system to take over."

CD8 is a receptor on the surface of T cells that allows the cell to recognize something foreign, Deeks said.

The vaccine is a strand of DNA that contains the genetic information of the virus. Once in the body - through an inoculation in the arm - the DNA gets into critical immune cells that attack HIV. Inovio's immunotherapy has been tested for HPV and for the Zika virus. "It's the same general approach, but the DNA is quite different," Deeks said.

Inovio's vaccine will be tested alone and in combination with other products in patient trials at the University of California in San Francisco and Los Angeles. "Similar to what we are doing in the cancer field," said Inovio CEO Joseph Kim, "we believe that the one-two punch of generating potent killer T cells with our immunotherapies" could be an important step in finding a cure for these diseases.

Published: March 30, 2017 3:28 PM EDT

Over the past year, the Inquirer, the Daily News and Philly.com have uncovered corruption in local and state public offices, shed light on hidden and dangerous environmental risks, and deeply examined the regions growing heroin epidemic. This is indispensable journalism, brought to you by the largest, most experienced newsroom in the region. Fact-based journalism of this caliber isnt cheap. We need your support to keep our talented reporters, editors and photographers holding government accountable, looking out for the public interest, and separating fact from fiction. If you already subscribe, thank you. If not, please consider doing so by clicking on the button below. Subscriptions can be home delivered in print, or digitally read on nearly any mobile device or computer, and start as low as 25 per day. We're thankful for your support in every way.

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Inovio Pharmaceutical's DNA vaccine will be tested in patients with ... - Philly.com

Murder accused's DNA found on victim's belt, court hears - BBC News BBC News A court hears forensic evidence at the trial of Philip Morrison who denies murdering Derek Sheerin in Glasgow in 1994. and more »

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Murder accused's DNA found on victim's belt, court hears - BBC News - BBC News

Robert Bernardi has seen too many bodies, including one that was wrapped in plastic and sealed behind a wall inside a Philadelphia rowhouse.

That was a scene right out of Edgar Allan Poe, the Burlington County prosecutor said recalling that hot August day in 2001 when he was at the shore and received a call about the discovery of the remains of Kimberly Szumski, a Cinnaminson, N.J., mother of two who had been missing for three months. Later, he watched as investigators removed cinderblocks and then the body.

When Bernardi retired Friday, he was the longest serving county prosecutor in New Jersey. In an interview a week earlier, he reflected on nearly two decades of service as a top law enforcement official.

Over the years he had tangled with the Innocence Project of New York over a murder conviction that was reversed due to DNA evidence and with Amnesty International over two deaths and alleged inhumane conditions at the county jail in Mount Holly. He also fought with courts that decided the law and order prosecutor had gone too far in some cases, and with county politicians who wouldnt give his staff a raise for years, making his assistants the lowest paid in the state.

Bernardi also supervised thousands of criminal cases, which led to an average of 1,200 indictments and about 50 trials a year. Many criminals, including murderers, were locked up on his watch and remain incarcerated, he said.

Its been a great run, 17 years and 10 months, he said, in his Mount Holly office where he had overseen a staff of 150. Im 67, I didnt want to get carried out on my shield, the grandfather of two said, mentioning he was looking forward to more golf. Less than 12 hours earlier, there was a homicide in which a Pemberton man was found shot in the head.

Gov. Christie, in a statement, called Bernardi an extraordinary leader A voice of justice and reason in the state shortly after the governor named his senior deputy chief counsel, Scott A. Coffina, of Marlton, to replace Bernardi.

A Republican from Mount Laurel, Bernardi was first appointed by former Gov. Christie Whitman and was a holdover after his latest five-year term expired in December.

The Kimberly Szumski case was among the most memorable, Bernardi said, recalling how her husband, Thomas, was found dead of an overdose before her body was discovered. Bernardi said Szumski had killed his wife, but luckily an informant had just told detectives about the basement where Szumski had done some construction work.

Also memorable was the single case that Bernardi had tried personally the matter of John Denofa, a Bucks County businessman who was found guilty of killing an exotic dancer and tossing her to her death from the Turnpike Bridge in 2002.

Bernardi remembered how he and the former Bucks County prosecutor had argued over who should handle the sensational case since the attack occurred in Pennsylvania and the body was found along the shoreline in New Jersey.

After he was convicted, Denofa filed several appeals and recently filed another motion to reduce his sentence of 30 years to life in prison. But Bernardi said the sentence has remained intact.

The case of Larry Peterson was thornier. Peterson was exonerated by DNA evidence and freed in 2006 after he served 18 years in prison after he was convicted of murder in the strangling of a Pemberton woman.

Bernardi bristled when asked if he had any regrets about that case. He had opposed the DNA testing and it took Peterson seven years to get a judge to order the tests that opened the door for him to prove his innocence. The tests determined that microscopic hairs and semen found on the body of the murder victim did not belong to Peterson.

We dealt with far too much resistance from Bernardi in terms of getting the DNA testing, said Vanessa Potkin, an attorney with the Innocence Project who handled the Peterson case. Since then Im sure weve had over 100 exonerations if not 200.

She said that more prosecutors are now recognizing they have a role in finding out the truth and in taking an active role in exonerating innocent persons instead of digging in their heels to maintain a conviction.

Potkin said that the jury heard false evidence, that the hairs found on the victim belonged to Peterson, and this was critical since he had not confessed and there was no other forensics placing him at the scene. She said she hoped there was a change in (Bernardis) heart about the Larry Peterson case and that he would do it differently now.

But Bernardi said that, in retrospect, he still believes he was right when he considered retrying the case and fought the DNA testing.

We did everything we were supposed to do in a professional manner to investigate and determine whether we would prosecute Larry Peterson again The DNA didnt 100 percent say he couldnt have done it. The gripe was we left him in jail, but we had an obligation to the victim and the victims family to make sure that Mr. Peterson was not involved, he said.

The other controversy Bernardi faced involved the deaths of two Burlington County Jail inmates, one in December 2013 and the other two months later. The human rights group Amnesty International had asked Bernardi to investigate to see if there was any criminal negligence by jail officials or staff.

Bernardi said he found there was no wrong-doing, but Amnesty International officials later said the details of the report he gave them about the death of a sick, frail homeless man led to more questions and concerns that he was left to die. In the interview, Bernardi said that was not the case.

While most of the convictions obtained by Bernardi's office were upheld on appeal, a few were reversed bythe state Supreme Court for prosecutorial overreach.

In the Marie Hess case, Bernardi said the judges erred when they ruled in 2011 that the prosecutor should not have restricted her right to raise the defense of Battered Woman Syndrome during her sentencing after she confessed to killing her husband, James Hess, a Burlington Township patrolman.

The supreme court got it wrong.. She confessed. We are here to serve victims, people dragged into the system without any choice They are the ones who are forgotten, he said.

Kevin Walker, a public defender who represented Hess, said that Bernardi overall was "tough but fair." But in the Hess case, he said that Hess was "clearly an abused woman...I'm not trying to justify what happened, but the law acknowledges the circumstances with which she had to deal with on a daily basis and these were mitigating factors that had to be considered at sentencing."

Ray Milavsky, who was Bernardis first assistant prosecutor since the beginning, said the office handled many cases that had very fascinating issues and dealt with them in a professional manner. The two met when they were assistant prosecutors in Camden County in the the 1980s and they became longtime friends.

The biggest challenge for Bernardi, Milavsky said, was dealing with inadequate staff. We have a dedicated group of individuals, but to make it work ideally, there has to be more resources, he said.

Bernardi, a past president of the County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey, had pushed to get the county Freeholder Board to hire more staff and also to approve raises for his assistant prosecutors, who at one time were the lowest paid in the state. They had not been granted raises between 2008-2012 and some had left to join the Camden County prosecutors office and other offices that were paying more competitive wages.

During that period, the assistant prosecutors were making nearly $10,000 to $20,000 less than the statewide average of $91,000.

Bernardi, who earned $165,000 a year in his role as prosecutor, said that the "bleeding" of his office and cutbacks reduced his staff, which went from 39 prosecutors to 34. He said 41 assistants are needed to do the job well.

When Bernardi walked through his office, the assistants greeted him with "Hello Sir."

Staffing is an issue, said Bernardi, said, adding that recent bail reforms have also increased the workload. Were treading water.

But that may be a task for the new prosecutor to address. That and a backlog that is growing, he said.

Still, Bernardi said that being prosecutor was wonderful, the best experience of my life, and an honor. When he was appointed to his first five-year term, he had expected it would be just a five-year hitch.

Bernardi said that he plans to offer his services to municipalities that may need to hire hearing officers in police disciplinary matters. "I would like to kick back a little," he said, "but I would like to do this part-time."

Published: March 31, 2017 6:13 AM EDT

Over the past year, the Inquirer, the Daily News and Philly.com have uncovered corruption in local and state public offices, shed light on hidden and dangerous environmental risks, and deeply examined the regions growing heroin epidemic. This is indispensable journalism, brought to you by the largest, most experienced newsroom in the region. Fact-based journalism of this caliber isnt cheap. We need your support to keep our talented reporters, editors and photographers holding government accountable, looking out for the public interest, and separating fact from fiction. If you already subscribe, thank you. If not, please consider doing so by clicking on the button below. Subscriptions can be home delivered in print, or digitally read on nearly any mobile device or computer, and start as low as 25 per day. We're thankful for your support in every way.

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A body inside a wall, DNA that freed a lifer all in a day's work for longtime NJ prosecutor - Philly.com