Medical Center

Multiple genetic and environmental risk factors can trigger autoimmune thyroid disease in humans, according to experts here at the American Thyroid Association (ATA) Spring 2010 Meeting. Gregory A. Brent, MD, professor of medicine and physiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles, presented the findings. He reported [...]

What is Genetic Counselling and who does it The learning outcomes below are suggested outcomes at the levels indicated. These can be used within your modules when teaching aspects of clinical genetics. Level 8 1.Appreciate what genetic counselling is 2.Recognise who needs genetic counselling 3.Appreciate the nature of a genetic counselling service & how it [...]

A genetic mutation linked to schizophrenia appears to disrupt communication between the two areas of the brain believed to be responsible for memory and may be an underlying cause of the brain disorder, researchers suggested in a study published online March 31st in Nature. The study found that a genetic mutation, known as 22q11 deletion [...]

Autism and Genetic TestingChromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) is at least 3 times more effective at identifying genetic abnormalities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than other genetic tests currently recommended for clinical genetic testing in this setting — a finding that suggests this test should be considered first-tier in the initial diagnostic evaluation of ASD. David [...]

Human embryonic stem cells can be used to produce skin grafts for people who have been seriously burned, shows a study published in The Lancet. Though patients have benefited from cell therapy for two decades, the techniques used have had limitations, write Hind Guenou, PhD, of INSERM and the Institute for Stem Cell Therapy and [...]

Genetic engineering Since traits come from the genes in a cell, putting a new piece of DNA into a cell can produce a new trait. This is how genetic engineering works. For example, crop plants can be given a gene from an Arctic fish, so they produce an antifreeze protein in their leaves. This can [...]

Genes make proteins The function of genes is to provide the information needed to make molecules called proteins in cells. Cells are the smallest independent parts of organisms: the human body contains about 100 trillion cells, while very small organisms like bacteria are just a single cell. A cell is like a miniature and very [...]

Genes and inheritance Genes are inherited as units, with parents dividing out their genes to their offspring. You can think of this process like mixing two hands of cards, shuffling them, and then dealing them out again. Humans have two copies of each of their genes (i.e, two alleles ) and when people reproduce they [...]

INTRODUCTION TO GENETICS    Genetics studies how living organisms inherit features from their ancestors – for example, children often look like their parents. Genetics seeks to identify which features are inherited, and explain how these features are passed from generation to generation. In genetics, a feature of an organism is called a “trait”. Some traits [...]

Genes and Disease The sequence of the human genome is providing us with the first holistic view of our genetic heritage. While not yet complete, continued refinement of the data bring us ever closer to a complete human genome reference sequence. This will be a fundamental resource in future biomedical research. The 46 human chromosomes [...]