Category Archives: Genetics

Concerns raised over access to UK Biobank data after ‘race scientists’ claims

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Expert says any suggestion of Human Diversity Foundation accessing sensitive data could affect public trust in science

Concerns have been raised about access to a scientific trove containing the genetic data and medical records of more than 500,000 people, after an investigation revealed that “race scientists” appeared to claim to have obtained the data.

A senior scientist has warned that the leadership responsible for the data held by UK Biobank “have to be very careful with ensuring that correct processes are followed” around access to the information in order to maintain public confidence.

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Healthier rice variety could counter rise in diabetes, Philippine scientists say

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Researchers develop grain with lower glycaemic index and more protein that ‘could have big impact in Asia and Africa’

Scientists in the Philippines have created a new variety of rice that could help reduce the growing burden of diabetes.

More than 537 million adults worldwide are living with the chronic disease – a number that is expected to grow to 783 million by 2045. Being overweight, genetics and a lack of exercise contribute to type 2 diabetes, which is the most common form. Type 2 occurs when the pancreas fails to produce enough of the insulin hormone, leaving too much glucose in the blood, and cells develop a resistance to insulin.

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A grey matter? Nature, nurture and the study of forming political leanings

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Researchers find minuscule difference in the amygdala – a region of the brain linked to threat perception

Where does our personal politics come from? Does it trace back to our childhood, the views that surround us, the circumstances we are raised in? Is it all about nurture – or does nature have a say through the subtle levers of DNA? And where, in all of this, is the brain?

Scientists have delved seriously into the roots of political belief for the past 50 years, prompted by the rise of sociobiology, the study of the biological basis of behaviour, and enabled by modern tools such as brain scanners and genome sequencers. The field is making headway, but teasing out the biology of behaviour is never straightforward.

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Australia to ban life insurance companies from discriminating based on genetic testing results

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Albanese government says people have been reluctant to get life-saving early testing because of the risk of being refused insurance

Life insurance companies will be banned from discriminating against people based on genetic testing under federal government moves designed to encourage greater use of predictive technology in preventative health.

The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, will announce on Wednesday that life insurers will be banned from using the results of predictive genetic testing in their underwriting assessments.

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Neolithic population collapse may have been caused by plague, researchers say

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DNA studies suggest disease was central to devastating collapse of northern European population 5,000 years ago

A devastating population collapse that decimated stone age farming communities across northern Europe 5,000 years ago may have been driven by an outbreak of the plague, according to research.

The cause of the calamity, known as the Neolithic collapse, has long been a matter of debate.

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Modern-day dingoes already established across Australia thousands of years ago, research finds

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Newly recovered DNA shows the predators share little genetic ancestry with domestic dogs and are descended from ancient animals from China

Scientists have for the first time recovered DNA from the remains of dingoes between 400 and 2,700 years old to find the predator’s population was well established across the Australian continent thousands of years ago.

According to the researchers, modern dingoes share little genetic ancestry with domestic dogs introduced into Australia from Europe but are instead descended from ancient dogs and wolves from China and the Tibetan plateau. Dingoes were closely related to modern New Guinea singing dogs, the research confirmed, with both sharing a common ancestor.

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‘Weird and cool’: bilby genome sequence could help to save the species

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Bilbies have the biggest genome of any marsupial, which could be down to how it evolved its incredible sense of smell

Genetic research has revealed the threatened Australian native bilby – with its ridiculously oversized ears and stretched snout – does not only look odd from the outside.

“Bilbies are weird and cool. The genome has been fascinating,” said Prof Carolyn Hogg, of the University of Sydney, who led research that sequenced the greater bilby’s genome for the first time.

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Maya twins myth may have influenced child sacrifices, study suggests

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​DNA testing on 64 skeletons shows related boys were probably chosen as offerings in ancient city of Chichén Itzá

Genetic analysis of the skeletons of 64 infant boys who are thought to have been sacrificed in the ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá more than a thousand years ago may shed light on the symbolic role twins played in the myths and rituals of their civilisation.

In 1967, the remains of more than 100 children were found in a repurposed chultún, or underground cistern, near the sacred sinkhole at the ceremonial centre of the pre-Columbian city, which was one of the largest and most influential Maya settlements between AD600 and 1000.

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Bowel disease breakthrough as researchers make ‘holy grail’ discovery

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Scientists pinpoint driver of IBD and other disorders with work under way to adapt existing drugs to treat patients

Researchers have discovered a major driver of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and several other immune disorders that affect the spine, liver and arteries, raising hopes for millions of people worldwide.

The breakthrough is particularly exciting because the newly found biological pathway can be targeted by drugs that are already used, with work under way to adapt them to patients with IBD and other conditions.

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Great Ormond Street hoping to license gene therapy for ‘bubble baby’ syndrome

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Hospital to take unprecedented step after drug firm pulled out despite successful trial of treatment

When Great Ormond Street hospital (Gosh) published the results of its gene therapy trial for “bubble baby” syndrome it was hailed as a medical breakthrough. The treatment had a more than 95% success rate for treating the life-threatening disorder in which children have no immune system. But less than a year later, the therapy had been dropped by the pharmaceutical company that planned to bring it to market.

Now, Gosh is taking the unprecedented step of attempting to license the therapy itself on a non-profit basis and without industry involvement, in order to make it more widely available to babies and children worldwide.

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Tasmanian devil analysis challenges study suggesting facial tumour disease decline

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Cambridge scientists critique research that concluded the disease is no longer a threat to the species’ survival

Cambridge researchers have challenged a previous study which had concluded a facial cancer that devastated the Tasmanian devil population was on the decline.

Devil facial tumour disease, a fatal cancer spread through biting and sharing of food, first emerged in the 1980s. The spread of DFTD led to the species being listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2008.

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UK genetics project looks for lost apple varieties to protect fruit in climate crisis

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Heritage orchard at RHS Rosemoor to be sampled this spring as part of search for previously unrecorded ‘survivor’ cultivars

Gardeners are searching for lost apple varieties by sequencing the genetics of trees in ancient orchards, in the hope they hold traits that can help the fruit survive climate breakdown.

Heritage apple trees at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) garden Rosemoor will be sampled this spring with the aim of finding species of apple enjoyed by people hundreds of years ago.

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Academic paper based on Uyghur genetic data retracted over ethical concerns

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Exclusive: Study published in 2019 used blood and saliva samples from 203 Uyghur and Kazakh people living in Xinjiang capital

Concerns have been raised that academic publishers may not be doing enough to vet the ethical standards of research they publish, after a paper based on genetic data from China’s Uyghur population was retracted and questions were raised about several others including one that is currently published by Oxford University Press.

In June, Elsevier, a Dutch academic publisher, retracted an article entitled “Analysis of Uyghur and Kazakh populations using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel” that had been published in 2019.

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Call to help UK IVF patients donate unused embryos after shortage hinders research

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Scientists complain after ‘sheer waste’ of human embryos discarded despite patients’ wishes

Leading scientists are calling for a change in the law to help IVF patients donate unused embryos to biomedical research after a collapse in donations over the past 15 years.

The increasing commercialisation of IVF, overstretched NHS clinics and cumbersome paperwork are blamed for a 25-fold decrease in the number of donated embryos. Scientists described some patients going to “extraordinary lengths” to ensure their embryos could be used for research rather than discarded, with many private clinics failing to routinely offer donation as an option.

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Genetic data on 500,000 volunteers in UK to be released for scientific study

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UK BioBank offers up biggest ever cache of whole-genome sequences for medical research

A new era of medical discoveries, treatments and cures is on the horizon, researchers say, following the announcement that an unprecedented trove of genetic information is to be made available to scientists.

Health researchers from around the world can now apply to study the whole genomes of half a million people enrolled in UK Biobank, a biomedical research project that has compiled detailed health and lifestyle records on individuals since it began 20 years ago.

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UK Biobank and the masses of medical data that became key to genetic research

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The resource, which is on the move to Manchester, now ranks as the world’s most important health database

The origins of the UK Biobank can be traced back to a pilot study in a building in Stockport bordered by the Cheadle Heath police station on one side and the local recreation ground on the other. It was the early 2000s and scientists had realised the potential for genomics and big data to transform health research.

With diabetes, cancer, dementia and other ailments on the rise, scientists pushed for a database devoted to genetics, health and lifestyle to help them tease apart who was most at risk and how diseases could be prevented.

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Over the counter genetic tests in UK ‘fail to identify 89%’ of those at serious risk

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Study by University College London also says 5% of users are wrongly told they will develop major illness

Over the counter genetic tests in the UK that assess the risk of cancer or heart problems fail to identify 89% of those in danger of getting killer diseases, a new study has found.

Polygenic risk scores are so unreliable that they also wrongly tell one in 20 people who receive them they will develop a major illness, even though they do not go on to do so.

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Germany matches DNA from skulls stolen from African colony to living relatives

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Remains pillaged in colonial era for ‘scientific’ experiments are DNA matched to Tanzanian descendants

Researchers in Berlin have identified living relatives of people whose remains were stolen from Tanzania and taken to Germany for “scientific” experiments during the colonial era.

Berlin’s Museum of Prehistory and Early History has been carrying out research since 2017 on about 1,100 skulls taken from what was then known as German East Africa.

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Seven new ‘walking leaf’ insect species discovered

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Researchers used genetic analysis to identify species that cannot be distinguished by appearance alone

Seven new leaf insect species, known as “walking leaves”, have been discovered.

The insects exhibit a sophisticated “twigs and leaf-like” camouflage allowing them to blend into their surroundings without detection, posing a challenge to both predators and researchers.

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Ötzi the iceman had receding hairline and dark skin tone, study reveals

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Genome analysis reveals new physical details of mummified corpse found in ice of Italian Alps

Dark eyes, receding black hair, few or no freckles and a darker skin tone. This is how Ötzi the iceman, the mummified corpse found trapped in the ice of the Italian Alps, would have looked while living.

Researchers who conducted a higher-coverage analysis of the genome to learn more about Ötzi’s genetic history and the mummified man’s physical appearance have found genes associated with male-pattern baldness and darker skin tone.

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