#heritable

[cosmicmenacee]

ok so ren and cleo get exiled and i have to wait 5 hours to watch? ok i see how it is

[bpod-bpod]

Researching with Rotifers

We inherit our genes from mum and dad, and over time these DNA blueprints help us develop family similarities. Yet we also receive some of our parents’ epigenetics, chemicals that surround the genes controlling how they are used. Epigenetics are often affected by lifestyle and health, and in this way a mother’s age can directly affect their offspring. In humans, as in rotifers (like this one), elderly mothers often give birth to children who live shorter lives. But recent experiments suggest rotifers with older mothers react much more positively to caloric restriction – a healthy boost caused by a change in diet. As we share many genes in common with rotifers, with careful study this may mean choice of diet, medication or lifestyle might affect human children from young mothers or older mothers differently, and contribute to personalised medicine in the future.

Written by John Ankers

Image by Michael Shribak and Kristin Gribble

Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA

Image copyright held by the original authors

Research published in Scientific Reports, February 2019

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[bpod-bpod]

Gene Features

Take a look at any family – especially one with identical twins – and it’s obvious that genes play a role in the shape and structure of the human face. Whether you’ve inherited your mum’s cheekbones or your dad’s chin, it’s as plain as your nose that features are highly heritable. New analysis tools are enabling researchers to scan through thousands of genetic variations in search of genes that influence facial features, and a handful of culprits have now been found. These images have been constructed using a computer model that combines facial measurements from many people together with genetic data, highlighting the role of subtle variations in one of them: a gene called PAX3, which influences the shape of the bridge of the nose. One version of the gene gives a slimmer nose (left), while the face on the right carries a PAX3 variation that causes a bulkier, higher bridge.

Written by Kat Arney

Image published by P. Claes and M. D. Shriver in PLOS Genetics, August 2016

Associated research by John R. Shaffer, Ekaterina Orlova and Myoung Keun Lee, and colleagues, PLOS Genetics, August 2016

Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)

Associated research by Joanne B. Cole and colleagues, PLOS Genetics, August 2016

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[capitalgrowthlab]

Lifespan may be 50% heritable, study suggests

Around 50% of a person’s lifespan is determined by genetics, a new study suggests, more than doubling previous estimates of the heritability of longevity. The new research, published Jan. 29 in the journal Science, used a carefully designed mathematical model to reach this conclusion. With the model, the team behind the work could account for external causes of death, such as accidents or…

Lifespan may be 50% heritable, study suggests

[tklist1]

Science Panel Backs Editing Heritable Human Genes, With Caveats

Science Panel Backs Editing Heritable Human Genes, With Caveats

Human gene editing is perhaps one of the most, if not the most, divisive issue worldwide and in the United States. A recent survey of over 4,700 U.S. adults found that when it comes to the use of biomedical interventions, including gene editing in human babies to reduce risk of serious diseases, a substantial number (nearly… (more…)

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[autismandhumanatavism]

One way to identify changes that may have functional consequences is to focus on sites that are highly conserved among primates and that have changed on the modern human lineage after separation from Denisovan ancestors. We note that among the 23 most conserved positions affected by amino acid changes (primate conservation score ≥ 0.95), eight affect genes that are associated with brain function or nervous system development (NOVA1, SLITRK1, KATNA1, LUZP1, ARHGAP32, ADSL, HTR2B, CNTNAP2). Four of these are involved in axonal and dendritic growth (SLITRK1, KATNA1) and synaptic transmission (ARHGAP32, HTR2B) and two have been implicated in autism (ADSL, CNTNAP2). CNTNAP2 is also associated with susceptibility to language disorders (27) and is particularly noteworthy as it is one of the few genes known to be regulated by FOXP2, a transcription factor involved in language and speech development as well as synaptic plasticity (28). It is thus tempting to speculate that crucial aspects of synaptic transmission may have changed in modern humans.

A High-Coverage Genome Sequence from an Archaic Deni... [Science. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI

[autismandhumanatavism]

It’s not just handwaving now; there’s some data, you know. And I think amongst us a slightly sneaky sort of well, I told you so. You can spend all your money on your GWAS, you won’t get the answer. You’ve got to look at where life meets the genome ‘cause that’s where all the action is.

Human Transgenerational Responses with Dr Marcus Pembrey

[autismandhumanatavism]

No shit, Sherlock...