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Immunology

Medicine and music: Immunology major makes his own way at Penn State – Penn State News

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Alex Barna, a junior from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, has known that he wanted to be a doctor since the 7th grade. He came to Penn State with an interest in microbiology but discovered an opportunity to distinguish himself from other pre-med students in the College of Agricultural Sciences' immunology and infectious disease major.

Immunology and infectious disease students learn how the body copes with bacterial, viral or parasitic infections, cancer and other diseases. Penn State is one of only five institutions in the United States to offer an immunology major and the only one that blends the study of molecular and cellular immunology with epidemiology of infectious diseases. Barna, a third-generation Penn Stater whose grandfather also was a College of Agricultural Sciences student, says he chose the major because it seemed like a unique opportunity to study what he is interested in while preparing for medical school.

Barna hopes that his experiences will help him become not only a good doctor, but a healthcare professional with a view wider than a single patient. "A lot of doctors are being taught how to treat one patient," he said. "They can find a disease and cure what's happening, but they kind of lack the knowledge to understand populational health."

Since January, Barna has been performing undergraduate research to complement his studies. The lab he works in studies an infectious fungus that affects ants and alters their behavior so that they spread the infection to plant hosts and other ants. Barna is interested in understanding why only 10 percent of ants die when a colony becomes infected. Observing the spread of the disease through these animals is an opportunity to directly observe the populational health dynamics he has learned about in class.

He also is pursuing the selective global health minor through the College of Health and Human Development. Through this minor, he will study abroad next summer somewhere in Africa, shadowing physicians to gain an understanding of the differences and similarities between African and American healthcare.

In addition to his academic pursuits, Barna is excelling in a completely different passion music. He is a singer with Essence of Joy, a choir at Penn State dedicated to singing and preserving African-American music. "Music always has been a really huge part of my life, and I knew I didn't want to lose that coming to college, so I really made an effort to keep it a part of me," he explained.

He also is taking voice lessons for credit and has been studying with Blythe Walker, a singer with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. "It's been really cool to learn how to sing classical music with someone who lives classical music and really understands the background and importance of it," he said.

Barna is a member of Ag Advocates, a group of high-achieving students in the college who help put together events, assist with prospective students, alumni and donors, and are overall advocates for the college. He also was one of the executive board members for Ag Day, a day for College of Agricultural Sciences clubs and organizations to advertise to the university the impact that agriculture has on everyday life.

He is part of the Tri Beta biological honor society, a national honor society to support excellence in biology and biological sciences, and has served on a Penn State Reads executive committee, where he helped plan for events related to the Penn State Reads book.

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Medicine and music: Immunology major makes his own way at Penn State - Penn State News

Genetics

Genetics for everyone – The Boston Globe

Illustration by cristina span/for the boston globe

The Greeks asked their oracles to predict future fortunes and future losses. The Romans studied the entrails of sacrificed animals for similar reasons. In modern-day medicine, though, soothsayers come in the form of genetic tests.

Ever since the human genome was sequenced almost 15 years ago, tens of thousands of genetic tests have flooded the marketplace. By analyzing someones DNA, often through a blood sample or cheek swab, these tests promise to foretell whether a patient is prone to certain cancers, blessed with the potential to become a star soccer player, or at an elevated risk of having an opioid addiction.

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These types of genetic tests are finding an eager audience. The North American genetic testing market, already the largest in the world, was worth $11.9 billion in 2016, by one estimate, and is expected to grow at more than 15 percent a year for the foreseeable future. Companies such as LabCorp, which offer genetic tests via doctor recommendations, and the healthcare giant Roche have moved aggressively into the field. The company 23andMe, a household name because of its ancestry tests, sells health-related tests directly to consumers.

But for a source of medical information to be legally sold in the United States, just how accurate does it need to be?

Like a prediction from a crystal ball, genetic test results are sometimes wrong. Some tests that predict the likelihood a young pregnant woman will have a child with a genetic condition such as Down syndrome may only be correct only 60 percent of the time. Most genetic tests, and many other lab tests, go unvetted by the Food and Drug Administration. That means these tests may not undergo any independent review to make sure they accurately pick up the disease or genetic conditions they claim to be seeking.

Using the worlds first portable DNA lab to sequence beer is a cool thing to do.

The FDA has been wrestling for years with whether and how to do more. During the Obama administration, the agency proposed a new set of draft limits on a whole class of tests, and then put them on hold immediately after Donald Trumps election. This spring, the FDA gave 23andMe permission to market genetic screenings for susceptibility to Alzheimers, Parkinsons, and other conditions. It was the first time the agency blessed direct-to-consumer tests for genetic health risks.

While the debate over genetic testing often follows a pattern familiar from countless other industries business groups want less regulation, and consumer advocates favor more it also raises more cosmic questions: Is a medical test just a piece of information? Or is it something more, if its result leads to dramatic or irreversible action such as chemotherapy or an abortion? And if a data point is factually suspect, or ripe for misinterpretation, when and how should it be offered to consumers?

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Especially if regulators stand aside, Americans may soon be swimming in even more tests that vary greatly in their reliability. Yet for some people contemplating a current ailment or their future well-being, getting an answer even an unreliable one may be better than no answer at all.

Especially for people expecting a baby, genetic tests can be hard to resist. I think we all are wanting to know our child doesnt have something... we want them to be healthy, said Mischa Livingstone, a filmmaker and professor who lives in California. Without asking for it, his pregnant wife, Jessica, was given a genetic test that predicted a 99 percent chance their child would have Turner syndrome, a genetic condition that can lead to short stature, heart defects, and other symptoms. But genetic tests for Turner are more often wrong than right a fact the couple didnt know at the time.

They were devastated, and immediately went for more invasive testing, which showed the fetus was fine. But their sense of dread didnt lift until their daughter, now 2 1/2, was born perfectly healthy.

Despite the heartache a faulty genetic test result caused, Livingstone says hed consider asking for one again. I think it feeds into that need for certainty, he said.

Both individuals and society as a whole are intolerant of the unknown, medical sociologists say.

Long before genetic screenings, there was a critical relationship between lab tests and medical treatment. Doctors often wont prescribe drugs or treatment without a positive test result. Insurance payments are rarely processed without diagnostic codes. The rise of genetic testing wont change, and may even amplify, that dynamic.

While some diagnoses may still carry social stigma think schizophrenia, for example they more often may confer legitimacy. Having a gene for alcoholism, for example, can make people view the problem as biological, as opposed to a character flaw. For patients, genetic tests promote a therapeutic optimism a hope that they can be treated and cured for an immediate problem or a future one, according to Michael Bury, professor emeritus at Royal Holloway, University of London, who studies society and illness.

A test alone can feel like a step forward. Undergoing a screening, said Natalie Armstrong, professor of healthcare improvement research at the University of Leicester, can make people feel that at least they are doing something proactive.

Interestingly, one study indicated that certain direct-to-consumer genetic tests dont affect users behavior or anxiety levels, bolstering the argument that people may use the information as data points, not a surefire prediction of their own fate.

Many bioethicists are unpersuaded. On an individual basis, it is tempting to discount the pitfalls of a little extra information, says Beth Peshkin, an oncology professor and genetic counselor at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, D.C. But on a population level the implications of inaccurate results can be costly and, sometimes, deadly.

One of the most cited examples of this harm is from a 2008 genetic test for ovarian cancer that misdiagnosed women, some of whom had their ovaries removed unnecessarily before the test was pulled from the market. Because test makers do not have to report when a test turns out to be wrong in fact many people may never know when a test result is a false positive or negative FDA officials have said it has been almost impossible to assess the overall harm from all unregulated tests.

Cost is another concern that may arise from the overuse of genetic tests that proliferate without meaningful oversight. Tests often beget more tests that cost an ever-escalating amount of money. Enough testing, will invariably pick up something abnormal in a patient, even though it may not harm them, some experts believe.

In some ways its easy for us to try and find something definitive and act on that even though it has nothing to do with what is wrong with the patient, said H. Gilbert Welch, a cancer research at Dartmouth College who has written extensively on the dangers of overtesting. Genetics is an amazing tool... but to what extent does that data predict something that you care about? Is it useful knowledge?

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The American Clinical Laboratory Association, the key trade group for genetic test makers, and other advocates of lighter regulation argue that bad tests are rare, and that its more important for the free market to allow innovation. With more tests in place to identify disease, cures come next, they say.

So far, the public has shown little concern about the fallout of genetic testing. While a 2016 poll showed only 6 percent of American adults have undergone genetic testing, 56 percent of them said they would want to if it could predict cancer or a disease like Alzheimers. Most Americans, the poll found, believe genetic tests for predicting disease are mostly accurate and reliable.

Safety advocates best chance to tighten regulation may have already passed. The world of genetic testing becomes more free-wheeling and consumer-driven all the time. By one industry estimate, 10 new genetic testing products enter the market each day. Despite considerable skepticism from medical experts, new apps purport to use data from gene sequencing to develop personalized diet plans and fitness routines.

The FDAs now-shelved rules would have classified genetic and other tests according to how much harm they could cause if their result was wrong. For example, a new genetic test for colon cancer, which requires intrusive and costly treatment, likely would have been subject to full FDA review; the maker of a test that predicts mere baldness might only have had to register it with the agency and report any known problems with it. Under the Trump administration, the agency appears less likely to draw such distinctions or impose new restrictions at all.

People want answers soon, and their inclination is to believe what appears to be solid, unassailable medicine, said Robert Klitzman, a Columbia University bioethicist. Individuals will need to evaluate these tests carefully. The notion of being able to tell your fortune has great lure. But its a little bit of hubris. We still dont know so much.

Genetic testing, still in its infancy, promises a measure of clarity about the future of our bodies. But as genetic science rapidly evolves, that modern-day crystal ball raises vexing new questions and creates its own kind of uncertainty.

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Genetics for everyone - The Boston Globe

Human Behavior

The Killings Of Black Men Are More Likely To Be Labelled ‘Justifiable’ – GOOD Magazine

When George Zimmerman went on trial four years ago for the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, the Sanford (Florida) Police Department senta request to the states attorney asking whether his death would be determined a justifiable homicide. Under Floridas stand your ground laws, such a designation would allow Zimmerman to claim his killing of Martin occurred in self-defense and he did so, successfully.

By the time the jury delivered a not guilty verdict for Zimmerman in 2013, self-defense had become an increasingly common rationalization for homicide cases in the U.S.as stand your ground laws proliferated state-by-state. In Florida,therateof justifiable homiciderose200%from 2005, when stand your ground went into effect, to 2013.

A new report by the Marshall Project published this month,which examines FBI data about 400,000 civilian homicides,finds that cases are far more likely to be determined justifiable homicides when the killer is white and the victim is black. In fact, while justifiable homicides only constituted 2% of all cases, that percentage swelled to 17%when the cases involved a white civilian killing a black civilian. According to the authors of the Marshall Project report:

The vast majority of killings of whites are committed by other whites, contrary to some folk wisdom, and the overwhelming majority of killings of blacks is by other blacks. But killings of black males by white people are labeled justifiable more than eight times as often as others. This racial disparity has persisted for decades and is hard to explain based solely on the circumstances reported by the police data.

The phrase justifiable homicide is one of those oddities of a justice system that seeks to make room for human fallibility in legal classification and language for example, homicides committed by domestic violence victims against their abusers. But these adjustments for the failures of human judgment end up accommodating prejudices and biases that disproportionately benefit nonblack defendants and victimize black victims. It's not just white-on-black self-defense claims, says Jody David Armour, a professor of law at the University of Southern California. It's any self-defense claims that include a black victim, whether the shooter is white, black, Latino, or Asian.

Jody David Armour. Photo courtesy of the University of Southern California.

Armour is the author of Negrophobia and Reasonable Racism: The Hidden Costs of Being Black in America, a 1997 book that examined how unconscious racism against black people manifests systemicallyin institutions like the justice system.

The key legal test for determining whether a homicide was justifiable is something called the reasonable person standard, says Armour in cases involving civilians or a police officer. The test asks one simple question: Would a reasonable person in this situation detect an imminent threat by the victim?

The way the law defines 'reasonable' is not 'rational,' says Armour. Reasonable does not mean right. All reasonable means is 'typical.' 'Ordinary.' You're a reasonable person if you're an ordinary person, if you're the average person.

A persons reasonableness insulates them from accountability when their mistakes are determined to fall within the spectrum of typicalhuman behavior and inadequacy. The reasonable person test says you don't condemn somebody who's just expressed ordinary human frailty in whatever they've done, says Armour. But human failure is not always natural or predetermined its often influenced by the social environments in which we are raised.

The problem with the typical is reasonable approach, which is the one we use in a court, is that it would let off the hook a lot of, for example, Germans in Nazi Germany in 1939 or 1940, adds Armour. If they could say, Hey, I was anti-Semitic but it was typical to be anti-Semitic. You can't blame me for being anti-Semitic if most people around me were.

Though Charlottesville made it clear that anti-Semitism is on the rise in America, racism is undeniably a foundational characteristic of contemporary American society, embedded in the body politic. So it stands to be argued that a reasonable person in the United States is likely a racist one, too.

We know that at an unconscious level, ordinary people harbor negative stereotypes about blacks, says Armour. And among those stereotypes that ordinary people harbor about blacks are that blacks are more violent and crime-prone. That stereotype can operate unconsciously, automatically.

A 1976 study by University of California, Berkeley, professor Birt Duncan exemplifies the ways in which these unconscious beliefs function in real life. Duncan made his subjects of varied races view and evaluate a taped interaction between two people having a discussion about another colleagues job placement. The conversation becomes heated, and one of them gets up to leave, ambiguously bumping the other person on their way out.

When someone black initiated that ambiguous bump, the subjects were much more likely to interpret the bump as hostile or violent. When someone white initiated the same bump, the subject was much more likely to interpret it as merely horseplay or dramatized, says Armour. This pattern of judgment was the same whether the subject was black or white. These findings reveal how ordinary Americans have been socialized to read aggression into the behaviors and movements of black people behaviors that would otherwise be read as nonthreatening when performed by a white people.

If 'reasonable' means 'typical,' then the question becomes, 'Does a typical person in America consider race, consider blackness, when they're assessing the dangerousness of an ambiguous or suspicious person? asks Armour. And the tragic truth is, study after study shows and we know it if we just consult our own intuition that ordinary people in America, ordinary people do consider race when they're assessing someone's dangerousness.

This is why, for example, black men frequently observe white women clutching their purses a little tighter when they walk past them on the street. Its a psychological tic that reporter Frederick H. Lowe explored in an article for the Chicago Reader called the The Clutch of Fear, calling it a form of racist signaling. In it, he interviewed psychiatrist Carl Bell, who said:"It's a nonverbal kinetic that wears at a black man's self-esteem. A white woman sees a black man and she instantly stereotypes him as someone who plans to rape and rob her.

There is a mental tax for these kinds of interactions, levied mostly against black men. This type of projection depletes a black man's energy because he constantly thinks about it, said Bell. It limits his mobility. And it impinges on his life, because he's constantly kept off guard, preventing him from focusing on other issues."

And in places where guns are easily accessible, its not just a black persons energy or mental health that is threatened its their very life, as demonstrated in the case of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman, an ordinary person, harboring many of the same prejudices that the white women in The Clutch of Fear cling to, determined that Martins behaviors were hostileand that Martin, a 17-year-old boy, posed an imminent threat to his life. Zimmermans possession of a gun allowed him to act on that split-second judgment with violence, taking Martins life.

But in the eyes of the law, Zimmermans killing was consideredjustifiable because his perceptions matched those of an ordinary jury. This legal applicationempties the word of its meaning what becomes clear is that in at least one case of justifiable homicide, justicewas not dispensed.

Share image and top image byKena Betancur/Getty Images.

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The Killings Of Black Men Are More Likely To Be Labelled 'Justifiable' - GOOD Magazine

Cell Biology

Royan to hold intl. twin congress on reproduction, stem cells – Mehr News Agency – English Version

Royan International Twin Congress on Reproductive Biomedicine and Stem Cells Biology & Technology is a joint of two separate congresses with different themes held by Royan Research Institute Reproductive Biomedicine and Stem Cells Research Center.

The two joint events include the 18thCongress on Reproductive Biomedicine and 13thCongress on Stem Cell Biology and Technology scheduled for August 30- September 1, 2017.

Royan International Research Award winners, including five foreign and five Iranian researchers, will present their researchers on Reproductive Biomedicine and Stem Cell Biology & Technology during the Congress time.Each winner will be rewarded with a certificate, the symbol of Royan Award and a cash prize.

Main topics of the 18th congress on Reproductive Biomedicine include Low Fertilization Rate, Repeated Pregnancy Loss, Psychological Issues in Infertility, and Animal Biotechnology among many other related topics. The main topics of the 13th Congress on Stem Cell Biology include Cell Technology, Regenerative Medicine, Tissue Engineeringand Cancer Stem Cellsamong others.

This years edition of the congress received 194 papers, 91 of which penned by foreign researchers from US, UK, China, Australia, India, Italy, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Canada, France, Egypt, Belgium, Malaysia, Turkey and Iraq.

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Royan to hold intl. twin congress on reproduction, stem cells - Mehr News Agency - English Version

Cell Biology

This Common Ingredient in Antiseptic Soap Is Messing With Your Cell Biology – ScienceAlert

A common class of antiseptic found in everything from mouthwash to spermicides has been found to impair the workings of our cells' mitochondria the parts of the cell that convert glucose into other forms of chemical energy.

Concerns over the class of antimicrobial agents called quaternary ammonium compound has been so great, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already banned one of the chemicals from certain products and asked for more information on another.

Researchers from the University of California, Davis, tested two common forms of quaternary ammonium salts called cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) and benzalkonium chloride (BAK) on human tissues under laboratory conditions.

This class of antimicrobial commonly shortened to QUATS is literally in just about everything. Soaps, body washes, lozenges, deodorants, toothpastes ... nearly anything you can think of as some sort of personal care product uses them to keep bacteria at bay.

Many QUATS have a rather nasty effect on microbes, ripping into their membranes in relatively low concentrations thanks to their fat-loving chemistry.

Because they aren't chemically altered by this action, the compounds retain their biocidal characteristics even after they've washed into the environment.

This has raised alarms in the past, where QUATS were found to cause reproductive problems in mice.

In 2016, the FDA ruled that the antiseptic compounds CPC and BAK were no longer recognised as safe to use in certain products, and made a call for more evidence to determine BAK's risks.

For their study, the researchers tested a collection of 1,600 FDA-approved and clinically approved antiseptics, additives, and drugs on two kinds of human cell line under in-vitro conditions.

In this case, those that contained QUATS were found to interfere with the workings of mitochondria, derailing an important transfer of electrons and inhibiting the organelle's ability to produce energy-carrying molecules called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

Those that contained CPC were the most potent of the lot.

Just how this translates from a Petri dish to the real world of human and other animal bodies is yet to be fully established, but it's not looking positive, especially when complicated by other forms of medication.

"This raises concern because exposure to other mitochondrial-inhibiting drugs, such as rotenone and MPTP, is associated with increased risk for Parkinson's disease," says researcher Gino Cortopassi from UC Davis.

Not only do these antimicrobial agents lower the mitochondria's ability to pump out ATP, the researchers found that at certain concentrations they also interfered with the cell's response to an important reproductive hormone.

"Disinfectants that we are putting on and in our bodies, and using in our environment, have been shown to inhibit mitochondrial energy production and the cellular estrogen response," says Cortopassi.

In 2016, the FDA banned soaps and detergents that contained chemicals from a list of ingredients that included popular antimicrobials such as triclosan and triclocarbon, claiming there was greater potential for harm than benefits.

QUATS were being considered by some companies as possible safe replacements for these agents.

"This paper adds to the growing number of studies which find that QUATS may not be as safe as previously believed," says Terry Hrubec from theE. Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, who wasn't a researcher in this study.

The chemical category is a relatively large one, and not all QUATS compounds seem to behave in the same ways.

With the chemicals so prevalent that nearly all of us come into contact with them on a daily basis, more research is needed as soon as possible to tease out which could potentially be safe.

This research was published in Environmental Health Perspectives.

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This Common Ingredient in Antiseptic Soap Is Messing With Your Cell Biology - ScienceAlert

Cell Biology

Lockdown genes to reduce IVF failure rates – Medical Xpress

A*STAR scientists in the Developmental Epigenetics and Disease group. Credit: A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology

Embryos kickstart a vibrant genetic program to thrive, but if the wrong genes are active the cells can self-destruct. A*STAR scientists have discovered one of the genes that needs to be tightly locked down for an embryo to develop: a finding that could improve IVF success rates.

Human egg and sperm cells have their genes trained on a single purpose to fertilize. Once their mission is complete, the developing embryo begins the complicated genetic program that turns a single cell into a healthy fetus.

This program is possible thanks in part to epigenetic changes to the DNA, such as the removal of methyl group 'locks' by enzymes, which allows many more genes to be read.

Some specialized genes however need to be locked down during development, as their genetic messages cause problems for the embryo.

"Everything that goes wrong in embryos has the potential to cause infertility or early pregnancy abortions," explains Daniel Messerschmidt from the A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology. "We are keen to discover the genomic locations which impact on that development."

Messerschmidt's team previously discovered that a protein called Trim28 locks methyl groups to certain regions in the genome. Now, the researchers looked for the targets of Trim28 to find what genes lies within these regions.

The scientists sequenced the RNA of more than 30 embryos lacking Trim28 and discovered that a gene called Rbmy1a1 was unusually active.

"It's an interesting gene which is not expressed anywhere in the body during development except for spermatogonia in the testes it has no place to be expressed in the embryo," says Messerschmidt. He proposes that the enzyme encoded by Rbmy1a1 produces mRNA transcripts which are harmful to the developing embryo.

Messerschmidt's team is now looking for more of these 'special attention' genes. If the activity of detrimental genes such as Rbmy1a1 can be detected before an embryo is implanted, then it could improve rates of IVF success, says Messerschmidt.

"We want to find out whether we can do epigenetic diagnostics in the same way as when we screen for a suspected genetic disease," he says. "Ultimately, having an overall understanding of these processes will give us a basis for what to look at."

Messerschmidt adds that an epigenetic diagnostic tool for embryos may allow doctors to compare IVF methods which differ between labs. "If we can compare different methods, perhaps we can point doctors to techniques that improve efficiency," he says.

Explore further: Single-cell analysis shows how embryonic cells maintain proper patterns of gene regulation

More information: Abhishek Sampath Kumar et al. Loss of maternalTrim28causes male-predominant early embryonic lethality, Genes & Development (2017). DOI: 10.1101/gad.291195.116

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Lockdown genes to reduce IVF failure rates - Medical Xpress

Genetics

Hendrix Genetics expand layer distribution in the US – Poultry World (subscription)

Eggs

News Aug 25, 2017259views

Hendrix Genetics has officially opened a new $18.5m hatchery in Nebraska, creating 45 jobs, as it aims to expand its share of the market.

The new layer hatchery has a capacity to produce 24m female chicks per year.

Key contract growers located near the new hatchery will rear and house the birds during production. The company is already working with 8 contract growers in the Grand Island area who have invested in new barns with a capacity of 40,000 birds per barn.

The Grand Island contract growers will complete the new national production hub for Hendrix Genetics in the US, enabling the firm to meet another 10% of the total US layer market needs.

Ron Joerissen, Hendrix Genetics production director layers, said: The new hatchery signifies a major step in supplying the US layer market with top quality laying hens. We are dedicated to breed for the egg producing industry of today and tomorrow.

Nebraskas Governor Pete Ricketts described the plant as a great example of value-added agriculture.

It is not only a $20m investment here that will create between 40 to 50 jobs but it is going to allow area farmers to put up these barns for the eggs that will supply this hatchery and a diversified revenue stream for those farmers who are participating, he said.

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Hendrix Genetics expand layer distribution in the US - Poultry World (subscription)

Genetics

Trying to Find a Healthy Diet? Look to Your Genes – NBCNews.com

The latest trend in nutrition isn't a fad diet or newly discovered supplement; it's your DNA.

Unlocking the secrets of one's genetic code used to be confined to the laboratory, but increasingly, the big business of DNA is now going after your eating habits. Thanks to new research in a field of study called nutrigenomics, scientists are learning how variations in our genes determine how well our bodies metabolize certain foods and nutrients.

For example, people with a variation of the CYP1A2 gene metabolize caffeine more slowly, and are at an increased risk of heart attack and hypertension if they drink more than a couple of cups of coffee a day.

Companies like the genetic testing service 23andMe helped pave the way for genotyping the process of determining variations in a person's genes to go mainstream. The California-based company has genotyped more than 2 million customers, though their testing focuses on genetic health risks and ancestry reports.

Now, more and more genetics startups are getting into nutrition: looking at how information in your genes could help people decide the best food to eat to feel good and even lose weight.

Scientists from the University of Toronto launched biotechnology company Nutrigenomix in 2012. The company offers genotyping test kits that look at 45 genetic markers related to genes for issues like weight loss, heart health, and food intolerances. The test is designed to help medical professionals make recommendations for a person's intake of sodium, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, and yes, caffeine.

Ahmed El-Sohemy, a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto and the founder of Nutrigenomix, points to research that shows the "one-size-fits-all model of nutritional guidance" is not the most effective way for people to eat healthily or lose weight.

"There's research now showing that people who get DNA-based dietary advice are more likely to follow recommendations. So not only are people getting more accurate dietary advice, but they are more likely to follow it," said El-Sohemy.

Nutrigenomix uses a saliva test ordered through healthcare professionals, and is available from more than 5,000 healthcare providers in 35 countries.

Now, there's a new kid on the block: Oakland-based personalized nutrition company Habit.

"We think we're going to disrupt the diet industry," Habit founder and CEO Neil Grimmer told NBC News. "When you think about moving from a one-size-fits-all approach to food to something that's highly personalized, it changes everything. It changes the way you shop. It changes the way you eat. And quite frankly, it even changes the way you think about your own health and well-being."

Habit's home testing kit containing DNA cheek swabs, three finger-prick blood tests, and a special shake. The bloodwork is designed to show how your body metabolizes the huge amounts of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins in the shake. Chiara Sottile

At Habit, it's not just DNA data they're using to make diet recommendations. For $299, Habit sends customers an at-home test kit containing DNA cheek swabs, three finger-prick blood tests, and a "metabolic challenge shake loaded with 950 calories. Users take one blood test prior to drinking the shake, and two more timed blood pricks afterwards. The bloodwork is designed to show how your body metabolizes the huge amounts of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins in the shake.

"You layer in your blood work, your fasting blood work, and you layer in your metabolism, and all of a sudden you have a really clear picture of what's going on inside yourself," said Grimmer.

The Habit test kit also asks you to measure your waist circumference and provide information about your weight and activity level. Users send in the DNA swabs and blood sample testing cards sealed in a pre-paid envelope, and then get their results back a couple weeks later.

Health-conscious San Francisco resident Michelle Hillier was introduced to Habit through a friend. When she received her test results, she was surprised to learn she is a diet type Habit calls a "Range Seeker" meaning she should eat about 50 percent of her daily calories in carbohydrates, about 30 percent from fat, and 20 percent from protein.

"You hear so much about how you need so much protein, and I'm a pretty active person so I had been really upping my protein. And to find out that I'm supposed to have more carbs than anything else was really surprising to me," said Hillier, who is not affiliated with the company.

She also learned that she has genes that are impactful for lactose and caffeine sensitivity, something she had suspected. Like all Habit users get for the $299, after she received her test results, Hillier had a 25-minute phone consultation with a registered dietitian from the Habit team.

Michelle Hillier, pictured, learned she is a "Range Seeker," which means she should eat about 50 percent of her daily calories in carbohydrates, about 30 percent from fat, and 20 percent from protein. Chiara Sottile

The Habit test kit is now available nationally (except in New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, because of regulatory restrictions). In the San Francisco Bay Area, Habit users get an added perk: the company will cook you fresh meals in their Oakland kitchen based on your diet recommendations and deliver them to your door weekly.

Hillier receives about three dinners a week costing between $10 and $15 a meal and she can choose her meals with Habit's online dashboard.

For Hillier, the Habit meals have been a positive addition to her already healthy lifestyle, though she admits: "The shake was awful," referring to the metabolic challenge shake. "It was like drinking seven coffees, four avocados, and a scoop of ice cream," said Hillier with a laugh.

Blood pricks and a "Challenge Shake" that lives up to its name could be barriers for some people but, Hillier says, it was well worth it for her.

"I've noticed that my clothes are looser on my body, I feel better. I noticed that I have more energy, honestly, since I started doing the meal plans," said Hillier in an interview, noting she's lost about seven pounds since she started receiving the Habit meal plans in May.

Kristin Kirkpatrick is a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, where they offer DNA testing kits from Nutrigenomix.

"Many of my patients have mentioned to me that it [nutrigenomics] has truly changed the way that they eat. But I don't think it's the first step. I think seeing a professional and going over what those important goals and barriers are is definitely what you want to do first, said Kirkpatrick in an interview with NBCs Jo Ling Kent.

As some urge potential consumers to do their homework and speak with their own healthcare professional before they take the plunge into their genetics, the market for DNA-based products is racing ahead. Just last month, Helix, a personal genomics company, launched the first online "marketplace."

Customers who have their genome sequenced with Helix get access to a slew of services from other emerging genomics companies ranging from Vinome,which aims to pick wine for you based on your genes, to EverlyWell, which offers food sensitivity and metabolism tests.

"People are very interested to go beyond the generalities that they've seen and get more specific to what's actually impacting their genes," said Kirkpatrick, though she warns this kind of testing "may not be ready for primetime."

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics agrees, writing in a 2014 opinion paper that, "...the use of nutrigenetic testing to provide dietary advice is not ready for routine dietetics practice." In the same paper, the Academy did also characterize nutritional genomics as insightful into how diet and genes impact our phenotypes.

"I don't think it's going to answer every single question that you may have about your health and it's definitely not going to answer things that are very specific to health ailments that you may have," Kirkpatrick told NBC News.

"Will it put you in the right direction towards knowing what foods you need to increase? What foods perhaps you should have less of and what's the best source of protein or fat related to weight loss? Absolutely," Kirkpatrick continued.

By 2020, the genomics market is expected to generate a staggering $50 billion globally, and diagnostic tools, health tech, and wireless wearables are expected to boom from $2 billion to $150 billion globally, according to one analysis.

"I think this is the start of a highly personalized future," said Habit CEO Neil Grimmer. "What we really hope to do is actually dispel a lot of the myths, get rid of the fad diets and actually get something that's personal to you."

Michelle Hillier says her Habit "nutrition coach," a registered dietitian, also advised her that she should consider factors beyond just her test results.

"She said take the results with a grain of salt, because you have to first see how you feel when you eat this way. It's not meant to be the 'end all be all,' but it is a guide like anything else," said Hillier.

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Trying to Find a Healthy Diet? Look to Your Genes - NBCNews.com

Biochemistry

Biochemistry – Part I Moof University

Biochemistry - Part I Moof UniversityMoof University Acids, Bases, and the Henderson-Hasselbalch EquationAmino AcidsProtein Structure and FunctionCarbohydratesEnzymesEnzyme InhibitionEnzyme RegulationBiochemist's Toolbox - Learn These BEFORE Learning Glycolysis and Other PathwaysGlycolysisGluconeogenesisGlycogenTCA / Krebs / Citric Acid CycleGlycolysis Energy CalculationsElectron Transport ChainPhotosynthesisPentose Phosphate PathwayLipidsFatty Acid MetabolismKetone BodiesFatty Acid SynthesisLipid SynthesisCholesterol SynthesisRegulation of Cholesterol SynthesisLipoproteins

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Biochemistry - Part I Moof University

Biochemistry

Researcher Seeks to Unravel the Brain’s Genetic Tapestry to Tackle Rare Disorder – University of Virginia

In 2013, University of Virginia researcher Michael McConnell published research that would forever change how scientists study brain cells.

McConnell and a team of nationwide collaborators discovered a genetic mosaic in the brains neurons, proving that brain cells are not exact replicas of each other, and that each individual neuron contains a slightly different genetic makeup.

McConnell, an assistant professor in the School of Medicines Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, has been using this new information to investigate how variations in individual neurons impact neuropsychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and epilepsy. With a recent $50,000 grant from the Bow Foundation, McConnell will expand his research to explore the cause of a rare genetic disorder known as GNAO1 so named for the faulty protein-coding gene that is its likely source.

GNAO1 causes seizures, movement disorders and developmental delays. Currently, only 50 people worldwide are known to have the disease. The Bow Foundation seeks to increase awareness so that other probable victims of the disorder can be properly diagnosed and to raise funds for further research and treatment.

UVA Today recently sat down with McConnell to find out more about how GNAO1 fits into his broader research and what his continued work means for all neuropsychiatric disorders.

Q. Can you explain the general goals of your lab?

A. My lab has two general directions. One is brain somatic mosaicism, which is a finding that different neurons in the brain have different genomes from one another. We usually think every cell in a single persons body has the same blueprint for how they develop and what they become. It turns out that blueprint changes a little bit in the neurons from neuron to neuron. So you have slightly different versions of the same blueprint and we want to know what that means.

The second area of our work focuses on a new technology called induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs. The technology permits us to make stem cell from skin cells. We can do this with patients, and use the stem cells to make specific cell types with same genetic mutations that are in the patients. That lets us create and study the persons brain cells in a dish. So now, if that person has a neurological disease, we can in a dish study that persons disease and identify drugs that alter the disease. Its a very personalized medicine approach to that disease.

Q. Does cell-level genomic variety exist in other areas of the body outside the central nervous system?

A. Every cell in your body has mutations of one kind or another, but brain cells are there for your whole life, so the differences have a bigger impact there. A skin cell is gone in a month. An intestinal cell is gone in a week. Any changes in those cells will rarely have an opportunity to cause a problem unless they cause a tumor.

Q. How does your research intersect with the goals of the Bow Foundation?

A. Let me back up to a little bit of history on that. When I got to UVA four years ago, I started talking quite a lot with Howard Goodkin and Mark Beenhakker. Mark is an assistant professor in pharmacology. Howard is a pediatric neurologist and works with children with epilepsy. I had this interest in epilepsy and UVA has a historic and current strength in epilepsy research.

We started talking about how to use iPSCs the technology that we use to study mosaicism to help Howards patients. As we talked about it and I learned more about epilepsy, we quickly realized that there are a substantial number of patients with epilepsy or seizure disorders where we cant do a genetic test to figure out what drug to use on those patients.

Clinical guidance, like Howards expertise, allows him to make a pretty good diagnosis and know what drugs to try first and second and third. But around 30 percent of children that come in with epilepsy never find the drug that works, and theyre in for a lifetime of trial-and-error. We realized that we could use iPSC-derived neurons to test drugs in the dish instead of going through all of the trial-and-error with patients. Thats the bigger project that weve been moving toward.

The Bow Foundation was formed by patient advocates after this rare genetic mutation in GNAO1 was identified. GNAO1 is a subunit of a G protein-coupled receptor; some mutations in this receptor can lead to epilepsy while others lead to movement disorders.

Were still trying to learn about these patients, and the biggest thing the Bow Foundation is doing is trying to address that by creating a patient registry. At the same time, the foundation has provided funds for us to start making and testing iPSCs and launch this approach to personalized medicine for epilepsy.

In the GNAO1 patients, we expect to be able to study their neurons in a dish and understand why they behave differently, why the electrical activity in their brain is different or why they develop differently.

Q. What other more widespread disorders, in addition to schizophrenia and epilepsy, are likely to benefit from your research?

A. Im part of a broader project called the Brain Somatic Mosaicism Network that is conducting research on diseases that span the neuropsychiatric field. Our lab covers schizophrenia, but other nodes within that network are researching autism, bipolar disorder, Tourette syndrome and other psychiatric diseases where the genetic cause is difficult to identify. Thats the underlying theme.

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Researcher Seeks to Unravel the Brain's Genetic Tapestry to Tackle Rare Disorder - University of Virginia