A biology professor at the University of Washington in Seattle believes the stress caused by President Donald Trumps time in office will lead to a permanent change in human genetics.

Peter Ward, a professor who works in the earth and space sciences department of UWs College of the Environment, offered his bizarre prediction to Gizmodo earlier this weekwhen the publication asked a handful of evolutionary biologists, Can superhuman mutants be living among us?

Ward argued that significant traumas like abuse or military combat cancause permanent change to the human genome. He went on to suggest Trumps presidency is akin to those traumas and will have an evolutionary consequence on humanity.

Were finding more and more that, for instance, people who have gone through combat, or women who have been abused when you have these horrendous episodes in life, it causes permanent change, which is then passed on to your kids, he said. These are actual genetic shifts that are taking place within people.

Those shifts, Ward contended, can cause huge evolutionary change.

He added: On a larger scale, the amount of stress that Americans are going through now, because of Trump there is going to be an evolutionary consequence.

Earlier in his statement, the professor also predicted the U.S. military willmanipulate genetics to create some sort of superhuman soldiers.

A soldier whos much harder to bleed to death, or a soldier that doesnt need to drink as much water, or doesnt need to eat for five or six days, or doesnt need to sleep any one of these things would be an enormous advantage in warfare, he said.

This isnt the first time Ward has raised eyebrows for his ideas.

In his 2009 book The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive? Wardargued that life on earth will cause its own destruction in order to save the planet.

He argued at the time, The Christian Science Monitor reported, that life will self-destruct prematurely, many years before the sun, which he believes will begin to expand in roughly one billion years, burns the biosphere away.

Excerpt from:
Biology professor: Trump's presidency will permanently alter human ... - TheBlaze.com

This is the first piece in a series exploring Catholicism and science.

We know well the churchs stance that reason (ratio) can never be ultimately alien or antithetical to fides (faith), for God is the Source of all Truth. A disproportionate overtaxing of the aims and abilities of human nature as the basis for all social, ethical and political realities can and has led to totalitarian systems which have been disastrous for humanity (Fides et Ratio, 46). Yet the answer to these challenges is never a flight into the feeling and experience of unmitigated fideism, with no relationship to rational reflection, for this ends in religious expression withering into myth or superstition (FeR, 48).

This series will hope to emphasize the relationship between scientific thought and religious conviction, always recognizing the distinct spheres of both because using Scripture as a proof text for a scientific claim, or enshrining a scientific hypothesis as an indubitably revealed truth, is neither good science nor good theology. Yet faith and reason are famously recognized as the two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of the Truth.

These anthropological and theological claims do not preclude us from examining the contributions people of faith have made to the progress of human knowledge in various scientific disciplines. On the contrary, they impel us to do so. And with the proliferation of television commercials for private companies offering to help us explore our genetic past and the impact it has on our children and grandchildren, there is no better place to begin than with Gregor Mendel.

Mendel was born in 1822 in what is today the Czech Republic. An Augustinian monk, he studied math and botany in Vienna. When he returned to the monastery, he experimented with pea plants and came to realize that traits were passed on in independent pairings of what he coined dominant and recessive factors (now called genes), not inherited in equal proportions from each of the preceding generations as previously thought. He is thus known as the father of genetics.

Both the ability to identify genetically inherited diseases and to engineer plant varieties for more desirable qualities (e.g., corn with optimal kernel size, shape, color, durability, and resistance to pests) are indebted to the work of Mendel.

It is well known that prayer and praise formed and supported Mendels exploratory search for truths about life on our planet. He recognized the importance of creatureliness and what this implied: both limitation to our self-determination and a relationship with the Creator and the natural world in which we live.

Like Anselm of Canterbury almost a millennium before him, Mendel saw in his rigorous investigations a path toward union with the divine. As Mendels predecessor put it: Come now, insignificant man, fly for a moment from your affairs, escape for a little while from the tumult of your thoughts. Enter into the inner chamber of your soul, shut out everything save God and what can be of help in your quest for him Come then, Lord my God, teach my heart where and how to seek You, where and how to find You. Teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself to me as I seek, because I can neither seek you if you do not teach me how, nor find you unless you reveal yourself. Let me seek you in desiring you; let me desire you in seeking you; let me find you in loving you; let me love you in finding you.

Mendel died at 61 years of age after serving as a friar, botanist, abbot, and author. It was not until decades after his quiet death in the monastery that his genius was recognized by the international academic community, and his important role in this history of human self-understanding confirmed.

Collingswood native Michael M. Canaris, Ph.D., teaches at Loyola University, Chicago.

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The monk who became the 'father of genetics' - Catholic Star Herald

An upright shearing platform will be demonstrated at the MerinoLink field day.

INNOVATIONS in shearing, genetics, pasture growth and animal health prediction, and the latest research on feed supplements will be outlined at the MerinoLink conference on June 21.

The conference at Mercure Goulburn from 8am-5pm will be followed by a field day on June 22 at Gunning to demonstrate an upright shearing platform.

Keynote speaker, Meat & Livestock Australia managing director Richard Norton, will outline how levies are being invested in the Merino production supply chain.

Australian Wool Innovation trade consultant Scott Carmody will give an insight into the wool market and Riverina sheep producer and 2017 RIRDC Rural Women of the Year, Sandra Ireson, of Hay, will cover programs aimed at fostering agricultural careers for young people.

The newly unveiled ASKBILL web-based program developed by the Sheep Co-operative Research Centre will be explained by Lu Hogan. The tool predicts pasture growth, animal performance and risks of flystrike, worm infection and weather stress.

A joint project between MerinoLink and Charles Sturt University evaluating the cost and production benefits of vitamin and mineral supplements will be outlined, along with genetic technology and the use of genomics at a commercial level.

NSW DPI technical specialist livestock systems Phil Graham will round out the afternoon sessions with future Merino production system challenges. Elmore ewe trial consultant Kieran Ransom will discuss the best sheep type for a combination of prime lamb and wool production.

An upright shearing platform developed by southern New South Wales wool grower Grant Burbidge will be the highlight of the MerinoLink field day at Merrill, Gunning, from 9am to noon on June 22. The platform shearing system aimsto increase efficiency in the shed and streamline sheep and wool handling, with no dragging or bending of sheep.

There will also be trade displays of sheep handling equipment, wool broking, animal health and industry research, and demonstrations of ram selection for commercial breeders.

Conference co-ordinator and MerinoLink chief executive officer Sally Martin said all members of the wool and sheep meats supply chain were welcome at the conference and field day.

Ms Martin said commercial producers would hear how MerinoLink research project outcomes could be incorporated in their enterprise to lift profitability.

There will be plenty of tips and tricks on using the new technologies available in the market place, she said.

Speakers will be also looking at the additional profit and genetic gain to be made from using electronic identification.

And, pasture is not forgotten with trends in pasture genetic improvement to be covered.

Master Australian storyteller Murray Hartin will be guest speaker at the MerinoLink dinner to be held at the Mercure Goulburn on June 21 from 6.30pm.

To register for the MerinoLink conference go to the MerinoLink website http://www.merinolink.com or contact Sally Martin on 0400 782 477, Donna Cummins on 0407 273 225 or email [emailprotected]

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MerinoLink 2017 to feature latest in shearing, genetics and animal health - Sheep Central

The market was mixed on Thursday, with the Nasdaq Composite posting a modest gain while the Dow and S&P 500 stayed almost unchanged on the day. Events in Europe, including the U.K. election and a decision from the European Central Bank to keep interest rates stable, drew attention from international investors, but those in the U.S. didn't have a major response to those or other political events going on both domestically and across the globe.

Still, despite the quiet mood on Wall Street, some stocks suffered from bad news, and Sina (NASDAQ:SINA), Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO), and NewLink Genetics (NASDAQ:NLNK) were among the worst performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.

Shares of Sina fell more than 4% after the Chinese online media company detailed its plans to distribute a portion of the shares of microblogging specialist Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) that it still owns. Sina said that it will distribute one Weibo share for every 10 shares of Sina that investors own, leading to the distribution of roughly 7.14 million shares of Weibo. The distribution will take place on July 10, and it will reduce Sina's stake in Weibo from about 49% to 46%. However, Sina will retain voting control of Weibo, with the microblogging company's multiple share classes giving the online media player about 72% in terms of voting power. Weibo has been a big part of Sina's success, and some likely don't want to see Sina's stake in Weibo decline. Some of Sina's weakness also likely stemmed from the recent success of a key rival in the Chinese internet and e-commerce space, as rising competition will force Sina to up its game in order to keep pace.

Image source: Eldorado Gold.

Eldorado Gold stock lost 9% in the wake of news that one of the company's projects will likely become the subject of arbitration proceedings. Reports from Greece indicated that the head of the Greek energy ministry will ask the nation's litigation specialists to make preparations for arbitration over a gold mining project that Eldorado is seeking to develop in the northern part of the country. The Skouries project is a high-grade gold and copper deposit on the Halkidiki Peninsula, and Eldorado is looking to operate the company as an open pit mine for the first nine years, followed by an additional 15 years of underground mining. The Greek government wants to ensure that Eldorado will make good on its contractual obligations, but Eldorado is still hopeful that development will allow for operations to start on the open pit portion of the project by 2019.

Finally, shares of NewLink Genetics plunged more than 40%. Roche Holdings said that it had decided to stop working with NewLink on the cancer drug GDC-0919, returning its rights to help co-develop the candidate treatment back to its smaller partner. Many investors were surprised by the move, but early study results seemed to indicate only marginal benefits from adding NewLink's treatment to existing drugs in Roche's stable. With competitors' drugs apparently providing greater benefits, Roche chose to pull the plug. For NewLink, the news comes only days after poor study results on another candidate treatment for breast cancer, and shareholders have to wonder when the bad news will turn around for the company. For now, investors seem downbeat on NewLink's prospects going forward.

Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Sina and Weibo. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Why Sina, Eldorado Gold, and NewLink Genetics Slumped Today ... - Motley Fool

Emerging research suggests our DNA influences the ability to read a persons thoughts and emotions from looking at their eyes. And it appears that genetic capability is prevalent among women but not men.

A new study expands on work initiated twenty years ago when a team of scientists at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. developed a test of cognitive empathy called the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (or the Eyes Test, for short).

They discovered that people can rapidly interpret what another person is thinking or feeling from looking at their eyes alone. It also showed that some of us are better at this than others, and that women on average score better on this test than men.

Now, the same team, working with the genetics company 23andMe along with scientists from France, Australia, and the Netherlands, report results from a new study of performance on this test in 89,000 people across the world.

The majority of these were 23andMe customers who consented to participate in research. The results confirmed that women on average do indeed score better on this test.

Study results appear in the journalMolecular Psychiatry.

The new study confirmed that genes influence performance on the Eyes Test. Investigators also discovered that in women, key genetic variants on chromosome 3 are associated with their ability to read the mind in the eyes.

The study was led by Varun Warrier, a Cambridge Ph.D. student, and Professors Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, and Thomas Bourgeron, of the University Paris Diderot and the Institut Pasteur.

Interestingly, performance on the Eyes Test in males was not associated with genes in this particular region of chromosome 3.

Researchers also found the same pattern of results in an independent cohort of almost 1,500 people who were part of the Brisbane Longitudinal Twin Study, suggesting the genetic association in females is a reliable finding.

The closest genes in this tiny stretch of chromosome 3 include LRRN1 (Leucine Rich Neuronal 1) which is highly active in a part of the human brain called the striatum, and which has been shown using brain scanning to play a role in cognitive empathy.

Consistent with this, genetic variants that contribute to higher scores on the Eyes Test also increase the volume of the striatum in humans, a finding that needs to be investigated further.

Previous studies have found that people with autism and anorexia tend to score lower on the Eyes Test.

The team found that genetic variants that contribute to higher scores on the Eyes Test also increase the risk for anorexia, but not autism. They speculate that this may be because autism involves both social and non-social traits, and this test only measures a social trait.

Warrier said, This is the largest ever study of this test of cognitive empathy in the world. This is also the first study to attempt to correlate performance on this test with variation in the human genome.

This is an important step forward for the field of social neuroscience and adds one more piece to the puzzle of what may cause variation in cognitive empathy.

Bourgeron added, This new study demonstrates that empathy is partly genetic, but we should not lose sight of other important social factors such as early upbringing and postnatal experience.

We are excited by this new discovery, Baron-Cohen said, and are now testing if the results replicate, and exploring precisely what these genetic variants do in the brain, to give rise to individual differences in cognitive empathy.

This new study takes us one step closer in understanding such variation in the population.

Source: University of Cambridge

APA Reference Nauert PhD, R. (2017). Genetics May Influence Ability to See Others Thoughts in Their Eyes. Psych Central. Retrieved on June 8, 2017, from https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/06/08/genetics-may-influence-ability-to-see-others-thoughts-in-their-eyes/121659.html

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Genetics May Influence Ability to See Others' Thoughts in Their Eyes - PsychCentral.com

June 8 Newlink Genetics Corp

* Newlink Genetics - on June 6, Genentech, a member of Roche Group, informed co that it intends to return rights to IDO inhibitor GDC-0919

* Newlink Genetics - rights co had licensed to genentech with respect to GDC-0919 will revert to co when termination becomes effective

* Newlink Genetics - research collaboration with Genentech for discovery of next generation IDO/TDO (tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase) inhibitors continues Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

* Bain, Western Digital in group led by Japan state fund -sources

June 8 BlackRock Inc said on Thursday it hired Goldman Sachs' Heather Brownlie as its U.S. head of fixed-income ETFs.

Excerpt from:
BRIEF-Newlink Genetics says Roche Group member Genentech informed co that it intends to return rights to IDO ... - Reuters

CORRECTED-Investors expect to meet with Exxon on climate-impact report

HOUSTON, June 1 Exxon Mobil Corp investors will push to meet with oil company officials this summer to hash out elements of a climate-impact analysis following a shareholder vote calling for studies of technology and climate-related risks to its business.

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BRIEF-Takeda, Seattle Genetics announce Lancet publication - Reuters

Genetics pioneer Francis Collins will continue as director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the White House said in a statement on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump has proposed a 20 percent cut amounting to $5.8 billion to the NIH budget, a move which has been called a "catastrophe" by some heart doctors and researchers in the country.

Collins, a medical doctor with advanced degrees in chemistry, was nominated to head the NIH by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009. He said he was grateful for Trump's trust in his ability to continue to lead the NIH.

The NIH is one of the world's foremost medical research centers and has had a key role in important discoveries including the invention of magnetic resonance imaging, the mapping of the human genome and, more recently, the development of CRISPR, a genome editing tool that is fueling a boom in new treatments and products from medical and pharmaceutical companies.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Trott)

NORRISTOWN, Pa. Bill Cosby's lawyers on Wednesday tried to undermine the account of the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2004, questioning apparent inconsistencies in her statements to police and suggesting she was after money.

The United States has joined a lawsuit accusing the city of Los Angeles of failing to develop affordable housing for disabled people despite accepting millions of dollars of federal funds for that purpose, the Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

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Genetics authority to continue as director of US health institute - Reuters

news

Sophia Genetics, aleader in Data-Driven Medicine, has unveiled a new AI-powered solution for liquid biopsies to help with the detection of cancer and to monitor treatment.

This new application, unveiledat the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), taps the analytical power of the companys artificial intelligence, SOPHiA, to help clinicians diagnose, treat, and monitor cancer earlier and more effectively by looking at circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA), or circulating tumour cells (CTC), contained in patients liquid samples such as blood, urine, and cerebral spinal fluid.

Compared to tissue biopsies, liquid biopsies allow clinicians to perform analysis of solid tumours and hematological malignancies at various time points to detect tumour progression and monitor treatments effectiveness. This new approach also represents a faster and less invasive alternative for patients.

The lack of a standardised analytical solution able to take into account different samples stability and low ctDNA levels has for a long time been a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of liquid biopsies in hospitals. SOPHiA solves these challenges by offering a standardised DNA analysis approach to liquid biopsy testing, built upon the network of 300 hospitals from 50 countries already using SOPHiA for genomic data analysis. Even with low ctDNA levels, SOPHiA provides indispensable insights into tumours profiles, straight from liquid samples.

One of the first users of SOPHiA for liquid biopsies, Prof. La Payen-Gay, co-investigator of the CIRCAN (CIRculating CANcer) program at the Hospices Civils de Lyon Laboratory, based in Lyon, France, explained, SOPHiA helps save precious time and resources and serves as an excellent benchmark for our laboratory as it detects and validates a more comprehensive list of variants. The companys analytical platform, SOPHiA DDM, is user-friendly and easy to navigate, making it possible for a user to be hands-on from benchtop to variant calling.

Speed and precision

Rather than waiting for months to detect changes on an imaging scan, SOPHiA allows clinicians to monitor a tumours progression with remarkable precision from a simple blood test. Faster and more accurate analysis eliminates undue anxiety resulting from biased answers and unclear response to heavy treatments, making regular status-check less stressful and painful for patients. SOPHiAs application for liquid biopsies is also available for clinical trials, making it possible to identify the patients most likely to benefit from new treatments.

To facilitate the interpretation of all the genetic variants detected by SOPHiA in ctDNA, the analysis results are presented in the companys OncoPortal, an interface dedicated to solid tumours and hematological malignancies, which experts can access on the companys online analytical platform, Sophia DDM. OncoPortal flags associations between human gene variants, disease causality, progression, drug efficacy, and toxicity to help the clinicians better leverage the data analysed by SOPHiA in order to provide personalised care to patients.

Jurgi Camblong, CEO and co-founder of Sophia Genetics, commented, By applying SOPHiAs state-of-the-art analytical power to liquid biopsies, clinicians can now leverage the collective intelligence of over 300 hospitals to help better diagnose, treat, and monitor cancer in a less invasive manner for patients. Now supporting tumor testing directly from blood samples with ctDNA, SOPHiA has the potential to benefit thousands of patients lives by giving clinicians access to the most advanced technology for cancer diagnosis and identification of successful treatments.

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Release: Sophia Genetics using AI in liquid biopsies to accelerate early detection of cancer - Access Ai

Scientists from the University of Geneva are using the rules of genetics to better understand how to incorporate wind and solar power into the current electrical grid to produce a renewable power system. The researchers published their study in IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica (JAS), a joint publication of the IEEE and the Chinese Association of Automation.

Integration of intermittent generation into the electric network is a challenging task, as supply must always match demand, said Tim Mareda, a doctoral student at University of Geneva and an author on the paper.

The researchers examined the problems of wind and solar power reliability, storage, and delivery to areas with high demand for power across a large-scale area, such as Europe. Mareda and his team used Europes existing transmission map to create a grid of equally sized and spaced cells. They then simulated the mismatch between power generation and use every hour from years of electricity consumption data, and also estimated typical solar and wind generation.

To process this information, the researchers created an algorithm with set parameters, including the grids physical reach, the produced power of the renewable units, the storage capacity, and the ability of the system to charge and discharge power.

Designed to optimize the power exchange and use of available solar and wind power, the algorithm is derived from biology. Genes mutate, or share information, or select a specific output, to solve biological problems. It may not be the best solution for the entire body, but it provides a good solution for the individual genes. Mareda and his group used the same principles to optimize power generation and dispatch decisions through the simulated grid system, and they found it worked well.

From a technical perspective, and within our model assumptions, expanding the spatial distribution of weather-driven power sources is an effective way to manage intermittent generation, said Mareda. He noted that his teams study results are specific to Europe, but their approach can be used to study intermittent generation in any location.

Mareda and team plan to explore how wind and solar power systems could be coupled between different regions as a part of a large-scale renewable integration strategy.

Long term planning is crucial when evaluating options, Mareda said. Distributed generation harvested from wind and solar power can expand through both locally defined integration strategies and through large-scale power system designs. The paradigms are not mutually exclusive, and all options should be carefully considered to achieve a successful transition to a fully sustainable power system.

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Fulltext of the paper is available:

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7894136 http://html.rhhz.net/ieee-jas/html/20170213.htm

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Using genetics to make best use of wind and solar in electrical systems - ScienceBlog.com (blog)