The Human Dynasty

(Children’s Hospital Boston) The ability to predict a person’s lifelong risk of stroke would allow clinicians to advise individuals at high risk. In the March issue of Stroke, researchers in the Children’s Hospital Informatics Program report such a statistical model, which draws on 1,313 known genetic predictors. Used in 569 patients presenting with possible stroke, the model, known as a Bayesian network, was able to predict the true occurrence of stroke with 86 percent accuracy.

(University of Massachusetts Medical School) The final DNA analysis of recently unearthed remains identify the missing members of the family of Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia, murdered in 1918.

(Medical College of Georgia) Another 200 newborns in Georgia and Florida with high-risk genes for type 1 diabetes will be enrolled over the next year in a long-term study to determine how genetics and environment cause the disease.

An unrelated cord blood transplant, even from a mismatched donor, can be effective in treating children with a host of life-threatening diseases and disorders including cancer, sickle cell anemia, and other genetic diseases, according to researchers. Unrelated cord blood may be easier to obtain than adult bone marrow, allowing for the treatment of more patients.

Cancer cells need a lot of nutrients to multiply and survive. While much is understood about how cancer cells use blood sugar to make energy, not much is known about how they get other nutrients. Now, researchers have discovered how the Myc cancer-promoting gene uses microRNAs to control the use of glutamine, a major energy source.

The fruit fly is genetically wired to sleep, although the sleep comes in widely variable amounts and patterns, according to new research. Learning more about the genetics of sleep in model animals could lead to advances in understanding human sleep and how sleep loss affects the human condition.

Researchers have created an algorithm that meshes existing data to produce a clearer step-by-step flow chart of how cells respond to stimuli. Using this new method, scientists have analyzed alpha-synuclein toxicity to identify genes and pathways that can affect cell survival. Misfolded copies of the alpha-synuclein protein in brain cells are a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease.

(Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research) Researchers have created an algorithm that meshes existing data to produce a clearer step-by-step flow chart of how cells respond to stimuli. Using this new method, Whitehead Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists have analyzed alpha-synuclein toxicity to identify genes and pathways that can affect cell survival. Misfolded copies of the alpha-synuclein protein in brain cells are a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease.

(North Carolina State University) A new study by scientists at North Carolina State University shows that the fruit fly is genetically wired to sleep, although the sleep comes in widely variable amounts and patterns. Learning more about the genetics of sleep in model animals could lead to advances in understanding human sleep and how sleep loss affects the human condition.

Commercial genetic tests, which can verify risks of cancer risks to paternity, have become commonplace in the Western societies. Yet these tests provide little information and raise a lot more questions, according ton one bioethics expert.