Tensions were high today at the US Congress Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing into direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing. Three spokespersons from the 3 major DTC testing companies (Navigenics, 23AndMe and Pathways Genomics) were made to defend their companies and the DTC industry whilst some of the committee members found it difficult to pick out …
While there are many positive and wonderful things about the world of genetic ancestry testing, there are also some exaggerated claims and errors that come to light. Some of these claims include making inferences about an individual’s ancestors from direct-to-consumer genetic companies. A recent BBC Radio 4 interview with Alistair Moffat of Britain’s DNA is an …
Exaggerations And Errors in the Promotion of Genetic Ancestry Testing Read More »
On the 29th of April 2011, we saw fresh blood entering the British royal family. This was an exciting time for everyone involved as it meant that there was going to be possible new heirs to the throne. Now, any British geneticist would have been thinking: will there be any new royal genetic diseases formed …
Inbreeding, Genetic Disease and the Royal Wedding Read More »
DNA is also known as deoxyribonucleic acid. It is the building block of all life, containing the genetic information that makes each of us an individual. This is known as a genome. A genome is approximately 3,000,000,000 base pairs long and is split into 23 pairs of chromosomes. DNA gives your body the instructions to create …
DNA testing companies have sprouted up all over the world. They often market on the premise that they are the most up to date service available. However, the problem is that new variants in our DNA are discovered at an alarming rate. Consider, you’ve got your 23andMe results and have enjoyed reading about your variants. However, …
Learning More From your 23andMe Results with Imputation Read More »
In my previous post, I discussed using 23andMe to test the hypothesis I had about my ancestry. I was interested in Dienekes Pontikos’s result that suggested that I am potentially Ashkenazi Jewish. My colleague, Vincent, also received this result. I concluded that the algorithm used did not sufficiently represent my southern European ancestry. This ancestry was …
Am I Partly Jewish? An Unexpected Turn of Events Read More »
Schizophrenia has been widely researched for many years now, yet still remains a big question mark in the realm of mental health. In 2014; however, Arnedo et al. published a study stating that schizophrenia is a heterogeneous group of disorders. The study received a lot of attention and one of the most pressed upon topics of …
In December of 2012, Britain’s then Prime Minister announced an ambitious plan to sequence a whopping 100,000 whole genomes from the UK’s NHS patients by the end of 2017.To that end, a new company was formed, known as Genomics England Limited, from here on referred to as GeL.This was in June 2013, and it was …
Loss-of-function (LoF) variants have the potential to throw protein-coding genes out of order, from slight alterations in the genetic code to huge changes like the complete removal of one or more genes. Not only do DNA changes like this largely influence serious diseases such as muscular dystrophy or cystic fibrosis, but they also suggest more redundancy …
All Genomes Are Dysfunctional: Broken Genes in Healthy Individuals Read More »
The field of scientific publishing is not without its problems. One of the major issues in the current system of scientific publication is the peer-review process wherein, prior to publication, papers are reviewed and classified in terms of research quality and estimated engagement. This system, unfortunately, suppresses the timely and accessible distribution of scientific research. One …
The First Steps Towards A Modern System Of Scientific Publication Read More »
