Category Archives: Genetics

NOVA – Cracking your genetic code

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

I was only able to watch the final 10 minutes of this program on PBS tonight (I recorded it and will watch the full program later). Any thoughts from people on its merit? Is it worth showing my human genetics … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics, Teaching | Tagged , | Comments Off on NOVA – Cracking your genetic code

Speaking of human genetics…

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

From the AP (via the NY Times) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has thrown out a lower court ruling allowing human genes to be patented, a topic of enormous interest to cancer researchers, patients and drug makers. This will … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics | Tagged | Comments Off on Speaking of human genetics…

DNAnthropology

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

Science News has a story by Robert Service and Elizabeth Pennisi on the latest breakthrough in DNA sequencing technology, nanopore sequencing. The technology is quite amazing: Since then scientists have figured out how to drive DNA through proteins with tiny … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Genetics | Tagged | Comments Off on DNAnthropology

Classroom genetics

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

“clicking the agree button means you are ready and willing to be traumatized” Katie Topp, an undergraduate student at the University of Rhode Island, paraphrasing her teacher, Holly Dunsworth. Holly got funding to get her entire class genotyping services through … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics, Teaching | Tagged | Comments Off on Classroom genetics

Government DNA databases

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

The NY Times has an article today on New York state’s efforts to create a genetic database covering all individuals convicted of a crime, felony or misdemeanor, within the state. This is a growing trend nationally and internationally, but New … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Government DNA databases

Go, go, Gorilla genome

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

Nature published the results from the first full-genome sequencing of Gorilla this week. As with any new genome sequencing project, this initial publication is the result of an immense amount of work (the author list on the paper runs to … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Genetics | Tagged | 2 Comments

Genetic testing and the health care “time bomb”

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

Ezra Klein, writing in his blog for the Washington Post, draws attention to the most recent story in the New York Times about the increasingly low cost of comprehensive genetic screening. Klein predicts that in the absence of an individual … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Genetic testing and the health care “time bomb”

The joys of kinship, the complexities of genealogy

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

I have been in radio silence for the past couple of weeks while traveling in Paris with my wife and spending the holiday’s with her family. My wife’s familial relations, while perhaps a bit more complex than most, are not … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Genetics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The joys of kinship, the complexities of genealogy

A gene for…

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Adam Van Arsdale

Anne Buchanan has a wonderful post over at The Mermaid’s Tale on one of my biggest pet peeves in public discussions of genetics: I also found the Brca1 gene in one of the intervals I was looking at, the “breast … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics | Tagged , | Comments Off on A gene for…

Deluge of DNA

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Adam Van Arsdale

The NY Times has a story up about the massive increase in DNA sequencing output over the past several years. In short, the rise in rapid-sequencing platforms and the declining cost of entry into the field has spurred an incredible … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Deluge of DNA