Genome Blog [Category - Gerry Ward]

Genome Alberta for the Tech-savvy Teacher

Thu, 26 Aug 10 20:30:00 UT

This is the time of year that school teachers in Alberta are back in schools starting to plan for the arrival of students early next week. I know the teachers will be attending important meetings. I hope there will also be time for the important planning of the year ahead. News over the summer indicates that some Calgary area schools are gearing up to make a lot more use of computers in their classrooms. University of Calgary research just announced that tech-savvy students have an advantage, but only if their teachers are tech-savvy too. The Genome Alberta website is a major landing site for tech-savvy science teachers. Let me tell you why it should be for you as well.

Are we prepared for a rogue gene?

Thu, 12 Aug 10 03:45:00 UT

This evening as I was watching the TV news a reporter talked in a very serious manner about a superbug spreading through a rogue gene from India and there are no drugs to treat it. I realized that she was talking about a paper from Lancet Infectious Diseases titled “Emergence of a new antibiotic resistance mechanism in India, Pakistan, and the UK: a molecular, biological, and epidemiological study”. A quick search for superbug or NDM -1 will lead you to a number of articles that talk specifically about the Lancet ID paper or the superbug. NDM-1 is the gene that codes for the enzyme called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase. In this blog, I want to examine what we know about how genes move through bacteria.

Beet Gene in the News

Sat, 07 Aug 10 19:15:00 UT

Yahoo news comes up on my screen when I sign out of an email account. Usually, I do a quick scan and then move on. Imagine my surprise when I read that Michelle Obama was quoted in Ladies’ Home Journal as saying, "Neither the president nor I have the beet gene". That inspired me to immediately look into what we know about the genomics of tasting.

I personally like beets: roasted, baked, pickled. I especially love pickled beets sliced up on my salad; but that is another topic. I must have the beet gene.

Smoking affects the Genome

Fri, 23 Jul 10 18:15:00 UT

In 1988, then American Surgeon General C. Everett Koop called for a Smoke-Free class of 2000. An ambitious project began with grade 1 classes and the hope that by the time the students graduated in the year 2000, they would graduate as non-smokers. Since by 1988 the dangers of smoking were well known, this project was supported by the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the American Lung Association. Sadly, even in 2010 young people continue to start smoking. Recent genomic studies reveal extremely strong evidence why this is a very bad decision.

Longevity Study: understanding the controversy

Mon, 12 Jul 10 21:15:00 UT

Perhaps the simplest form of science is observation and inference. The driving force is curiosity. More formally, science is expressed as designing and carrying out of experiments and using the results to explain how things work.

Another driving force of science is the challenge that comes from others doubting the experimental design or the interpretation, and seeking to falsify the results.

In the past couple of weeks, we have seen an excellent example of science in action. First there was the publication in Science of the paper titled “Genetic Signatures of Exceptional Longevity in Humans” This work lead by Paola Sebastiani of Boston University caused considerable buzz throughout newspaper editorials and the science blogosphere. In my blog I talked about being impressed when I read about their use of mathematics to seek out SNPs related to longevity. However, almost immediately after I posted my blog, I started to read that other scientists in the field were expressing doubts about this study.

Live Long and Prosper

Mon, 05 Jul 10 22:15:00 UT

It's an age-old joke, or perhaps an old-age joke, that when asked the question, “Who wants to live to be 100?”, the answer is “anyone who is 99!”

In my family we celebrated two 90th birthdays over the past two months. Friends have asked me if I am lucky enough to have the good genes. I could only smile and hope. This week however, research from the New England Centenarian Study (NECS) published in Science, revealed that there are in fact 19 genetic clusters of extreme longevity (EL). Perhaps soon I will be able to answer the question.

G-whiz to GWAS – Human Genome Project Plus 10 Years

Fri, 25 Jun 10 20:00:00 UT

June 26 will mark the 10th anniversary of the draft announcement of the Human Genome Project HGP). It seems to me that there has been an endless stream of editorials both supporting the project and lamenting its lack of major medical advancements. I ask myself the question: what has the HGP meant, and what has it led to?

Counting Cousins - using pedigree analysis

Fri, 11 Jun 10 23:00:00 UT

At breakfast this morning, I was telling my friend about the recent visit of some of my relatives. He was asking me if they were second cousins admitting that he was not sure how the hierarchy of relatives is described. I told him that as a teacher I found students loved when I introduced the concept of pedigree analysis by explaining how to count cousins. Genealogists use a variety of flowcharts to show the linkage of their relatives. Biologists use a very specific type of flowchart called a pedigree to determine the patterns of inheritance. They can be sketched very quickly. On a visit to my family doctor, I watched with amusement as he quickly sketched my family pedigree while interviewing me about my immediate family. It becomes another source of information.

I have created a 5 generation pedigree chart and I use it to explain the way we define our relatives. I used the free Progeny Genetics online pedigree drawing app. Give it a try if you want to create a pedigree.

Counting Cousins

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Gluten and Gluten Intolerance: Part 3

Sun, 16 May 10 21:00:00 UT

If you seem to be hearing and reading a lot about gluten-free diets these days, it could be because May is Celiac Awareness Month in Canada and the U.S. It has definitely become a world-wide event due to extensive discussion throughout the blogosphere?

In two previous blogs (1, 2), I described the genomics of gluten and gluten intolerance. Now in Part III, I will tell you about some of the genes which have been identified as playing a role in celiac disease and gluten intolerance.

I didn’t know there was a “superlocus” until I started to read about the human leukocyte antigen system (HLA). HLA is a large group of genes located together on chromosome 6 which encode for the antigens which identify self.

Do You Think You Have Much in Common With Fruit?

Mon, 10 May 10 16:45:00 UT

Guest Blog: Bethel Andeghiorghis: Westmount Charter School
winner of the Genome Alberta Elementary Award at the Calgary Youth Science Fair 2010

I am honoured to have been presented with this Genome Alberta prize. My project was on DNA extractions from fruit. The title of my project was Do You Think You Have Much in Common With Fruit? Believe it or not their genetic material is quite like ours. The scientific question is, Which Stage of Fruit (bananas, kiwis and strawberries) contains more extractable DNA under controlled conditions. The stages of fruit I was using were under ripe, ripe and over ripe.

Pictured: Gerry Ward presents the Genome Alberta Elementary Award to Bethel Andeghoiorghis at the Calgary Youth Science Fair 2010