DNA Today: A Genetics Podcast

President Barack Obama proposed the Precision Medicine Initiative. It has a $215 million investment in the President’s 2016 Budget. This initiative focuses on the making major advances in personalized medicine. This means tailoring the treatments based on specific characteristics of individuals, such as a person’s genetic makeup, or the genetic profile of an individual’s tumor.

Researchers have identified a genetic mutation accountable for a metabolic disease among Inuits in northern Canada. New research has provided new insight into fragile X syndrome, learn more about the syndrome at fragileX.org. January is National Birth Defect Month! I go over the CDC's top 10 most common birth deffects in the US. Prevention of birth defects is presented.

All about genes! New study finds gene variants may be a contributor to PTSD. New genes have also been discovered to be linked to triple-negative breast cancer. Scientists have successfully used light to trigger REM sleep in mice.

First news story is about research on how genetics can affect the brain and therefore behavior. Another study has been published regarding the mechanism that regulates dopamine levels in the brain, which all comes down to one gene. Last news story is about DNA traveling into space.

A study finds meditating cancer patients are able to affect the makeup of their DNA, hear how they are able to do this. Learn about the Klinefelter Syndrome, which is the presence of an extra X chromosome in males.

A lesson on what epigenetics is. A news story reveals that long-term endurance training alters the epigenetic pattern of the human skeletal muscle. Dr. Brian Chadwick, Assistant Professor of Biological Science at Florida State University, presented his research of X chromosome inactivation at UCONN and I give the highlights and share how it relates to epigenetics.

A plant has more foreign DNA, than its own DNA, how is that possible? A new DNA reading device was developed that is a thousands of times smaller than width of a single human hair. How might his change personalized medicine? The effects of caffenine on embryos are explored.

The event, The Drama of DNA is recapped. It was an enactment of genetic testing sessions and interactive discussion of fictional and real-life drama in the world of genetics. In the news, scientists discover new gene for devastating form of epilepsy. The event and news story both focus on whole genome sequencing.

Dr. Charles Lee, the scientific director at JAX Genomic Medicine, skyped my genetics class today, so I recap what he shared including the question of mine he answered. Members of the UCONN Genetic Engineering Team join the show. They discuss attending the International Genetically Engineered Machine annual competition. This competition gives students a chance to modify an organism that can help society solve some of the problems facing us today. Join them at their meetings 7pm in the UCONN Student Union room 322. Any questions can be directed to jeffrey.o'brien@uconn.edu or brian.liang@uconn.edu.

A summary of Cornell University's Dr. Andrew Grimson's "The Messenger's Tale: Decoding the 3'UTR" presentation at UCONN starts the show. Highlights from Cleveland Clinic's Medical Innovation Summit are innovations in cancer therapy. New research supports the idea that specific groups of microbes living in our gut could be protective against obesity - and that their abundance is influenced by our genes. A new study finds people with a variant in the CETP gene may survive the longest.