October 2009

The IGSP has officially joined the Twitterverse. It's yet another way to follow the latest IGSP news, events and other notables. Our regular tweets and other event highlights will appear on the longstanding Genome Duke facebook page, too. (If you are a facebook fan and haven't connected with us there, just send us a friend request.) We have also renewed our efforts to expand and update the offerings available at the IGSP's iTunesU site. There you can download the latest installments of Genomes 101 and a selection of other events, including a talk about career opportunities at the NIH and IGSP Faculty at a Glance, one of the highlights of the first annual Genome Explorations Week. Anyone who missed it or wants to revisit that fun-filled and informative event should also take a look at the video - Speed Dating for Science - produced by Duke News. And, speaking of video, the IGSP also now has its very own YouTube channel.

We would like to draw your attention to another new IGSP feature, a Communication Series hosted by the IGSP's Education Office. The first in the series (now available on iTunesU) was a panel discussion on the importance of getting the message about your research across, with perspectives from successful faculty and media. Stay tuned to this site for details on future events, including one given this month by Hugh Crumley on how to use PowerPoint well and another given by Rochelle Schwartz-Bloom in November on how to maximize the visuals in your talks and deliver a message your audience can understand and will remember.

In other announcements, a May 2010 conference in D.C. will cover topics derived from the comprehensive, two-volume book Genomic and Personalized Medicine edited by our very own Hunt Willard and Geoff Ginsburg. Abstracts for poster presentation are currently being accepted. And, last but not least, the September/October issue of GenomeLIFE, featuring the application of genomic tools to infectious diseases research at Duke, is on stands now. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to pick one up or get the pdf version here.

Study Tries to Detect Flu Before the First Sneeze
An IGSP team is developing a test to determine -- with a mere drop of blood -- who will get sick before the sniffling and fever set in, the Associated Press reports. The effort was also featured by NBC Nightly News, The New York Times, the News & Observer, The Herald Sun, and The Chronicle.

DARPA-Funded Study to Detect Infections Before Symptoms Appear
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Duke University $19.5 million for an IGSP-led effort to design a portable, easy-to-use diagnostic device that can reveal who is infected with an upper respiratory virus before the first cough or sneeze.

Op-Ed: You Think Your Kid Can Dance - What Do the Genes Say?
Some parents in China are making a misguided attempt to use genetic testing as a literal talent screen. Susanne Haga writes, "for the foreseeable future at least, planning your child’s activities based on their DNA can lead to little more than unrealistic expectations and disappointment on all sides."

Some 'Pre-Meds' Take the Road Less Traveled
Some biology, chemistry and physics majors are motivated not by dreams of medical school but for the "love of science." Hunt Willard told The Chronicle he and his colleagues want to support this passionate group.

Genetic Hint for Ridding the Body of Hepatitis C
An international team including David Goldstein, John McHutchison and Dongliang Ge showed that the gene variant recently linked to a better response to hepatitis C treatment also plays a role in people's ability to rid themselves of the virus without medication. Read the original report in Nature.

Discovery Leads to Rapid Mouse 'Personalized Trials' in Breast Cancer
Using a finding that the genetic complexity of tumors in mice parallels that in humans, IGSP researchers led by Joe Nevins are starting trial studies in mice, just like human clinical trials, to evaluate whether understanding tumor diversity can improve cancer treatment.

The Scientific Pursuit of More Precise Care
On the XM Radio program ReachMD, Geoff Ginsburg discusses the scientific side of patient-centered care — the more precise tailoring of therapy known as personalized medicine.

Rates of Common Mental Disorders Double Up
Depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol dependence and marijuana dependence affect roughly twice as many people as had previously been estimated, according to a report in Science News about a study by Avshalom Caspi and Terrie Moffit.

Genes That Make Us Human
Three young genes may be uniquely human, but, the IGSP's Greg Wray told ScienceNow Daily News, we still have no clue what they do.

3 Genetic Variants Are Found to Be Linked to Alzheimer's
A New York Times report about the discovery of new genetic variants associated with Alzheimer's disease mentions IGSP Member Allen Roses and his 1993 identification of ApoE4, the variant with the largest effect on the disease.

Gene Patents and Personalized Medicine - What Lies Ahead?
In Genome Medicine, Subha Chandrasekharan and Bob Cook-Deegan say genomic tests may require mapping a complex intellecutal property landscape and cutting through thickets of patented DNA sequences and related methods.

MYC Activity Mitigates Response to Rapamycin in Prostate Cancer through Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 4E-Binding Protein 1-Mediated Inhibition of Autophagy
In a PLoS Genetics report, Phil Febbo and colleagues use genetically engineered human prostate epithelial cells to explore how MYC, a frequent target of genetic gain in prostate cancers, abrogates sensitivity to the drug rapamycin.

A Role for E2F Activities in Determining the Fate of Myc-Induced Lymphomagenesis
Joe Nevins and colleagues report in PLoS Genetics the results of an investigation into the role of genetic interactions in the development of tumors in studies of a model of pre-B and B cell lymphoma.

Columbia University's Axel Patents: Technology Transfer and Implications for the Bayh-Dole Act
In the Milbank Quarterly, a case study of patents that claimed a scientific method to introduce foreign proteins into nucleated cells raises several important questions about the logic and future revisions of the Bayh-Dole Act, report Bob Cook-Deegan and Alessa Colaianni.

Engineering Multicellular Systems by Cell-Cell Communication
In Current Opinion in Biotechnology, Lingchong You and Anand Pai discuss the dynamic properties of cell-cell communication modules, how they can be engineered for synthetic circuit design, and applications of these systems.

An Ensemble Model of Competitive Multi-Factor Binding of the Genome
In Genome Research, Alex Hartemink and Todd Wasson present a model that allows a multitude of DNA binding factors, each at different concentrations, to compete with one another for binding sites along the genome.

Protective Effect of CRHR1 Gene Variants on the Development of Adult Depression Following Childhood Maltreatment: Replication and Extension
In Archives of General Psychiatry, Avshalom Caspi and Terrie Moffitt suggest that the protective effect of CRHR1 against adult depression may relate to its function in the consolidation of memories of emotionally arousing experiences.

A Genome-Wide Study of Common SNPs and CNVs in Cognitive Performance in the CANTAB Battery
In Human Molecular Genetics, Anna Need, David Goldstein and colleagues suggest that common genetic variation does not strongly influence cognition in health subjects.

Divide and Conquer: Progress in the Molecular Stratification of Cancer
Patrick Tan, IGSP Investigator at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore, describes recent progress in the development of both targeted and genome-wide approaches for the molecular stratification of cancers in Yonsei Medical Journal.

Utilization of Genomic Signatures to Identify Phenotype-Specific Drugs
In PLoS One, Joe Nevins, Anil Potti and colleagues describe a novel strategic approach to identification of therapeutic agents based on clinically relevant phenotypes that can augment the conventional strategies of target-based screens.

Genome-Wide Scan of Copy Number Variation in Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease
In the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, Erin Heinzen and David Goldstein report no significant effects of copy number variations on late-onset Alzheimer's. However, they say a duplication in one gene (CHRNA7) may warrant further investigation.

Prospective Biorepository Participants' Perspectives on Access to Genetic Research Results
Laura Beskow and her colleague interviewed 40 individuals from the Durham area about a biorepository consent form and conducted an in-depth analysis of responses to a series of questions concerning access to research results. Their findings appear in the Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics.

Histone Modifications within the Human X Centromere Region
Results from Beth Sullivan's lab in PLoS One show that the human X centromere contains multiple types of chromatin, is organized similarly to smaller eukaryotic centromeres, and responds to structural changes by expanding or contracting domains.

For full details and the latest updates on IGSP seminars and events, see the Events Calendar

A selection of upcoming events:

Thursday, October 1st
Genomic Medicine Forum
Aimee Zaas presents on genomic method to diagnose upper respiratory illnesses.

Friday, October 2nd
4th Annual Duke Systems Biology Symposium
Perspectives on Systems Biology. Registration Required.

Tuesday, October 6th
Tuesday Seminar Series
Judith Berman presents on genome dynamics in Candida albicans.

Wednesday, October 7th
Systems Biology Seminar
Nick Buchler presents "Degrading monomers: The effect of differential proteolysis on the function of genetic circuits."

Wednesday, October 7th
Genome Academy
Genomes 101 will feature James Pearson on RNAi Technology.

Monday, October 12th
Cancer Genomics
Erich Huang preents "The Road to Companion Diagnostics: Predicting Response to Targeted Therapies with Pathway Modules.

Monday, October 12th
Computational Biology Seminar
CBB Student Nicole Johnson presents on the identification of genes associated with susceptibility to Staph infection.

Monday, October 12th
IGSP Communication Series
Hugh Crumley presents "Visual Communication and Avoiding Death by PowerPoint."

Tuesday, October 13th
Genome Biology Meeting
Ting Ni in the Zhu lab presents.

Wednesday, October 14th
Genomes@4
Jonathan Berg from UNC-Chapel Hill will present "On the brink of personal genomics: Seven ways in which the sequencing revolution could bend or break established norms of genetic testing."

David Goldstein made a wager with Curtis Gumbs that if he shaved his head, the Center for Human Genome Variation would make a donation to an organization of his choice. Curtis rose to the challenge, and the impromptu fund drive at the Center netted nearly $2,500 for Genesis Home.

ARRA Update: The National Institutes of Health has awarded Uwe Ohler a grant supplement for a project entitled "Modeling the Structure & Evolution of Regulatory Regions in Eukaryotic Genomes."

ARRA Update: The National Institutes of Health has awarded Beth Sullivan funds for a project entitled "Organization and Regulation of Eukaryotic Centromeres."

ARRA Update: The National Institutes of Health has awarded Allen Roses a grant for a project entitled "Genetic Factors that Impact the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease."

ARRA Update: Ashley Chi was awarded an ARRA supplement for a project on "Gene Expression Programs of Lactic Acidosis in Human Cancers."

The National Institute of Mental Health will fund research in search of biomarkers useful in predicting patient response to depression drugs under "The Biosignature Discovery for Personalized Treatment in Depression" program.

The NIH will fund grants on how the epigenome defines and contributes to specific human diseases and biological processes as part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research's Epigenomics Program.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse will provide grant funding in support of research to explore epigenomic processes and non-coding RNAs in HIV/AIDS.