#genetic breast cancer

[corvidaedream]

me to my coworkers: when you request time off, you should not give the assistant dept head any additional info on why you're requesting it, it's none of her business and may be used against you

me requesting time off after my requests keep getting denied/overlooked the past few months: telling kelly explicitly that this one is an oncology appointment bc i want her to feel bad :)

[pinkybuttons]

mutuals. friends and relations. can everyone cast a 10,000 explosion attack on genetic health queensland pls. thank you.

[1-ufo]

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[bpod-bpod]

Obesity-Cancer Link

A person carrying a mutation in either of the tumour suppressor proteins BRCA1 or BRCA2 is at increased risk of developing breast cancer. So too are people with obesity and diabetes. But whether obesity could exacerbate the risk in people with BRCA mutations was unknown. Recent research suggests that indeed metabolic and genetic risk can be cumulative. The image shows nuclei (blue) of milk duct cells from a person with a BRCA mutation with evidence of DNA damage shown in red. A study of such cells revealed the extent of DNA damage in BRCA mutation carriers positively correlated with body mass index. And blocking obesity related hormone signals in these cells could lessen such damage. The new findings suggest that while maintaining a low body weight is no guarantee of preventing breast cancer, addressing lifestyle, diet and metabolic health may be especially important for people already at increased genetic risk.

Written by Ruth Williams

Image from work by Priya Bhardwaj and colleagues

Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA

Image copyright held by the original authors

Research published in Science Translational Medicine, February 2023

You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

[chaseprice]

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[fortjester]

this fucking sucks i need to get rid of these tits

[lith-myathar]

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[innonurse]

The most extensive collection of transcription factor binding data in human tissues ever compiled

- By InnoNurse Staff -

Transcription factors (TFs) are proteins that bind to specific DNA sequences to regulate the transcription of genetic information from DNA to mRNA, impacting gene expression and various biological processes, including brain functions. While TFs have been studied extensively, their binding dynamics in human tissues are not well understood.

Researchers from the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, University of California-Irvine, and University of Michigan compiled the largest TF binding dataset to date, aiming to understand how TFs contribute to gene expression and brain function. This dataset could reveal how gene regulation impacts neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.

The study, led by Dr. Richard Myers, utilized an innovative technique called ChIP-seq to capture and sequence DNA fragments bound by TFs. Experiments were conducted on different brain regions from postmortem tissues donated by individuals, allowing the researchers to map TF activity in the genome.

Findings suggest that regions bound by fewer TFs might be crucial, as minor changes there could significantly impact nearby genes. The dataset can help scientists study TFs, gene regulation, and their roles in specific brain functions and diseases, potentially aiding in the development of new therapies.

Image credit: Loupe et al. (Nature Neuroscience, 2024).

Read more at Medical Xpress

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Other recent news and insights

BU researchers develop a new AI program to predict the likelihood of Alzheimer's disease (Boston University)

Northeastern researchers create an AI system for breast cancer diagnosis with nearly 100% accuracy (Northeastern University)

Wearable sensors and AI aims to revolutionize balance assessment (Florida Atlantic University)

[harmeet-saggi]

What Are Breast Cancer Symptoms And Causes?

While it can be difficult to tell which breast cancer symptoms are unique for each person, the list below is a compiled list of the most common signs that something may not be right. Any one of these symptoms could signal that you need to see your doctor sooner rather than later.

[raeathnos]

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[healthyzenn]

7 Warning Signs of Skin Cancer: Recognize Them Early to Save Your Life

Here we will discuss 7 Warning Signs of Skin Cancer: How to Cure it. Anyone, regardless of age, gender, or race, can develop skin cancer, which is the most prevalent type of cancer. Although it’s not always fatal, skin cancer can be fatal if it’s not found and treated at an early stage. We’ll go over the seven skin cancer warning signs in this article to help you recognize the disease early and…

[ladiekatie]

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[hasnazameer]

Metabolic syndrome is a condition in which cells are resistant to insulin, a hormone that helps turn the sugar consumed by you into the energy required by the body. A person with metabolic syndrome is affected by a number of diseases that increase their risk of diabetes and heart disease. Obesity, fatty liver disease, gallstones, and gout are a few conditions associated with metabolic syndrome. It can be considered a metabolic, genetic disorder since a family history of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance may influence this condition.

[theoutcastrogue]

"The majority of high-tech patent lawsuits are brought by patent trolls—companies that exist not to provide products or services, but primarily have a business using patents to threaten others’ work. Some politicians are proposing to make that bad situation worse. ...

The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, S. 2140, (PERA), sponsored by Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE) would be a huge gift to patent trolls, a few tech firms that aggressively license patents, and patent lawyers. For everyone else, it will be a huge loss. That’s why we’re opposing it, and asking our supporters to speak out as well. 

Patent trolling is still a huge, multi-billion dollar problem that’s especially painful for small businesses and everyday internet users. But, in the last decade, we’ve made modest progress placing limits on patent trolling. The Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Alice v. CLS Bank barred patents that were nothing more than abstract ideas with computer jargon added in. Using the Alice test, federal courts have kicked out a rogue’s gallery of hundreds of the worst patents. 

Under Alice’s clear rules, courts threw out ridiculous patents on “matchmaking”, online picture menus, scavenger hunts, and online photo contests. The nation’s top patent court, the Federal Circuit, actually approved a patent on watching an ad online twice before the Alice rules finally made it clear that patents like that cannot be allowed. The patents on “bingo on a computer?” Gone under Alice. Patents on loyalty programs (on a computer)? Gone. Patents on upselling (with a computer)? All gone. ...

PERA’s attempt to roll back progress goes beyond computer technology. For almost 30 years, some biotech and pharmaceutical companies actually applied for, and were granted, patents on naturally occuring human genes. As a consequence, companies were able to monopolize diagnostic tests that relied on naturally occurring genes in order to help predict diseases such as breast cancer, making such testing far more expensive. The ACLU teamed up with doctors to confront this horrific practice, and sued. That lawsuit led to a historic victory in 2013 when the Supreme Court disallowed patents on human genes found in nature. 

If PERA passes, it will explicitly overturn that ruling, allowing human genes to be patented once again. ...

“To See Your Own Blood, Your Own Genes”

From the 1980s until the 2013 Myriad decision, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted patents on human genomic sequences. If researchers “isolated” the gene—a necessary part of analysis—they would then get a patent that described isolating, or purified, as a human process, and insist they weren’t getting a patent on the natural world itself.

But this concept of patenting an “isolated” gene was simply a word game, and a distinction without a difference. With the genetic patent in hand, the patent-holder could demand royalty payments from any kind of test or treatment involving that gene. And that’s exactly what Myriad Genetic did when they patented the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene sequences, which are important indicators for the prevalence of breast or ovarian cancer. 

Myriad’s patents significantly increased the cost of those tests to U.S. patients. The company even sent some doctors cease and desist letters, saying the doctors could not perform simple tests on their own patients—even looking at the gene sequences without Myriad’s permission would constitute patent infringement. 

This behavior caused pathologists, scientists, and patients to band together with ACLU lawyers and challenge Myriad’s patents. They litigated all the way to the Supreme Court, and won. “A naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated,” the Supreme Court stated in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics. 

A practice like granting and enforcing patents on human genes should truly be left in the dustbin of history. It’s shocking that pro-patent lobbyists have convinced these Senators to introduce legislation seeking to reinstate such patents. Last month, the President of the College of American Pathologists published an op-ed reminding lawmakers and the public about the danger of patenting the human genome, calling gene patents “dangerous to the public welfare.”  

As Lisbeth Ceriani, a breast cancer survivor and a plaintiff in the Myriad case said, “It’s a basic human right to see your own blood, your own genes.” "