Media Assistance:
 Tony Fitzpatrick Senior Science Editor tony_fitzpatrick@wustl.edu (314) 935-5272 |
Biologists at Washington University are making advances in genetics in plants, mammals (including people), bacteria, algae and viruses. Applications include improved human health, a safer, cleaner agriculture, the engineering of benign organisms to deliver drugs, and a better understanding of plant and ecosystem history, to name a few. Chemists and biomedical engineers also make contributions to genetics studies. The Department of Computer Science has numerous researchers contributing to advances in bioinformatics and computational genomics, which increase the understanding of different organisms.
| Faculty Experts: |
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| James Cheverud Professor of Physical Anthropology in Arts and Sciences (http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/513.html) Expertise: quantitative genetics, evolutionary theory, human genetics, human and nonhuman primate biology, genetics, obesity, evolution, … Direct contact: (314) 362-4188 / cheverud@wustl.edu |
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| Ralph Quatrano Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., is the Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts and Sciences and chair of the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. He is internationally known for his plant science work on patterns of embryo formation, and how the patterns lead cells to acquire traits or ... Expertise: Plants, plant biology, botany, moss, genome, algae, genes, … Direct contact: (314) 935-6850 / rsq@wustl.edu |
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| Glenn Davis Stone Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology and Environmental Studies in Arts & Sciences (http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/477.html) Stone is an ecological anthropologist who has studied indigenous agricultural systems for the past 20 years. He has written extensively on intensification, labor organization, sexual division of labor, ethnicity and production, spatial organization and especially relationships between population, conflict ... Expertise: ecological anthropology, political and historical ecology, agricultural biotechnology, settlement patterns, population, ethnoarchaeology, Web-based scholarship, … Direct contact: (314) 935-5239 / stone@artsci.wustl.edu |
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| Ursula Goodenough Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences (http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/43.html)
Leading cell biologist and Washington University professor of biology Ursula Goodenough, is the author of a bestselling textbook, Genetics, and also wrote the popular discourse on religion and science The Sacred Depths of Nature, which was named Oustanding Academic Book of 1999 by Choice. She has served ... Expertise: evolution of sex, speciation Media assistance: (314) 935-5272 / tony_fitzpatrick@wustl.edu |
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| Alan Templeton Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences (http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/341.html)
Templeton applies molecular genetic techniques and statistical population genetics to a variety of problems in evolutionary and conservation biology. He explores natural selection in various species, genetic variability, the role of lipid metabolic genes in coronary artery disease in humans, and the ... Expertise: evolution of HIV, evolutionary and conservation biology, genetic variability, lipid metabolic genes, molecular genetics, natural selection Direct contact: (314) 935-6868 / temple_a@biology.wustl.edu |
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| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
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| Tracing origins Technique traces origins of disease genes in mixed races (http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/11482.html) April 8, 2008 -- A team of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis that includes Alan R. Templeton and the Israeli Institute of Technology (Technion) in Haifa has developed a technique to detect the ancestry of disease genes in hybrid, or mixed, human populations. The technique, called expected mutual information (EMI), determines how a set of DNA markers is likely to show the ancestral origin of locations on each chromosome. |
| Algorithm finds the network - for genes or the Internet Math tool finds genetic communities that lead to disease (http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/11221.html) March 12, 2008 -- Human diseases and social networks seem to have little in common. However, at the crux of these two lies a network, communities within the network, and farther even, substructures of the communities. Weixiong Zhang, Ph.D., Washington University associate professor of computer science and engineering and of genetics, along with his Ph.D. student, Jianhua Ruan, has published an algorithm (a recipe of computer instructions) to automatically discover communities and their subtle structures in various networks. |
| Mammalian moonlighter Moss protein plays role in Alzheimer's disease (http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/10926.html) Feb. 8, 2008 -- Preventing Alzheimer's disease is a goal of Raphael Kopan, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and pharmacology at the Washington University School of Medicine. The moss plant Physcomitrella patens, studied in the laboratory of Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., the Spencer T. Olin Professor and chair of the biology department on WUSTL's Danforth Campus, might inch Kopan toward that goal. |
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| Related News Clips: |
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| Which Genetic Tests are Really Worth Getting?
The Wall Street Journal May 1, 2008 -- With Congress poised to eliminate a big barrier to genetic testing for risk of certain diseases, consumers still face challenges in figuring out which ones offer useful information. Despite heavy marketing by some genetic-test makers, the wide use of genetic tests has been held back by a variety of factors, including questions about the tests' usefulness and concerns that results could be used by employers and insurers to discriminate against people. Critics argue that many tests can't accurately identify which people are at risk for various illnesses. WUSTL medical researcher Brian Gage comments. Includes Web links to learn more about genetic testing. |
| The roots of alcoholism . . . in the genes?
Los Angeles Times April 30, 2008 -- WUSTL psychiatry professor and lead author Carolyn Sartor comments on a new WUSTL study that says: Young people often begin drinking alcohol because of environmental factors, such as peer pressure. But genes appear to be a significant factor in determining whether drinking progresses to problem drinking and alcoholism. |
| Genes Explain Race Disparity in Response to a Heart Drug
The New York Times and 5 others April 29, 2008 -- Doctors who treat patients with heart failure have long been puzzled that many black patients seem to not respond to a class of drugs called beta blockers. Now researchers at WUSTL and U. Maryland have found that these nonresponsive patients have a slightly altered version of a gene that muscles use to control responses to nerve signals. The discovery raises questions about whom to treat with beta blockers and how to decide, researchers say. But, they add, its implications go beyond heart failure. WUSTL cardiologist and principal investigator Gerald Dorn comments. |
| Genetic link to alcoholism in women discovered
XETC-TV FOX 6 News at 6 a.m. (San Diego CA) and 7 others April 25, 2008 -- Story on the WUSTL medical school research on the genetic link to alcoholism in women. Includes video link to the news story. |
| May We Scan Your Genome?
Newsweek April 22, 2008 -- As personal genetic testing takes off, some worry that marketing is getting ahead of science. With each new marketing push comes new criticism. Some say DNA testing doesn't belong in virtual clinics: One key issue is regulation. WUSTL pediatrics and genetics specialist Thomas Morgan worries that the business is getting ahead of the science. "I might scare myself or reassure myself falsely based on the very limited knowledge that we have." |
| Autism Cases on the Rise; Reason for Increase a Mystery
WebMD.com April 3, 2008 -- The number of children diagnosed with autism or related disorders has grown at what many call an alarming rate. Some of the increase in reported cases is because of "diagnostic substitution," says WUSTL social work professor Paul Shattuck, an autism researcher. |
| Genetic Link Tied to Smoking Addiction
Associated Press and 256 others April 3, 2008 -- The discovery by three separate teams of scientists makes the strongest case so far for the biological underpinnings of nicotine addiction and sheds more light on how genetics and lifestyle habits join forces to cause cancer. This finding could someday lead to screening tests and customized treatments for smokers trying to kick the habit. "This is really telling us that the vulnerability to smoking and how much you smoke is clearly biologically based," said WUSTL psychiatry professor Laura Bierut, a genetics and smoking expert who did not take part in the studies. She praised the research as "very intriguing." |
| Commentary: Can insomnia kill?
Los Angeles Times March 31, 2008 -- Commentary on insomnia mentions sleep studies of twins by WUSTL psychiatry professor Andrew Heath. |
| Group says it has mapped corn genome
Associated Press and 76 others Feb. 26, 2008 -- Richard Wilson, director of WUSTL's Genome Sequencing Center, comments on the successful mapping of the corn genome. |
| 1,000 Genomes Project
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Jan. 28, 2008 -- The 1,000 Genomes Project, an international research effort that includes WUSTL scientists, will sequence the genomes of one thousand people from different parts of the globe. Elaine Mardis, co-director of WUSTL's Genome Sequencing Center, comments. |
| Mimicking plant evolution proves fruitful
MSNBC.com Jan. 11, 2008 -- By mimicking plant evolution, a team of Illinois researchers has improved upon nature's design to build a leafy energy-producing powerhouse — or at least a virtual one on a supercomputer. In a study published within the journal Plant Physiology, WUSTL biology and chemistry professor Robert Blankenship comments on the Illinois study. |
| Plant-like protein underpins common parasites' ability to infect
DailyIndia.com (FL) and 7 others Jan. 10, 2008 -- WUSTL researchers led by WUSTL molecular microbiology professor David Sibley have revealed that Toxoplasma gondii, a common human parasite, uses a plant-like protein for signalling when to increase its numbers and when to be dormant. T. gondii is found in one in every four humans causing serious disease in patients with weakened immune systems. |
| Evolution Book Sees No Science-Religion Gap
The New York Times and 6 others Jan. 4, 2008 -- In 1984 and again in 1999, the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most eminent scientific organization, produced books on the evidence supporting the theory of evolution and arguing against the introduction of creationism or other religious alternatives in public school science classes. Barbara A. Schaal, a vice president of the academy and an evolutionary biologist at WUSTL, comments on the third volume recently published. |
| Neanderthals hard-wired to talk
ABC Science Online (Australia) Oct. 19, 2007 -- A new study of Neanderthal DNA, suggests Neanderthals had the ability to create language. The finding hinges upon a single, yet critical, gene called FOXP2, which prior studies have linked to language and speech. WUSTL anthropology professor Erik Trinkaus wrote a commentary on the new research. In it, Trinkaus says there is no "silver bullet" like language, "which identifies us as 'human' and which can be used to identify past human forms as more or less 'human'." |
| Genes Might Help Drive Overeating
U.S. News & World Report online and 7 others Oct. 17, 2007 -- Reporting in the October issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, scientists from the University at Buffalo say people with genetically lower levels of dopamine, a brain chemical that helps make eating and other behaviors more rewarding, may be driven to consume more food. Samuel Klein, director of WUSTL's Center for Human Nutrition, said the study "addresses an important and relatively overlooked area in obesity -- the contribution of reward addiction in the regulation of food intake." |
| Neanderthals roamed as far as Siberia
NewScientist.com (UK) Oct. 1, 2007 -- Researchers say the genetic sequence of an adolescent Neanderthal found in southern Siberia closely matches that of Neanderthals found in western Europe, suggesting that this close relative of modern humans migrated very long distances. The study may not settle the debate over Neanderthal's range definitively, though. WUSTL anthropology professor Eric Trinkaus questions whether it definitively proves the Okladnikov bones to be those of Neanderthals. |
| Researchers Pinpoint Link Between Caloric Restriction and Longevity
CBC News (Canada) and 7 others Sept. 21, 2007 -- Harvard researchers report in the Sept. 21 issue of Cell that they have uncovered a molecular clue that seems to explain why cutting calories might lengthen your life. It turns out that mitochondria guard against cell death, and two specific genes within the mitochondria actually carry out that task. Mitochondria are compartments within a cell that are dedicated to energy production, and their loss is thought to be a major cause of aging. WUSTL molecular biology and pharmacology professor Shin-ichiro Imai comments on the Harvard study. |
| FDA notes role genetic testing can play in safer use of blood thinner
Associated Press and 65 others Aug. 17, 2007 -- Federal health officials are stopping short of recommending genetic tests for patients on the blood-thinner warfarin, even though they have said such screenings could prevent thousands of complications each year. Warfarin became the first widely used drug to include genetic testing information on its label. The information can help doctors determine how best to prescribe the drug. The FDA said this means personalized medicine is no longer an abstract concept but has moved into the mainstream. "What we need to do is find out whether genetic testing improves outcomes," said WUSTL medical researcher Brian Gage. |
| In milestone, FDA pushes genetic tests tied to drug
The Wall Street Journal Aug. 16, 2007 -- A case featuring a St. Louis woman and the powerful blood thinner called warfarin shows the advances in personalized medicine, where treatment is tailored to an individual's genetic makeup. But, in a possible harbinger of battles to come, the warfarin tests have also led to a clash between the FDA and some doctors. WUSTL medical researcher Brian Gage comments. |
| Hormone found to govern desire for food
U.S. News & World Report online and 9 others Aug. 10, 2007 -- Leptin, a hormone that helps to control feelings of hunger, also appears to govern the desire to eat, British researchers report. The finding could lead to new insights into obesity and how to treat the condition, the researchers said. One nutrition expert doesn't think enough is known about how leptin works to change the way obese patients are currently treated to control their appetite. Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at WUSTL, comments. |
More News:
Epigenetics Study (http://record.wustl.edu/2002/02-22-02/epigenetics.html)
Plants inherit traits from more than gene sequence
Feb. 22, 2002 -- Two plants, same species, same environment, same genetic sequence; yet one is a normal, healthy specimen of weedy mustard relative Arabidopsis thaliana, and the other is a tiny dwarf plant, shriveled, a mere shadow of its genetically identical neighbor.
Researcher traces gene development in 'last common link' (http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/2002/science-tech/vertebrate-invertebrate.html)
April 2002 - A researcher studying the last common link between invertebrate and vertebrate animals has found a key genetic change that separates the spineless from the backboned.
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