login
Become a member
Quick Registration
Full Registration Benefits -
Free Homepages for Doctors
Free Homepages for Hospitals
Free Homepages for Medical Conference
Free Homepages for NGO's
Personal Health Record Creation
Access to all Medical Slides
Access to all Jobs & Products Sale
Human Genome and Age
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that the so-called epigenetic marks on the sequence of a person's DNA modify over the course of their life and the extent of such changes is similar among family members.
"We're beginning to see that epigenetics stands at the center of modern medicine because epigenetic changes, unlike DNA sequence which is the same in every cell, can occur as a result of dietary and other environmental exposure," said Andrew Feinberg, professor of molecular biology and genetics at the university.
"Epigenetics might very well play a role in diseases like diabetes, autism and cancer," he added in the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The team analyzed the DNA sequences from 600 people taking part in the AGES Reykjavik Study, formerly called the Reykjavik Heart Study in Iceland.
The participants supplied DNA samples in 1991, and then again between 2002 and 2005.
Scientists then measured the variations in the levels of methylation, which is the main epigenetic modification, in 111 samples. In about a third of cases, the methylation levels had changed over the years.
"Inappropriate methylation levels can contribute to disease -- too much might turn necessary genes off, too little might turn genes on at the wrong time or in the wrong cell," said Vilmundur Gudnason, professor of cardiovascular genetics at the University of Iceland.
|
|
|
 Comment & Contribute
|
Medwonders Health Network
- Health News Index
- News Quick Links
 | News Central | | Health Watch | |
| Latest Health News | | Health In Focus | |
| News Category (500+) | | Breaking Health News | |
| Popular News | | Celebrating Life | |
| Health News and Press Release | | Medindia - Exclusive | |
| News Photo Gallery | | India Special | |
| News Video Gallery | | Lifestyle and Wellness | |
| News From Other Resources | |||
| News Categories: |
| » | Research: Bright Colored Chips can Cut Consumption by Half |
| » | Olympic Athlete's Body Via the 80-10-10 Raw Vegan Diet |
| » | Importance of Canned Foods To Help Tackle IOM Weight Of The Nation Recommendations, Highlights Study |
| » | US Rules Pomegranate Juice Claims Deceptive |
| » | Reducing Entrée Size Could Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Children |
| More Diet News | |
|
Genetics & Stem Cells Related News |
||||||||
| » | Genetic Traits Likely to Predispose Voters to Elect a Specific Candidate | » | Gene Behind Chronic Inflammation Accelerated Aging and Cancer Identified | |||||
| » | Discovery Of Male Fertility Genes | » | Disease Risk Prediction may Not be Improved by Genetic Information | |||||
| » | Scientists Map Gene Sequence of Drug Resistant VRSA | » | Marker in Premies' Saliva Predicts Readiness to Feed by Mouth | |||||
| » | Recovery From MS Maybe With Growth Factor In Stem Cells | » | 'Rare' Genetic Variants are Surprisingly Common: Report Life Scientists | |||||
| Read More >> | ||||||||
