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Genetic testing: a new tool in prescribing mental-health meds

Julie Riddle

October 23, 2023 |

Second Wave Michigan |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Some medical professionals and companies like Genemarkers are using pharmacogenomic testing (PGx) to test a patient’s genetic makeup to see how they may metabolize certain drugs. This process has been around for years but is starting to pick up speed in the mental health care scene to allow doctors to prescribe medications with greater accuracy.

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Farmers Are Breeding Heat-Resistant Cows

Katherine Rapin

August 25, 2023 |

Ambrook |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Puerto Rico

Farmers in Puerto Rico are breeding cows with a genetic mutation that makes it easier for them to maintain a healthy body temperature despite rising temperatures, which improves their milk production and fertility.

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San Diego's Frozen Zoo Is Bringing Species Back from the Brink

Michaela Haas

December 08, 2022 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

At the Frozen Zoo in San Diego geneticists collect and freeze animal cells, including those of endangered animals, in cryogenic tanks for research and conservation projects.

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Cases of missing trans people are rarely solved. A married pair of forensic genealogists is hoping to change that

Erica Lenti

September 01, 2021 |

Xtra |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Orange, Massachusetts

Trans Doe Task Force is a nonprofit project by two professional genetic genealogists that works to solve cold cases involving missing and murdered trans people. Trans people are at greater risk of violence. When their unidentified bodies are found, police are more likely to mishandle or neglect their cases. Using the tactics of genetic genealogy to turn a DNA sample into a link to known family members, and then narrowing the list of possible victims to the right one, TDTF has solved two cases out of 173 it has worked on. It also has worked with police agencies to change hearts and minds.

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Colorado screening newborn babies for spinal muscular atrophy

Jennifer Brown

July 12, 2021 |

The Colorado Sun |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Colorado

A joint project between Wyoming and Colorado screens newborns for spinal muscular atrophy, allowing them to receive gene therapies to prevent the deadly disease’s progression. Once researchers identified a protein missing from the cells of people with the disease, they developed treatments that are most effective the earlier they are started. The tests have significantly increased the number of cases identified across the two states, all of which are sent to Children’s Hospital Colorado for immediate treatment. Most babies are diagnosed within four days of birth and can start treatment soon after that.

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The Big Idea: using AI to breed more sustainable crops

Freya Pratty

June 22, 2021 |

Sifted |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Israel

For the past 200 years, crops have been bred for yield, for feeding livestock, rather than nutritional value. However, as more people shift away from meat the industry is looking to produce crops for flavor and nutritional value. Yet, finding the right crops with the right traits can take a long time. One company is trying to speed up the process. Equinom, is a company that is using AI technology to select the best genes from each plant and then predict the outcomes. The technology has resulted in 100k acres of specialized crops.

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To Solve 3 Cold Cases, This Small County Got a DNA Crash Course

Virginia Hughes

May 03, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kentland, Indiana

Genetic genealogy's use in criminal cases has gone mainstream. As the cases of three murder victims in Indiana illustrate, the science of DNA evidence combined with genealogical research and detective work is rapidly ramping up, from a hobby to a curiosity and now to a major commercial and criminal-justice opportunity. Hundreds of missing persons have been identified from decades-old remains, or murder suspects identified from old biological evidence in cold cases. By creating a family tree of the victim or suspect, investigators can zero in on an identity more quickly and inexpensively than ever.

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The resistance: can viruses save us from drug-defying superbugs?

Rosa Ellis

March 28, 2021 |

The Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that kill bacteria by latching on to and entering target cells and then multiplying and killing the host cell. Phages only attack bacteria, they can’t enter human cells, but the phage must be specific to the bacteria's DNA, which presents an obstacle because most health systems lack the capacity for such testing. To overcome this, researchers are developing phage cocktails that could be applied more widely, similar to antibiotics. A few locations around the world currently use phage treatment, particularly to treat the six most virulent antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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Human remains found at Multnomah Falls identified after 42 years

Samantha Swindler

February 15, 2021 |

The Oregonian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oregon

Oregon law enforcement agencies partnered with a Virginia laboratory, Parabon NanoLabs, to use genetic genealogy to learn the identities of people whose remains were found long ago but never identified. To give peace of mind to families who never knew for sure of their loved ones' deaths, researchers use DNA samples taken from the human remains to compare to publicly available DNA profiles shared by people using home DNA tests. This can identify a victim's family tree. So far, Parabon has identified six of the 10 people it has tested for Oregon. The state has more than 150 unidentified skeletal remains.

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After 3 years and $1.5 million devoted to testing rape kits, Alaska made one new arrest

Kyle Hopkins

December 30, 2020 |

Anchorage Daily News |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Alaska

Despite hopes that testing a backlog of rape kits would reveal many new serial-rape suspects, Alaska's three-year push to test 568 kits under the federally funded Sexual Assault Kit Initiative led to only one new prosecution. The reasons the program fell short of expectations include a lack of usable DNA samples, errors by investigators, cases in which victims and suspects had died or victims no longer wished to proceed, or the kits revealed no evidence that wasn't previously known. Alaska is now footing the bill to test more kits, which contain physical evidence collected after a rape.

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