DNA testing
sporte | October 21, 2008Maybe you did it for the extra cash. Maybe you wanted to be part of the sperm cube public art project. Whatever the reason, it's possible, just possible, your sperm took on a life of it's own, once you left it.
And now that a genome is no longer an entirely personal bit of information, you may be in for a surprise meeting someday, with the end result.
That's right.
Male adoptees are getting their DNA tested and getting information about their possible surnames.
According to the BBC news:
At least 30 men registered with US consumer genetic testing firm Family Tree DNA have found their…
sporte | September 23, 2008Every fall, we had to confront it. People would let their dogs run around on the field in the morning and by the time soccer practice started, the field would be full of deadly doo.
There's nothing that hurts soccer practice more than a soccer ball or shoes that went through a pile of dog poo.
That's why I'm so exciting to see this new application for DNA testing. That's right. Kids will be able to play soccer without worry and dog owners will be held responsible for cleaning up after their pets.
The forward thinking city that's going to implement this plan is Petah Tikva, in Isreal.…
sporte | August 12, 2008Ancestry tests aren't just for humans anymore. We went to Petco this weekend to buy dog food and found brochures for doggy DNA testing. Now, those of you with dogs of uncertain parentage need puzzle no longer. According to Petco, their SNP test (what is a SNP?) can identify over 100 different breeds and they'll tell you which breeds are represented in your dog and whether your dog's breeding is mixed (or pure).
The brochure from Petco also claims that knowing something about your puppy's parentage could be helpful in understanding their behavior and potential health risks. That's probably…
sporte | December 5, 2007If you like ham and bacon, you might be interested in this. GenomeWeb reports that researchers at the University of Barcelona have developed an assay that tests 46 SNPs and can be used to trace the origin of your pork dinner.
According to GenomeWeb, the test identifies both the breed and origin of the animal.
The university and the company said meat traceability is necessary to ensure consumer safety, particularly in cases of infectious disease outbreaks or accidental feed contamination.
No more doubts about the home of your Jamón.
sporte | December 3, 2007'Tis the holiday season and, according to ancient lore, the time when miraculous events are most likely to take place.
One of those well-known and miraculous events of ancient days was the birth of a son to a young girl, who, although she was married (Okay, I'm not sure about this part of the story) she was said to be a virgin and the birth to be a miracle.
Hmmm.
How do you think the news would be received if that sort of thing happened today?
Certainly, if the young girl were to produce a grilled cheese sandwich with a burn spot that vaguely resembled a woman in a robe, someone might be…
sporte | November 26, 2007GenomeWeb reports that Rite Aid drug stores on the West coast are now selling kits for doing paternity tests. The kits are made by Sorenson Genomics in Utah.
Sorenson Genomics calls it the "peace-mind-test." Really!
Each kit contains a swab for collecting cheek cells from the inside of your mouth and a container for mailing the sample to the lab.
As far as I can tell, you buy the kit for $29.99, take a sample, fill out the consent forms, and mail the sample to Sorenson along with the $119 lab fee.
Maybe I'm too imaginative, but I'm a little puzzled by some of the information that wasn'…
sporte | November 19, 2007Since DNA diagnostics companies seem to be sprouting like mushrooms after the rain, it seemed like a good time to talk about how DNA testing companies decipher meaning from the tests they perform.
Last week, I wrote about interpreting DNA sequence traces and the kind of work that a data analyst or bioinformatics technician does in a DNA diagnostics company. As you might imagine, looking at every single DNA sample by eye gets rather tiring. One of the things that informatics companies (like ours) do, is to try and help people analyze several samples at once so that they can scan fewer…
zooillogix | May 29, 2007Wildlife officials from Southeast Asia met in Cisarua, Indonesia this week to discuss cross-border animal smuggling. Chief among their concerns was the rapid growth in pangolin trafficking. Scaled mammals with long, sticky, extendable tongues (up to 16"), Pangolins were once grouped with anteaters but recent DNA testing has shown that they are most likely a distinct group. Unfortunately for the pangolin, the Chinese prize their meat as a delicacy and believe their scales have medicinal properties, including reducing swelling, improving blood circulation and helping breast feeding women…
zooillogix | March 8, 2007We had a bat house hanging from the second story of my home growing up. My brother loved bats and I fully endorsed sharing our home with them. These critters might be a different story.
Bat species, like many creatures, can be difficult to tell apart based purely on physiology. These new bats were recently identified as unique species by using DNA barcoding and immediately prepped for inclusion in female nightmares.
trachops cirrhosus
myotis riparious
platyrrhinus helleri
Our friends here are native to camping areas in the Midwest and various alleys on the Lower East Side of Manhattan...