Genetic Counselors – An Important Resource

Genetic counselors do more than interpret lab results. They can guide you through pre-pregnancy planning, help facilitate discussions about family history, and so much more. With so much genetic information available to expectant parents, it is important to have a resource who can not only collect data but help you understand the results.

Dr. Julia Cormano sits down with genetic counselors Christina Brock and Andrea Procko to find out how they support patients throughout pregnancy.

Watch — Genetic Counseling for Pregnancy

We Are All Africans

Svante Pääbo once said, “We are all Africans, either living in Africa or in recent exile from Africa.”

It is now abundantly clear that Africa was the “cradle of humanity,” with multiple waves of hominins arising on that continent and spreading across the old world, eventually being effectively displaced by our own species, which also arose in Africa.

Given these facts, it is not surprising that the strong emphasis of anthropogeny is on the continent of Africa with wide-ranging studies including genetic, paleontological, archeological, primatological, climatological, sociocultural and more.

This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa.

Browse more programs in Anthropogeny: The Perspective from Africa.

Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States. The good news is that it is treatable in the early stages. This series of experts in the field is designed for patients, families, caregivers, health care providers and all those interested in information and tools to make informed decisions about treatment.

This event was presented by the California Prostate Cancer Coalition and the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

Topics include:

• Prostate Cancer Basics
• Genetics and Genomics
• Immunology
• Clinical Trials
• ABCs of Androgen Deprivation Therapy
• Low-Risk Disease and Active Surveillance
• Treatment of Metastatic and Non-Metastatic Disease
• Systemic Therapy
• Imaging
• Diet and Exercise
• Managing Side Effects
• Access to Care
• Intimacy and Sexual Function

Browse more programs in Prostate Cancer Patient Conference.

Engineering Mosquitos to Fight Malaria

Mosquitos are the deadliest animal on Earth. They spread diseases like yellow fever, chikungunya, West Nile virus and malaria. Malaria alone killed 435,000 people and infected another 219 million in 2017 according to the World Health Organization. There are widespread efforts to combat mosquito-borne illnesses, including revolutionary new gene editing techniques.

Ethan Bier and Valentino Gantz, biologists at UC San Diego, have been researching gene drives – systems that allow scientists to quickly push genes through entire populations. Typically, genetic information from each parent is combined and passed down to their children. Think back to Punnett squares from high school biology. If one parent has blonde hair and the other has brown hair, the brunette would have to carry a recessive blonde gene for any of their children to be blonde. But, gene drives change that. Gantz and Bier came up with a way to use the CRISPR gene-editing technique to insert self-editing genes into mosquitos, so preferred traits are always passed down. Their research shows these traits can take over entire populations within 10 generations, one to two years for mosquitos.

In a recent talk at UC San Diego Extension’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Bier dove into the details of exactly how gene drives work, and their many potential applications.

Watch — Engineering Mosquitos to Fight Malaria with Ethan Bier — Osher UC San Diego

Genetics and Alzheimer’s Disease

Every 65 seconds, someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease. What can be done to stem the tide of this devastating disease? Researchers are looking to our genes. “One of the goals of genetics is to try and come up with as strong a set of predictors as is possible. This has influenced the way in which more recent genetic research has been done,” says Douglas R. Galasko, MD. On this episode of “On Our Mind,” Dr. Galasko shares the different types of genetic influences on people’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. He explains how these genes are being studied and what being a carrier of Alzheimer’s associated genes means.

For more information on Alzheimer’s disease, visit our archive.
https://www.uctv.tv/brain/alzheimers/

Watch What Role Do Genetics Play in Alzheimer’s? – On Our Mind