Health and Medical Journal

By Amr Azim

Fertility treatment is a unique opportunity to detect and prevent the transmission of genetic diseases to future children. In addition to genetic screening, embryo testing can be performed during in vitro fertilization-IVF to detect those that do not carry the disease and exclude unhealthy ones. This process is called PGD-preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Genetic concerns arise because of prior genetic or family histories or encountered during routine screening prior to fertility treatments. As technology advances, the main challenge remains identification of carriers of genetic diseases employing thorough history and screening tests by a reproductive endocrinologist and possibly genetic counseling. Be prepared, you and your partner, to tell your reproductive endocrinologist about disease history of you and other family members.

GINA-The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 that took full effect in 2010, prohibits the discrimination in health coverage or employment based on genetic information

Genetic screening, who is at risk?

Routine genetic screening for each individual or couple desiring pregnancy. Screening is based on common genetic issues based on ancestry-ethnic group. Initially only one partner need to be screened and if the test is positive the other partner needs to be screened. Read the rest of this entry »

By Suzy Staywell

Genetically modified foods are those foods that have been altered at the genetic level in order to produce a form that has some new function or trait that food producers find desirable. Also referred to as GMO’s, these foods have been the subject of a great deal of controversy. There is no doubt that as the science of genetic engineering advances, the debate will become more heated.

These modified foods may come from two categories.

Selective breeding occurs when genes from two varieties of the same species are combined to produce a third variety with the favored characteristics. This practice has been carried on for thousands of years to produce new versions of crops with higher yields and hardier plants, and livestock that provides more meat.

Genetic engineering is a newer way to modify foods and involves the transfer of a single gene between two varieties of the same species or between two different species to produce a plant or animal that has characteristics that are more desirable to food producers. These transferred genes may come from plants, animals-including humans-bacteria, insects, or even viruses. Read the rest of this entry »

By Navodita Maurice

Genetic engineering today is no longer a new term for the world. Every day in the newspapers, televisions, magazines the new inventions of genetic engineering are noticed. Genetic engineering may be described as the practice that manipulates organism’s genes in order to produce a desired outcome. Other techniques that fall under this category are: recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification (GM) and gene splicing.

HISTORY

The roots of genetic engineering are connected to the ancient times. The Bible also throws some light on genetic engineering where selective breeding has been mentioned. Modern genetic engineering began in 1973 when Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen used enzymes to cut a bacteria plasmid and inserted another strand of DNA in the gap created. Both bits of DNA were taken from the same type of bacteria. This step became the milestone in the history of genetic engineering. Recently in 1990, a young child with an extremely poor immune system received genetic therapy in which some of her white blood cells were genetically manipulated and re-introduced into her bloodstream so that her immune system may work properly.

PROMISE Read the rest of this entry »