Genetic Information Nondescrimination Act passes!!

Darkfrog submitted, created time 8 months 1 week (www.nature.com)

The Genetic Information Nondescrimination Act has passed in the U.S. government. Now employers and insurance companies are forbidden on the federal level to use the results of genetic testing to hire, fire or give or deny insurance. Basically, this means that the movie Gataca won't happen in real life.

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Genetic Information Nondescrimination Act poised to pass

Darkfrog submitted, created time 8 months 2 weeks (www.nytimes.com)

The U.S. Congress is preparing a bill that would forbid employers and insurance companies from denying or terminating employment or coverage based on the results of genetic tests. Federal law already prohibits group policies, such as those attained through one's employer or other organization, from discriminating using genetic information, but this bill would apply accross the board.

This bill is likely to pass, and I think it will remove one of the main fears associated with genetic testing (finally finding out that one has a 40% chance of lung cancer is still there, though).

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Charting ever-changing genomes

sumsung submitted, created time 1 year 5 months (www.eurekalert.org)

Instead of immutable proprietary software, any species' genetic information resembles open source code that is constantly tweaked and optimized to meet the users' specific needs. But which parts of the code have withstood the test of time and which parts have undergone rapid evolutionary change has been difficult to assess.

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An open democracy

Reviver submitted, created time 1 year 6 months (www.molecular-cancer.com)

"Sovereign power is retained and shared by the citizens of a country. Using electoral tools, governing structures are formed to ensure protection of national interests. As with any institution, proper control of the government guarantees its adherence to the tasks delegated to it by its citizens. In turn, citizens have to be provided with, and are encouraged to access and evaluate, information generated by the government. On the other hand, governments generate sensitive information (e.g

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Evaluation of Serious Adverse Drug Reactions

angelfish submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (archinte.ama-assn.org)

" The RADAR investigators evaluated 16 serious ADRs. Compared with descriptions of these ADRs in FDA databases, reports in RADAR databases (472 reports) had a 2-fold higher rate of including information on history and physical examination and a 9-fold higher rate of including basic science findings. Safety notifications were disseminated earlier by pharmaceutical suppliers (2 vs 4 years after approval, respectively), although notifications were less likely to include information on incidence , outcomes , treatment or prophylaxis , or references."

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new mechanistic hypotheses in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

angelfish submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.j-biomed-discovery.com)

"The result shows the added value of a multidisciplinary approach combined with information retrieval in hypothesis discovery in biomedical research. The new hypothesis, which was derived in silico, provides a framework for further mechanistic studies into the underlying molecular mechanisms of CRPS and requires evaluation in clinical and epidemiological studies."

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US to outlaw corporate prejudice based on genes

fiona submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.newscientist.com)

"Soon it will be illegal to deny US citizens jobs or insurance simply because they have an inherited illness, or a genetic predisposition to a particular disease."

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Money given to save genetics of food

julie submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.bioedonline.org)

"Funds have been announced to save 165,000 varieties of 21 food crops, from wheat to potatoes, some of which form the staple diet of people living in developing countries."

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