Category Archives: Genetics

The market's a forward-looking mechanism, and some people might feel that the COVID-19 pandemic is "over." That's probably an exaggeration. While vaccinations will hopefully reduce the danger, the virus will continue to mutate, and healthcare companies will continue to fight it. Read more to see why three Fool.com contributors think COVID stocks Fulgent Genetics(NASDAQ:FLGT),NRx Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ:NRXP), andAdaptive Biotechnologies(NASDAQ:ADPT)could double your money this year.

Patrick Bafuma (Fulgent Genetics): Entering the last wave of 2021, you may have heard that there was a run on COVID tests. In fact, just this week, the local CVS told me that there was not an over-the-counter test available within 20 miles. Yet many countries, ports, and employers want the results of a PCR test within three days prior to entry. While this may put a strain on resources, it's great news for RT-PCR test maker Fulgent Genetics.

Image source: Getty Images.

This medical diagnostics company has focused on contracting with school systems, nursing homes, athletic organizations, health clinics, and the government to commercialize highly specific PCR testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Having booked $95.5 million in revenue in the third quarter, it is likely safe to assume this will continue with the omicron variant well into the new year. Adjusted gross margin was a juicy 81.3% in Q3 2021, too. Over the last year, margin has floated between 77.1% and 82.6%, so aside from inflationary issues, I have little reason to think the margin will not remain enviable. And while it's clear that currently, the company's future remains tethered to COVID-19, it has also been clear that the virus refuses to go away. As such, I'm not convinced that COVID diagnostic numbers will melt away for the company. And with short interest now at just under 13%, positive results for the company could take shareholders on an enjoyable trip up and to the right.

With a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just over 5, this stock looks insanely cheap. When compared to classic lab vendors like Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings and Quest Diagnostics, with P/E ratios of 10.9 and 10.2 respectively, or Abbott Laboratories and its Binax test at a P/E of about 35, Fulgent looks significantly undervalued. With a P/E in the mid-single digits and what seems like a never-ending need for its product, Fulgent Genetics could be an easy double in 2022.

George Budwell (NRx Pharmaceuticals): NRx Pharmaceuticals' stock shed an eye-popping 80.4% of its value over 2021. Although the drugmaker's shares initially popped during the first few months of 2021, Wall Street's enthusiasm for this speculative coronavirus stock steadily waned as the year progressed thanks to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declining to grant Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the company's severe COVID-19 treatment, Zyesami (aviptadil). The long and short of it is that Zyesami probably would have racked up several hundred million dollars in sales with an EUA for severe COVID-19 cases. That's a tremendous commercial opportunity for a company with market cap under $300 million at the time of this writing.

The good news is that NRx Pharmaceuticals recently filed a new Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) request for Zyesami with the FDA. This revised BTD request centers around COVID-19 respiratory failure in patients who progress despite treatment with remdesivir and other approved therapies. If granted, this regulatory designation might open the door for an EUA in this patient population. While this revised target market is certainly smaller in scope, it would still amount to a healthy commercial opportunity for a company of NRx Pharmaceuticals' current size. In fact, NRx Pharmaceuticals ought to be able to bank at least $100 million in sales this year if the FDA gives the green light this time around.

The big picture is that this beaten-down coronavirus stock might be gearing up for a monstrous run higher in 2022.

Taylor Carmichael (Adaptive Biotechnologies): Adaptive Biotechnologies is focused on the immune system. The company is mapping 30 billion immune receptors in the human body and is using supercomputers fromMicrosoft to run the data as it maps our adaptive immune system. Later this decade, Adaptive says it could have a universal blood test on the market: A doctor will take a blood sample and be able to "hack" your immune system and see what diseases it is fighting. This blood test could reveal if you have infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders, or cancer.

In the meantime, Adaptive already has several diagnostic tests on the market. The FDA has cleared three of the company's clonoSEQ tests for minimal residual disease in blood cancers (multiple myeloma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia). And the company has an EUA for its COVID-19 test.

Adaptive's COVID test is the first on the market that uses T cells in the blood to check for the disease. Just recently the Molecular Diagnostic Services Program agreed to pay $770 per test for certain groups of individuals, including immunocompromised patients.

Adaptive's not profitable yet, and its revenue is still meager: $146 million over the trailing 12 months. The stock is down 50% as impatient investors head for the exits. But that's a mistake. The company estimates there are 7 million immunocompromised patientsjust in the U.S. That's a $5 billion market opportunity in the near term. With the government paying for the tests, we should see a spike in Adaptive's COVID-related revenue in 2022, and the stock should jump along with it.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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3 COVID Stocks That Could Double in 2022 - The Motley Fool

PHOENIX She may not be able to say much, but like any kid her age, her bright smile lights up even more when she thinks about Christmas.

You want to go see the Christmas lights on Friday?" asked sixth-grader Emmas mom Annette Medina.

Yeah, responded Emma with excitement.

Emma is just a ball of joy. Shes a happy little girl, everyone who meets Emma just falls in love with her, said Annette, sitting with her daughter at a park near their home.

At just 11 years old, Emma has spent more time in hospitals and doctors' offices than most will in their lives.

At about 6 months old, at regular standard pediatrician visits, we started noticing she was falling off the curve in growth, height, some of her developmental milestones, said Medina.

Born a healthy baby, the situation for Emma quickly turned. Soon after, she couldnt sit up without support. She wasnt crawling, walking, or talking.

We probably went on for about two and a half years of just seeing doctors and specialists and therapists, and everyone you can think of to figure out what was going on with her, said Medina.

Sadly, no one could provide an answer, which began to weigh on Medina who was filled with guilt.

There was so many days and nights that I had blamed myself, was there something I did in my pregnancy, was there anything we did wrong, was she exposed to something? said Medina.

They want to know will their child live a full life, and these types of questions are very difficult to answer if you dont know what the problem is, said Dr. Vinodh Narayanan.

Dr. Narayanan dedicates his life to providing families like Emmas with the answers that have long evaded them, leading the team of geneticists at TGen's Center for Rare Childhood Disorders.

They say the average time a family is searching for an answer is seven years before they come to us, said Dr. Narayanan.

He says the challenges posed by young patients at the center are among the most difficult in medicine, since families often arrive with just a collection of symptoms, looking for any clues about what is wrong with their children.

These cases are usually mysterious at first, but sequencing often allows us to provide these families with a diagnosis that can lead to therapies and a better life for their children, said Dr. Narayanan.

After hearing about the center on the news, Emma and her family had their genes sequenced and closely examined. The tests and research eventually discovered a genetic variant and a diagnosis of cerebellar facial dental syndrome a condition only found in about 20 people worldwide.

Seeing that there were kids older than her that had this I was able to say to myself, 'OK shes going to be able to get to at least this age,' said Medina.

Theres no treatment at the moment but if this experience has taught them anything its to never give up hope.

Today, there may not be an answer, tomorrow there could be an answer, said Medina.

Click here for more information on the center or to get help for a loved one.

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Genetics research provides family the answer they've been searching years to discover - ABC15 Arizona

WOOSTER, Ohio Isabel Richards, of Gibraltar Farm, in central New York, knows what shes looking for in her sheep herd good body condition, ewes that are good at raising their lambs with minimal help, parasite resistance, to an extent. Not all of the sheep born on her farm make the cut to stay.

But different farms might have different goals for their flocks, Richards said at the 2021 Buckeye Shepherds Symposium, Dec. 3-4, in Wooster, Ohio. She encouraged sheep farmers to focus on whatever traits they want to encourage on their farms.

The big thing is just to see what makes sense for you to select for, she said.

Speakers at the symposium focused on genetics and reproduction. Richards isnt afraid to cull ewes that dont fit her operation.

Our ewe lambs get tough love, she said.

Body condition score is one of the big factors she culls for. There are performance things that she looks for ewes that produce a good number of lambs for their size, ewes that are good at mothering but she also needs them to be able to maintain their body condition scores.

She also selects for growth, to some extent. In New York, hay is expensive. So, Richards tries to raise lambs that can grow to market weight before she has to start feeding hay in the winter.

Mike Stitzlein, who raises club lambs in Ashland, Ohio, considers things like temperament, as well, when he is working on improving his flocks genetics. And as someone who raises lambs for the show ring, hes noticed what the show ring wants isnt always whats best for the sheep industry as a whole.

What pushes club lamb is whats popular in the show ring whats popular in the show ring is just fads, sometimes, Stitzlein said.

But also essential to improving genetics and reproduction is record keeping.

You cant manage what you dont measure, said Brady Campbell, an assistant professor focused on small ruminant management with Ohio State University.

On her farm, Richards tracks things including birth weights, estimated breeding values, mothering ability for ewes, body condition scores, weights at 60 days and 120 days and fecal egg counts for her livestock. The estimated breeding values come from the National Sheep Improvement Program, an organization that offers a system for genetic selection to help sheep farmers improve their herds.

Those things take time, and can be expensive being part of the national program costs Richards about $1,200 per year. But the numbers help her compare how well individual animals, and the herd are doing.

We can measure all day long but we also need to understand that we shouldnt just collect data to collect data, if were not going to use it, Campbell said.

The Ohio Sheep Improvement Association recognized award winners and scholarship recipients at the symposium Dec. 4. The Charles Boyles Master Shepherd Award went to Roger and Jan Cox, of Morrow County.

Roger and Jan Cox raise Katahdin sheep. The Cox family has a long history of sheep farming Rogers father raised sheep, and his ancestors, from Scotland and Ireland, also raised sheep. Roger Cox got his start in sheep with registered Hampshires in 1958, and later shifted to more commercial sheep, getting his first Katahdins in 2005.

Weve been so blessed, Roger Cox said. We had an opportunity to work hard, manage well, and see things come together.

The Distinguished Service Awards went to Gary Wilson, of Jenera; Don Hawk, of Danville; Jordan Beck, of Wauseon; Lori Shroyer, of DeGraff; and Robert Hunter, of Pickerington, all of whom have served on the Ohio Sheep and Wool Program board. Mike Stitzlein, who retired as the president of the association in 2019, received the Presidents Award.

The Friend of the Sheep Industry Award went to Amy Hurst, who assists with keeping track of membership records, checkoff accounting, newsletters and more for the association.

Youth recognized included Rachel Berk and Jim Stickley, with the Ralph H. Grimshaw Memorial Scholarship; Brandon Zuercher, with the Dr. Jack Judy Memorial Scholarship; Chelsea Graham, with the High Family Memorial Scholarship; and Emma Peters, Linsey Eddy and Ian Johnson, with the OSIA LEAD Council Scholarship.

The association also recognized Zoe Parrott, of Northmor FFA, as the state and national FFA sheep production proficiency winner, and Olivia Rinesmith, as the Ohio Lamb and Wool Ambassador.

2021 Buckeye Shepherd's Symposium awards

Representatives of the American Lamb Board gave an update on the checkoff program. Because of the pandemic, said Don Hawk, of the American Lamb Board, the program shifted its strategy to focus less on fine dining, and more on retail and consumer education.

Through partnering with food blogs and getting lamb into new recipes, the program estimates it reached four million or more people in 2020. It is also helping fund several research projects, including one at Michigan State University that looks at the sheep industrys environmental impact.

At the state level, the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association came up with a new strategic plan this year. Three broad goals in the plan are to ensure and maintain effective management, better serve members in Ohio and to provide relevant programming for the Ohio sheep industry.

With strong markets for lamb and wool and a strong base of farmers in the state, the association believes it is well-poised for the future.

We probably have the greatest potential for growth, Hawk said, about the sheep industry east of the Mississippi River.

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Ohio sheep farmers focus on improved flock genetics at 2021 symposium - Farm and Dairy

The domestic cat has been the subject of much study, recently involving its genetic structure, genomic DNA sequence, and comparisons with other felines. The first such study was published in 2014, when an international effort led by Stephen J. O'Brien at the Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida reported the complete genomic sequencing of the domestic cat, Felix catus. The report, entitled "Annotated features of domestic cat Felis catusgenome," was published inGigaScience2014,3:13 (August 5, 2014) (see"Domestic Cat Genome Sequenced"). The study reported sequencing of a female Abyssinian cat named Cinnamon, a mixed-breed cat from Russian named Boris, and Sylvester, a wildcat ancestor of domestic cats. The report showed that domestic cats have retained "a highly conserved ancestral mammal genome organization" in comparison with ancestral cats (seeDriscollet al., 2007, "The near eastern origin of cat domestication,"Science317: 51923). Both species, F. catusandFelix silvestris, have 38 chromosomes, 18 pairs of autosomes, and two pairs of dimorphic gender-determining chromosomes. Details of the domestic cat genome structure included the presence of 217 loci of endogenous retrovirus-like elements (amounting to 55.7% of the entire genome, comprised of long interspersed elements (LINEs), short interspersed elements (SINEs), satellite DNA, retroviral long terminal repeats (LTRs) and "others"); 21,865 protein coding genes (open reading frames or ORFs), detected by comparison with eight mammalian genomes (from human, chimpanzee, macaque, dog, cow, horse, rat, and mouse); and a wealth of genetic variability in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertion/deletion events (indels); novel families of complex tandem repeat elements; and short terminal repeat (STR) loci.

Since that time more individual cat genomic sequences have been determined and assembled in the 99 Lives Cat Genome Consortium. These efforts resulted in a more comprehensive elucidation of the feline genome and insights into genetic bases for disease. A paper published in the Public Library of Science, entitled "A new domestic cat genome assembly based on long sequence reads empowers feline genomic medicine and identifies a novel gene for dwarfism,"PLoS Genetics 16(10): e1008926 on October 20, 2020, reported a revisit of the genomic sequence of Cinnamon, an Abyssinian breed domestic cat previously sequenced. Rather than focusing on one cat, this group* performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) of 54 domestic cats and aligned the sequences to detect single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and structural variants (SVs). As a consequence of these studies, sequences comprising the ~300,000 gaps in the annotated sequence reported to the Cinnamon Abyssinian were obtained, to produce a new reference cat genome denoted in relevant databases as Felis_catus_9.0. This genome comprised 2.84 gigabasepairs (Gb), of which only 1.8% (1.38 megabasepairs, Mb) was not assigned to a specific chromosomal location.

While such assessments of global genetic structure are informative, analysis of genes resulting in well-known phenotypes have been slower to arrive. One such study was published in March 2021 in Animal Genetics 52: 321-32, entitled "Mining the 99 Lives Cat Genome Sequencing Consortium database implicates genes and variants for the Ticked locus in domestic cats (Felis catus)." In this paper, scientists from the U.S. and Australia* reported the genetic basis of the Ticked tabby coat pattern, a phenotype whose genetics long have been used empirically by cat breeders. (Amathematically, the Consortium database contains genetic information from 195 individual cats.)

Three autosomal alleles at a single genetic locus in wild and domestic cats are understood to control the tabby coat pattern: Abyssinian (Ta, also known as "ticked"); mackerel (Tm, aka striped); and blotched (tb, aka classic, blotched) (where these allelic abbreviations follow the convention that capital letters indicate Mendelian dominant traits and lower-case letters are inherited as recessive genes); the blotched phenotype was designated as the "classic" tabby by Linnaeus in 1758. Various combinations of these alleles result in complicated coat patterns involving the legs, head/face, tail, and torso.

Failure of this understanding to explain cats that have spotted coats, like Egyptian mau and ocicat, induced further genetic analyses that uncovered at least three other loci involved in coat pattern; these include Tabby and Ticked, where the Tabby locus affects the mackerel and blotched patterns. Located on the cat A chromosome, the candidate gene encoded by this locus, laeverin (LVRN) or transmembrane aminopeptidase Q, Taqpep, encodes 'a membrane-bound metalloprotease and plays a regulatory role in extravillous trophoblast migration." The genetic bases for coat patterns involving the Tabby locus were found to be even more complex, involving genes in a pigment switching signaling pathway, and can have a phenotype having individual hairs in the coat pattern that alternates between melanin types that are seen illusorily to be brown.

The other locus, the Ticked locus, had been localized on the cat B1 chromosome but the gene residing at the locus had not been determined until this report. The famous Cinnamon had the ticked pattern and accordingly her DNA was used by these researchers in one strategy as having the "reference" allele and in another as having the "variant" allele in performing their search for the gene or genes at the Ticked locus. Of the 195 cats in the 99 Cat Consortium database, 80 had either solid or white coats and their ticked-tabby phenotype could not be determined (regardless of their underlying genotype). Among the cats whose genomic DNA was assessed were two obligate heterozygous ticked cats identical by descent for their ticked allele as they are parentoffspring bred from a ticked Somali"; three known Abyssinians, including Cinnamon; and three other cats showing the ticked phenotype.

The researchers used eight short tandem repeats that segregated with the Ticked phenotype as identified by genome scanning methods to find a 17 centoMorgan (cM) linked region on cat chromosome B1 for their analysis of candidate variants. Seven phenotype filters were applied (e.g., "eliminate intergenic, intronic and synonymous variants; (ii) consider the variant zygosity for the [whole genome sequencing entry for Cinnamon;" etc.) to identify increasingly rare variants in this region of the B1 chromosome; after filtering only one variant remained, located in the gene for Dickkopf Wnt Signaling Pathway Inhibitor 4 (DKK4). The protein encoded by this gene is known to be "a member of the dickkopf (Dkk) family of cysteine-rich secretory proteins that are antagonists of Wnt signaling pathways, involved in antero-posterior axial patterning, limb development, somitogenesis and eye formation." These researchers report finding a G>A transition mutation at position 188 of this gene, resulting in a Cys63Tyr amino acid sequence change in the encoded protein. The researchers also reported finding at lower frequency another transition mutation (C>T) in this gene, resulting in a change at amino acid 18 from Ala to Val. The position of these mutations is shown in the following Figure:

These researchers further report that protein structure modeling suggests that these mutations disrupt "a key disulfide bond" in a "cysteine-rich domain" in the first mutation or a signal peptide cleavage site in the Dkk protein in the second mutation. The resulting change in protein conformation for the first mutation is illustrated in the following Figure:

In either case the researchers conclude that disrupting the function of this protein (as the consequences of these mutations suggest) results in the observed ticked phenotype.

The authors recognize that the ticked phenotype is rare in outbred cats (and the observed allele frequency, wherein no other cats from the 195 cats in the database have this allele, is consistent with its rarity) and dominant, suppressing patterning and resulting in cats having no discernable coat pattern. But they also recognize the search for genes that influence coat pattern in cats is not concluded, stating:

Additional genotyping of the proposed variants, in a large cohort of phenotyped cats, as well as supportive functional data, would clarify the role of these variants in cat coat pattern development. The identified variants do not clarify the pathways leading to the production of the spotted coat phenotype in cats, suggesting that additional genes influence other tabby patterns in domestic cats. The allelic series for the Ticked locus is suggested as TiA = TiCK > Ti+, where the TiA allele represents the p.Cys63Tyr variant and the TiCK allele represents the p.Ala18Val variant.

* From the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri Columbia, Columbia, MO and the School of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Australia; the paper in an appendix credits the hundreds of researcher who have contributed to the 99 Live Cat Genome Consortium.

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Ticked Tabby Cats and Their Genetic Bases Elucidated - JD Supra

To understand the full effect of inbreeding in all dog breeds, the research team partnered with Wisdom Health Genetics, the largest dog DNA database in the world, to collect data and information from 49,378 dogs ranging across 227 breeds. Lua Bittencourt via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY 2.0

When looking to add a canine companion to the family, somepeople already have a specific breed in mind. But manydogs' distinctive featureslikea black-and-white Dalmatian's spotsor a French bulldog's stubby snoutare the result of remarkably high levels of inbreeding,according to a studypublished this month inCanine Medicine and Genetics.Overall, scientists found the average level of inbreeding was around 25 percent, which is the same level of genetic similarity siblings usually share, reports Ed Cara forGizmodo.

Most modern dog breeds were established within the last 200 years. Through the use of studbooks to ensure pure-bred pedigrees in the last100 years, inbreeding has become the norm in manybreeds. At the behest of genetics, these inbred animalsespecially large dogsdevelop chronic health issues, which contribute to costly vet bills over their lifespan.

To understand the full effect of inbreeding in all dog breeds, the research team partnered with Wisdom Health Genetics, the largest dog DNA database in the world, to analyze genetic data from 49,378 dogsacross 227 breeds. The data is mainly compiled from European sources, according to astatement.

The levels of inbreeding found in the data are higher than what would be considered safe for wild animal populations and humans. In humans, inbreeding levels between 3 percent and 6 percent result in higher chances of cancer or hereditary disorders, perGizmodo.

Researchers then took this data and cross-referenced it withpet insurance claims for non-routine visits using adatabase fromAgria Insurance Sweden. Together, the data shows dog breeds with high levels of inbreeding were more likely to visit the vet than dogs that were not inbred,Gizmodoreports.

Some dog breeds are more inbred than others because breeders select for specific traits based on how it makes a dog look.For example, smaller dog breeds like Shih Tzus and pugs are bred to have extremely short snoutsoften, to the point where they appear flat-faced. These breeds are technically brachycephalic, which means they are predisposed to respiratory issues, perGizmodo. On average, brachycephalic dogs were less healthy than non-brachycephalic dogs.

While previous studies have shown that small dogs live longer than large dogs, no one had previously reported on morbidity or the presence of disease," says study author Danika Bannasch, a veterinary geneticist at the University of California, Davis,in astatement. "This study revealed that if dogs are smaller and not inbred, they are much healthier than larger dogs with high inbreeding.

A small founding population of abreed was also linked to high levels of inbreeding, while breeds with large founding populations had more genetic variation. Many breeds with large founding populations were originally bred fortheir function and intelligencenot for their looks. For example, the healthiest breed studied wasDanish-Swedish farm dogs, which originated from a sizeable founding population of 200 dogs. These dogs were bred for hunting, keeping guard, and tracking.

Its amazing how inbreeding seems to matter to health, says Bannasch.

The team emphasizes that careful management of breeding populations is needed to preserve genetic diversity in canines. This goal can be achieved by using genetic screening, educating breeders, and maintaining diversity in pups with low inbreeding levels.

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Most Dog Breeds Are Really Inbred | Smart News - Smithsonian

The Angus University: Genetics workshop sponsored by Zoetis at the 2021 National Angus Convention and Trade Show served as an educational session to inform breeders about the value of collecting genetic data and ways to use it in decision making.

The panel included moderator, Kelli Retallick-Riley, president of Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI), and four panelists Justin Sexten, vice president of strategy and product development for Performance Livestock Analytics; Jim Moore of Moore Cattle Company, a commercial Angus operation; James Henderson of Bradley 3 Ranch, an Angus seedstock operation; Troy Marshall, director of commercial industry relations for the American Angus Association.

Understanding and valuing genetic data can present as a daunting task to seedstock and commercial producers alike. Retallick-Riley asked panelists to describe how they use genetic data to navigate breeding decisions and market cattle to the next industry segment.

Being able to have some prediction of what those cattle are really worth and being able to get that kind of value out of them and they perform accordingly makes it better for all of us, Henderson said. We can sit down with an individual customer and say, Heres where you are today, heres where you want to be and heres what its going to take to do that.

Sometimes the primary struggle with data stems from the collection process. Sexten emphasized how modern technology provides breeders with the tools to efficiently collect data, document it and convey the information to each sector of the supply chain.

From a technology perspective, we think about it as how do I take the notes you take on a cow thats locked up in text messages, snapshots on your phone and notes on a piece of paper thats thrown up on the dash and convey that up and down the supply chain in a way that the association can make predictions from it, Sexten said. I think technology provides us the ability to convey information across all of these segments. So thats how we think about it is how can we convey information, not just gather more and more data.

Marshall encouraged the use of programs like AngusLinkSM which provides commercial producers the opportunity to maximize data collection efforts and more importantly, maximize profits.

Those buyers up and down the chain need information, they need market flexibility, market access, and theyre looking to mitigate their risk and these programs give them that, Marshall said. As a result, AngusLink has helped to capture more premiums. This last year, the people enrolled in the AngusLink program had an average return of about $84 over the market. Over the last three years, weve returned almost $12.5 million in premiums to commercial producers. I think this information flow is just going to continue to grow.

In addition to the AngusLink program, the GeneMax Advantage test allows commercial cattlemen to receive genetic information on unregistered females to make strategic decisions when selecting replacements.

I think one of the underutilized things about [GeneMax Advantage] is if you know what youre replacing, you also know what bulls to select, so you get a double advantage, Moore said. I think that GeneMax Advantage just gives you the opportunity to differentiate yourself in the marketplace and objectively describe the cattle so you can capture the value they deserve.

The role genetic data plays in any operation will likely continuously increase over time. Henderson said if you havent already, the time to start using genetic data to enhance your decision making is now.

I think if you're not looking at genetic information today in your herd, whether youre a commercial or a seedstock operation, youre probably falling behind very quickly, Henderson said. Its time to get into the education process and figure out where you are from a genetic standpoint.

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Maximizing the Use of Genetic Data Will Pay Dividends - Drovers Magazine

Newswise PHILADELPHIA (October 27, 2021) -- Race is not genetic. Race is a social and political construct. However, the conflation of race and genetics is one way that racism persists in medicine and research.

In a new viewpoint article in theJournal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics,two researchers from theUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Nursing(Penn Nursing) explore the history behind, and implications of, the conflation of race and genetics using examples from the pediatric literature. They provide insight into why its a fallacy and what scientists and clinicians can do to move past the use of race as a tool for classification in laboratory and clinical research.

We need to admit that race is a social construct and conduct research accordingly. Continuing education is urgently needed for scientists and clinicians about the differences between genetics and race, saysRebecca Clark, PhD, MSN, RN, CNM, WHNP-BC, Assistant Professor of Nursing at Penn Nursings Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR) and one of the authors of the article.

In the article, the authors discuss two studies which examined racial differences in the development and treatment of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), sometimes more specifically called neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS), among Black and White newborns. The studies reported racial differences in treatment and interpreted this as reflecting genetic differences between the study participants, instead of interpreting their findings as an example of racism appearing in the form of inequitable treatment according to race.

When biology and race are conflated in the context of NAS, misdiagnoses and underdiagnoses result. Such conflation also serves as a continued reinforcement of racist beliefs and systems, saysRachel French, PhD, RN, a National Clinician Scholar at Penn Nursings CHOPR and coauthor of the article. The article Conflating Race and Genetics Among Newborns with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome is availableonline.

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About the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursingis one of the worlds leading schools of nursing. For the sixth year in a row, it is ranked the #1 nursing school in the world by QS University. In a first for any undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program in the country, our BSN program is ranked # 1 in the 2022 U.S. News & World Reports Best Colleges rankings. Penn Nursing is also consistently ranked highly in the U.S. News & World Report annual list of best graduate schools and is ranked as one of the top schools of nursing in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Penn Nursing prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through innovation in research, education, and practice. Follow Penn Nursing on:Facebook,Twitter,LinkedIn, &Instagram

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Moving Past Conflation of Race and Genetics - Newswise

Joo Pedro de Magalhes scours the human genome for clues that might help us understand why people age and what we might do to stop that. Without fail, each time hes done one of these studies, nearly every gene ends up having some kind of link to cancer.

Always, he said. You always have some cancer-related genes in there.

The University of Liverpool researcher started to wonder just how many human genes are associated with cancer, and set about doing an analysis of genetic papers on the online medical archive PubMed. Of the 17,371 human genes studied at one point or another in papers in the archive, the vast majority have some connection to cancer.

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I think for nearly 90% of genes for which there are publications, they mention cancer in at least one of those publications, de Magalhes said. That surprised me a bit. I think what it means is that people really study cancer more than anything else.

On the one hand, his findings published in a commentary Wednesday in Trends in Geneticsare a bit of an academic oddity. But on the other, de Magalhes believes the results might indicate a trend that is complicating sciences ability to tease out which genes are underpinning true drivers of cancer and which are just passengers.

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STAT spoke with de Magalhes about the trend and what it means for the future of genetic analyses in cancer. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What were some of your first reactions to the analysis results?

I was surprised by how strong the effects are. Nearly 90% of genes are associated with cancer. Its like a tongue-in-cheek observation, you know? Like, hey, if you work on cancer, any gene is likely to be associated with cancer.

But there have also been people pointing out that when you analyze genetic networks, you need to control for the number of publications associated with any gene in order to gather therapeutic insights. So, if you do this type of analysis, youll have this bias that the vast majority of genes have already been associated with cancer.

Why does that make it more difficult to study cancer genetics?

The main challenge is that if youre trying to interpret results or trying to identify new drug targets in the context of cancer, you have too many genes associated with it. If every gene can be associated with cancer, then figuring out which cancer-related genes are driving different types of cancer and identifying the best biomarkers becomes challenging. It becomes a problem of how we prioritize and study the genetics of cancer.

Finding a simple association is enough to have a publication. Thats the problem. By and large, many associations with cancer are quite I dont know if weak is the right word. Theyre just correlations.

Funnily enough, I was talking about this work with a colleague and she said that something similar is happening for Covid now. A lot of people just finding associations because theres such a huge research effort on Covid-19.

How can scientists avoid some of the pitfalls you describe and improve the study of genetics then?

It means you have to be careful. Unless you have direct genetic evidence, you have to be careful of cancer associations, and I dont think most people do that. I would say Im guilty of that as well. Also, if you want to associate a gene with cancer, if you study it hard enough then you probably will. A lot of the associations can be spurious, I think, but people can take the opportunity to say, Hey, I found this gene. Its associated with cancer. We need money to study it.

That kind of sounds like a bad thing, but is it so bad? If everyone can wave this big flag and say, Hey, my gene is also associated with cancer, and it might be important, maybe that would help more people get funded to do basic science on random genes. Then who knows, maybe you actually do find something really important?

Thats a good question. I dont know! In an ideal world, wed have a lot more investment in research, and wed be able to study all sorts of associations. I guess my take is that funds are limited, so we have to prioritize the funding allocation in some way because you cannot study every gene, right? Some are more important than others.

So, how do we pick the right genes to study?

Its a gray area. Causal associations would be best. When theres mutations in patients that are predisposed to cancer, that would be evidence of a causal role not just some association. One thing weve done is look at the number of publications associating a particular gene with longevity, but you can do the same with cancer. Theres a bit of a subjective element here, too, though.

Do you think that the vast majority of genes have been linked to cancer reveals something about cancer? Like its reinforcing this idea that our genetic machinery gets old, makes mistakes, and then its cancer?

Yes, thats right. If you look at genome instability, it increases with age. You can see it has more predispositions and the number of mutations increases with age in human tissues as well. So, I see this as a factor predisposing you to cancer development.

Link:
The vast majority of genes have been tied to cancer, complicating research - STAT

If youre close enough to a bumblebee to see the order of its stripes, youre probably too close to it. But lucky for you, a team of geneticists recently did a more highfalutin version of that task, analyzing several species of bee to suss out what causes different species of the insect to get different patterns on their abdomens.

Previously, a specific developmental gene (Hox gene Abd-B) had been identified as somehow responsible for color variation in the animals rear ends. But beyond how that gene actually changed the colors, the bees were a black box. With the recent research, the team was able to pin down more of the exact genes involved in the process of pigmentation in the bees. Their research was published earlier this year in Genome Biology and Evolution.

Understanding these genes, we now have the potential to look at so many different bee species and how theyve diversified, said Heather Hines, an entomologist and geneticist at Penn State University and a co-author of the recent paper, in a university press release. So, its not a case that once we are finished here that were done. Given the diversity in these bees, theres just so much more that can be done with the discovery. This is just really the first step.

Many insects sport black-and-yellow backsides; some of them even develop the pattern to convince other species that theyre a more dangerous animal with the same markings, like a wasp. Sometimes two well-armed animals develop similar markings. Whatever the case for the copy-catting, these pretenders of nature are called mimics.

Theres some mimicry thats local to the bumblebee community, and thats what the recent team was looking at: Whos copying who among the 260-odd species that display about 400 different patterns on bees abdomensliterally, their rear ends. (There are many thousands of bee species, but not as many bumblebee species.) They studied one species in particular: Bombus melanopygus, the black-tailed or orange-rumped bumblebee.

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To conduct the genetic analysis in a bee not commonly used in research, the team had to lean on the more well-known and utilized genomes of other animal species. Luckily, though, they werent scanning the entire length of genetic codes manually.

The use of high-performance computation power has made this type of research more manageable and reproducible, said lead author Sarthok Rahman, a biologist now at the University of Alabama, in the same release. Because its a non-model organism, we also have to use other genomic sources from Drosophila and mice, for example, to search the genes and assign the identity.

The team found that farther along the genetic code from previously identified Hox gene (a Hox gene being a type of developmental gene that regulates structures on animals bodies), a bunch of genes are responsible for different ratios of eumelanin and pheomelanin in the bees, the former which governs black pigmentation and the latter which handles red colors.

This really adds to non-model, evolutionary genetic research, which is a growing field and the field is also expanding to be more comparative, said Hines. As we move forward, researchers will be looking at how genes and gene pathways have evolved across a broader diversity of species.

Were not done with the bees. Hardly. They offer new insights into the coloration of the insect world, but the genetic code (even in bees) is not the most reader-friendly document. Lets just hope we can understand the animals coloration faster than we kill them off.

More: Yellow Dog Coats Came From an Ancient Canid That Split From Wolves Millions of Years Ago

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The Genetics Behind Bees' Black and Yellow Butts - Gizmodo

TEMPLE CITY, Calif., October 25, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fulgent Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLGT) ("Fulgent Genetics" or the "company"), a technology-based genetic testing company focused on transforming patient care in oncology, infectious and rare diseases, and reproductive health, today announced that it will release its third quarter 2021 financial results after the market closes on Tuesday November 9, 2021. The companys Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ming Hsieh, Chief Financial Officer Paul Kim, Chief Commercial Officer Brandon Perthuis, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Larry Weiss will host a conference call for the investment community the same day at 4:30 PM ET (1:30 PM PT) to discuss the results and answer questions.

The call can be accessed through a live audio webcast in the Investors section of the companys website, http://ir.fulgentgenetics.com, and through a live conference call by dialing (800) 367-2403 using the confirmation code 3277675. An audio replay will be available in the Investors section of the companys website.

About Fulgent Genetics

Fulgent Genetics is a technology-based genetic testing company focused on transforming patient care in oncology, infectious and rare diseases, and reproductive health. Fulgents proprietary technology platform has created a broad, flexible test menu and the ability to continually expand and improve its proprietary genetic reference library while maintaining accessible pricing, high accuracy, and competitive turnaround times. Combining next generation sequencing ("NGS") with its technology platform, the Company performs full-gene sequencing with deletion/duplication analysis in an array of panels that can be tailored to meet specific customer needs. A cornerstone of the Companys business is its ability to provide expansive options and flexibility for all clients unique testing needs through a comprehensive technology offering including cloud computing, pipeline services, record management, web portal services, clinical workflow, sequencing as a service and automated laboratory services.

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211025005128/en/

Contacts

Investor Relations Contact: The Blueshirt GroupNicole Borsje, 415-217-2633; nicole@blueshirtgroup.com

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Fulgent Genetics to Announce Third Quarter 2021 Financial Results on Tuesday November 9, 2021 - Yahoo Finance