Pharmacogenomic Archives

Did Brain Atrophy Evolve?

December 29, 2015

Human Brain, Human Pheromones, Neuronal Plasticity, Nutrigenomics, Pharmacogenomics, RNA-mediated epigenetic regulation of gene expression, RNA–Mediated Epigenetic Heredity, Variations

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Common Variants in ABCA7 and MSA46A are Associated with Cortical and Hippocampal Atrophy (Subscription required) Reported as: Two Alzheimer’s Risk Genes Linked to Brain Atrophy Excerpt: Using magnetic resonance imaging tools to measure brain size and genetic analysis, the researchers looked for associations between the genetic variants and atrophy in the cortical and hippocampal regions of the brain, which are established physical biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease. My comment: Can anyone tell me how the genes that produce the proteins in…

Vitamin B3 and DNA repair

May 16, 2015

James Kohl

Adaptations, Ecology, Light Energy, Model Organisms, Nutrigenomics, Pharmacogenomics, Physics, RNA Directed

One Comment

Role of Nicotinamide in DNA Damage, Mutagenesis, and DNA Repair Conclusion: Nicotinamide, which is the dietary precursor for NAD+, provides a substrate for PARP-1 activity…. In various murine models, PARP-1 inhibition was shown to favor apoptotic cell death, reduce inflammatory response, and reduce genomic sensitivity to various carcinogens. However, extrapolation of these data to human, particularly when physiological regimes involved in human carcinogenesis, should be done cautiously. Further studies are needed to determine the effect of high-dose nicotinamide on in…

MicroRNAs and invasive phenotypes

April 9, 2015

James Kohl

Adaptations, Ecology

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Variability helps mammals to become invasive Excerpt: The authors argue that species exposed to a novel environment will have higher chances of surviving if they are variable and can therefore adapt to many different environmental conditions. My comment: Nutrient-dependent pheromone-controlled morphological and behavioral phenotypes are linked by microRNAs to adaptive radiation and to all of extant biodiversity. For an example of the role of RNA-mediated events that link metabolic networks to genetic networks, see: “Large Numbers of Novel miRNAs Originate…

Silencing genes and serious scientists

April 7, 2015

James Kohl

Adaptations, Diseases & Disorders, Ecology, Pharmacogenomics, RNA Directed

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Silencing genes — to understand them Excerpt: “RNAi and other processes may help science understand how life works at the most basic level.” My comment: Serious scientists already understand how life works at the most basic level. Viral microRNAs perturb protein folding that links nutrient-dependent microRNAs to DNA repair via the conserved molecular mechanisms that link amino acid substitutions to the biophysically constrained chemistry of protein folding, which is required for genomic stability and increasing organismal complexity. Fixation of the amino…

Methylation maintains cell type differences

March 30, 2015

James Kohl

Human Pheromones, Model Organisms, Pharmacogenomics, RNA Directed

2 Comments

Female Brain Maintained by Methylation Development of female sexual behaviors requires DNA methylation in the preoptic area of the rodent brain. By Anna Azvolinsky | March 30, 2015 Excerpt: “…programmed during brain development, but how exactly this occurs is not clear. In the preoptic area (POA) of the brain…” My comment: See the section on molecular epigenetics in our 1996 Hormones and Behavior review: From Fertilization to Adult Sexual Behavior Excerpt: “Small intranuclear proteins also participate in generating alternative splicing…

Rejecting what is known about viral microRNAs and nutrient-dependent microRNAs

March 9, 2015

James Kohl

Adaptations, Ecology, Pharmacogenomics, RNA Directed

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Of Cells and Limits Leonard Hayflick has been unafraid to speak his mind, whether it is to upend a well-entrenched dogma or to challenge the federal government. At 86, he’s nowhere near retirement. By Anna Azvolinsky | March 1, 2015 Excerpt: The rejection letter came from Francis Peyton Rous who received the Nobel Prize a few years later for his discovery of chicken tumor viruses. My comment: My 2014 invited review of nutritional epigenetics detailed how differences in the microRNA/messenger…

Jumping back: Science or Pseudoscience?

December 5, 2014

James Kohl

Ecology

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Daily Comment November 21, 2014 European Science’s Great Leap Backward By Michael Specter Excerpt 1) “When politicians reject verifiable data and reputable research and rely instead on politics or desire, the results can be devastating.” Excerpt 2 with my emphasis) “…scientific organizations from around the world… have strongly endorsed the safety of G.M. foods. (It should be noted that the U.S. can claim no superiority in our approach to evidence-based science, as demonstrated by the fact that nearly half of…

One test of bioenergetic health?

November 29, 2014

James Kohl

Adaptations, Diseases & Disorders, Ecology, Model Organisms, Variations

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Success of new-generation metabolo-therapies in personalized medicine depends on measuring bioenergetic health Excerpt: “In one test, a comprehensive measure of energetic health, or its disease-related deterioration, can now be made. The prognostic and diagnostic value of bioenergetic measurements in patients is still unknown, but recent findings support an emerging concept that circulating leukocytes and platelets can serve as the “canary in the coal mine” by acting as early sensors or predictive biomarkers of metabolic function under conditions of chronic stress…