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1:00PM 11/13/2014 – Panel Discussion Genomics in Prenatal and Childhood Disorders @10th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference at the Harvard Medical School, Boston

Posted in Academic Publishing, Conference Coverage with Social Media, Embryology, Genetics & Pharmaceutical, Genomic Endocrinology, Personalized and Precision Medicine & Genomic Research, Population Health Management, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, Reproductive Andrology, Embryology, Genomic Endocrinology, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, Reproductive Biology & Bio Instrumentation, Scientific & Biotech Conferences: Press Coverage, tagged Amish, Boston Children's Hospital, childhood disorders, Down syndrome, genetic testing, genetics, Genomic imprinting, genomic testing, genomics, genomics screen, health outcomes research, hereditary, Population genetics, population variation, prenatal on November 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

1:00PM 11/13/2014 – 10th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference at the Harvard Medical School, Boston

REAL TIME Coverage of this Conference by Dr. Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN – Director and Founder of LEADERS in PHARMACEUTICAL BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE, Boston http://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com

1:00 p.m. Panel Discussion Genomics in Prenatal and Childhood Disorders

Genomics in Prenatal and Childhood Disorders

Moderator:

David Sweetser, M.D., Ph.D.
Unit Chief, Division of Medical Genetics; Attending Physician in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology,
Massachusetts General Hospital for Children

Genomics revolutionized medicine and genetic variation in a larger scale

Cases one on Causing Autism – mutations in a gene of synapse formation, clinical trials

Treatment: IGF1

Genetics: embryo – implant only the healthy embryo – newborn comprehensive genetics testing in the medical record integrated – Standard language of GENE-DRUG interaction not only drug-drug interaction

Potential Harms: May or may not happen disease – stigma issues

Explaining to parents the conditions is very difficult for MDs

Panelists:

3. Diana Bianchi, M.D.
Executive Director, Mother Infant Research Institute;
Vice Chair for Research and Academic Affairs,
Department of Pediatrics; Attending Geneticists and Neonatologist;
Natalie V. Zucker Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine

Medical Geneticist – Pediatrics

Prenatal screening and diagnosis – chromosomal abnormality – Down Syndrome, testing is more precise 70% fewer procedures to correct defects due to screening prenatally.
Prenatal diagnostics — patient is not in front of us, ultrasound examination, options to terminate pregnancies, genetic counseling — changed due to Genomics
Prenatal treatment to down syndrome before the birth – Transcriptomic approach, treat the fetus prebirth
Standard of care – all pregnant women – must receive from MD the option for screening for down syndrome, it is a test positive or negative
NOW – DNA allows to test for fetal sex, chromosome in maternal circulation fetal and maternal genetics — Mother may have chromosomal variation
high false positive – DNA for Down Syndrome, 97% effective Micro duplication only 5%
genetics information protection act – sue prospective employer using Genome, life insurance issues
most data available is on Down Syndrome, of all parents informed of a fetus with Down Syndrome – 40% continues the pregnancy
accuracy in testing, offering choice and treatment are LEADING principles NOT elimination of a disease (i.e. down syndromes)
in ten years — GENOME OF EVERY FETUS TO BE SEQUENCE

for reference see Prenatal Treatment of Down’s Syndrome: a Reality?

and ref list by Dr. Bianchi

2. Holmes Morton, M.D. @ClinicSpecChild
Medical Director, Clinic for Special Children

Small population in Lancaster, PA – risk for untreatable disease 52,000 screens 4.2 millions in US are screened Target mutation analysis, diagnosis very effectively. Harrisburg, PA – small scale natural history studies

Carrier testing offered in 70s. Discourages from marriage, culture reaction is different. Working in the community, clinical practice using exon sequencing, combine population genetics and molecular biology.Translate Genomics to Clinical, small number of risk factors

History of genetics in population important to establish treatment

Upon birth, affected newborns get matching bone marrow transplant, thus, bypass stem cells – Gene therapy is another thing

1. Benjamin Solomon, Ph.D., M.D.
Chief, Division of Medical Genomics,
Inova Translational Medicine Institute

Longer term, statistical model in asthma research, rigorous process on patient consent, life insurance, mutation that parents also have. Consequences: actionable findings are communicated

135 Genes – sequencing for some conditions

100,000 deliveries 10% ENTER THE STUDY, CASE BY CASE BASIS O PARTICIPATE, WHO SHOULD BE TESTED

Questions from the Podium

– See more at: http://personalizedmedicine.partners.org/Education/Personalized-Medicine-Conference/Program.aspx#sthash.qGbGZXXf.dpuf

Reproductive Genetic Testing

Posted in Biological Networks, Gene Regulation and Evolution, Chemical Genetics, Genome Biology, Genomic Testing: Methodology for Diagnosis, Medical and Population Genetics, Molecular Genetics & Pharmaceutical, Personalized and Precision Medicine & Genomic Research, Population Health Management, Genetics & Pharmaceutical, Reproductive Andrology, Embryology, Genomic Endocrinology, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, Reproductive Biology & Bio Instrumentation, tagged carrier, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chorionic villus sampling, CVS, Diagnosis, genetic disorder, genetics, new born, offspring, pregnancy, preimplantation, Preimplantation genetic diagnosis, prenatal, reproductive, Tay-Sachs, testing on March 18, 2013| 2 Comments »

Reproductive Genetic Testing

Reporter and Curator: Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

Reproductive genetics, a field of medical genetics integrated with reproductive medicine, assisted reproduction, and developmental genetics, involves a wide array of genetic tests that are conducted with the intent of informing individuals about the possible outcomes of current or future pregnancies. The tests themselves can include the analysis of chromosomes, DNA, RNA, genes, and/or gene products to determine whether an alteration is present that is causing or is likely to cause a specific disease or condition.

Types of Tests

In general, reproductive genetic testing involves the following categories of tests:

Carrier testing is performed to determine whether an individual carries one copy of an altered gene for a particular recessive disease. The term recessive refers to diseases that will occur only if both copies of a gene that an individual receives have a disease-associated mutation; thus, each child born to two carriers of a mutation in the same gene has a 25 percent risk of being affected with the disorder. Examples of carrier tests include those for

Tay-Sachs disease,
sickle cell anemia, and
cystic fibrosis.

Couples are likely to have carrier tests if they are at higher risk of having a child with a specific disorder because of their racial or ethnic heritage or family history. Carrier testing is often done in the context of family planning and reproductive health.

Preimplantation diagnosis is used following in vitro fertilization to diagnose a genetic disease or condition in a preimplantation embryo. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis is essentially an alternative to prenatal diagnosis, as it allows prenatal testing to occur months earlier than conventional tests such as amniocentesis on week 18th of pregnancy, even before a pregnancy begins. Doctors can test a single cell from an eight-cell embryo that is just days old to determine, among other things, whether it is a male or female. This can provide crucial information for genetic diseases that afflict just one sex. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis has been applied to patients carrying chromosomal rearrangements, such as translocations, in which it has been proven to decrease the number of spontaneous abortions and prevent the birth of children affected with chromosome imbalances. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis techniques have also been applied to

increase implantation rates,
reduce the incidence of spontaneous abortion, and
prevent trisomic offspring in women of advanced maternal age undergoing fertility treatment.

A third group of patients receiving preimplantation genetic diagnosis are those at risk of transmitting a single gene disorder to their offspring. The number of monogenic disorders that have been diagnosed in preimplantation embryos has increased each year. So far, at least 700 healthy babies have been born worldwide after undergoing the procedure, and the number is growing rapidly.

Prenatal diagnosis is used to diagnose a genetic disease or condition in a developing fetus.

The techniques currently in use or under investigation for prenatal diagnosis include

(1) fetal tissue sampling through amniocentesis, chorionic villi sampling (CVS), percutaneous umbilical blood sampling, percutaneous skin biopsy, and other organ biopsies, including muscle and liver biopsy;
(2) fetal visualization through ultrasound, fetal echocardiography, embryoscopy, fetoscopy, magnetic resonance imaging, and radiography;
(3) screening for neural tube defects by measuring maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP);
(4) screening for fetal Down Syndrome by measuring MSAFP, unconjugated estriol, and human chorionic gonadotropin;
(5) separation of fetal cells from the mother’s blood; and
(6) preimplantation biopsy of blastocysts obtained by in vitro fertilization.

The more common techniques are amniocentesis, performed at the 14^th to 20^th week of gestation, and CVS, performed between the 9^th and 13^th week of gestation. If the fetus is found to be affected with a disorder, the couple can plan for the birth of an affected child or opt for elective abortion.

Newborn screening is performed in newborns on a public health basis by the states to detect certain genetic diseases for which early diagnosis and treatment are available. Newborn screening is one of the largest public health activities in the United States. It is aimed at the early identification of infants who are affected by certain genetic, metabolic or infectious conditions, reaching approximately 4 million children born each year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 3,000 babies each year in the United States are found to have severe disorders detected through screening. States test blood spots collected from newborns for 2 to over 30 metabolic and genetic diseases, such as

phenylketonuria,
hypothyroidism,
galactosemia,
sickle cell disease, and
medium chain acyl CoA dehyrogenase deficiency.

The goal of this screening is to identify affected newborns quickly in order to provide treatment that can prevent mental retardation, severe illness or death.

It is possible that somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning) techniques could eventually be employed for the purposes of reproductive genetic testing. In addition, germline gene transfer is a technique that could be used to test and then alter the genetic makeup of the embryo. To date, however, these techniques have not been used in human studies.

Ethical Issues

Any procedure that provides information that could lead to a decision to terminate a pregnancy is not without controversy. Although prenatal diagnosis has been routine for nearly 20 years, some ethicists remain concerned that the ability to eliminate potential offspring with genetic defects contributes to making society overall less tolerant of disability. Others have argued that prenatal diagnosis is sometimes driven by economic concerns because as a society we have chosen not to provide affordable and accessible health care to everyone. Thus, prenatal diagnosis can save money by preventing the birth of defective and costly children. For reproductive genetic procedures that involve greater risk to the fetus, e.g., preimplantation diagnosis, concerns remain about whether the diseases being averted warrant the risks involved in the procedures themselves. These concerns are likely to escalate should