NEWS!!!

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• Advisory council open session coming up May 15, 2013
  Watch live on Monday, May 20, when NHGRI convenes the 68th meeting of the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research. Among the topics to be discussed: an update of the genome sequencing program, training and career development, and interpreting variants in non-coding regions of the genome.
• Researchers fine-tune genomic links to high blood lipid levels May 16, 2013
  An international team of researchers has uncovered new evidence of potential genetic influences on blood lipid levels in three ethnic groups: African Americans, East Asians and Europeans. The results may lead to new insights into how genes affect the development of unhealthy levels of cholesterol, help explain differences in risks for heart disease and lead to new potential treatment strategies.
• Students explore the natural world during DNA Day activities May 9, 2013
  Students visited the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) to learn directly from scientists about DNA and how it relates to the natural world. Three hundred middle and high school students spent April 19, 2013, celebrating National DNA Day at the museum, an activity sponsored by NHGRI's Education and Community Involvement Branch. Find out what they discovered.

• Helicos Seeks Bankruptcy Court Approval of Licensing Deals with Illumina, Life Tech, and Fluidigm May 17, 2013
• European Consortium Investigating Molecular Basis of IBD May 17, 2013
• In Brief This Week: PerkinElmer, Verinata; Vermillion; DNA Genotek; Quest; More May 17, 2013
• People In The News May 17, 2013
• Study Suggests Early Start to Dog Domestication Followed by Parallel Evolution with Humans May 17, 2013

• Refining Supplements for a Blinding Eye Disease May 13, 2013
  New findings may help improve nutritional supplements for treating age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness nationwide.
• Gene Linked to Migraine and Sleep Disorder May 13, 2013
  Researchers linked an abnormal gene to both a common type of migraine and a rare sleep disorder. The discovery provides a new avenue for exploring treatment options.
• Hormone May Help Treat Diabetes May 13, 2013
  A hormone called betatrophin prompts cells in the pancreas to multiply and produce more insulin. The finding, in mice, may lead to new ways to combat diabetes.

• Two-month Time-lapse Video of Antarctic Ice Goes Viral May 16, 2013
  Cassandra Brooks is a Stanford University doctoral student with the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources.She spent two months in 2013 aboard the National Science Foundation-operated icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer as part of a research cruise investigating the role of dissolved organic carbon in the Ross Sea ecosystem.She--and a video she produced on the voyage--became ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127959&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click This is an NSF News item.
• Scientists Discover Oldest Evidence of Split Between Old World Monkeys and Apes May 15, 2013
  Two fossil discoveries from the East African Rift reveal new information about the evolution of primates, according to a paper published this week in the journal Nature.Findings by scientists at Ohio University's (OU) Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and colleagues document the oldest fossils of two major groups of primates: the group that today includes apes and humans (hominoids) and the group that includes Old World monkeys such as baboons and ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127930&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click This is an NSF News item.
• University of Chicago Launches Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud to Analyze Cancer Data May 15, 2013
  The University of Chicago launched the first secure cloud-based computing system that enables researchers to access and analyze human genomic cancer information without the costly and cumbersome infrastructure normally needed to download and store massive amounts of data. The Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud, as it is called, enables researchers who are authorized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to access and analyze data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127935&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click This is an NSF News item.

• Study: Teens involved in dating violence are likely to be both victim and perpetrator May 18, 2013
  Teens in a relationship that involves dating violence are likely to be both a victim and perpetrator, as opposed to being just one or the other, finds a recent study in the Journal of Adolescent Health. In some situations teens play both roles with one partner or they'll play one role in a given relationship and then another role in a subsequent relationship.
• New prototype allows patients with severe functional disability to be more active and independent May 18, 2013
  The European R&D project BrainAble, led by Barcelona Digital, has just successfully ended by developing a prototype that allows patients with severe functional disability to be more active and independent.
• African-American students consume more soda when it's available at school May 18, 2013
  The availability of sugar-sweetened or diet soda in schools does not appear to be related to students' overall consumption, except for African-American students, who drink more soda when it's available at school, finds a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.