You’ve just had an x-ray and are discussing the results with your doctor. The air in the office fills with complicated words after you hear “lung cancer” from your physician. You don’t hear anything else. Not hearing or understanding anything else is part of the shock and a normal reaction. But when you can think or when you have...
Read Moregenetics Posts on Medivizor
Genes That Prolong Life
The Human Genome Project has been the catalyst for thousands of research studies and exciting discoveries. One study in 2011 found a gene variant in a small group of French Canadians that researchers called a “fountain of youth” gene. This gene is called PCSK9Q152 — the superscript describes it as a variant of the gene PCSK9. In 2011,...
Read More“Count Me In”: Partnering with Patients Makes a Difference
It’s taken five years but the wait has been worth it with results from one of the “Count Me In” Projects showing breakthrough results. Here’s the story. Remember Corrie Painter? In July 2015, Medivizor introduced our readers to Corrie Painter, her work with angiosarcoma and with the Broad Institute. Being a patient herself, Corrie...
Read MoreOncology Basics 2016: DNA
The Central Dogma of Biology Doesn’t the title above sound imposing? Yet this central idea has moved biological science forward over the last 60 plus years. What we know about cells, genetics and cancer today relies on this “Dogma”: DNA carries our hereditary information and transfers that information in a process called transcription. In...
Read MoreWhy Knowing If Your Cousin Had Cancer Could Save Your Life: Genetics
You’re in the doctor’s office filling out paperwork. There are questions to answer about your health, but also about the health of your parents, grandparents and siblings. You scratch your head, panic a little, then leave lots of blank spaces, hoping the information won’t be relevant to today’s visit. Regrettably those spaces–that...
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