Coffee or tea? Your preference may be written in your DNA

Modern research suggests that our DNA helps us to choose whether we lean toward coffee or tea. Analysts from the College of Queensland in Australia considered how our genes influenced our taste and why we like a few tastes more than others. Taking after investigating; analysts accept they know why a few of us incline toward coffee whereas others like tea more. The analysts found that individuals who like more bitter tastes are more likely to drink coffee. The analysts said they found something interesting in their research. Individuals who were more sensitive to the bitter taste of caffeine were more likely to incline toward coffee to tea.

Analysts looked at data on more than 400,000 men and ladies within the United Kingdom. They too looked at an Australian study that compared the tastes of 1,757 twins with their siblings. The analysts said genes aren't the only variables influencing people's tastes. Other things like our changing environment, social components or the impacts of taking medication can too turn us on or off coffee or tea.

In the new study, analysts inspected DNA variations of genes included in detecting the bitter taste of the chemicals caffeine, quinine — that severe taste in tonic water — and propylthiouracil, or PROP, a synthetic chemical not naturally found in food or drink. Other bitter components naturally in coffee and tea may trigger the same taste reactions as quinine and PROP do, Hayes says. Researchers in Australia, the United States, and England examined DNA from more than 400,000 members in the UK Biobank, a repository of hereditary information for medical research. Members too reported other data compared those scores to the people’s detailed beverage choices. People who had the highest genetic score for detecting caffeine’s bitterness were 20 percent more likely to be heavy coffee consumers, downing four or more mugs a day, than those without the increased sensitivity, the analysts calculate.

Analysts had thought that individuals who are hereditarily inclined to taste bitter more intensely might avoid bitter beverages.

“In this case, it’s unusual how they’re seeking caffeine,” says Researchers. In past studies that sought hereditary variations connected to coffee consumption, “taste genes did not come up.

Genetic counselling

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Genetic counseling is the method of advising people and their families who are affected by or at risk of hereditary disorders. Also, it is a process to assist them to understand and adapt to the therapeutic, mental and familial suggestions of hereditary contributions to disease.

It involves talking about a genetic condition with a health professional who has qualifications in both genetics and counseling. Genetic Disorders caused by changes or mistakes in genes are inherited from one or both parents to their offspring.

The process integrates:

1. Analyze the family and medical histories to assess the chance of disease occurrence or recurrence

2. Education about genetics, it's testing, management, prevention

3. Counseling to promote the informed choices and adapt to the risk or condition.

Why might you need genetic counseling?

People affected with an inherited disorder or there might be a chance to get the inherited condition, they should consult Genetic Counselor as that will help them to understand more about the condition, what causes it and how they can adjust to it and plan for the better future.

Some of the genetic conditions (sometimes referred to as ‘hereditary disorders’) people talk to a genetic counselor about is: cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Huntington’s disease, cancer, diabetes etc.

The Genetic Counseling is different from the Genetic Testing as later involves tests which your doctor does to know about the symptoms or a family history of a genetic condition. The Genetic testing can only tell you about the likelihood and risk of your passing a genetic condition on to any children that you conceive.

Pregnant Women could do diagnostic tests as part of your pregnancy check-ups and scans, to find out if their baby has a genetic disorder. These tests include amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling or CVS.

Role of Genetic Counselor:

Genetic counselors are trained to advise you about:

·  The risk of developing specific types of Cancer-based on your     family history

·   Genetic tests that can give one more information about the risk of   certain types of cancer

·   The testing process, the limitations and accuracy of genetic tests

·  Emotional, psychological, and social consequences after knowing   the test results

·   Screening Cancer and monitoring options

·   Cancer prevention

·    Diagnostic and treatment options

·    The privacy of your genetic information

·    Talking with family members about cancer risk

Gene Mutation: The Hair loss

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Researchers have identified a new gene which is involved in hair growth and also found the gene mutation which is responsible for hypotrichosis simplex, a hereditary hair loss disorder which is affecting people nowadays. The disorder causes hair follicle miniaturization, a process in which hair follicles shrink and narrow, and thick hair is supplanted by fine, downy "peach fuzz" hair. This discovery may affect the future researches and treatments for the male pattern baldness and other forms of hair loss.

The identification of this gene basic hereditary hypotrichosis simplex has managed us an opportunity to gain understanding into the method of hair follicle miniaturization, which is most commonly watched in male pattern hair loss or androgenetic alopecia. It is important to note that whereas these two conditions share the same physiologic process, the gene researchers found for genetic hypotrichosis does not clarify the complex process of male pattern hair loss.

The team researchers made their data by analyzing genetic data from few families and from countries like Pakistan and Italy who have hereditary hypotrichosis simplex. After analysis they found a common mutation in the APCDD1 gene, which is found in a particular region on chromosome 18 that has been appeared in past studies to be involved in other shapes of hair loss, counting androgenetic alopecia and alopecia areata, implying at a broader part in hair follicle biology.

Importantly, the analysts found that APCDD1 inhibits a signaling pathway that has long been appeared to control hair development in mouse models but has not been broadly connected to human hair development. Laboratory researchers have focused on this pathway, known as the Wnt signaling pathway, to turn on or off hair development in mice, but, until presently, the pathway did not show up to be included in human hair loss. This finding is significant since it gives evidence that hair growth patterns in people and in mice are more similar than already accepted.

These findings suggest that manipulating the Wnt pathway may have an effect on hair follicle growth for the first time, in humans And unlike commonly available treatments for hair loss that involve blocking hormonal pathways. They are now working to understand the complex genetic causes of other forms of hair loss including alopecia areata, with the hope of eventually developing new, effective treatments for these conditions.

Blue-eyed humans have a single, common ancestor

New research reveals that people with blue eyes have (single) common ancestor. Previously we all had brown eyes, but a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in the creation of a 'switch,' which literally turned off the ability to produce brown eyes.

The OCA2 gene codes for the P protein, which is involved in the production of melanin pigment that gives color to our hair, eyes, and skin. The "switch," which is found within the gene adjacent to OCA2, however does not, turn off the gene totally, but rather limits its action to lessening the production of melanin within the iris successfully i.e; "diluting" brown eyes to blue. The switch's impact on OCA2 is exceptionally specific.

In addition to having significantly less melanin in their iris than people with brown eyes, hazel eyes or green eyes, blue-eyed individuals have only a little degree of variation in their genetic coding for melanin production. Brown-eyed people, on the other hand, have significant individual variation within the area of their DNA that controls melanin production. From this, the researchers conclude that all blue-eyed individuals are linked to the same ancestors and they all have inherited the same switch at exactly the same spot in their DNA.

The color of our eyes depends on the amount of melanin is present in the iris. There's only brown color within the eye — there's no hazel shade or green shade or blue color. Brown eyes have the highest amount of melanin within the iris, and blue eyes have the slightest.


Risks Associated With Blue Eyes

As blue eyes contain less melanin as compared to hazel, brown and green eyes they are more susceptible to damage from UV and blue light because melanin in the iris protects the back of the eye from the damage caused by UV radiation and high-energy visible ("blue") light from sunlight and artificial sources of these rays.

Research has shown that blue eye colour is associated with a greater risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and a rare but potentially deadly form of eye cancer called uveal melanoma.

For these reasons, people with blue eyes should be more cautious regarding their exposure to sunlight.

Freckles and Genetics

                                 

A few individuals are more likely to urge freckles than others, depending on their genes and skin type. If a person is hereditarily more likely to develop freckles, exposure to daylight can make them appear. Freckles are common in children and may vanish or ended up less noticeable as they grow up.

Causes
Freckles show up when melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color, builds up beneath the skin. Freckles may look brown, red, or tan. Sun exposure and hereditary factors make some people more likely to create freckles.

1. Sun exposure:
A person's skin cells produce additional melanin to protect the skin from sun damage. This is why freckles tend to seem after sun exposure. Freckles can show up over a large area of skin and can reappear or become darker within the summer months. Spots regularly fade or vanish within the winter months, when new skin cells replace old cells. Freckles develop on areas often uncovered to daylight, such as the: face, arms, neck, back, chest

2. Genetics
Genetics moreover play a leading role in who is more likely to develop freckles based on which type of melanin their body produces. The body can produce two sorts of melanin called pheomelanin and eumelanin. Eumelanin ensures the skin from UV beams, but pheomelanin does not. The type of melanin the body produces depends on a gene called MC1R. People with dim hair, eyes, and skin usually deliver mostly eumelanin and are less likely to create freckles. People with red, blonde, or light brown hair and who have light-colored skin and eyes usually deliver mainly pheomelanin and are more likely to develop freckles.

Freckles are not dangerous. However, as individuals with freckles have skin that's more touchy to daylight, they should take additional care to protect their skin from the sun. Freckles can look very comparable to other marks that develop on the skin. For example, they can look like sun spots, moreover known as age spots, or liver spots. Sun exposure could be an essential cause of both spots and age spots. Age spots are ordinarily bigger than freckles, are more clearly characterized, and tend to seem in older adults.