Not so long ago, people who provided DNA in the course of research studies were told that their privacy was assured. Their DNA sequences were on publicly available Web sites, yes, but they did not include names or other obvious identifiers. David Altshuler, HMS professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital, is the leader of a new study. George Church, the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at HMS, is also quoted.
While many in the scientific community lauded the Supreme Court’s ruling that naturally occurring human genes may not be patented, several geneticists at Harvard Medical School on Friday said they believe the decision warrants a more lukewarm response. David A. Sinclair, HMS professor of genetics; George M. Church, the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics; and Raju S. Kucherlapati, the Paul C. Cabot Professor of Genetics, were quoted.
Almost immediately after the Supreme Court ruled that human genes could not be patented, several laboratories announced they, too, would begin offering genetic testing for breast cancer risk, making it likely that that test and others could become more affordable and more widely available. The ruling in effect ends a nearly two-decade monopoly by Myriad Genetics, the company at the center of the case. Eric Lander, HMS professor of systems biology and the founding director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, is quoted.
A survey shows that L.A. male high school students are about as likely as females to use diet aids or laxatives or vomiting to lose weight. The numbers challenge old assumptions. Roberto Olivardia, HMS clinical instructor in psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at McLean Hospital, is quoted.
A diagnosis of depression is usually followed by months of uncertainty and experimentation. Should I try talk therapy first? Are medications the answer? If so which ones, and how long will I have to wait to know if they’re working? But a new government-funded study suggests there may soon be a way to decide by looking at brain scans. Diego Pizzagalli, HMS associate professor of psychiatry at McLean Hospital, is quoted.
McLean Hospital won state approval Wednesday for a $12.5 million expansion of its Belmont campus. The project features a three-story addition to its existing admissions building and 31 new beds for psychiatric patients.
Is your office sun-drenched, or are you tucked away in a shadowy cubicle? According to a small new study, both of these could affect how you sleep at night. A study about light by Charles A. Czeisler, the Frank Baldino, Jr., Ph.D. Professor of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is also cited.
