Author Archive
deCODE Discovers New Risk Factors for Prostate Cancer
deCODEme Prostate Cancer
Last night we announced our discovery of four more SNPs linked to increased risk of prostate cancer. At the same time, academic collagues in the US and UK have also found more SNPs. (See article in TIMES ONLINE) All of the well-validated new risk variants will be incorporated into your deCODEme profile in the days ahead.
In the same study we published yesterday, we also conducted an analysis of all well-validated genetic risk factors discovered to date to establish what percentage of men would be at a significantly higher risk than average using these markers. Based upon our ability to swiftly conduct a population-based analysis in Iceland, this analysis demonstrates that about 4% of men are at more than double average risk based upon these risk factors, while just over 1% are at more than 2.5-times average risk.
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Who’s afraid of genetic testing?
As a deCODEyou reader, you have an active interest in how genetics can help to improve personal health and healthcare. If you are a deCODEme subscriber or have taken one of our DNA-based diagnostic tests, you have already followed up on that interest.
Then again, you may not have had your genome analyzed yet. You may simply be interested in taking part in research, having a scan, or simply in keeping up with the latest discoveries.
But whoever you are, your genome is information about you. And at deCODE, we believe that your genome belongs to you. Over the past decade we have worked with hundreds of thousands individuals who have decided to use their genome to advance our gene discovery work, to understand their risk of a certain disease, or who want to have a broad and constantly updated look at their genome through deCODEme. In every case, we think it is the individual who has the right to decide to use their genome and learn about it as they wish.
deCODE receives California Clinical Laboratory License
Californians can now enjoy the benefits of deCODE’s market-leading DNA-based disease risk assessment tests and pioneering deCODEme™ genome scans
deCODE genetics today announced that it has received a clinical laboratory license from the State of California. The quality and scale of deCODE’s in-house, CLIA-registered genotyping laboratory underpins deCODE’s global leadership in the discovery of variations in the sequence of the human genome conferring risk of common diseases. The same staff and facility also process deCODE’s DNA-based reference laboratory tests for gauging individual risk of major public health challenges ranging from heart attack to breast cancer, as well as the company’s pioneering deCODEme™ scans, the world’s first personal genome analysis and focused disease area scans. With this license, California residents can now benefit from the unrivaled quality of deCODE products for understanding risk and, working with their physicians, empowering the prevention of common diseases.
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Stories from our foremothers: deCODE publishes an unparalleled genetic snapshot of Iceland 1000 years ago
Iceland was mainly settled by Scandinavian men and women from Irealand and Scotland
In a paper published today scientists at deCODE genetics present the results of the largest study of ancient DNA from a single population ever undertaken. Analyzing mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to offspring, from 68 skeletal remains from approximately 1000 years ago, the study provides the most detailed look to date at how a contemporary population differs from that of its ancestors. The results confirm previous deCODE work that used genetics to test the history of Iceland as recorded in the sagas.
Audio link: Dr. Kari Stefansson interviewed on BBC WORLD. BBC
These studies demonstrated that the country seems indeed to have been settled by men from Scandinavia – the vikings – but that the majority of the original female inhabitants were from the coastal regions of Scotland and Ireland, areas that regularly suffered raids by vikings in the years around the settlement of Iceland 1100 years ago.
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New genetic variants influencing Body Mass Index, Weight, and risk of Obesity
deCODE scientists have discovered new genetic variants influencing BMI, weight and risk of obesity
As we all know to well, for decades the scales have been tipping in favor of obesity. The epidemic of obesity in many industrialized countries has been driven by many factors, including easy access to fast food, an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, insufficient daily physical activity. All of this while our genomes have evolved on a background of scarcity, often putting a premium on the ability of the body to turn food into fat and store energy for leaner times. A paper published today by deCODE scientists and academic colleagues from the US and Europe provide a significant advance in our knowledge of the underlying genetics and biology of obesity, providing new information for understanding and addressing obesity and perhaps nudging the scales the other way.
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deCODE launches deCODE BreastCancer™, a genetic test to screen for risk of the most common forms of breast cancer
deCODE Breast Cancer enables women to understand whether they may benefit from more intensive screening, monitoring or preventive drug therapy.
Reykjavik, ICELAND, October 8, 2008 – deCODE genetics today announced the launch of deCODE BreastCancer™, a new tool for assessing risk of the common forms of breast cancer. For the first time, a woman concerned about breast cancer can speak with her physician about a genetic test to better understand her lifetime risk of developing the common forms of the disease.
The common forms of breast cancer result from the interplay of genetic as well as environmental and lifestyle factors and represent 95 percent of all breast cancers. These are distinct from the rare and essentially purely inherited forms of the disease due to mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which cause between 1 and 3 percent of breast cancers. deCODE BreastCancer™ is a DNA-based reference laboratory test performed using a simple blood sample or cheek swab, ordered by physicians on behalf of their patients.
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Your genome, your choice: a buyer’s checklist for genetic tests
Scientists at deCODE genetics Genetic Service Facility lab in Iceland
The number of companies offering genetic tests to the public is large and growing. But there are vast and very real differences in the quality, purpose and price of testing services out there. So how do you tell the difference between them? And how do you decide which to use?
Knowing what you want
First and foremost, you need to think about what sort of information you hope to gain from your genome and how accurate you want the results to be. Are you taking the test only for fun, perhaps hoping to talk about your results on Facebook? Read the rest of this entry »
deCODE and Radboud University discover common variants in the human genome conferring risk of bladder cancer
Urinary bladder cancer is something many people have never heard of. But it is the sixth most common form of cancer in the United States, and its environmental risk factors include exposure to toxic chemicals, including some used in industrial processing as well as cigarette smoke. Genetic factors also play a role and may help to elucidate how bladder cancer starts and develops.
Today, deCODE’s cancer group and colleagues at Radboud University in the Netherlands report the discovery of two single letter variants (commonly referred to as SNPs) in the human genome that confer increased risk of bladder cancer. Both are common, and 20 percent of people of European descent carry two copies of the highest impact SNP, located on chromosome 8q24. That puts them at about 50 percent higher likelihood of developing bladder cancer than people who do not carry the variant.
Not all genetic tests are created equal
Here are a few thoughts on Nic Fleming’s piece on personal genome scans, of which one was our own, deCODEme:
Our genomes are all remarkably similar. And so it is the differences that are most interesting and important, and that make us who we are.
The same can be said of genetic testing services. We at deCODE were not at all surprised that Mr. Fleming found that he got some varying results from the three genome scans that he tried. Indeed we would be surprised (and more than a little dismayed) if he hadn’t. Analyzing the genome – accurately detecting which genetic markers individuals have at specific points in the genome, and correlating these variations with risk of a range of common diseases – has been our bread and butter for well over a decade. Read the rest of this entry »
How much did Boonsri Dickinson learn from her home DNA test?
Science journalist Boonsri Dickinson
Discover magazine reporter Boonsri Dickinson recently tried out deCODEme, as well as two other genetic scans offered by California-based websites. She discusses her results, and talks to several people who question whether genetic scans should be available to the public. Dickinson seems to be happy she had the chance to take a look at her genome, and went over her results with deCODE CEO Kari Stefansson. She notes that as “deCODE is known for discovering genetic risk factors…I decided to use deCODEme to validate the other two,” concluding that “deCODE genetics was authoritative.” Her article, ‘Inside Out: A DNA Diary,’ appeared on newsstands in August and can be found on the Discovermagazine.com website.
