Genetics/Genomics News

Spelling changes in DNA sequence can increase risk for CVD, but such genetic risk can be offset by lifestyle changes or medical therapies, two experts said during presentations at the National Lipid Association Scientific Sessions.

The modern era of the application of molecular biology and recombinant DNA techniques is claimed to be initiated in the early 1970s due to four discoveries.

Antisense oligonucleotides that targeted ANGPTL3 successfully lowered atherogenic lipoproteins in humans, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers have used RNA therapeutics technology to stimulate telomerase production, which reversed telomere shortening in cells of children with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a condition that causes rapid aging.

Patients with a genetic predisposition to increased serum calcium levels had a higher risk for CAD and MI, according to findings published in JAMA.

Young adults with high BMI are more likely to have poorer CV health, according to results presented at the European Society of Human Genetics Conference.

The cardioprotective effects of a variant of the ADAMTS7 gene, which decreases levels of an enzyme linked to fatty plaques and CHD, are diminished by smoking, researchers reported in Circulation.

Patients who have clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential in peripheral blood cells had an elevated risk for CHD, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The National Lipid Association Annual Scientific Session s featur ed intensive sessions on major topics in lipid research and the future of health care . Cardiology Today has compiled a list of the top studies, presentations and abstracts presented at the meeting this year.

Much work has been put in to discovering genetic variants predisposing to CAD since the first, 9p21, was discovered in 2007. The CAD phenotype in the original study and subsequent association studies did not differentiate MI and CAD.