All posts by admin

Joke, Theology, Vitamins

Hallelujah

Two new exciting papers about Jewish ancestry in the AJHG and Nature probably missed some of the background. As another blogger noted

It is remarkable that Jews have maintained a tangible cultural identity through those 26 centuries of dispersion, and perhaps even more remarkable that genetic studies now show they have maintained a substantial genetic identity as well.

Here is the answer – sharing faith and music. Continue reading Hallelujah →

 

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Allergy, Genetics

Genes on the fast lane

I need to refer here to a post 3 years ago and the medical literature that genes frequencies may have changed rapidly between generations.
Any empirical proof of this hypothesis, however, is scarce so far. Or I have to say, until this week, when I found a study published earlier in PLoS ONE that tackles this problem: Selection for Genetic Variation Inducing Pro-Inflammatory Responses under Adverse Environmental Conditions in a Ghanaian Population Continue reading Genes on the fast lane →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 18.01.2026
Software

Optimized data security under Snow Leopard

Filevault is too much of a good thing but slowing down your system and making Time Machine backups difficult if not impossible. No security is also no option, so I thought about creating a sparse image for just a few selected datasets, like mail, calendar, passwords and adressbook. Why should I encrypt 120 Gig when only 8 Gig should be encrypted? The sparsebundle is mounting automatically using a password from the keychain.
I found it, however, difficult to create the correct links that replace the original files.
A Mac OS X hint fortunately explains, how to do that Continue reading Optimized data security under Snow Leopard →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 18.01.2026
Allergy, Vitamins

Why FFQs don’t predict vitamin D status

Two recent studies used food frequency questionnaires to predict vitamin D status and later allergy (Devereux 2007 and Camargo 2007) probably the only two studies that seem to contradict the vitamin D hypothesis.
New research now reported at the ATS congress [Poster Board # A84] “Measurement of Vitamin D Levels Utilizing Laboratory and Dietary Recall Information from the Tennessee Children’s Respiratory Initiative” and published in Am J Respir Crit Care Med 181;2010:A1890 shows that FFQs don’t predict vitamin D status Continue reading Why FFQs don’t predict vitamin D status →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 18.01.2026
Allergy, Vitamins

When will they ever learn?

A new abstract shows

Perinatal data for singleton children who were prescribed anti-asthmatic medication (n = 61 256) were compared with corresponding data for all singleton children born in Sweden … (n = 1 338 319). … Being the first-born child, maternal age above 44 yr, involuntary childlessness for more than 1 yr, maternal smoking during pregnancy, maternal diabetes mellitus of any kind, pre-eclampsia, caesarean section, and instrumental vaginal delivery were all associated with an increased prescription of anti-asthmatic medication during childhood. Continue reading When will they ever learn? →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 18.01.2026
Genetics, Philosophy

Spit Kits, SNP chips and neurosis

Took me some time to find the famous Forbes June 2007 reference but here it is

“The risk is that 20 years from now everyone gets tested and learns they have a 5% risk for developing 10 diseases and a 2% risk for 20 other diseases– and what we do is increase neurosis instead of improving health,” frets Yale University geneticist Richard Lifton.

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 18.01.2026
Allergy, Genetics, Vitamins

rs4711, uh rs7041

The first GWAS of human vitamin serum D level finds the most important SNPs:

In a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 4,501 persons of European ancestry drawn from five cohorts, we identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene encoding group-specific component (vitamin D binding) protein, GC, on chromosome 4q12-13 that were associated with 25(OH)D concentrations: rs2282679 (P=2.0 x 10–30), in LD with rs7041, a nonsynonymous SNP (D432E; P=4.1 x 10-22), and rs1155563 (P = 3.8 x 10–25).

Funny, rs7041 is the same variant Continue reading rs4711, uh rs7041 →

 

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Allergy

Clearly biased: Maternal recall of asthma in the family

I have heard it many times on congresses and there seems now even a meta-analysis of a possible preferential maternal transmission of asthma to children. And of course, there are important biological question behind (imprinting? maternal antibody transfer?) but unfortunately this is nothing else than a spurious effect.
The author’s view is well taken that we did the first modern family study 1992 Continue reading Clearly biased: Maternal recall of asthma in the family →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 18.01.2026
Genetics

Is buccal DNA really buccal DNA?

This is an update of the recent TCRA post herewhere I argued that TCR studies shouldn’t be done with genomic DNA from peripheral blood cells. Instead, I was arguing for buccal DNA as epithelial cells will not have undergone somatic recombination. Only last week, however, I came across an earlier letter about DNA-based assessment of chimerism after allogeneic blood stem cell transplantation (BSCT). Continue reading Is buccal DNA really buccal DNA? →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 18.01.2026