Pharmacogenomics: A Primer for Policymakers

Researchers are exploring how genetic variations among individuals may help explain why a drug can work well in some people and poorly (or not at all) in others, including those who appear to have the same disease. Pharmacogenomics, as this new field is called, aims to help physicians make use of genetic tests to distinguish among patients whose genetic characteristics predispose them to respond in certain ways to certain medicines. If physicians can use this information to quickly and reliably choose the appropriate drug at the most effective dose for each patient, they may produce better patient outcomes and save health care dollars. An understanding of the genetic variables that influence drug response could also help pharmaceutical companies design new, more effective therapies. Although it is early in the development of pharmacogenomics, there are indications that this promising new technology has begun to challenge public policies to keep pace. Issues surrounding the safety, access, cost, and ethical dimensions of new clinical genetic tests and targeted drug therapies will need to be addressed if pharmacogenomics is to fulfill its potential. Conceptually, few of the issues raised by pharmacogenomics are unique to the field—or even to genetics—but all will have to be considered explicitly in the context of this new technology

Maggie! (Yes! Ma\u27am!): Come Right Upstairs

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Reciprocal interactions between olfactory receptor axons and olfactory nerve glia cultured from the developing moth Manduca sexta

AbstractIn olfactory systems, neuron–glia interactions have been implicated in the growth and guidance of olfactory receptor axons. In the moth Manduca sexta, developing olfactory receptor axons encounter several types of glia as they grow into the brain. Antennal nerve glia are born in the periphery and enwrap bundles of olfactory receptor axons in the antennal nerve. Although their peripheral origin and relationship with axon bundles suggest that they share features with mammalian olfactory ensheathing cells, the developmental roles of antennal nerve glia remain elusive. When cocultured with antennal nerve glial cells, olfactory receptor growth cones readily advance along glial processes without displaying prolonged changes in morphology. In turn, olfactory receptor axons induce antennal nerve glial cells to form multicellular arrays through proliferation and process extension. In contrast to antennal nerve glia, centrally derived glial cells from the axon sorting zone and antennal lobe never form arrays in vitro, and growth-cone glial-cell encounters with these cells halt axon elongation and cause permanent elaborations in growth cone morphology. We propose that antennal nerve glia play roles similar to olfactory ensheathing cells in supporting axon elongation, yet differ in their capacity to influence axon guidance, sorting, and targeting, roles that could be played by central olfactory glia in Manduca

The Ursinus Weekly, November 1, 1965

Founders\u27 Day ceremony honors four outstanding women • Homecoming weekend: Parties, pageantry, parades • Alumni initiate 1 year fund drive • Young Democrats help with campaign in Collegeville • Curtain Club presents theater-in-the-round • Senate announces senior women get 1:00 permissions • Editorial: Where have all the writers gone • Students join TV production staff • Letters to the editor • Student concert season opens at the Academy • Coed writes dear grandfather • Intramural corner • UC hockey over Wilson • JV\u27s undefeated • Alfred swamps Bears • Soccer team edged 1-0 • Greek machines promote The candidates • A protest! It\u27s purpose?https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1208/thumbnail.jp

The importance of the eyes: communication skills in infants of blind parents

The effects of selectively different experience of eye contact and gaze behaviour on the early development of five sighted infants of blind parents were investigated. Infants were assessed longitudinally at 6–10, 12–15 and 24–47 months. Face scanning and gaze following were assessed using eye tracking. In addition, established measures of autistic-like behaviours and standardized tests of cognitive, motor and linguistic development, as well as observations of naturalistic parent–child interaction were collected. These data were compared with those obtained from a larger group of sighted infants of sighted parents. Infants with blind parents did not show an overall decrease in eye contact or gaze following when they observed sighted adults on video or in live interactions, nor did they show any autistic-like behaviours. However, they directed their own eye gaze somewhat less frequently towards their blind mothers and also showed improved performance in visual memory and attention at younger ages. Being reared with significantly reduced experience of eye contact and gaze behaviour does not preclude sighted infants from developing typical gaze processing and other social-communication skills. Indeed, the need to switch between different types of communication strategy may actually enhance other skills during development

Development of adaptive communication skills in infants of blind parents.

A fundamental question about the development of communication behavior in early life is how infants acquire adaptive communication behavior that is well-suited to their individual social environment, and how the experience of parent-child communication affects this development. The current study investigated how infants develop communication skills when their parents are visually impaired and cannot see their infants' eye gaze. We analyzed 6-min video recordings of naturalistic interaction between 14 sighted infants of blind parents (SIBP) with (a) their blind parent, and (b) a sighted experimenter. Data coded from these interactions were compared with those from 28 age-matched sighted infants of sighted parents (controls). Each infant completed two visits, at 6-10 months and 12-16 months of age. Within each interaction sample, we coded the function (initiation or response) and form (face gaze, vocalization, or action) of each infant communication behavior. When interacting with their parents, SIBP made relatively more communicative responses than initiations, and used more face gaze and fewer actions to communicate, than did controls. When interacting with a sighted experimenter, by contrast, SIBP made slightly (but significantly) more communicative initiations than controls, but otherwise used similar forms of communication. The differential communication behavior by infants of blind versus sighted parents was already apparent by 6-10 months of age, and was specific to communication with the parent. These results highlight the flexibility in the early development of human communication behavior, which enables infants to optimize their communicative bids and methods to their unique social environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).This work was supported by a UK Medical Research Council Career Development Award (G1100252), a UK Economic and Social Research Council Research Fellowship (RES-063-590 27-0207) and Wellcome/Birkbeck Institutional Strategic Support Fund to A.S., the BASIS funding consortium led by Autistica (http://www.basisnetwork.org), and a UK Medical Research Council Programme Grant (G0701484 and MR/K021389/1) to M.H.J. The work was affiliated to the BASIS network, which provided the testing protocol and the access to the control data

Face engagement during infancy predicts later face recognition ability in younger siblings of children with autism

Face recognition difficulties are frequently documented in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It has been hypothesized that these difficulties result from a reduced interest in faces early in life, leading to decreased cortical specialization and atypical development of the neural circuitry for face processing. However, a recent study by our lab demonstrated that infants at increased familial risk for ASD, irrespective of their diagnostic status at 3 years, exhibit a clear orienting response to faces. The present study was conducted as a follow-up on the same cohort to investigate how measures of early engagement with faces relate to face-processing abilities later in life. We also investigated whether face recognition difficulties are specifically related to an ASD diagnosis, or whether they are present at a higher rate in all those at familial risk. At 3 years we found a reduced ability to recognize unfamiliar faces in the high-risk group that was not specific to those children who received an ASD diagnosis, consistent with face recognition difficulties being an endophenotype of the disorder. Furthermore, we found that longer looking at faces at 7 months was associated with poorer performance on the face recognition task at 3 years in the high- risk group. These findings suggest that longer looking at faces in infants at risk for ASD might reflect early face-processing difficulties and predicts difficulties with recognizing faces later in life