HealthWatch: Atherosclerosis and Imprinting December 6, 2006

I always say that the future belongs to prevention, not therapy.

Scientists Work To Identify Genes That Contribute To Early Atherosclerosis

If we can identify people in their teens and early adult life who have a genetic predisposition to develop atherosclerosis, we can manage their risk factors for heart disease and stroke sooner and more aggressively,” said David Herrington, M.D., M.H.S., professor of cardiology at Wake Forest and lead investigator… We hope the SEA study will give us new understanding about the causes of atherosclerosis, including the discovery of new genes and new pathways that could guide the development of new drug treatments that may be more effective in preventing the development of heart disease,” said Herrington.

Parental Genes Do What’s Best For Baby

“When we are conceived we inherit two copies of every gene – one set from our mother and one from our father,- explained Dr Jason Wolf, who led the research in Manchester-s Faculty of Life Sciences…”But some genes – through a process called genomic imprinting – only use one parent’s copy; the spare copy from the other parent is silenced by a chemical stamp.” The idea that imprinting evolves because of conflict between males and females over maternal investment in their offspring has become a generally accepted truth that has remained largely unchallenged,” said Dr Wolf.