genetics

Genetic ancestry test users ‘cherry-pick’ which races to identify with

Genetic ancestry tests are often advertised as a tool to uncover new connections to diverse cultures and ancestries, but new research from the University of British Columbia has found people tend to pick and choose which races they identify with based on preconceived biases.

Jun 28, 2018

Air pollution and asthma

Michael Brauer of UBC’s School of Population and Public Health on the link between air pollution, genes and asthma.

Jan 30, 2014

Daredevil genes

Are thrill seekers hardwired to take risks? PhD candidate Cynthia Thomson studies the role of genetics, psychology and other factors in extreme athletes.

Jun 19, 2013 - by Heather Amos

Genes and immune system shaped by childhood poverty, stress

A University of British Columbia and Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT) study has revealed that childhood poverty, stress as an adult, and demographics such as age, sex and ethnicity, all leave an imprint on a person’s genes. And, that this imprint could play a role in our immune response.

Oct 18, 2012

Neuroethicist recommends guidelines on reporting research incidental findings

UBC Neurology Prof. Judy Illes is among 25 international leading researchers recommending the handling of incidental findings in genomic research in a paper published online today in the journal Genetics in Medicine.

Mar 21, 2012

Mapping proteins key to human health and immune system: UBC research

Proteins, the building block for all living organisms, are the ultimate transformers – able to splice and switch roles and functions within the human body. But when these changes go wrong, diseases such as cancers and arthritis may result, says University of British Columbia researcher Chris Overall.

Feb 17, 2012

UBC-Vancouver Coastal Health researchers help discover common genetic cause of ALS and frontotemporal dementia

A neuropathologist at University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health helped find a genetic abnormality that is the most common cause of two different but related forms of neurodegenerative disease: frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Sep 21, 2011

Newly identified gene mutation linked to Parkinson's: UBC-Vancouver Coastal Health research

Less than two months after publishing findings about a new gene linked to late-onset Parkinson’s disease, the same team of scientists at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute have discovered another gene responsible for the neurodegenerative disease – providing yet another target for potential treatments.

Sep 8, 2011

UBC researchers create more powerful “lab-on-a-chip” for genetic analysis

UBC researchers have invented a silicone chip that could make genetic analysis far more sensitive, rapid, and cost-effective by allowing individual cells to fall into place like balls in a […]

Jul 26, 2011