DNA Genotek's Blog - The Genetic Link

Oh, the places you’ll go…to collect saliva samples

Around the world, genetic research continues to highlight new discoveries. Many of these discoveries are possible through the use of technologies that allow easy, non-invasive ...

The Mito-FIND project: Unlocking the secrets to mitochondrial disease with DNA from saliva

By: Katherine Lawless on 08/16/19 10:25

“Mitochondria are essential for life. Mitochondrial diseases interfere with the body’s ability to make energy and affect more than 2 million people in the world” - Mito-FIND ...

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Is genetic testing with saliva the best method for risk-based breast cancer screening?

By: Katherine Lawless on 08/07/19 10:50

For decades, breast cancer prevention programs followed the traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach where each patient would receive the same type of screening. Only recently ...

Air pollution and cognitive dysfunction: uncovering the TRAP

By: Katherine Lawless on 07/12/19 10:23

When you are on your morning commute to work, whether you drive or ride the bus, you might not realize that you are exposed to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP). When people ...

Is the speed gene the key to athletic performance? The answer is only a spit away

By: Katherine Lawless on 06/19/19 13:24

It is widely accepted that genetic factors are strongly linked with athletic performance.[1] After receiving my own 23andMe wellness results, I learned that I was a carrier of ...

Vitamin D deficiency: the new link to type 2 diabetes mellitus in United Arab Emirates

By: Katherine Lawless on 04/11/19 14:00

“Diabetes is the fastest growing debilitating disease in the world”. Dr. Al-Anouti and Dr. Al-Safar In 2015, statistics showed that 415 million people suffer from diabetes ...

Genome-wide DNA methylation comparison: Brain tissue vs. blood, saliva and buccal cells

By: Katherine Lawless on 04/03/19 13:30

DNA methylation (DNAm) has become increasingly widespread in the study of psychiatric disorders.[1] Many psychiatric epigenetic studies began to work with peripheral tissues ...

Celebrating influential women in genetics - International women's day

By: Katherine Lawless on 03/08/19 8:58

Throughout history, women have influenced and shaped our views and knowledge of science from all disciplines, including human genomics. The research of radioactivity by Dr. ...

Is whole genome sequencing the new first-line test for children with genetic diseases?

By: Katherine Lawless on 02/19/19 13:41

Congenital anomalies and genetic disorders are the leading cause of death in children less than ten years old and affect about six percent of live births. For children with ...

Oral swabs for pharmacogenomics: A comparative study of DNA quality and performance

By: Katherine Lawless on 02/05/19 13:30

Pharmacogenomics is a growing field that tailors dosage and drug choices based on patient genetic profiles with the potential to benefit millions of patients with personalized ...

Exciting discoveries from Spit for Science & a sneak-peak at Spit for Science II

By: Erin Carpenter on 01/08/19 13:42

Russell Schachar, MD, FRCP(C), gave an engaging and inspiring talk at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) conference this year titled: ADHD and OCD genetics: ...

Q&A with Latin American personalized genetics company: Genomit SA (Zoigen)

By: Erin Carpenter on 07/26/18 10:09

Recently DNA Genotek had the pleasure of speaking with Matías Butti, one of the co-founders of an innovative genomic medicine company located in Argentina named genomIT SA ...

Comparing minimally invasive sample collection techniques for large population-based telomere length studies

By: Erin Carpenter on 06/14/18 9:21

Telomere length (TL) is a biomarker of age, longevity and age-related disease. If you are an avid follower of our blog, The Genetic Link, you’ll notice that we’ve posted about ...

Obesity, Hypertension and Cardiovascular Risk in Italian Youth

By: Erin Carpenter on 05/24/18 9:23

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a very serious and life-threatening condition. Hypertension (HT) is a significant risk factor contributing to CVD, and also one that may be ...

The key to eliminating bias in genetic studies could be in our spit: expert panel discussion

By: Erin Carpenter on 05/16/18 14:05

Are you questioning what sample-type to collect for your genetic research project? Are you considering saliva for DNA, RNA, or epigenetic analysis? What should you consider ...

Atlas Biomed: tackling personalized wellness with both genomics and microbiome

By: Shauna White on 03/05/18 10:25

One of the things I like most about my job at DNA Genotek is the opportunity to speak with customers who are breaking new ground in the fields of genomics and microbiome. In ...

Could microRNA from saliva be a predictor of concussion symptoms in children?

By: Shauna White on 11/30/17 14:15

The issue of concussions has attracted considerable media coverage in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 153 people in the United States ...

Discovering the genetics behind Ebola viral disease resistance

By: Kerry Chatburn on 10/17/17 14:13

Phase I: DNA sample Collection The Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. The average EVD case ...

TISMOO: Ground-breaking science for personalized medicine

By: Kerry Chatburn on 09/22/17 9:46

Personalized medicine, also referred to as genomic medicine or precision medicine, is defined by the National Human Genome Research Institute is an approach to healthcare that ...

Losing weight – do your genes play a role?

By: Erin Carpenter on 05/24/17 10:16

With Summer and the promise of warmer weather around the corner, it’s time to start putting away our winter coats and unpack our summer apparel. If you’re like me, you’re ...

The SPARK project – Fueling the fire on autism research

By: Kerry Chatburn on 05/04/17 10:33

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated in 2012 that 1 in 68 children in the US have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls) [1]

23andMe - 10 years and over 2 million DNA saliva samples collected with Oragene

By: Brian Smith on 04/18/17 9:15

Ten years ago, DNA Genotek had a vision and a unique product that we thought had the potential to change the world of genomics by allowing easy self-collection of DNA from ...

Does marital disruption accelerate aging? An investigation into salivary telomere length, stress, and aging

By: Erin Carpenter on 03/06/17 11:00

I came across a paper recently that combines two research areas that I find extremely interesting: the use of salivary telomere length (TL) as a biomarker to predict biological ...

Patients, doctors and scientists collaborate on genetic research study for metastatic breast cancer

By: Shauna White on 10/25/16 10:39

At DNA Genotek, we are continually being introduced to new and exciting research projects through the innovative work of our customers. I recently came across a particularly ...

Community pharmacists play a leading role in precision medicine research project

By: Shauna White on 07/12/16 10:30

There are few subjects that have received as much coverage in the genetics space in recent months as precision medicine. The conversation about precision medicine began many ...

DNA from saliva helps identify remains of ancient king

By: Shauna White on 04/22/16 14:30

A year or so ago, Nature Communications published an article that highlighted how researchers in the Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester successfully used DNA ...

Oragene enables a large-scale array-CGH and exome sequencing study

By: Shauna White on 02/25/15 10:57

In the summer of 2011 we wrote about an exciting project out of the United Kingdom that selected Oragene collection kits for a study that aimed to unlock genetic changes ...

DNA Genotek Helping Hands Program supports rare disease research

By: Cindy MacCullough on 12/22/14 10:12

The DNA Genotek Helping Hands Program is designed to assist organizations that are innovators in disease research, disease prevention and treatment. The goal of the program is ...

Oragene/saliva samples bring ancestral genetic knowledge to public

By: Shauna White on 12/02/14 13:33

Everyone at DNA Genotek is familiar with event-based collections. We’ve worked with dozens of customers over the years to help facilitate collecting samples for breast cancer, ...

More DNA samples in less time for BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 research project

By: Shauna White on 07/31/14 13:22

Obtaining DNA samples in sufficient numbers and in a timely manner can be a barrier to achieving statistical relevance for research studies. Maximizing recruitment means ...

Researcher Starts Open Access Genome Project in the UK

By: Shauna White on 07/24/14 13:46

Since the launch of The Genetic Link blog back in 2009, we’ve shared dozens of stories from the field highlighting remote DNA collections, innovative approaches to research, ...

Oragene facilitates pharmacogenetic study in Saudi Arabia

By: Kerry Chatburn on 06/10/14 13:47

We often profile customers who are working on particularly interesting genetic research projects on The Genetic Link, in the hope that it will benefit other customers. Dr. ...

Large Cohort Study Shines Light on the Fragile X Syndrome Gray Area

By: Shauna White on 04/15/14 14:23

The author of this article, Lisa Gamwell, is a Sales Development Analyst at DNA Genotek.

Genetics and post traumatic stress disorder

By: Shauna White on 03/11/14 9:27

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder that can occur after an individual has experienced an extreme emotional trauma involving the threat of ...

Using genetics to understand neurodevelopmental & psychiatric disorders

By: Shauna White on 02/11/14 11:12

Over the past few months, we’ve been posting a series of blog articles on the topic of genetics and mental health. This month, we have an exciting story to share with you on ...

Using NGS and DNA from saliva to find needles in haystacks

By: Shauna White on 01/14/14 10:56

We always enjoy hearing about how our customers are using our products for innovative projects. Recently, we learned about a new project in Germany called GeneTalk, which uses ...

The origin and impact of the DISC1 gene: From schizophrenia to ADHD

By: Lisa Gamwell on 12/10/13 9:43

While reading a recent publication in the American Journal of Human Genetics Part B entitled DISC1 in Adult ADHD Patients: An Association Study in Two European Samples [1], I ...

Gene-by-environment interactions: When nature and nurture collide

By: Lisa Gamwell on 11/19/13 10:18

Last month we posted our first blog article in the Genetics and Mental Health Series. We discussed incorporating genetic analysis into research programs to uncover ...

Oragene as a solution for international DNA sample collection

By: Nicholas Ramdass on 10/22/13 9:56

The author of this article, Nicholas Ramdass, is a Sales Manager at DNA Genotek Inc. Oragene is truly a DNA collection device that has a global impact. Currently, Oragene is ...

Saliva DNA plays vital role in international clinical research studies run from Australia

By: Shauna White on 10/03/13 10:13

Dr. Janet Coller, Lecturer at the University of Adelaide, has an established track record in Pharmacology and Pharmacogenetic medical research within the health areas of ...

Telomeres & neighborhoods: the impact on children’s long term health

By: Shauna White on 07/16/13 9:36

Telomeres are an emerging area of genetic research with many new studies being published that highlight fascinating results. Telomeres reside at the end of each chromosome in ...

Spit for Africa program facilitates population-based genetic studies

By: Shauna White on 05/16/13 12:17

We are very excited to tell you about a new initiative we announced today as part of the DNA Genotek Helping Hands Program. Spit for Africa is a new sponsorship program in ...

Saliva DNA enables pharmacogenetic testing for psychiatric medication

By: Shauna White on 03/26/13 11:02

Through their participation in the IMPACT research study (Individualized Medicine: Pharmacogenetic Assessment & Clinical Treatment), practitioners in Canada are now able to offer ...

Saliva DNA helps cancer research project meet recruitment goals

By: Shauna White on 02/26/13 11:14

Cancer affects everyone in some way. In Alberta, Canada, 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and 1 in 4 will die from it. In 2001, the Tomorrow ...

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