Impact of subsidies on cancer genetic testing uptake in Singapore

The high cost of cancer genetic testing is often cited as the main barrier to uptake. Our study exploring different subsidy schemes showed that a scheme based on clinical and financial needs increased access to testing for high-risk individuals. Identifying at-risk individuals for gene-enabled surveillance and management is shown to reduce total spending on cancer […]

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Chitayat syndrome: hyperphalangism, characteristic facies, hallux valgus and bronchomalacia results from a recurrent c.266A>G p.(Tyr89Cys) variant in the ERF gene

In this research, we describe 5 patients with a specific condition that we are referring to as Chitayat syndrome as the first patient with this condition was described in 1993 by Prof David Chitayat. Almost 15 years later, Dr Meena Balasubramanian saw a 5-month old baby with what appeared to be the exact same features […]

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Genotype–phenotype correlation and functional studies in patients with cystic fibrosis bearing CFTR complex alleles

It is more and more frequent the detection of CFTR mutations for which it lacks a clear and univocal interpretation. This is particularly true for complex alleles (i.e., more mutations on the same allele). We describe genotype-phenotype correlations in a large number of Cystic Fibrosis patients, carrying different CFTR complex alleles and suggest a poorly […]

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A novel TRAPPC11 mutation in two Turkish families associated with cerebral atrophy, global retardation, scoliosis, achalasia, and alacrima

Mutations in the TRAPPC11 gene have been linked to a diverse range of phenotypes including intellectual deficit, muscular dystrophy and movement disorders. Here we report on individuals from two unrelated Turkish families who presented with cerebral atrophy, global retardation, scoliosis, achalasia and alacrima. Although several of these symptoms are in common with Triple A syndrome, […]

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Common cancers share familial susceptibility: Implications for cancer genetics and counseling

Cancer is a genetic disease. People are anxious to know their cancer risks, if several relatives have been diagnosed with cancer. However, due to lack population level data, their questions have no scientific answers. In our study, Swedish Family-Cancer Database was used to estimate common cancer risks for individuals with many relatives affected with cancer. […]

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Anxiety delivered Direct-to-Consumer: are we asking the right questions about the impacts of DTC genetic testing?

Contrarily to initial expectations about the psychological impact of Direct to Consumer genetic testing, people are substantially resilient to long-term consequences of results to genetic testing. Previous literature raised concerns on DTC focusing on anxiety levels it might cause. We claim that there are three substantial limits to be considered: non-clinical anxiety is not a […]

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Carriers of a VEGFA enhancer polymorphism selectively binding CHOP/DDIT3 are predisposed to increased circulating levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone

Genetic variants (SNPs) in the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) gene are associated with TSH levels. To characterize this association, we searched for SNPs in more than 8000 Danes. We identified rs881858 (in regulatory enhancer region of VEGFA), highly associated with human circulating TSH, which had alleles (A/G) with differential binding to CHOP (C/EBP […]

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Targeted massively parallel sequencing and histological assessment of skeletal muscles for the molecular diagnosis of inherited muscle disorders

Establishment of a comprehensive diagnostic system for patients with inherited myopathies is challenging because of their genetic heterogeneity. In this paper, we introduced our genetic diagnostic system using four target gene panels, each covering all exonic and flanking regions of genes associated with 1) muscular dystrophy, 2) congenital myopathy/congenital myasthenic syndrome, 3) metabolic myopathy, and […]

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