Ask Kate » Heredity

Genetics, heredity, and Standford School of Medicine.

Kate — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:23:59 +0000

I have been tinkering with this site all day and thought it was time to share. It covers a lot of random information about genetics to help make sense of a complex science. It includes great articles about the ethics of stem cell research and more. It also has interactive tools to see the likelihood of having certain eye colors in your family.

I like the eye color paternity test on our site as it has more options for eye color, but the test on the site listed above explains some of the science behind it that our site does not … yet. I hope you get a kick out of it like I did.

I especially loved learning more about genetically modified foods.

Remember for any questions about paternity testing or DNA testing in general feel free to contact me!

Cattle DNA Testing for Paternity

Ask Kate — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:05:24 +0000

I have been reading a lot in the news about celebrity paternity testing (links generated by my Google alerts for paternity test), and I found a few articles about DNA Testing in cattle. As a little bit of a science geek it intrigued me. Thought I would share my findings.

While this is not a service offered by IDENTIGENE, it is out there. Apparently, DNA Testing is used in cattle farming for many reasons. For example, a farmer may test new cattle for paternity in a multiple bull breeding pasture. Reasons for this include determining whether a bull is not breeding as often as others or which bull is producing bulls with ‘defects.’

Other farmers have been known to test the DNA of their cattle to curb out poor traits before breeding them. There are a few major traits being tested for currently, one is curly calf syndrome. This type of DNA Testing is done in an attempt to ensure that only the best cattle are reproducing.

While this testing in cattle may in fact produce a better crop of cows, it is eerily familiar. I know its a reach from cattle DNA testing to a world like GATTACA, but I always get a little curious as to how far eugenics will take our society with DNA testing in its tool box. But then again I think too much.

Even without this theory in mind the idea that we are using this type of testing for our cattle and various crops is extremely interesting, at least to me. Really, where will we go next? Any thoughts or questions?

Asperger's Syndrome all over my world recently

Ask Kate — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:04:36 +0000

I have been reading about Autism and Aspergers syndrome for a few weeks now. For those who are not familiar Aspergers is considered, currently, to be a mild form of Autism. I don’t have words for why this specific social disorder has caught my eye, except for seeing Mary and Max at Sundance this year. Soon after seeing this, I met a gentlemand with Asperger’s and started reading a novel written by someone who has been diagnosed as well.

I have found myself fascinated by the various descriptions people have used in their own words. I have wanted to write here about Asperger’s syndrome, but I have been contantly afraid of not doing it justice.

One thing that definately interested me was whether this was hereditary. As, I read the descriptions it is incredible familiar. I wonder about people I know or have known in my life that are so similar to these people and characters. While there is no definitive information as to its hereditary links, it is my belief that something like this would tend to be hereditary.

I found this partial documentary on youtube.com and decided this is puts it better than I would ever be able. I hope that you enjoy. As always I welcome your feedback.