Springer Nature

In a recent article in Genetics in Medicine (GIM), Maiese et al. reported the findings of a survey of the practices of 924 genetics professionals. Compared to data collected a decade ago, the authors found increased caseloads for practitioners and longer wait times for patients seeking genetic services. In this month's episode of GenePod, GIM's monthly podcast, host Cynthia Graber talks with co-authors Deborah Maiese, evaluator for the National Coordinating Center for the Regional Genetics Networks, and Dr. Michael Watson, executive director of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, about strategies to address shortages in the medical genetics workforce and how technology is being used to improve access to genetic services for underserved populations.

Related article:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41436-018-0417-6

Over the past decade, the use of the term 'food addiction' to describe an unhealthy approach to eating has grown. It refers to the idea that, for some people, their inability to control their food intake has similarities to that of a drug of abuse. Paul Kenny is the chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York. He's one of two authors of a recent circumspective in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. In the piece, Dr. Kenny and his colleague Dr. Paul Fletcher of the University of Cambridge take opposing viewpoints, Dr. Fletcher arguing against the use of the term food addiction, and Dr. Kenny in favor.

Related article:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-018-0203-9

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) is a form of Chronic lung disease and results from extreme pre-term birth. Systemic corticosteroid therapy is used postnatally to reduce the severity of BPD, however there is a large range in the phenotypic response to this treatment. In this episode, we speak to Tamorah Lewis, a neonatologist at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, who aimed to identify pharmacogenetic variants associated with the clinical response to systemic corticosteroid treatment.

Related article:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-018-0235-1

Metabolic syndrome has been a growing problem in recent decades in both adult and pediatric populations.

Time-restricted feeding (TRF), has been shown to attenuate metabolic disorders and obesity in adults. It is thought to be superior to surgical interventions and other dietary patterns as it is non-invasive, and does not lead to unbearable hunger. However, there is a lack of data on its effects in pediatric populations.

In this episode, we meet Dr. Dandan Hu, who during her time at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, carried out an experiment using a paediatric mouse model to assess the effects of TRM on their metabolism and microbiota. The results were unexpected.

Related article:

Time-restricted feeding causes irreversible metabolic disorders and gut microbiota shift in pediatric mice

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-018-0156-z

Little is known about the prevalence and economic impact of genetic disorders in children. In this month's episode of GenePod, Cynthia Graber interviews Dr. Nina Gonzaludo about the prevalence of genetic disorders in a large population of hospitalized children. Dr. Gonzaludo discusses the disproportionate use of healthcare resources by patients likely to have genetic disorders and the possibility that genetic testing might reduce the cost to the healthcare system.

Related link:

Estimating the burden and economic impact of pediatric genetic disease

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41436-018-0398-5

While there is little doubt that the grey wolf is one of the world's most iconic species, it is equally true that it is one of the world's most reviled. This later sentiment has seen them extirpated from much of their former habitat. However, in a few places, wolves are making a comeback. In this episode, Sarah Hendricks, Dr Rena M. Schweizer and Prof. Robert Wayne discuss their recent research exploring the genetic history of naturally re-established wolf populations in the US states of Oregon and Washington: their discovery that some of these populations represent a genetic mixing of two distinct ecotypes presents challenges for current conservation policy in the country, and raises the question: what wolf belongs where?

Related article:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41437-018-0094-x

Every winter, geneticists from around the world brave the unpredictable weather to gather for the annual Population Genetics Group Conference. This year, Oxford Brookes University played host to the 52nd such meeting, and with a delegate list of almost 250 researchers, a programme of 106 talks, and around 41 posters, it proved to be a three day celebration of the latest and greatest research in the field of population genetics. In this episode, we hear from the conference organisers, the renowned plenary speakers, and the student prize winners. So settle in and listen to this Heredity Podcast special on PopGroup 52!

Related article:

27 years of prenatal diagnosis for Huntington disease in the United Kingdom

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41436-018-0367-z

Metabolomics has the potential to identify specific targets for primary prevention of metabolic disease. Studies in adults have shown that lean vs obese people show distinct differences in their metabolite composition, sometimes preceding the development of established risk factors associated with metabolic disease. The literature in paediatric populations, however is scant.

In this episode, we speak to Prof. Wei Perng, who during her time at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, examined the associations between metabolite composition and metabolic risk across adolescence.

Related links:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-018-0195-5

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-018-0232-4

Pediatric asthma is a chronic, heterogeneous disease that can be triggered by environmental exposures, leading to urgent medical visits.

Numerous studies have demonstrated increases in emergency department visits and hospitalizations in association with increasing concentrations of outdoor ambient pollutants. Social and environmental stressors have also been shown to be associated with a stronger relationship between environmental pollutants and asthma development and symptoms.

In this study, Dr Lovinski-Desir from Columbia University Medical Center and her team aimed to determine if the relationship between ambient pollutants and urgent visits for asthma varied between New York City neighborhoods with high versus low asthma prevalence.

Related link:

https://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/s41390-018-0189-3