NEWS
For more information: Cathy Yarbrough
press@ashg.org
sciencematter@yahoo.com
858-243-1814
Lecturing is minimized to maximize time devoted to the exploration and discussion about the complex contributions of genetics to the full range of human traits, from height and eye color to predisposition to diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
Topics will include:
- Newborn screening
- Family history
- DNA forensics
- Population genetics: interaction of environment and genes in shaping a population
- Role of multiple genes in determining height
- Environmental factors’ influence on gene expression, traits and inheritance
When:
9:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013 (lunch scheduled at 12:15 to 12:50 p.m.)
Where:
Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
Who:
Speakers will be leading physicians, scientists and genetic counselors who are ASHG members attending the ASHG 2013 annual meeting in Boston.
Why:
“Genetic medicine will come of age when these students are adults,” said Mike Dougherty, Ph.D., Director of Education at ASHG, which has organized and sponsored workshops for high school students for over 20 years.
“We want to prepare them for the ‘genetics future,’ when it will be routine for a patient’s DNA to be sequenced,” he added. In the “genetic future,” people will need to understand what they’ll be able to learn and not learn from their DNA sequence and what it means to have a genetic variant for a complex disease such as cancer.
Link to ASHG website page about workshop: http://www.ashg.org/education/hsworkshop.shtml#.UlqnoCjDR74