Media Statements
03-10-2008
Harvesting wheat's tough genetic code, Professor Rudi Appels
AUSTRALIAN scientists have taken the first big step towards unraveling the genetic code of wheat. The feat -- previously considered too tough to tackle -- promises new varieties of a plant that feeds read on...
03-07-2008
Health sciences meet the information highway, Professor Matthew Bellgard
A NEW high-performance computer, several staff appointments including programmers, data analysts and a research fellow and 37 projects it is either leading or collaborating read on...
10-06-2008
Marrying cousin not a health risk - geneticist, Professor Alan Bittles
For the past 30 years geneticist Professor Alan Bittles, of the Centre for Comparative Genomics at Murdoch University in Western Australia, has been studying the effects of consanguineous, or same-blood marriages on children. In New Zealand it is not read on...
09-06-2008
Cousin marriage: A cause for concern?, Professor Alan Bittles
Over a billion people worldwide live in regions where 20-50 per cent of marriages are consanguineous, and first-cousin unions are especially popular. Discussion of this phenomenon is confused by the fact that its causes are social and economic, while read on...
05-06-2008
'Kissing cousins can have healthy kids', Professor Alan Bittles
The belief that babies born to first-cousins will suffer from some kind of deformatities is all a myth, say researchers in Australia. According to an earlier Australian research published in 2001, babies born to first-cousins are nearly three times more likely to have read on...
04-06-2008
Incest offspring 'healthy', Professor Alan Bittles
An Australian researcher says that consanguineous marriages need not adversely affect the health of the offspring. Adjunct Professor Alan Bittles from Murdoch's Centre for Comparative Genomics points out, "In Western culture there is a general belief that read on...
04-06-2008
Row over health risk to cousins who marry, Professor Alan Bittles
WA scientists are challenging the myth that inbreeding always leads to unhealthy babies. The highly contentious, often-tabooed practice has in the past been linked to deformities such as heart disease, read on...
03-06-2008
Cousin Marriage not always unhealthy, Professor Alan Bittles
A Murdoch University researcher is dispelling the myth that first cousin or 'same blood' marriages between relatives adversely affects the health of offspring. Adjunct Professor Alan Bittles from Murdoch's Centre for Comparative Genomics has spent 30 years researching read on...
03-06-2008
Consanguineous Marriage Need Not Affect Health of Offspring, Professor Alan Bittles
An Australian researcher says that consanguineous marriages need not adversely affect the health of the offspring. Adjunct Professor Alan Bittles from Murdoch's Centre for Comparative Genomics points out, "In Western culture there is a general belief that read on...
03-06-2008
Incestuous marriage not always unhealthy: Study, Professor Alan Bittles
Incestuous marriages - as between first cousins - might not always be unhealthy, concludes an Australian researcher. "Britain has seen a rise in first cousin marriages amongst its Pakistani migrant population which read on...
02-06-2008
Are cousin marriages a cause for concern?, Professor Alan Bittles
A Murdoch University researcher is dispelling the myth that first cousin or 'same blood' marriages between relatives adversely affects the health of offspring. Adjunct Professor Alan Bittles from Murdoch's Centre for Comparative Genomics has spent read on...
01-06-2008
Most babies born to first-cousins are healthy, Professor Alan Bittles
WA scientist are challenging the myth that inbreeding always leads to unhealthy babies. The highly contentious, often-tabooed practice has in the past been linked to deformities such as heart disease, mental retardation, deafness and even read on...
30-05-2008
Medical community at war over cousin marriage, Professor Alan Bittles
Deep rifts are occurring in the medical community over an appropriate response to Britain's level of cousin marriage. A Meeting of medical practitioners and geneticists organised by the Progress Educational Trust in London last night revealed deep rifts over the read on
17-05-2008
Call to offer genetic screening for married cousins, Professor Alan Bittles
Doctors should offer genetic screening to immigrant communities that encourage marriage between cousins, experts said yesterday, as new research suggested cases of rare inherited brain disorders are eight times higher among read on...
17-05-2008
Banning marriage of cousins 'pointless', Professor Alan Bittles
BANNING marriages between cousins would be "pointless" despite the increased risks of inherited illness, the world leading expert on the issue warned yesterday. Professor Alan Bittles said it would not eliminate genetic diseases and ignored the read on...
16-05-2008
Cousin marriage: Is it a health risk?, Professor Alan Bittles
The contentious issue of first-cousin marriage is set to hit the headlines with a heated debate over their impact on genetic disorders in Britain. Some have called for such "consanguineous" marriages to be banned but others argue better genetic read on
11-05-2008
Row over health risk to cousins who marry, Professor Alan Bittles
A major medical row will erupt this month when scientists and health experts hold two key meetings to discuss the controversial subject of marriages between cousins and their impact on health in Britain. The debates will read on...
31-03-2008
The conundrum of cousin marriage, Professor Alan Bittles
First cousin marriage is a topic that frequently evokes distaste and even a sense of moral outrage in the UK and other western countries. Given its sound Biblical tradition (Leviticus 18:7-18) and long-standing legal acceptance this is somewhat surprising, the more so since many famous figures of the read on...
25-03-2008
Genomics adding value to our grain exports, Professor Matthew Bellgard and Professor Rudi Appels
LAST time you smeared Vegemite on your freshly buttered toast, you probably gave little thought to why wheat from which bread is made hasn’t read on...
04-03-2008
China-Australia Wheat Quality Initiative Signed, Professor Rudi Appels
A formal commitment to build a virtual laboratory for wheat quality research with China was achieved read on...
02-02-2008
Kissing Cousins Sire Kids by the Dozen, Professor Alan Bittles
Johann Sebastian Bach, Edgar Allan Poe, and Albert Einstein all married cousins. Maybe these creative geniuses were on to something. A new study suggests that mating with relatives has read on...
