There's too much news to let another day pass without getting at least some of it off my desk and out to you, so here we go ...

From China, big news on setting up a gene bank representing minority groups in the country.

All the DNA donors were those of "pure bloodline", meaning no intermarriage for at least three generations, and living in remote areas of China.

Geneticists at Yunnan University say they believe this will aid research into hereditary diseases among the minority nationalities.

Following that, this, titled, "Gene center offers hope for separated families".

This gene center is in Beijing at the center of forensic sciences of Beijing Genomics Institute affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

With more than half a million Chinese having lost contact with family members through natural disasters, wars, relocation projects, famine, child abandonment and more, many are now trying to reestablish connections.

Not much help yet, it is hoped that there will be more money forthcoming for collection of more samples, but they'll need lots of money ($2.63 million) and many more samples ... there are presently 10,000, but they'll need 500,000.

It is not impossible to imagine, however, that children adopted today might be easily able to trace birth families in twenty years or so.

Speaking of genetic illnesses, if you have Black, Asian or Mediterranean kids, please take a look at the series of posts on the International Adoption Blog today, here, here, here, and here.

There's also news on genetic clues to autism.

Geneticists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in collaboration with Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx are saying they have found a previously unrecognized pattern: "Mothers, they say, acquire genetic mutations spontaneously that are specific to autism, which can be passed to their children. The mothers do not themselves exhibit traits of the disorder, but they have a 50 percent chance of transmitting the trait."

Pointing out how important it is to be able to trace family, one collaborator said, "This demonstrates the power of the families, that they are a valuable source of information and that's really the building block."

A soldier from Santa Cruz has been awarded the Army's Humanitarian Service Award for his efforts to help Afghan orphans.

According to information supplied by the Department of Defense, Steve went to Fort Eggers in Kabul in November 2005 and, after seeing the needs of thousands of the country's young orphans, he joined the camp's Volunteer Community Relations Committee. He wrote letters to friends and family asking for donations for the kids, then set about distributing the gifts, venturing outside the safety of Camp Eggers and into the combat zone for the deliveries.

Receiving 15 to 20 packages a day in answer to his requests, he spent more than 300 hours, over and above his regular work, helping the children.

Bravo, Soldier!