DNA News and Research

RSS

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

Beams of light used to move, select and trap protein molecules

A paper that outlines a new method to use a beam of light to trap protein molecules and make them dance in space has earned a place in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

25 Apr 2006

Cancer found grow by switching off DNA - may lead to new generation treatments

Cancer researchers have formulated a new concept for how cancer cells can escape normal growth controls by turning off DNA. These findings may have far-reaching implications for the new generation of cancer therapies.

25 Apr 2006

Penn researchers discover gene that creates "second skeleton" bone disorder

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have located the "skeleton key," a gene that, when damaged, causes the body's skeletal muscles and soft connective tissue to undergo a metamorphosis into bone, progressively locking joints in place and rendering movement impossible.

23 Apr 2006

Discovery of the molecular mechanisms that allow animals to switch genes on or off to gain or lose anatomical characteristics

Anatomical features, scientists know, come and go. The animal kingdom is full of critters that have independently gained or lost similar features. Whales and snakes, for instance, have lost their legs. Winged flight evolved separately in birds, bats and pterosaurs at different times in evolutionary history.

23 Apr 2006

Arf gene loss enhances oncogenicity and limits imatinib response in mouse models of Bcr-Abl-induced acute lymphoblastic leukemia

New clues to why some kinds of leukemia are more aggressive and deadly than others are coming from research examining the types of genetic damage that allow some blood cells to grow out of control, scientists report.

23 Apr 2006

WRN exonuclease structure and molecular mechanism imply an editing role in DNA end processing

A team of scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Scripps Research Institute has determined the crystal structure and molecular mechanisms of a key part of WRN, a protein that protects humans from premature aging and cancer.

23 Apr 2006

Magnetic nanotechnology holds promise in fighting cancer

Detecting cancer and reinventing computing are two challenges that seemingly have little, if anything, to do with each other. That is, unless you are a nanotechnologist like Shan Wang, an associate professor of materials science and engineering and of electrical engineering at Stanford.

20 Apr 2006

Genetic data from an island population proves to be a useful tool in understanding disease

With fewer than 4,000 residents, the genetically isolated Micronesian island of Kosrae, in the West Pacific, provides an ideal population in which to research heritability of disease.

20 Apr 2006

Researchers find gene connected to Lupus

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified a variant of a gene that is present in most people with lupus, a complex and chronic autoimmune disease.

20 Apr 2006

Primagen awarded U.S. patent for using mitochondrial DNA quantification as biomarker

Primagen Holding BV has announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted a patent for its Mitox mitochondrial DNA quantification technology as biomarkers for efficacy and adverse events of treatment.

19 Apr 2006

St. Jude develop strategy to speed future development of more effective and less toxic treatments for medulloblastoma

Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have developed a strategy to speed future development of more effective and less toxic treatments for medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer. Medulloblastomas arise in the back of the brain and account for about 20 percent of childhood brain tumors.

18 Apr 2006

Fast tracking the healing process for common ear infections

The research will aim to understand why some eardrums heal by themselves (and why some do not heal at all) by identifying which genes are responsible for the wound-healing process of an infected human ear drum.

18 Apr 2006

Important new global mechanism for gene repression

Most of the time in most cells of the body, the great majority of genes are silenced, locked away within the compacted but orderly material that makes up chromosomes.

18 Apr 2006

Common gene variation associated with an increased risk for obesity

A pioneering statistical technique developed at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has helped identify a common gene variation associated with an increased risk for obesity.

18 Apr 2006

Chimpanzees and humans have gene variant, for different reasons

Gene variants determine which humans and which chimpanzees can taste bitter substances. For humans, this taste sensitivity may influence nutritional choices and ultimately their health, as well as behaviors, such as smoking.

18 Apr 2006

First gene therapy human trial in the United States for a form of muscular dystrophy under way

The clinical trial for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) tests the safety and effectiveness of a therapy that was developed over two decades by scientists at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh.

16 Apr 2006

DNA News and Research

Further Reading

Beams of light used to move, select and trap protein molecules

Cancer found grow by switching off DNA - may lead to new generation treatments

Penn researchers discover gene that creates "second skeleton" bone disorder

Discovery of the molecular mechanisms that allow animals to switch genes on or off to gain or lose anatomical characteristics

Arf gene loss enhances oncogenicity and limits imatinib response in mouse models of Bcr-Abl-induced acute lymphoblastic leukemia

WRN exonuclease structure and molecular mechanism imply an editing role in DNA end processing

Magnetic nanotechnology holds promise in fighting cancer

Genetic data from an island population proves to be a useful tool in understanding disease

Researchers find gene connected to Lupus

Primagen awarded U.S. patent for using mitochondrial DNA quantification as biomarker

St. Jude develop strategy to speed future development of more effective and less toxic treatments for medulloblastoma

Fast tracking the healing process for common ear infections

Important new global mechanism for gene repression

Common gene variation associated with an increased risk for obesity

Chimpanzees and humans have gene variant, for different reasons

First gene therapy human trial in the United States for a form of muscular dystrophy under way

Doses of DNA-gene-coated gold particles protect against harmful protein implicated in Alzheimer's disease

Excessive adiposity, calorie restriction, and aging

Active ingredient in soy may explain why Asians have lower rates of obesity and cancer

Swansong - dead swan a foreigner and one and only so far

eBook: Exploring the Cell Cycle and DNA Damage and Repair eBook

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

Latest Life Science News