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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).

Analysis finds overlooked crucial factor in determining prognosis for DIPGs

The prognosis for all children diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma and similar tumors has been mostly the same: dismal.

18 Jan 2018

Novel gene expression analysis technique can accurately and quickly measure RNA

A University of Illinois and Mayo collaboration has demonstrated a novel gene expression analysis technique that can accurately measure levels of RNA quickly and directly from a cancerous tissue sample while preserving the spatial information across the tissue --something that conventional methods cannot do.

18 Jan 2018

Study: Human waste remains main source of fecal pollution in the river Danube

Despite wastewater management and treatment plants, human waste remains the main source of microbial fecal pollution in the river Danube.

18 Jan 2018

Scientists discover possible cause of colonial-era epidemic in Mexico

An international team of scientists has identified the possible cause of a colonial-era epidemic in Mexico. Using new techniques in ancient DNA research, experts from the Max Plank Institute, Harvard University and the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, identified Salmonella enterica Paratyphi C in skeletons left behind from the 1545-1550 cocoliztli epidemic.

17 Jan 2018

Three-dimensional organization of genome plays key role in gene expression, cell fate

Scientists have long been reading the code of life - the genome -, as a sequence of letters but now researchers have also started exploring its three-dimensional organization.

17 Jan 2018

Scientists identify six new gene regions that may help treat type 1 diabetes

Six novel chromosomal regions identified by scientists leading a large, prospective study of children at risk for type 1 diabetes will enable the discovery of more genes that cause the disease and more targets for treating or even preventing it.

17 Jan 2018

EXD2 enzyme facilitates protein production in mitochondria

Researchers from the Genomic Instability and Cancer Laboratory at Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) have identified a key role for EXD2 in protein production in the mitochondria, the cellular organelles responsible for the majority of energy generation.

17 Jan 2018

Research: Men who lack HSD17B4 gene may be more susceptible to treatment-resistant prostate cancer

Cleveland Clinic researchers have confirmed for the first time a mechanistic link between the gene HSD17B4 and deadly, treatment-resistant prostate cancer.

17 Jan 2018

How fatal mitochondrial diseases may strike offspring of families with no history of the conditions

Researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) have discovered how some children inherit a potentially life-threatening mitochondrial disease, despite being born to a healthy mother.

16 Jan 2018

Scientists provide insights into crucial interaction for DNA repair

Osaka University scientists, in collaboration with The University of Tokyo, describe the crystal structure of RNF168 bound to ubiquitin chains, a crucial interaction for DNA repair, to find a unique interaction DNA is like the computer code of the body, and it must be preserved for our bodies to survive.

16 Jan 2018

The Salk Institute and Indivumed collaborate for cutting-edge cancer research

The Salk Institute, which hosts a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center and Indivumed GmbH, a world leading cancer research company today announce a multi-year strategic alliance to secure, preserve and analyze human cancer tissue and annotated clinical data from consenting patients around the world, enabling the most cutting-edge basic and translational research in cancer.

16 Jan 2018

FDA grants approval for first drug to treat inherited breast cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approved use of Lynparza (olaparib tablets) to include the treatment of patients with certain types of breast cancer that have spread (metastasized) and whose tumors have a specific inherited (germline) genetic mutation, making it the first drug in its class (PARP inhibitor) approved to treat breast cancer, and it is the first time any drug has been approved to treat certain patients with metastatic breast cancer who have a "BRCA" gene mutation.

15 Jan 2018

Aztec apocalypse found to be Salmonella outbreak

There was an epidemic in the Mexican highlands in 1545 and then again in 1576 that killed between 7 and 17 million people. These people had fever and vomiting and developed red spots over their skin before they died.

15 Jan 2018

Study reveals how devastating mitochondrial diseases strike families without any previous history

Researchers have shown for the first time how children can inherit a severe - potentially fatal - mitochondrial disease from a healthy mother.

15 Jan 2018

Circadian clock proteins set the pace of plant growth

Scientists at the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) in Spain have identified the members of a protein family linked with the internal clocks of plants that act sequentially to restrict plant growth until just before daylight, according to a new study published in the journal Current Biology.

15 Jan 2018

Researchers discover new warning system in the immune defense

Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have discovered a previously unknown warning system that contributes to the body's immune system. Mitochondria in the white blood cells secrete a web of DNA fibers that raises the alarm.

12 Jan 2018

U.S. FDA approves first drug for patients with germline BRCA-mutated metastatic breast cancer

AstraZeneca and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved LYNPARZA (olaparib) for use in patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer who have been previously treated with chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant or metastatic setting.

12 Jan 2018

Research provides insights into mechanisms governing healthy longevity

Keio University Global Research Institute, Tokyo publishes the January 2018 issue of KGRI Research Frontiers that includes researcher video profiles of Keio University researchers and research highlights from high impact publications including 'Regenerative medicine needs collaboration in and out of science in order to face current and future challenges; ‘Does eating fish protect you from depression?’; ‘Insights into the molecular mechanisms leading to kidney dysfunction in diabetic patients’; and ‘Ageing to 100 and beyond: Insights from demographic, phenotypic and genetic studies.

12 Jan 2018

BRCA gene mutation does not raise the risk of death

BRCA gene mutation has been associated with cancers such as breast cancer. The BRCA gene mutation detection had resulted in a prophylactic double mastectomy for actress Angelina Jolie anticipating cancer. Now a new study has shown that having a BRCA gene mutation and being diagnosed with breast cancer does not raise the risk of death after diagnosis. The study was published in the latest issue of the journal The Lancet Oncology.

11 Jan 2018

New study shows how the immune system regulates gut fungal population

Immune cells that process food and bacterial antigens in the intestines control the intestinal population of fungi, according to a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine scientists.

11 Jan 2018