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Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biologically important type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate.

Microchip to track genetic signature of cancer and normal tissue

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), tiny pieces of genetic material that can serve as stop signs for gene expression and protein synthesis, are thought to be important in the development of cancer.

23 Jun 2004

New gene found in genetic wasteland

In a region of DNA long considered a genetic wasteland, Harvard Medical School researchers have discovered a new class of gene.

20 Jun 2004

A natural molecule that blocks a key bacterial enzymes could lead to a new generation of antibiotics

Rutgers scientists have deciphered the complex mechanics of microcin J25 (MccJ25), a tiny, natural molecule that acts like a cork in a bottle to block a key bacterial enzyme – potentially leading to a new generation of antibiotics.

17 Jun 2004

New findings may help better understand how harmless viruses can cause severe disease among patients with weakened immune systems

When a major branch of the mouse immune system is disabled, a normally harmless virus can rapidly mutate into a lethal one, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

17 Jun 2004

SARS siRNA studied further to help many respiratory diseases including lung cancer

Intradigm Corporation, has announced achievement of prophylactic and therapeutic effects of siRNA (small interfering RNA) inhibitors of SARS-CoV in non-human primate cells. The results are published in the June 2004 issue of Antiviral Therapy (International Medical Press).

15 Jun 2004

Real-Time Immuno-PCR has the ability to detect HIV infection earlier than all current methods

Researchers at the Institute of Human Virology have developed an ultra-sensitive testing technique that has shown the ability to detect HIV infection earlier than all current methods.

15 Jun 2004

African Americans suffer from cardiovascular diseases at a rate about five times higher than the rest of the U.S. population

African Americans suffer from cardiovascular diseases at a rate about five times higher than the rest of the U.S. population. In a new study, scientists may have found a culprit: a serious deficiency of nitric oxide, a small molecule vital in the regulation of blood flow and blood pressure.

11 Jun 2004

Discovery could pave the way to smallpox Immunity

A team of scientists led by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar has discovered the immune system mechanism that causes some mice to be more susceptible to mousepox than others.

9 Jun 2004

Neuroscientists have overcome a major obstacle in gene therapy research

Northwestern University neuroscientists have overcome a major obstacle in gene therapy research. They've devised a method that will safely deliver and regulate expression of therapeutic genes introduced into the central nervous system to treat Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

5 Jun 2004

Breakthrough in gene therapy

Despite a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs during the past 15 years, gene therapy has continued to attract many of the world's brightest scientists. They are tantalized by the enormous potential that replacing missing genes or disabling defective ones offers for curing diseases of many kinds.

3 Jun 2004

Scientists reveal the crystal structure of the first described enzymatic RNA

Scientists in the department of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale revealed the crystal structure of the first described enzymatic RNA - what it looks like and how it reacts - in the journal Nature.

2 Jun 2004

Treatment helps 26% of black Americans with chronic hepatitis C

Twenty-six percent (26%) of black Americans (BA) with chronic hepatitis C who received treatment with Pegasys plus Copegus (peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin) achieved a sustained virological response (SVR), according to study results published in the June 2004 issue of Hepatology.

1 Jun 2004

Novel molecular targeting technologies to deliver gene-silencing therapy

Researchers have combined novel molecular targeting technologies to deliver gene-silencing therapy specifically to tumor cells shielded by a normally impermeable obstacle, the blood brain barrier.

1 Jun 2004

Four critical components of cells' protein-building machine don't do what scientists had long assumed

In the hunt for these details, scientists have focused on four RNA building blocks, or nucleotides, deep within the machine that are identical in every species, from bacteria to humans. Because they sit where the protein chain is actually built, these "universally conserved" nucleotides in the ribosome were thought to help that process.

28 May 2004

Finding overturns long held ideas about how cells build proteins

Writing in the May 28 issue of Cell, Johns Hopkins researchers report that four critical components of cells' protein-building machine don't do what scientists had long assumed.

27 May 2004

Human Genome Sciences has begun dosing patients with chronic hep C drug

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. announced today that it has begun dosing patients in a Phase 2 clinical trial of Albuferon™ (albumin-interferon alpha) in patients with chronic hepatitis C who are naïve to interferon-alpha treatments.

27 May 2004

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus re-emerges in Thailand

Thousands of chickens were culled last week after the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus was found at The North Regional Veterinary Research and Development Center by Thailand's Department of Livestock Development.

27 May 2004

Weekly cycles of once-daily anti-HIV drugs could reduce cost of HIV treatment

24 May 2004

Standardizing procedures to ensure the reliability and comparability of results from microarrays

Microarrays, sometimes called "gene chip" devices, enable researchers to monitor the activities of thousands of genes from a single tissue sample simultaneously, identifying patterns that may be novel indicators of disease status.

24 May 2004

Weekly cycles of once-daily anti-drugs could reduce cost of HIV treatment

In a small study conducted at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers have shown that it may be feasible to treat HIV-infected patients with a simple, once-daily regimen of anti-HIV drugs given in pre-planned, 7-day-on, 7-day-off cycles. This approach is known formally as “short-cycle structured intermittent antiretroviral therapy” (SIT) or colloquially as the “7-7” approach.

20 May 2004

RNA News and Research

Further Reading

Microchip to track genetic signature of cancer and normal tissue

New gene found in genetic wasteland

A natural molecule that blocks a key bacterial enzymes could lead to a new generation of antibiotics

New findings may help better understand how harmless viruses can cause severe disease among patients with weakened immune systems

SARS siRNA studied further to help many respiratory diseases including lung cancer

Real-Time Immuno-PCR has the ability to detect HIV infection earlier than all current methods

African Americans suffer from cardiovascular diseases at a rate about five times higher than the rest of the U.S. population

Discovery could pave the way to smallpox Immunity

Neuroscientists have overcome a major obstacle in gene therapy research

Breakthrough in gene therapy

Scientists reveal the crystal structure of the first described enzymatic RNA

Treatment helps 26% of black Americans with chronic hepatitis C

Novel molecular targeting technologies to deliver gene-silencing therapy

Four critical components of cells' protein-building machine don't do what scientists had long assumed

Finding overturns long held ideas about how cells build proteins

Human Genome Sciences has begun dosing patients with chronic hep C drug

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus re-emerges in Thailand

Weekly cycles of once-daily anti-HIV drugs could reduce cost of HIV treatment

Standardizing procedures to ensure the reliability and comparability of results from microarrays

Weekly cycles of once-daily anti-drugs could reduce cost of HIV treatment

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