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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).

Study reveals that brain cancer cells resist therapy by dialing down gene mutation targeted by drugs

A team of scientists, led by principal investigator Paul S. Mischel, MD, a member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has found that brain cancer cells resist therapy by dialing down the gene mutation targeted by drugs, then re-amplify that growth-promoting mutation after therapy has stopped.

6 Dec 2013

Researchers take closer look at genetically engineered mouse models and human cancer samples

Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA have taken a closer look at existing mouse models of cancer, specifically comparing them to human cancer samples. These genetically engineered mouse models (which usually either overexpress a cancer-causing gene-or "oncogene"-or carry a deletion for a "tumor suppressor" gene) have been extensively used to understand human cancer biology in studies of drug resistance, early detection, metastasis, and cancer prevention, as well as for the preclinical development of novel targeted therapeutics.

6 Dec 2013

Tel Aviv University says caffeine and alcohol can change part of DNA linked to aging, cancer

Coffee and beer are polar opposites in the beverage world. Coffee picks you up, and beer winds you down.

6 Dec 2013

Cancer triggers scleroderma, shows evidence

Johns Hopkins scientists have found evidence that cancer triggers the autoimmune disease scleroderma, which causes thickening and hardening of the skin and widespread organ damage.

6 Dec 2013

"Virtual T cell" predicts how human immune system reacts to foreign substances

A platform that simulates how the body defends itself: The T cells of the immune system decide whether to trigger an immune response against foreign substances.

5 Dec 2013

UCSB researcher tracks source of E280A gene mutation responsible for early-onset Alzheimer's

The age and origin of the E280A gene mutation responsible for early-onset Alzheimer's in a Colombian family with an unusually high incidence of the disease has been traced to a single founder dating from the 16th century.

5 Dec 2013

New method for counting tumor-fighting cells to predict ovarian cancer

One way to predict survival of many types of cancer is by counting the number of tumor-attacking immune cells that have migrated into the tumor in an effort to eradicate it - a sign of the body's immune response to the cancer. However, quantifying these armies of immune cells has been difficult - until now.

5 Dec 2013

Scientists receive $4M grant to identify biomarker for secondary injuries associated with brain

In an effort to lower medical costs, identify patients at risk for injury, and speed patient recovery, scientists will attempt to identify a molecular signal that indicates severity of brain-injury during a $4 million, five-year federal grant to Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix Children's Hospital and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

5 Dec 2013

Enrollment opens for IMO-8400 Phase 1/2 trial in patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and genetically defined forms of B-cell lymphoma, today announced that enrollment is open for a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of IMO-8400 in patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, following acceptance of its Investigational New Drug application by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

5 Dec 2013

Blocking Cdh1 protein could accelerate development of new therapies targeting cancer

The laboratory of Marcos Malumbres, who is head of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre's (CNIO) Cell Division & Cancer Group, working alongside Isabel Fari-as' team from the University of Valencia, shows, in a study published today in the journal Nature Communications, how in mice the elimination of the Cdh1 protein -a sub-unit of the APC/C complex, involved in the control of cell division-prevents cellular proliferation of rapidly dividing cells.

5 Dec 2013

BIDMC study shows carbon monoxide may have a role to play in treating cancer

In recent years, research has suggested that carbon monoxide, the highly toxic gas emitted from auto exhausts and faulty heating systems, can be used to treat certain inflammatory medical conditions. Now a study led by a research team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) shows for the first time that carbon monoxide may also have a role to play in treating cancer.

4 Dec 2013

Laboratoire Cerba launches noninvasive prenatal test in multiple countries

Sequenom, Inc., a life sciences company providing innovative testing and genetic analysis solutions, announced that Laboratoire Cerba has launched its validated noninvasive prenatal test to health care providers and their patients in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and portions of the Middle East and Africa.

4 Dec 2013

Study sheds new light on neuropsychiatric disorders

Trauma can scar people so indelibly that their children are affected. History provides examples of generations traumatized by war and starvation, whose children experience altered physiology.

4 Dec 2013

Cell Therapeutics concludes agreement with GKV-SV regarding reimbursement price of PIXUVRI

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) announced today that it concluded an agreement with the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV-Spitzenverband) in Germany for PIXUVRI® (pixantrone).

4 Dec 2013

Findings could have important implications for personalized treatment of colon cancer

A common observation in oncology is the phenomenon that a patient with a tumor receives a drug and responds very well, but after a few months the cancer comes back and is now resistant to previously administered chemotherapy. What happened? Many mechanisms contribute to explain this effect called "acquired resistance", but today the group Manel Esteller, Director of Epigenetics and Cancer Biology at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, ICREA researcher and Professor of Genetics at the University of Barcelona, describes in the official Journal of the National Cancer Research Center in the United States, The Journal of The National Cancer Institute, the existence of epigenetic differences that explain the lack of response of the tumor recurs.

4 Dec 2013

Tel Aviv University researchers discover a protein that kills bacteria

In the arms race between bacteria and modern medicine, bacteria have gained an edge. In recent decades, bacterial resistance to antibiotics has developed faster than the production of new antibiotics, making bacterial infections increasingly difficult to treat. Scientists worry that a particularly virulent and deadly "superbug" could one day join the ranks of existing untreatable bacteria, causing a public health catastrophe comparable with the Black Death.

3 Dec 2013

Scientists explain new family of proteins that appear to play key role in cancer

Scientists have described a new family of proteins that appear to play a key role in cancer and might be targets for future cancer drugs.

3 Dec 2013

Multiplicom launches MID kit for Illumina MiSeq and MASTR kits for MODY, ADH and HCM

Multiplicom NV, a specialist in the development, production and commercialization of innovative molecular genetic tests based on massively parallel sequencing, today announces that it is launching a CE/IVD labeled MID kit for Illumina MiSeq together with three new germline mutation detection MASTRTM kits enabling the identification of individuals at risk for maturity onset diabetes of the young, autosomal dominant hypercholesterolemia, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

2 Dec 2013

Three Umeå University researchers selected as Wallenberg Academy Fellows

Jonathan Klaminder, Christian Hedberg and Sjoerd Wanrooij have been selected as Wallenberg Academy Fellows at Umeå University. They are awarded grants between SEK 5 and 9 million each spread over five years from the largest single private investment in supporting young researchers in Sweden.

29 Nov 2013

Cyclin D1 protein controls cell cycle progression, microRNA biogenesis in breast cancer

Cyclin D1, a protein that helps push a replicating cell through the cell cycle also mediates the processing and generation of mature microRNA, according to new research publishing November 29 in Nature Communications. The research suggests that a protein strongly implicated in human cancer also governs the non-protein-coding genome. The non-coding genome, previously referred to as junk DNA, makes up most of the human genome, and unlike the coding genome, varies greatly between species.

29 Nov 2013

DNA News and Research

Further Reading

Study reveals that brain cancer cells resist therapy by dialing down gene mutation targeted by drugs

Researchers take closer look at genetically engineered mouse models and human cancer samples

Tel Aviv University says caffeine and alcohol can change part of DNA linked to aging, cancer

Cancer triggers scleroderma, shows evidence

"Virtual T cell" predicts how human immune system reacts to foreign substances

UCSB researcher tracks source of E280A gene mutation responsible for early-onset Alzheimer's

New method for counting tumor-fighting cells to predict ovarian cancer

Scientists receive $4M grant to identify biomarker for secondary injuries associated with brain

Enrollment opens for IMO-8400 Phase 1/2 trial in patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia

Blocking Cdh1 protein could accelerate development of new therapies targeting cancer

BIDMC study shows carbon monoxide may have a role to play in treating cancer

Laboratoire Cerba launches noninvasive prenatal test in multiple countries

Study sheds new light on neuropsychiatric disorders

Cell Therapeutics concludes agreement with GKV-SV regarding reimbursement price of PIXUVRI

Findings could have important implications for personalized treatment of colon cancer

Tel Aviv University researchers discover a protein that kills bacteria

Scientists explain new family of proteins that appear to play key role in cancer

Multiplicom launches MID kit for Illumina MiSeq and MASTR kits for MODY, ADH and HCM

Three Umeå University researchers selected as Wallenberg Academy Fellows

Cyclin D1 protein controls cell cycle progression, microRNA biogenesis in breast cancer

eBook: A guide to RNA sequencing eBook

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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