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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).

Diagnosing colonic polyps: an interview with Dr. Haili Wang, Metabolomic Technologies Inc. (MTI)

Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of death in North America, but it is preventable if found at the colonic polyp stage. Currently, only 39% of colorectal cancer cases in the US are diagnosed at an early and treatable stage.

28 Nov 2013

UK to fund over 70 new Centres for Doctoral Training

Details of how a -350 million fund will be used to train over 3,500 postgraduate students in engineering and physical sciences, will be announced today by Universities and Science Minister, David Willetts.

28 Nov 2013

Surgeon performs first-ever retrograde gene therapy on human heart

Ernie Lively moved to a scenic home in the mountains of Wasatch County to escape the hectic pace of Hollywood when he retired. But retirement didn't provide Lively with the active lifestyle he craved because of simple reality: His heart was failing.

28 Nov 2013

Enzyme intervenes when cancer-fighting PTEN is bound for cell's protein-destroying machinery

A protector for PTEN, a tumor-thwarting protein often missing in cancer cells, has emerged from research led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center published online at Nature Cell Biology this week.

28 Nov 2013

Modafinil in combination with antidepressants reduces severity of depression more effectively

A new study has concluded that taking the drug modafinil, typically used to treat sleep disorders, in combination with antidepressants reduces the severity of depression more effectively than taking antidepressants alone.

28 Nov 2013

Genetics and cardiovascular drugs: an interview with Nancy Lurker, CEO of PDI and Paul Kinnon, CEO of Transgenomic, Inc.

People inherit different versions of any particular gene, and some genes affect how patients process and metabolize medicines. This especially holds true for people with cardiovascular (CV) disease. They may be fast, slow or non-metabolizers and might also react badly (with serious adverse events) to certain drug therapies or not at all.

27 Nov 2013

Alpha Biolaboratories launches first accredited next day DNA paternity testing service in UK

A Warrington-based DNA testing laboratory is offering the UK's first standard next day paternity results service and is on a recruitment drive to cope with the anticipated increase in demand.

27 Nov 2013

Researchers show how unusual properties of A3G protein help fight HIV infection

A collaborative team led by a Northeastern University professor may have altered the way we look at drug development for HIV by uncovering some unusual properties of a human protein called APOBEC3G.

27 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Local political fallout from Obama insurance pledge; 'debunking' sob story; is single payer still a possibility?

Democratic state leaders have been some of ObamaCare's strongest advocates. To show his gratitude, President Obama is sticking them with political responsibility for the millions of insurance policies that are being cancelled because they don't comply with the law's minimum-benefits mandates. ... Renewing lapsed policies could weaken the state exchanges as healthy young people will want to keep their discontinued, lower-cost plans ... there are other political considerations. Namely, the criticism they'll face from both the right and left if they don't back the president's directive to allow policy renewals (Allysia Finley, 11/25).

27 Nov 2013

Freiburg scientists discover substance that suppresses unchecked cell division in leukemia cells

Scientists of the University of Freiburg and the Freiburg University Medical Center from the collaborative research center Medical Epigenetics (SFB 992) have discovered a new active substance that inhibits cell division in leukemia cells and could play an important role in the fight against cancer.

27 Nov 2013

CSHL identifies specific stretch of DNA that helps cancerous blood cells to proliferate in AML

A team of researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has identified a leukemia-specific stretch of DNA called an enhancer element that enables cancerous blood cells to proliferate in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a devastating cancer that is incurable in 70% of patients.

27 Nov 2013

FDA orders halt to marketing for DNA test kit

The agency says the tests haven't been proven effective. The Food and Drug Administration has ordered the maker of a popular genetic-testing kit to halt sales of its heavily marketed product, saying the mail-order tests haven't been proven effective and could dangerously mislead people about their health.

27 Nov 2013

Biochemist receives grant to identify pathway to regulate DNA damage repair in cancer cells

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are often used to kill cancer cells by causing irreparable DNA damage. However, some cancer patients resist chemotherapy and radiation due to a highly active DNA damage repair system.

26 Nov 2013

Researchers successfully target T lymphocytes which play key role in body's immune response

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have successfully targeted T lymphocytes - which play a central role in the body's immune response - with another type of white blood cell engineered to synthesize and deliver bits of non-coding RNA or microRNA (miRNA).

26 Nov 2013

Vitamin pills can do more harm than good

Vitamin supplements are a billion-dollar industry. We want to stay healthy and fit and help our bodies with this. But perhaps we are achieving precisely the opposite?

26 Nov 2013

Researcher receives $225,000 grant to study epigenetic changes associated with chemotherapy

Western University cancer researcher Shun-Cheng (Shawn) Li, PhD, has been awarded a China-Canada Joint Health Research Initiative grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

26 Nov 2013

Researchers reveal why some breast cancer cells are resistant to chemotherapy

Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine, working with cell lines in a lab, have discovered why some of the most aggressive and fatal breast cancer cells are resistant to chemotherapy, and UNC scientists are developing ways to overcome such resistance.

26 Nov 2013

Asparagine found in meat, eggs and dairy products is important for normal brain development

Asparagine, found in foods such as meat, eggs, and dairy products, was until now considered non-essential because it is produced naturally by the body. Researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital found that the amino acid is essential for normal brain development.

26 Nov 2013

Genetic variation linked to increased levels of triglycerides associated with heart disorders

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have found that a genetic variation that is linked to increased levels of triglycerides -- fats in the blood associated with disorders such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and stroke -- is far more common than previously believed and disproportionally affects people of African ancestry.

26 Nov 2013

Researchers repurpose genetic data, electronic medical records to perform large-scale PheWAS study

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers and co-authors from four other U.S. institutions from the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network are repurposing genetic data and electronic medical records to perform the first large-scale phenome-wide association study (PheWAS), released today in Nature Biotechnology.

26 Nov 2013

DNA News and Research

Further Reading

Diagnosing colonic polyps: an interview with Dr. Haili Wang, Metabolomic Technologies Inc. (MTI)

UK to fund over 70 new Centres for Doctoral Training

Surgeon performs first-ever retrograde gene therapy on human heart

Enzyme intervenes when cancer-fighting PTEN is bound for cell's protein-destroying machinery

Modafinil in combination with antidepressants reduces severity of depression more effectively

Genetics and cardiovascular drugs: an interview with Nancy Lurker, CEO of PDI and Paul Kinnon, CEO of Transgenomic, Inc.

Alpha Biolaboratories launches first accredited next day DNA paternity testing service in UK

Researchers show how unusual properties of A3G protein help fight HIV infection

Viewpoints: Local political fallout from Obama insurance pledge; 'debunking' sob story; is single payer still a possibility?

Freiburg scientists discover substance that suppresses unchecked cell division in leukemia cells

CSHL identifies specific stretch of DNA that helps cancerous blood cells to proliferate in AML

FDA orders halt to marketing for DNA test kit

Biochemist receives grant to identify pathway to regulate DNA damage repair in cancer cells

Researchers successfully target T lymphocytes which play key role in body's immune response

Vitamin pills can do more harm than good

Researcher receives $225,000 grant to study epigenetic changes associated with chemotherapy

Researchers reveal why some breast cancer cells are resistant to chemotherapy

Asparagine found in meat, eggs and dairy products is important for normal brain development

Genetic variation linked to increased levels of triglycerides associated with heart disorders

Researchers repurpose genetic data, electronic medical records to perform large-scale PheWAS study

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