Molecular Biology News and Research

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Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry. Molecular biology chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between DNA, RNA and protein biosynthesis as well as learning how these interactions are regulated.

VitaYeast project to curb global malnutrition

Any way you slice it, bread that contains critical nutrients could help combat severe malnutrition in impoverished regions. That is the goal of a group of Johns Hopkins University undergraduate students who are using synthetic biology to enhance common yeast so that it yields beta carotene, the orange substance that gives carrots their color. When it's eaten, beta-carotene turns into vitamin A.

27 Oct 2011

Gestational BPA exposure associated with behavior, emotional problems in young girls

Exposure in the womb to bisphenol A (BPA) - a chemical used to make plastic containers and other consumer goods - is associated with behavior and emotional problems in young girls, according to a study led by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Center, and Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia.

24 Oct 2011

DFG announces establishment of twelve research units

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft has established nine new Research Units and three Clinical Research Units. The decision was made by the Joint Committee of Germany's central research funding organisation at its October meeting in Bonn.

22 Oct 2011

Women with MET genetic variant and autoantibodies more likely to have autistic children

A study by researchers at UC Davis has found that pregnant women with a particular gene variation are more likely to produce autoantibodies to the brains of their developing fetuses and that the children of these mothers are at greater risk of later being diagnosed with autism.

20 Oct 2011

OPHN1 protein mediates mGluR-dependent longterm depression at synapses

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have solved part of a puzzle concerning the relationship between changes in the strength of synapses - the tiny gaps across which nerve cells in the brain communicate - and dysfunctions in neural circuits that have been linked with drug addiction, mental retardation and other cognitive disorders.

20 Oct 2011

New form of respiratory distress syndrome in newborn mice

A discovery by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies might explain why some premature infants fail to respond to existing treatments for a deadly respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and offers clues for new ways to treat the breathing disorder.

19 Oct 2011

FSU biologists devise new way to watch how cells move

For better and for worse, human health depends on a cell's motility -- the ability to crawl from place to place. In every human body, millions of cells -are crawling around doing mostly good deeds --- though if any of those crawlers are cancerous, watch out.

19 Oct 2011

JPO issues new patent for Genprex's lead lung cancer candidate

A new patent covering tumor suppression technologies, including the company's lead product candidate Oncoprex, was recently awarded to The University of Texas System by the Japan Patent Office. Patent number 4813746 pertains to the discovery that chromosome 3p21.3 genes act as cancer suppressors.

19 Oct 2011

VEGF protein appears to prevent progression of spinocerebellar ataxia type 1

A protein that promotes the growth of neurons and blood vessels appears to stop the progression of a genetic disease that causes degeneration of the cerebellum, according to new preclinical Northwestern Medicine research published in Nature Medicine.

18 Oct 2011

Molecular switch activates anti-viral innate immune response

When a thief breaks into a bank vault, sensors are activated and the alarm is raised. Cells have their own early-warning system for intruders, and scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble, France, have discovered how a particular protein sounds that alarm when it detects invading viruses.

15 Oct 2011

Scientists reveal how resistance to hormone leptin develops

The effects of obesity - both on our bodies and on the health budget - are well known, and now, scientists are getting closer to understanding how the disease progresses, providing clues for future treatments.

15 Oct 2011

Scientisits uncover evidence of powerful new cancer genetic networks

In findings with major implications for the genetics of cancer and human health, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and two other science teams in New York City and Rome have uncovered evidence of powerful new genetic networks and showed how it may work to drive cancer and normal development.

14 Oct 2011

EMBO, EMBC and Singapore sign cooperation agreement

Scientists in Singapore and Europe will have new avenues for scientific interaction, following a cooperation agreement between EMBO, its intergovernmental funding body, EMBC, and the government of Singapore.

14 Oct 2011

UCLA's screening system can target stem cells responsible for glioblastoma

Researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed and used a high-throughput molecular screening approach that identifies and characterizes chemical compounds that can target the stem cells that are responsible for creating deadly brain tumors.

12 Oct 2011

A new approach to cancer treatment

Scientists have discovered a mechanism that causes an aggressive type of lung cancer to re-grow following chemotherapy, offering hope for new therapies.

9 Oct 2011

Researchers show how nuclear receptors battle each other during fruit fly metamorphosis

Growing up just got more complicated. Thomas Jefferson University biochemistry researchers have shown for the first time that the receptor for a major insect molting hormone doesn't activate and repress genes as once thought. In fact, it only activates genes, and it is out-competed by a heme-binding receptor to repress the same genes during the larval to pupal transition in the fruit fly.

7 Oct 2011

NCKU research team discovers potential target to treat osteoporosis

A National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) research team has discovered that a protein called interleukin (IL)-20 is a key to treating osteoporosis, a disease that lowers a person's bone density.

7 Oct 2011

Illumina, UNTHSC enter next-generation sequencing collaboration in forensic DNA analysis

Illumina, Inc. today announced it has entered into a wide-ranging collaborative research agreement with the Institute of Applied Genetics and the Department of Forensic and Investigative Genetics at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC). Illumina and UNTHSC will collaborate on several visionary projects in forensics using Illumina's next-generation sequencing technologies.

From Illumina, Inc. 4 Oct 2011

Health Canada approves Trajenta (linagliptin) for type 2 diabetes

Boehringer Ingelheim Canada and Eli Lilly Canada today announced that Health Canada has approved Trajenta (linagliptin), a new oral therapy to improve glycemic control in Canadian adults with type 2 diabetes.

3 Oct 2011

UCSF protein researcher wins NIH's Early Independence Award

James Fraser, PhD, a protein researcher who studies structural biology at the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is one of 10 recipients of a prestigious award for young scientists given for the first time by the National Institutes of Health.

1 Oct 2011