DNA News and Research

RSS

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).

Researchers develop PEDV rapid diagnostic test

Mere months after porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) was first confirmed in the United States swine population, University of Minnesota researchers have developed a PEDV rapid diagnostic test.

24 Jul 2013

Discovery may help explain how anti-inflammatory steroid drugs work

A gene long presumed dead comes to life under the full moon of inflammation, Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have found.

23 Jul 2013

Melatonin pre-treatment greatly increases cell survival, say researchers

When melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, was used as a pre-treatment for mesenchymal stem cells prior to their transplantation into the brains of laboratory animals to repair damage from stroke, researchers in China found that the stem cells survived longer after transplantation. Previous studies had shown that 80 percent of transplanted MSCs died within 72 hours of transplantation.

23 Jul 2013

Researchers identify neural pathways involved in word learning among humans

For the first time scientists have identified how a pathway in the brain which is unique to humans allows us to learn new words. The average adult's vocabulary consists of about 30,000 words. This ability seems unique to humans as even the species closest to us -- chimps -- manage to learn no more than 100.

23 Jul 2013

New finding provides fresh hope for women with oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer

A new finding provides fresh hope for the millions of women worldwide with oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer. Australian scientists have shown that a specific change, which occurs when tumours become resistant to anti-oestrogen therapy, might make the cancers susceptible to treatment with chemotherapy drugs.

23 Jul 2013

p53 and cancer research: an interview with Professor Sir David Lane, Scientific Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

P53 is a tumor suppressor gene. The gene encodes for a protein that monitors the state of the cell. If something goes wrong, it stops the cell from dividing or causes the cell to commit suicide. I call it the “guardian of the genome” as it is the molecule that seems to keep cells normal. It is one of our big defenses against cancer.

22 Jul 2013

HistoGenetics selects MiSeq sequencing system from Illumina for use in CLIA laboratory

Illumina, Inc. today announced that HistoGenetics, the leader in high-resolution sequence-based human leukocyte antigen testing services, has selected the MiSeq sequencing system for use in its CLIA laboratory.

From Illumina, Inc. 22 Jul 2013

CLAMP: A newly discovered protein that regulates genes

They say a good man is hard to find. Were it not for a newly discovered protein, the X chromosome of a male fruit fly could never be found by a gene-regulating complex that male flies need to develop and survive. And that case is just one example of what the new finding means. More generally, the research provides biologists with a model of how proteins that govern gene transcription find their targets on chromosomes, a process that's essential to healthy cell function and sometimes implicated in disease.

22 Jul 2013

Weeds derived from crop plant pose special challenges for modern farming

The evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould once asked whether the living world would be different "if the tape were played twice." If there were a duplicate Earth evolving quietly beside ours, would we observe the emergence of creatures like ourselves and of plants and anaimals familiar to us, or would the cast of characters be entirely different?

22 Jul 2013

NKX2-8 mutation in dogs may be a risk factor for human neural tube defects, say researchers

A gene related to neural tube defects in dogs has for the first time been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and University of Iowa.

20 Jul 2013

Researchers identify mechanism behind pediatric solid tumors

Most of the time, it takes decades of accumulating genetic errors for a tumor to develop. While this explains the general occurrence of cancer in adults, it leaves a gap in understanding of the cause of pediatric tumors.

20 Jul 2013

Metagenomics technique used to recover TB genomes from 215-year old mummy

Researchers at the University of Warwick have recovered tuberculosis (TB) genomes from the lung tissue of a 215-year old mummy using a technique known as metagenomics.

20 Jul 2013

C. difficile bacteriophage provides new weapon to battle against superbugs

IFR microbiologists are reinvigorating a way of battling C. difficile infections that they hope will help overcome the growing problem of antibiotic resistant superbugs in hospitals.

19 Jul 2013

Scientists discover molecular switch that determines death or survival of cell

The study is the result of a collaboration of scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, University of Michigan, and University of California San Diego, USA, who were interested in finding out whether autophagy can be affected by events in the cell nucleus. Surprisingly, they discovered that a signal chain in the nucleus serves as a kind of molecular switch that determines whether the cell dies or survives.

19 Jul 2013

Ensemble Therapeutics announces initiation of drug discovery collaboration with Alexion subsidiary

Ensemble Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing Ensemblins, a novel class of small molecule therapeutics with the potential to modulate targets typically addressed by biologics, today announced the initiation of a drug discovery collaboration with a subsidiary of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the global biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing life-transforming therapies for patients with life-threatening, ultra-rare disorders.

18 Jul 2013

Study brings new hope for patients with metastatic prostate cancer

A study of a new radiotherapeutic drug published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine brings fresh hope for a particular group of cancer patients that otherwise suffer and ultimately die from the disease -- those with prostate cancer that has spread to their bones and has failed to be controlled by hormone deprivation drugs.

18 Jul 2013

Inovio's electroporation technology enhances ability of DNA therapy to stimulate blood vessel growth

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the use of its proprietary electroporation technology significantly enhanced the ability of a DNA therapy to stimulate blood vessel growth, which may be beneficial for the treatment of critical limb ischemia and other forms of peripheral arterial disease.

18 Jul 2013

CHOP-led research increases numbers of patients who could be treated with gene therapy

Gene therapy researchers have produced a bioengineered decoy that fools the immune system and prevents it from mistakenly defeating the benefits delivered by a corrective gene.

18 Jul 2013

Discovery provides evidence that genetic defect responsible for Down syndrome can be suppressed

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School are the first to establish that a naturally occurring X chromosome "off switch" can be rerouted to neutralize the extra chromosome responsible for trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by cognitive impairment.

18 Jul 2013

Social media and DNA fingerprinting played important role in alerting strep outbreak

Facebook posts helped alert public health officials to a strep throat outbreak among a high school dance team in 2012, and DNA fingerprinting led investigators to pasta prepared by a previously ill parent as the likely source.

18 Jul 2013

DNA News and Research

Further Reading

Researchers develop PEDV rapid diagnostic test

Discovery may help explain how anti-inflammatory steroid drugs work

Melatonin pre-treatment greatly increases cell survival, say researchers

Researchers identify neural pathways involved in word learning among humans

New finding provides fresh hope for women with oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer

p53 and cancer research: an interview with Professor Sir David Lane, Scientific Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

HistoGenetics selects MiSeq sequencing system from Illumina for use in CLIA laboratory

CLAMP: A newly discovered protein that regulates genes

Weeds derived from crop plant pose special challenges for modern farming

NKX2-8 mutation in dogs may be a risk factor for human neural tube defects, say researchers

Researchers identify mechanism behind pediatric solid tumors

Metagenomics technique used to recover TB genomes from 215-year old mummy

C. difficile bacteriophage provides new weapon to battle against superbugs

Scientists discover molecular switch that determines death or survival of cell

Ensemble Therapeutics announces initiation of drug discovery collaboration with Alexion subsidiary

Study brings new hope for patients with metastatic prostate cancer

Inovio's electroporation technology enhances ability of DNA therapy to stimulate blood vessel growth

CHOP-led research increases numbers of patients who could be treated with gene therapy

Discovery provides evidence that genetic defect responsible for Down syndrome can be suppressed

Social media and DNA fingerprinting played important role in alerting strep outbreak

Discover how SciY empowers scientists

Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

Changing the landscape of R&D to build clinical success from the ground up

Latest Life Science News