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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).

The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.

DNA bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form units called base pairs. Each base is also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are called a nucleotide. Nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix. The structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder, with the base pairs forming the ladder’s rungs and the sugar and phosphate molecules forming the vertical sidepieces of the ladder.

An important property of DNA is that it can replicate, or make copies of itself. Each strand of DNA in the double helix can serve as a pattern for duplicating the sequence of bases. This is critical when cells divide because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of the DNA present in the old cell.
Mayo Clinic, Cancer Genetics form joint venture to improve cancer care

Mayo Clinic, Cancer Genetics form joint venture to improve cancer care

Mayo Clinic and Cancer Genetics Inc. today launched OncoSpire Genomics, a joint venture with the singular goal of improving cancer care by discovering and commercializing diagnostic tests that leverage next-generation sequencing. [More]
Researchers develop new method for delivering molecules into targeted single cells through temporary holes

Researchers develop new method for delivering molecules into targeted single cells through temporary holes

Northwestern University researchers have developed a new method for delivering molecules into single, targeted cells through temporary holes in the cell surface. The technique could find applications in drug delivery, cell therapy, and related biological fields. [More]
Viewpoints: Slowing health costs; What causes genetic testing to be so expensive; Iowa governor offers Medicaid supports a 'glimmer of hope'

Viewpoints: Slowing health costs; What causes genetic testing to be so expensive; Iowa governor offers Medicaid supports a 'glimmer of hope'

We have done it. We have decreased the increase in the cost of healthcare. ... Is this decline the desperately needed bend in the healthcare cost curve or just the impact of the depressed economy? ... A slower growth of healthcare cost would mean less burden on the individual family, freeing that family to invest in and live a higher quality of life. [More]

Video demonstrating a SPE microplate method for reproducible isolation of high quality RNA released by INTEGRA

INTEGRA has released a new video demonstrating a solid phase extraction (SPE) microplate method for reproducible, high throughput isolation of high-quality DNA-free total RNA. [More]
Rice University computational study tracks regulatory mechanisms of E. coli cells

Rice University computational study tracks regulatory mechanisms of E. coli cells

Environment is not the only factor in shaping regulatory patterns -- and it might not even be the primary factor, according to a new Rice University study that looks at how cells' protein networks relate to a bacteria's genome. [More]
Caltech biologists show that microRNA-146a protects stem cells during inflammation

Caltech biologists show that microRNA-146a protects stem cells during inflammation

When infections occur in the body, stem cells in the blood often jump into action by multiplying and differentiating into mature immune cells that can fight off illness. But repeated infections and inflammation can deplete these cell populations, potentially leading to the development of serious blood conditions such as cancer. [More]
Vitamin C kills drug-resistant TB bacteria in lab

Vitamin C kills drug-resistant TB bacteria in lab

In a striking, unexpected discovery, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have determined that vitamin C kills drug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria in laboratory culture. [More]
Childhood maltreatment linked to increased risk of obesity in adult life

Childhood maltreatment linked to increased risk of obesity in adult life

Children who have suffered maltreatment are 36% more likely to be obese in adulthood compared to non-maltreated children, according to a new study by King's College London. The authors estimate that the prevention or effective treatment of 7 cases of child maltreatment could avoid 1 case of adult obesity. [More]
Stronger epigenetic changes in estrogen responsive genes linked to postpartum depression

Stronger epigenetic changes in estrogen responsive genes linked to postpartum depression

The epigenetic modifications, which alter the way genes function without changing the underlying DNA sequence, can apparently be detected in the blood of pregnant women during any trimester, potentially providing a simple way to foretell depression in the weeks after giving birth, and an opportunity to intervene before symptoms become debilitating. [More]
Researchers say that receiving cancer radiation therapy late in the day may minimize hair loss

Researchers say that receiving cancer radiation therapy late in the day may minimize hair loss

Discovering that mouse hair has a circadian clock - a 24-hour cycle of growth followed by restorative repair - researchers suspect that hair loss in humans from toxic cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy might be minimized if these treatments are given late in the day. [More]
Disruption of brain developmental processes caused by premature birth can affect cognitive function

Disruption of brain developmental processes caused by premature birth can affect cognitive function

Researchers from King's College London have for the first time used a novel form of MRI to identify crucial developmental processes in the brain that are vulnerable to the effects of premature birth. [More]
Researchers pinpoint catalytic trigger for onset of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers pinpoint catalytic trigger for onset of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease - when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons in the brain. [More]
Cell Therapeutics announces issuance of final benefit assessment report for PIXUVRI

Cell Therapeutics announces issuance of final benefit assessment report for PIXUVRI

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. today reported that Germany's Federal Joint Committee has issued its final benefit assessment report for PIXUVRI (pixantrone), which is indicated as a monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) who have failed two or three prior lines of therapy. [More]
Measuring genetic diversity within tumor predicts outcomes of patients with head and neck cancer

Measuring genetic diversity within tumor predicts outcomes of patients with head and neck cancer

A new measure of the heterogeneity - the variety of genetic mutations - of cells within a tumor appears to predict treatment outcomes of patients with the most common type of head and neck cancer. [More]
Understanding the role of dsRNA in antiviral host defense systems

Understanding the role of dsRNA in antiviral host defense systems

Animals, insects, and plants use a variety of sensing mechanisms to detect invading pathogens such as viruses. One complex and effective antiviral defense system they share is based on recognition of double-stranded RNA, often produced when a virus invades a host cell. [More]

RUCDR Infinite Biologics creates new Genomics Technology Center

RUCDR Infinite Biologics, the world's largest university-based biorepository, has completed an $11.8 million renovation project to create a new Genomics Technology Center, comprising 12,500 square feet of laboratory, office, and storage space on the Busch Campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. [More]

Scientists unravel complex role of PBs in maintaining cellular homeostasis

As scientists learn more about processing bodies, granules present within normal cells, they are unraveling the complex role PBs play in maintaining cellular homeostasis by regulating RNA metabolism and cell signaling. [More]
Weekend reading: Volunteers in the battle with heart disease; Psychiatry without medication; Owning your genes

Weekend reading: Volunteers in the battle with heart disease; Psychiatry without medication; Owning your genes

Psychiatrists who take time with their patients are not the norm. It's not because others don't care. Rather the system rewards efficiency, not empathy. [More]

New GWA can pose major ethical problems if used incorrectly, say ESHG recommendations

The use of genome-wide analysis, where the entirety of an individual's DNA is examined to look for the genomic mutations or variants which can cause health problems is a massively useful technology for diagnosing disease. [More]
Study provides new evidence that genetic risk for schizophrenia associated with lower IQ

Study provides new evidence that genetic risk for schizophrenia associated with lower IQ

The relationship between the heritable risk for schizophrenia and low intelligence has not been clear. Schizophrenia is commonly associated with cognitive impairments that may cause functional disability. There are clues that reduced IQ may be linked to the risk for developing schizophrenia. [More]