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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).

Insight into how protein synthesis and degradation help regulate delicate ballet of cell division

Biochemists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst including assistant professor Peter Chien recently gained new insight into how protein synthesis and degradation help to regulate the delicate ballet of cell division. In particular, they reveal how two proteins shelter each other in "mutually assured cleanup" to insure that division goes smoothly and safely.

5 Mar 2013

Discovery provides clues for potentially eliminating HIV infection in children

A two-year-old child born with HIV infection and treated with antiretroviral drugs beginning in the first days of life no longer has detectable levels of virus using conventional testing despite not taking HIV medication for 10 months, according to findings presented today at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta.

5 Mar 2013

Study highlights long-term benefits of early antiretroviral therapy initiated in infants

A study led by University of Massachusetts Medical School professor and immunologist Katherine Luzuriaga, MD, and Johns Hopkins Children's Center virologist Deborah Persaud, MD, highlights the long-term benefits of early antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiated in infants.

5 Mar 2013

People with variations in FTO gene could be at increased risk of melanoma

The research shows that people with particular variations in a stretch of DNA within the FTO gene, called intron 8, could be at greater risk of developing melanoma.

5 Mar 2013

Study identifies two gene mutations that lead to death of nerve cells in ALS

A study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has discovered mutations in two genes that lead to the death of nerve cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and related degenerative diseases.

4 Mar 2013

Researchers identify mechanisms that connect variety of diseases linked with inflammation

A study led by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has identified epigenetic mechanisms that connect a variety of diseases associated with inflammation.

3 Mar 2013

Melanoma tumours deliberately create conditions that knock out body's premier immune defence

New research in the Journal of Clinical Investigation reveals that tumours in melanoma patients deliberately create conditions that knock out the body's 'premier' immune defence and instead attract a weaker immune response unable to kill off the tumour's cancerous cells.

2 Mar 2013

Researchers elucidate how Fgf8 is controlled by multiple regulatory elements in mammal embryos

During embryo development, genes are dynamically, and very precisely, switched on and off to confer different properties to different cells and build a well-proportioned and healthy animal. Fgf8 is one of the key genes in this process, controlling in particular the growth of the limbs and the formation of the different regions of the brain. Researchers at EMBL have elucidated how Fgf8 in mammal embryos is, itself, controlled by a series of multiple, interdependent regulatory elements.

1 Mar 2013

Structural connectome maps reveal new details about agenesis of the corpus callosum

Combining hospital MRIs with the mathematical tool known as network analysis, a group of researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley have mapped the three-dimensional global connections within the brains of seven adults who have genetic malformations that leave them without the corpus callosum, which connects the left and right sides of the brain.

1 Mar 2013

New way to identify heterogeneous brain cells by looking at epigenetic variation

Scientists from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD have developed a new way to identify heterogeneous brain cells by looking at epigenetic variation (the heritable alterations in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in DNA sequence).

1 Mar 2013

Scientists take important step toward designing a uniform protocol for microbiome research

Earth Day may be more than a month away, but another, more personal, ecosystem has been shown to also be worth protecting-within our bodies are communities of microbes that affect the behavior of human cells hosting them.

1 Mar 2013

Not all acne bacteria trigger pimples: Study

The bacteria that cause acne live on everyone's skin, yet one in five people is lucky enough to develop only an occasional pimple over a lifetime.

1 Mar 2013

UMDNJ biochemist to research into mechanisms that control gene expression in mitochondria

Dmitry Temiakov, PhD, a biochemist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine, has received a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund research into the molecular mechanisms that control gene expression in mitochondria, the organelles that are the "power plants" of cellular activity.

1 Mar 2013

New findings could help develop treatments for inherited disorders

Fresh insights into the protective seal that surrounds the DNA of our cells could help develop treatments for inherited muscle, brain, bone and skin disorders.

27 Feb 2013

Taiho Pharmaceutical seeks Japanese approval for TAS-102 to treat colorectal cancer

Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced on February 27 that it submitted an application on February 26 for approval of the manufacture and marketing of the novel oral nucleoside antitumor agent TAS-102 (combination of trifluorothymidine (FTD) and tipiracil hydrochloride (TPI)) to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

27 Feb 2013

MID1 complex binds with messenger RNA and controls synthesis of defective Huntingtin

Huntington's disease, also known as Huntington's chorea, is a hereditary brain disease causing movement disorders and dementia. In Germany, there are about 8,000 patients affected by Huntington's disease, with several hundred new cases arising every year. The disease usually manifests between the ages of 35 and 50.

27 Feb 2013

Genetic variation in CD33 influences how AML patients' leukemic cell responds to GO

Researchers from the College of Pharmacy and Medical School working within the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, have partnered to identify genetic variations that may help signal which acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients will benefit or not benefit from one of the newest antileukemic agents.

26 Feb 2013

Researchers improve NanoVelcro device to better grab cancer cells as blood passes by them

Researchers at UCLA report that they have refined a method they previously developed for capturing and analyzing cancer cells that break away from patients' tumors and circulate in the blood. With the improvements to their device, which uses a Velcro-like nanoscale technology, they can now detect and isolate single cancer cells from patient blood samples for analysis.

26 Feb 2013

Insight into cellular operations that give extraordinary staying power to S. mansoni

From the point of view of its ultimate (human) host, the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni has a gruesome way of life. It hatches in feces-tainted water, grows into a larva in the body of a snail and then burrows through human skin to take up residence in the veins. Once there, it grows into an adult, mates and, if it's female, starts laying eggs. It can remain in the body for decades.

26 Feb 2013

HDAC-mediated mechanisms play critical role in regulating lung repair and regeneration

Lung diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are on the rise, according to the American Lung Association and the National Institutes of Health.

26 Feb 2013

DNA News and Research

Further Reading

Insight into how protein synthesis and degradation help regulate delicate ballet of cell division

Discovery provides clues for potentially eliminating HIV infection in children

Study highlights long-term benefits of early antiretroviral therapy initiated in infants

People with variations in FTO gene could be at increased risk of melanoma

Study identifies two gene mutations that lead to death of nerve cells in ALS

Researchers identify mechanisms that connect variety of diseases linked with inflammation

Melanoma tumours deliberately create conditions that knock out body's premier immune defence

Researchers elucidate how Fgf8 is controlled by multiple regulatory elements in mammal embryos

Structural connectome maps reveal new details about agenesis of the corpus callosum

New way to identify heterogeneous brain cells by looking at epigenetic variation

Scientists take important step toward designing a uniform protocol for microbiome research

Not all acne bacteria trigger pimples: Study

UMDNJ biochemist to research into mechanisms that control gene expression in mitochondria

New findings could help develop treatments for inherited disorders

Taiho Pharmaceutical seeks Japanese approval for TAS-102 to treat colorectal cancer

MID1 complex binds with messenger RNA and controls synthesis of defective Huntingtin

Genetic variation in CD33 influences how AML patients' leukemic cell responds to GO

Researchers improve NanoVelcro device to better grab cancer cells as blood passes by them

Insight into cellular operations that give extraordinary staying power to S. mansoni

HDAC-mediated mechanisms play critical role in regulating lung repair and regeneration

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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