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Scientists succeed in clarifying molecular signature of hantaviruses

Scientists at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Labor Berlin GmbH have succeeded in clarifying the molecular signature of the viruses that lead to an increasing size and number of hantavirus outbreaks in Germany.

3 Sep 2012

DEAD-box proteins function as recycling nanopistons when unwinding RNA

AUSTIN, Texas-Molecular biologists at The University of Texas at Austin have solved one of the mysteries of how double-stranded RNA is remodeled inside cells in both their normal and disease states. The discovery may have implications for treating cancer and viruses in humans.

3 Sep 2012

Study shows how NCAN gene results in manic symptoms of bipolar disorder

Flying high, or down in the dumps - individuals suffering from bipolar disorder alternate between depressive and manic episodes. Researchers from the University of Bonn and the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim have now discovered, based on patient data and animal models, how the NCAN gene results in the manic symptoms of bipolar disorder. The results have been published in the current issue of "The American Journal of Psychiatry."

1 Sep 2012

Dabigatran exposure may RE-LY on genetics

Researchers have found that variants in the ABCB1 and CES1 genes are associated with increased dabigatran plasma levels in patients taking the oral anticoagulant.

30 Aug 2012

DNA synthesis in the 3’ and 5’ direction possible using new template-directed method

When a cell divides, it passes on genetic information by producing copies of its DNA. Chemists have also learned to copy DNA. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a German team has now introduced a new copying technique that uses a single strand of DNA as the “master copy”, like a cell, but does not require enzymes.

30 Aug 2012

Cyclin D3 protein regulates size and quantity of RBCs

The adult human circulatory system contains between 20 and 30 trillion red blood cells (RBCs), the precise size and number of which can vary from person to person. Some people may have fewer, but larger RBCs, while others may have a larger number of smaller RBCs. Although these differences in size and number may seem inconsequential, they raise an important question: Just what controls these characteristics of RBCs?

29 Aug 2012

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics Special Focus provides critical view on cancer vaccines

In one of the most comprehensive peer-reviewed discussions on cancer vaccines and immunotherapeutics, a Special Focus in the journal Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics provides a critical view on cancer vaccines and a discussion on best approaches for the future.

28 Aug 2012

ABCD4 and CblF proteins responsible for hereditary vitamin B12 deficiency

Vitamin B12 is vital for cell division, the synthesis of red blood cells and the functioning of the nervous system. Unable to produce the vitamin itself, the human body has to obtain it via animal proteins. So far it has been known that on its way into the cell vitamin B12 is absorbed by little organelles, so-called lysosomes. From there, the vitamin enters the cell interior with the aid of the transport protein CblF, which was discovered by the same research team three years ago.

28 Aug 2012

Researchers discover new genetic disease related to vitamin B12 deficiency

Vitamin B12 is essential to human health. However, some people have inherited conditions that leave them unable to process vitamin B12. As a result they are prone to serious health problems, including developmental delay, psychosis, stroke and dementia. An international research team recently discovered a new genetic disease related to vitamin B12 deficiency by identifying a gene that is vital to the transport of vitamin into the cells of the body.

27 Aug 2012

Certain human diseases may have evolutionary epigenetic origins

Ninety-six percent of a chimpanzee's genome is the same as a human's. It's the other 4 percent, and the vast differences, that pique the interest of Georgia Tech's Soojin Yi. For instance, why do humans have a high risk of cancer, even though chimps rarely develop the disease? In research published in September's American Journal of Human Genetics, Yi looked at brain samples of each species. She found that differences in certain DNA modifications, called methylation, may contribute to phenotypic changes.

24 Aug 2012

Changes in DNA methylation might be linked to evolution of humans' vulnerability to diseases

Chimpanzees rarely get cancer, or a variety of other diseases that commonly arise in humans, but their genomic DNA sequence is nearly identical to ours. So, what's their secret? Researchers reporting in the September issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, a Cell Press journal, have found that differences in certain DNA modifications, called methylation, might play a role.

24 Aug 2012

The Wistar Institute, MSKCC partner to publish first annotated atlas of Epstein-Barr virus genome

Researchers from The Wistar Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have teamed to publish the first annotated atlas of the Epstein-Barr virus genome, creating the most comprehensive study of how the viral genome interacts with its human host during a latent infection. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is thought to be responsible for one percent of all human cancers, establishes a latent infection in nearly 100 percent of infected adult humans.

24 Aug 2012

NIH awards $100,000 STTR Phase I Grant to Transgenomic for pancreatic cancer research

Transgenomic, Inc. today announced it has been awarded a $100,000 Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) Phase I Grant by the National Institutes of Health's National Center For Advancing Translational Sciences.

23 Aug 2012

Chemists develop new lab test to examine how DNA damage disrupts protein synthesis

Transcription is a cellular process by which genetic information from DNA is copied to messenger RNA for protein production. But anticancer drugs and environmental chemicals can sometimes interrupt this flow of genetic information by causing modifications in DNA.

22 Aug 2012

U-M, IGC launch new joint venture for personalized medicine

As a key step toward providing patients with treatments based on their own DNA profiles, the University of Michigan and the International Genomics Consortium (IGC) have launched a new joint venture that will help usher in an age of personalized medicine.

17 Aug 2012

CYCLOPS genes may serve as targets for cancer therapies

The genomic tumult within tumor cells has provided scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard with clues to an entirely new class of genes that may serve as an Achilles' heel for many forms of cancer.

16 Aug 2012

Thomson Reuters welcomes GenoSpace to Life Sciences Partner Ecosystem

The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters, the world's leading provider of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, today announced that GenoSpace joined its Life Sciences Partner Ecosystem.

16 Aug 2012

Novel Cornelia de Lange syndrome gene discovered

Scientists have discovered that mutations in the histone deacetylase 8 gene can cause the rare genetic disorder known as Cornelia de Lange syndrome, which is characterized by intellectual disability, limb deformity, and other disabilities resulting from problems in early development.

13 Aug 2012

Quintiles acquires premier provider of genomics testing and analysis

To help biopharmaceutical companies dramatically improve drug development productivity and deliver greater value, Quintiles today announced the acquisition of Expression Analysis, Inc. (EA), a premier provider of genomics testing and analysis to biopharma, academic, government and non-profit customers.

13 Aug 2012

Researchers discover gene mutations linked to spinocerebellar ataxia

A global hunt for the cause of a crippling inherited nerve disorder has found its target. The discovery opens the door for better diagnosis and treatment of this particular disease - but also for better understanding of why nerves in the brain's movement-controlling center die, and how new DNA-mapping techniques can find the causes of other diseases that run in families.

13 Aug 2012