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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).

Researchers make colorectal screening a little easier

Colon cancer screening is a tough sell. It's icky, uncomfortable and the thought of a colonoscopy, especially the prep, can be intimidating, to say the least.

25 Mar 2008

BARACLUDE data show low resistance over 5 years in nucleoside-naive hepatitis B patients

New BARACLUDE (entecavir) data presented demonstrated a continued low incidence of resistance in nucleoside-naïve patients through five years of treatment. In the nucleoside-naïve chronic hepatitis B patients analyzed, no additional patient developed resistance in the fifth year (n=108).

25 Mar 2008

New genetic clue to Parkinson's disease

Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University have discovered a gene that could hold the key to developing new treatments for Parkinson's disease – a progressive and often debilitating movement disorder that affects as many as one million Americans.

24 Mar 2008

New insight into radiation damage to DNA

A new technique for assessing the damage radiation causes to DNA indicates that the spatial arrangement of damaged sites, or lesions, is more important than the number of lesions in determining the severity of the damage.

24 Mar 2008

Jumping gene may contribute to Cockayne syndrome

Scientists have identified a fusion protein that may contribute to Cockayne syndrome, a devastating disease characterized by developmental defects, neurodegeneration, severe wasting, and premature aging.

24 Mar 2008

Low levels of dietary folate linked to sperm abnormalities

Healthy men who report lower levels of the nutrient folate in their diets have higher rates of chromosomal abnormalities in their sperm, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

20 Mar 2008

Shorter radiotherapy courses can benefit breast cancer patients

A LOWER total dose of radiotherapy, delivered in fewer, larger treatments has been shown to be as effective as the international standard of a higher total dose delivered over a longer time to treat women with early breast cancer according to new research published in the Lancetand Lancet Oncology.

20 Mar 2008

More efficient gene targeting improves prospects for gene therapy

The Nobel prize-winning MRC scientist Sir Aaron Klug and a team from an American company, Sangamo BioSciences, have announced a new way to target genes that may revolutionise medical research and pave the way for new treatments.

20 Mar 2008

Parasitic worm Schistosoma mekongi more widespread than previously thought

A new genetic analysis, published March 19th in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, suggests that the parasitic worm Schistosoma mekongi is more widespread than previously thought.

20 Mar 2008

Genomas awarded $1.2 million to develop DNA-guided system for management of statin therapy

Genomas, a biomedical company advancing DNA-guided medicine and personalized healthcare, has announced the award of a Fast-Track Phase I-II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant totaling $1.2 million.

20 Mar 2008

Disruption of the Contactin 4 gene on chromosome 3 may be linked to autism spectrum disorder

Eli Hatchwell, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pathology at Stony Brook University Medical Center, and colleagues have found that a disruption of the Contactin 4 gene on chromosome 3 may be linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

20 Mar 2008

Cell therapies for diabetes, cancer

Therapies using stem cell transplants are advancing promising treatments for such conditions as Alzheimer's Disease, neurological diseases and spinal cord injury, and heart disease.

20 Mar 2008

First 3-D view of anti-cancer agent

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Purdue School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis have created the first three-dimensional image of how a well-established chemotherapy agent targets and binds to DNA.

19 Mar 2008

Cutting edge computing sheds light on how life on earth may have originated

The UK's national computing grid, along with their counterparts in the US (TeraGrid) and Europe have helped UCL (University College London) scientists shed light on how life on earth may have originated.

19 Mar 2008

At home genomic tests for disease risk may be premature

The recent marketing of "at home" genomic tests for disease risk may be premature, according to Dr. Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH, Chief of the Clinical Genetics Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC).

19 Mar 2008

Surprising discovery from first large-scale analysis of biodiversity and biogeography of viruses

Viruses and bacterial viruses (known as phages) are among the most abundant life forms on the planet.

18 Mar 2008

On the trail of rogue genetically modified pathogens

Bacteria can be used to engineer genetic modifications, thereby providing scientists with a tool to combat many challenges in areas from food production to drug discovery.

18 Mar 2008

New insights into the diversity of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease agents

Researchers from the United Kingdom and France have identified four separate biochemical subgroups in a selection of cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

18 Mar 2008

Body mass index higher among bariatric surgery patients with 2 genetic variations

The combination of two obesity-related genetic variations may be associated with an increased body mass index (BMI) among severely obese patients undergoing bariatric weight loss surgery, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Surgery.

18 Mar 2008

Gene network disrupted by obesity

According to new research an entire network of genes in the body is disrupted by overeating and this not only causes obesity, but also diabetes and heart disease.

17 Mar 2008