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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).

Scientists find microRNA regulates Ras cancer gene

Research in the laboratory of Assistant Professor Frank J. Slack at Yale University has identified a new way that a familiar gene is regulated in lung cancer, presenting new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment. The work is reported in March issues of the journals Cell and Developmental Cell.

21 Mar 2005

Genomic analysis may one day be a primary diagnostic tool for physicians deciding on a course of treatment for trauma

The researchers showed that state-of-the-art techniques for rapidly analyzing changes in activity of all human genes will likely produce useful insights into the health of critically ill patients. The findings, which are available online and will be published in the March 29 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, make it possible for physicians to begin answering important questions about critical care through genomic analysis.

21 Mar 2005

RNA loops and knots guide genetic modifications

University of Connecticut Health Center scientist, Robert Reenan, has uncovered new rules of RNA recoding - a genetic editing method cells use to expand the number of proteins assembled from a single DNA code.

21 Mar 2005

Discovery of a single mutation responsible for a number of blood disorders

Myeloproliferative disorders form a range of haematological malignant diseases, with three main members: polycythaemia vera, essential thrombocythaemia, and idiopathic myelofi- brosis. The disorders are characterised by overactive production of blood cells and can lead to thrombosis, haemorrhage or acute myeloid leukaemia.

21 Mar 2005

X-Chromosome has the big story!!

The human genome is said by some to be the "book of life," and the X-chromosome a large part of the the plot. A team of genome researchers have described the nature of this mysterious "chapter" in the DNA story.

17 Mar 2005

Questions about validity of HOPE TOO vitamin E study

A study published in the March 16 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggesting that a "daily-dose" of vitamin E (400 international units) among high-risk (chronically ill) cardiovascular patient populations is associated with a greater risk of heart failure is being challenged by leading health researchers around the country who claim the study lacks the adequate research and controlled sampling audience to justify this conclusion.

16 Mar 2005

Fasting every other day, while cutting few calories, may reduce cancer risk

New research at the University of California, Berkeley, raises such a possibility. It shows that healthy mice given only 5 percent fewer calories than mice allowed to eat freely experienced a significant reduction in cell proliferation in several tissues, considered an indicator for cancer risk.

15 Mar 2005

Brewing up potential anti-cancer drugs from green tea

Drinking green tea has a protective effect against some forms of cancer but drinking large amounts can increase the risk of birth defects such as spina bifida – according to previous epidemiological studies.

15 Mar 2005

Most comprehensive genome-wide experimental analyses of sense-antisense transcripts to date

A team of scientists led by Dr. Kuniya Abe from the RIKEN BioResource Center in Japan has performed one of the most comprehensive genome-wide experimental analyses of sense-antisense transcripts to date. Their findings are published in the April issue of the journal Genome Research.

15 Mar 2005

DNA sabotage may alleviate need for chemotherapeutic medication

Johns Hopkins chemists have discovered a new way to sabotage DNA's ability to reproduce, a finding that could eventually lead to the development of new anti-cancer drugs and therapies.

14 Mar 2005

£800,000 to boost research into fighting viruses

A team of University of Glasgow scientists have received a grant of £800,000 from the Wellcome Trust to research a mechanism that blocks a critical step in the replication cycle of retroviruses. In the long term, the research could lead to the design of new therapeutic strategies or drugs against retroviruses, which cause diseases such as AIDS and certain leukemias.

14 Mar 2005

Gene identified that confers susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration

By combining the tools of high-throughput biology and statistical genetics, scientists at Rockefeller University, Yale University School of Public Health and the National Eye Institute have identified a gene that confers susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of vision loss in the United Sates for those over 60.

14 Mar 2005

Discovery may provide a new target to treat sepsis

Part of the immune system's pro-inflammatory response to bacterial invasion is to increase nitric oxide levels with an enzyme called inducible nitric oxide synthase.

14 Mar 2005

DNA weak links may provide clues to cancer biology

The chromosomes of mammals, including humans, contain regions that are particularly prone to breaking under conditions of stress and in cancer. Now, new research by geneticists at Duke University Medical Center finds that yeast cells also contain such weak links in DNA and begins to reveal the molecular characteristics of these links that might help to explain them.

13 Mar 2005

New way of looking at MicroRNA and how it controls gene expression

A group of scientists at The Scripps Research Institute is reporting a discovery that sheds light on an area of research fundamental to everything from the normal processes that govern the everyday life of human cells to the aberrant mechanisms that underlie many diseases, including cancer and septic shock.

13 Mar 2005

Gene for AMD has now been identified by researchers

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a debilitating eye disease affecting about 15 million people in the United States.

13 Mar 2005

Active brains stave off Alzheimer's signs

Mice who keep busy playing with toys also keep their brains and bodies active; more importantly, they also have lower levels of the peptides and brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease, compared to mice raised in environments not "enriched" with chew toys, running wheels,and tunnels, according to a new study in the 11 March issue of the journal Cell.

13 Mar 2005

Protein sequenced from 75,000 year old Iraqi

An international team led by researchers at the Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Liepzig, Germany and Washington University in St. Louis, has extracted and sequenced protein from a Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave, Iraq dating to approximately 75,000 years old.

9 Mar 2005

Maternal smoking during pregnancy associated with chromosomal abnormalities

A preliminary report suggests that maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with increased chromosomal abnormalities in fetal cells, according to a study in the current issue of JAMA.

9 Mar 2005

World's first complete articulated Neanderthal skeleton

Anthropologists have constructed the world's first complete articulated Neanderthal skeleton to expand public and scientific understanding of the group, as well as of the differences between Neanderthals and modern humans.

9 Mar 2005