Coding Region News and Research

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Multiple genetic risk factors for prostate cancer found

A study led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) and Harvard Medical School has identified seven genetic risk factors DNA sequences carried by some people but not others that predict risk for prostate cancer.

2 Apr 2007

Scientists shed light on the roll of junk DNA

University of Iowa scientists have made a discovery that broadens understanding of a rapidly developing area of biology known as functional genomics and sheds more light on the mysterious, so-called "junk DNA" that makes up the majority of the human genome.

13 Nov 2006

Researchers identify gene used to recognize pathogens

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have identified a gene in the Anopheles gambiae mosquito's DNA that is central to the insect's ability to defend against infectious pathogens, including Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria in humans.

27 Jun 2006

Researchers identify gene used to recognize pathogens

Researchers have identified a gene in the Anopheles gambiae mosquito's DNA that is central to the insect's ability to defend against infectious pathogens, including Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria in humans.

20 Jun 2006

Gene regulation determines human-chimp differences

The vast differences between humans and chimpanzees are due more to changes in gene regulation than differences in individual genes themselves

9 Mar 2006

New microRNA mechanism for regulating brain function

Non-coding regions of the genome - those that don't code for proteins - are now known to include important elements that regulate gene activity. Among those elements are microRNAs, tiny, recently discovered RNA molecules that suppress gene expression.

18 Jan 2006

Genetic cause of autism

The researchers at the U School of Medicine made the finding by tracing variations in the DNA of an extended Utah family that has a high occurrence of the disorder and whose members are descended from one couple.

18 Jan 2006

Genome-wide prediction of mammalian enhancers for control of gene expression

Molecular biologists, developmental biologists and computer scientists at the Universtity of Helsinki, Finland, came together to advance towards cracking the code for how gene expression is controlled. The results of this work are published in Cell, in January 2006.

16 Jan 2006

Nerve-cell dendrites splice messenger RNA

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that nerve-cell dendrites have the capacity to splice messenger RNA (pre-mRNA), a process once believed to only take place in the nucleus of cells.

14 Nov 2005

Spliceosome crucial for processing non-coding RNA

The discovery in 1977 that the coding regions of a gene could appear in separate segments along the DNA won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for Richard J. Roberts and Phillip A. Sharp. The active segments of a gene were termed exons, separated from each other within the gene by inactive introns.

20 Oct 2005

"Junk" DNA not important to an organism's evolutionary survival

Genetic material derisively called "junk" DNA because it does not contain the instructions for protein-coding genes and appears to have little or no function is actually critically important to an organism's evolutionary survival, according to a study conducted by a biologist at the University of California, San Diego.

19 Oct 2005

First gene mutation associated with Tourette syndrome

Researchers have identified the first gene mutation associated with Tourette syndrome - opening a new avenue for understanding the complex disorder that causes muscle and vocal tics.

13 Oct 2005

SLITRK1 gene appears to contribute to some cases of Tourette's Syndrome

In what may be a major milestone in Tourette's Syndrome (TS) research, scientists at Yale School of Medicine and their colleagues have identified a gene called SLITRK1 that appears to contribute to some cases of TS, according to a report in the October 14 issue of Science.

13 Oct 2005

Technique for inserting genes into specific sites on the genome in liver cells

The genes are inserted into non-coding regions of the genome so there is no danger of interfering with the functioning of other genes. Once inserted, the gene remains a permanent part of the cell's genome.

10 Oct 2005

Survival of heart attack patients placed on beta-blocker therapy corresponds to specific variations in their genes

Survival of heart attack and unstable angina patients placed on beta-blocker therapy corresponds to specific variations in their genes, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City.

27 Sep 2005

Extreme gene pin-pointed

One teenager likes to snowboard off a cliff. Another prefers to read a book and wouldn't think of trading places. Why these differences exist is a mystery, but for the first time researchers have identified a possible genetic explanation behind risk-seeking behavior.

26 Sep 2005

Multiple rare mutations within a single gene may increase risk for autism

While debate still rages over the 'cause' of autism, mounting evidence suggests that genetic factors play a major role in the disease.

25 Jul 2005

Discovery of a receptor that appears to function as one "lock" that HSV opens to allow it to enter human cells

It's one of the most common viruses in America, and one that causes the most guilt and shame. It can get inside almost any kind of human cell, reproduce in vast numbers, and linger for years in the body, causing everything from recurrent genital blisters to sores around the mouth. Its complications can kill, and it may increase susceptibility to many nerve and brain disorders.

24 Jul 2005

Researchers modify software to predict gene transcription

A modification to an "ace" gene prediction program by computer scientists at Washington University in St. Louis now enables scientists to predict the very beginnings of gene transcription start sites and where the first splice occurs thereby defining the first exon of the gene.

13 Jul 2005