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Small pieces of ribonucleic acid prevent spread of breast cancer

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified small pieces of ribonucleic acid (RNA) that suppress the spread of breast cancer to the lungs and bone.

10 Jan 2008

Real concerns over the ethics of a DNA database

The inventor of DNA fingerprinting, Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, of the University of Leicester, has voiced his concerns over the ethics of a DNA database.

10 Jan 2008

New understanding of cell's inner workings

A group of scientists in Princeton's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology has uncovered a new biological mechanism that could provide a clearer window into a cell's inner workings.

7 Jan 2008

Australian researchers tackle antibiotic resistance

The development of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria that are problematic and expensive to treat is a major healthcare problem around the world. The "selective pressure" of antibiotic usage inevitably results in the emergence and proliferation of resistant bacteria.

20 Dec 2007

$1.7 million grant to advance understanding of genetic influences on diabetes

Scientists at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) expect to make big leaps in their understanding of genetic influences on diabetes, thanks to a new $1.7 million grant awarded to Dr. Joanne Curran, the grant's principal investigator.

13 Dec 2007

Genetic evidence that human evolution is speeding up

Researchers discovered genetic evidence that human evolution is speeding up – and has not halted or proceeded at a constant rate, as had been thought – indicating that humans on different continents are becoming increasingly different.

10 Dec 2007

Research institutes from Finland and Singapore develop remote healthcare services

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and A*STAR Agency for Science, Technology and Research from Singapore have developed remote healthcare services that allow patients to be treated globally independent of time and location and irrespective of the solutions provided by hardware and data system suppliers. In Finland, the first trial services for treating cardiac patients and patients suffering from chronic illnesses have been promising.

5 Dec 2007

New genetic markers found that increase a person's risk for schizophrenia

Scientists at the Zucker Hillside Hospital campus of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have identified nine genetic markers that can increase a person's risk for schizophrenia.

4 Dec 2007

Researchers capture key step in process that allows materials to move in and out of cells

A group of Purdue University researchers has captured a key step in the metabolic process that allows materials, such as nutrients and drug treatments, to move in and out of cells.

3 Dec 2007

New genetic evidence supports theory migration from Siberia gave rise to native peoples of North and South America

Did a relatively small number of people from Siberia who trekked across a Bering Strait land bridge some 12,000 years ago give rise to the native peoples of North and South America?

27 Nov 2007

Tiny DNA molecules show liquid crystal phases, pointing to new scenario for first life on earth

A team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Milan has discovered some unexpected forms of liquid crystals of ultrashort DNA molecules immersed in water, providing a new scenario for a key step in the emergence of life on Earth.

22 Nov 2007

First genome sequence of XDR strain of the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis

An international collaboration led by researchers in the US and South Africa today announced the first genome sequence of an extensively drug resistant (XDR) strain of the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, one linked to more than 50 deaths in a recent tuberculosis (TB) outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

21 Nov 2007

Researchers identify compound that eliminates myotonia - a symptom of muscular dystrophy

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) have identified a compound that eliminates myotonia - a symptom of muscular dystrophy - in mice. The research was published online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

16 Nov 2007

New explanation for how regulatory networks of genes evolved

When ancient retroviruses slipped bits of their DNA into the primate genome millions of years ago, they successfully preserved their own genetic legacy.

15 Nov 2007

Telomerase enzyme structure provides significant new target for anti-cancer therapies

Inappropriate activation of a single enzyme, telomerase, is associated with the uncontrollable proliferation of cells seen in as many as 90 percent of all of human cancers. Since the mid-1990s, when telomerase was first identified in human tumors, scientists have eyed the enzyme as an ideal target for developing broadly effective anti-cancer drugs.

14 Nov 2007

Washington Post examines reaction to study tracking HIV's arrival in U.S. from Haiti

The Washington Post on Monday examined reaction to a recent study that found that HIV likely arrived in the U.S. from Haiti about a decade earlier than previously believed (Stein, Washington Post, 11/5).

5 Nov 2007

SENP1 protein may provide a basis for future targeted cancer therapies

Researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found a protein that enables cellular survival during periods of low oxygen, or hypoxia, which also is key for development of many kinds of cancer.

2 Nov 2007

HIV arrived in U.S. from Haiti 10 years earlier than previously believed

The most widespread HIV subtype outside Africa likely emerged in Haiti in the 1960s and arrived in the U.S. a few years later -- about 10 years earlier than previously believed -- according to a study published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Los Angeles Times reports.

31 Oct 2007

AIDS first came to the U.S. from Haiti almost 40 years ago

According to the latest research, the AIDS virus invaded the United States from Haiti, sometime around 1969, it then flourished and spread worldwide

30 Oct 2007

Genetics of alcoholism

While both environmental and genetic factors contribute to the risk of developing alcohol dependence, it is believed to be a largely heritable – 52 to 64 percent – disease.

24 Oct 2007