Molecular Biology News and Research

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Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry. Molecular biology chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between DNA, RNA and protein biosynthesis as well as learning how these interactions are regulated.

Researchers suggest ways to make TB drugs more efficacious against mutations

Biophysicists have discovered why the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB) are naturally somewhat resistant to antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones. Their findings, based on mapping the detailed three-dimensional structure of the drugs interacting with an essential enzyme in the TB germ, also reveal why some TB drugs are more potent than others and suggest how drug developers can make fluoroquinolones more efficacious against mutations that make the lung disease drug resistant.

19 Jan 2016

Researchers identify protein structure linked to pain and heat perception

Touch a hot stove, and your fingers will recoil in pain because your skin carries tiny temperature sensors that detect heat and send a message to your brain saying, "Ouch! That's hot! Let go!"

19 Jan 2016

UGA study helps solve mystery of how African trypanosomes communicate

While scientists have known for years that African trypanosomes cause sleeping sickness, they've been left scratching their heads as to how these tiny single-celled organisms communicate. A University of Georgia study, published Jan. 14 in the journal Cell, helps solve this mystery.

18 Jan 2016

Findings offer potential new therapeutic target to boost strength of heart muscle contractions

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a previously unrecognized small protein in cells of the human heart that plays a key role in heart muscle contraction. The protein is made from an RNA that was previously believed to be a blank or non-coding RNA, suggesting there may be many other small 'non-coding' segments that play important biological roles.

18 Jan 2016

Researchers engineer antibodies that could potently neutralize two deadliest strains of Ebola virus

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have engineered the first antibodies that can potently neutralize the two deadliest strains of the virus that causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever.

13 Jan 2016

IMB scientists identify two proteins vital for demethylation of DNA

Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biology in Mainz have identified a missing piece of the puzzle in understanding how epigenetic marks are removed from DNA. The research on DNA demethylation sheds new light on a fundamental process that is important in development and diseases such as cancer.

12 Jan 2016

Three new genetic associations identified for primary open angle glaucoma

Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have led an international effort to identify three genetic associations that influence susceptibility to primary open angle glaucoma -- the most common form of adult onset glaucoma and the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world.

12 Jan 2016

Novel anti-inflammatory agents could control hyper-inflammatory responses to fungal infection

The most frequent fungal threat to humans, Candida albicans, is a common cause oral and genital infection. The fungal infections are often worsened by overwhelming inflammatory responses in the body and cause high mortality among risk groups. Umeå University doctoral student Ava Hosseinzadeh has discovered two novel anti-inflammatory agents, an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory molecule, which could be used to control the hyper-inflammatory responses to the fungal infection.

12 Jan 2016

Genetic factors in puberty timing: an interview with Dr John Perry

The study focused on the genetic regions that influence age at voice breaking - a distinct developmental milestone that happens to young men as their larynx (voice box) lengthens when exposed to male hormones.

11 Jan 2016

Finding may aid in the design of potential therapies for thyroid problems

Thyroid disease affects about 12 percent of the U.S. population. While many people with thyroid disease don't even know they have it, an overactive or underactive thyroid can cause a slew of problems, including weight gain or loss, mood changes and infertility. In children, an underactive thyroid can be fatal, which is why they are tested for a deficiency at birth.

11 Jan 2016

New strategy may reduce growth of pancreatic cancers in patients with KRAS gene mutation

University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have found a promising strategy that may limit the growth of pancreatic cancers in patients with a mutation in a gene called KRAS.

11 Jan 2016

Salk Institute scientists find new target for glioblastoma multiforme treatment

Glioblastoma multiforme is a particularly deadly cancer. A person diagnosed with this type of brain tumor typically survives 15 months, if given the best care. The late Senator Ted Kennedy succumbed to this disease in just over a year.

11 Jan 2016

DNA damage may lead to mutation and changes in cell

A team of researchers from Colorado State University has been studying DNA damage in living cells to learn more about how genetic abnormalities arise. It has long been known that DNA molecules in every cell get constantly damaged by things from the outside environment, like sunlight, cigarette smoke and radiation. However, more recently researchers have discovered that sources from within the cell itself can sometimes be even more damaging.

7 Jan 2016

Low-oxygen exposure shortly after birth may increase learning and behavioral disorder risks

New research published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, shows that the development of white matter in the mouse brains is delayed when they are exposed to chronic low oxygen levels shortly after birth.

7 Jan 2016

Genetic mutation in starlings could shed light on mitochondrial disease in humans

Deakin University and UNSW Australia researchers have made a rare observation of rapid evolution in action in the wild, documenting the spread of a newly arisen genetic mutation in invasive starlings, which could shed light on mitochondrial disease in humans.

6 Jan 2016

Scripps biologist describes major advancement in flu vaccine research

Every fall, millions of people roll up their sleeves to get a flu shot. Up to 20 percent of the population gets the flu and more than 200,000 people are hospitalized with flu complications each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While seasonal vaccines provide some protection, they are not always effective because the strains of influenza virus in the vaccine may not be well matched to the flu viruses circulating that year. So researchers are searching for a way to develop a more universal vaccine that would be effective against any variety of influenza.

5 Jan 2016

UT Southwestern scientists use new gene-editing technique to prevent progression of DMD in young mice

Using a new gene-editing technique, a team of scientists from UT Southwestern Medical Center stopped progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in young mice.

4 Jan 2016

New Penn study shows that social behavior in carpenter ants can be reprogrammed

In Florida carpenter ant colonies, distinct worker castes called minors and majors exhibit pronounced differences in social behavior throughout their lives. In a new study published today in Science, a multi-institution team anchored at University of Pennsylvania found that these caste-specific behaviors are not set in stone.

4 Jan 2016

Researchers suggest microorganisms in the womb set stage for health problems later in life

Researchers review importance of microorganisms that exist in the gut, suggesting perturbation of the environment during pregnancy, delivery and early infancy could impact the developing baby's early microbiome and set the stage for health problems later in life. The term "microbiome" refers to the trillions of organisms we harbor, on our skin and within our respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts.

30 Dec 2015

Researchers identify new gene that helps maintain chromosome number in cells

Molecular biologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a gene called NORAD that helps maintain the proper number of chromosomes in cells, and that when inactivated, causes the number of chromosomes in a cell to become unstable, a key feature of cancer cells.

26 Dec 2015

Molecular Biology News and Research

Further Reading

Researchers suggest ways to make TB drugs more efficacious against mutations

Researchers identify protein structure linked to pain and heat perception

UGA study helps solve mystery of how African trypanosomes communicate

Findings offer potential new therapeutic target to boost strength of heart muscle contractions

Researchers engineer antibodies that could potently neutralize two deadliest strains of Ebola virus

IMB scientists identify two proteins vital for demethylation of DNA

Three new genetic associations identified for primary open angle glaucoma

Novel anti-inflammatory agents could control hyper-inflammatory responses to fungal infection

Genetic factors in puberty timing: an interview with Dr John Perry

Finding may aid in the design of potential therapies for thyroid problems

New strategy may reduce growth of pancreatic cancers in patients with KRAS gene mutation

Salk Institute scientists find new target for glioblastoma multiforme treatment

DNA damage may lead to mutation and changes in cell

Low-oxygen exposure shortly after birth may increase learning and behavioral disorder risks

Genetic mutation in starlings could shed light on mitochondrial disease in humans

Scripps biologist describes major advancement in flu vaccine research

UT Southwestern scientists use new gene-editing technique to prevent progression of DMD in young mice

New Penn study shows that social behavior in carpenter ants can be reprogrammed

Researchers suggest microorganisms in the womb set stage for health problems later in life

Researchers identify new gene that helps maintain chromosome number in cells

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