Molecular Biology News and Research

RSS

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.

TGen receives $20,000 grant from ACF for STEM education

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) received another boost today for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education with a $20,000 grant from the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF).

7 Aug 2013

NIH-funded study of aquaporin proteins could hold clues to cataract

Researchers have achieved dynamic, atomic-scale views of a protein needed to maintain the transparency of the lens in the human eye. The work, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, could lead to new insights and drugs for treating cataract and a variety of other health conditions.

6 Aug 2013

Study: Stem cells in mouth tissue can relieve inflammatory disease

Stem cells found in mouth tissue can not only become other types of cells but can also relieve inflammatory disease, according to a new Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC study in the Journal of Dental Research.

5 Aug 2013

Researchers find vital enzyme complex that gets elevated in many cancers

A team of researchers from Philadelphia and Norway has determined the structure of an enzyme complex that modifies one end of most human proteins and is made at elevated levels in numerous forms of cancer. A study in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, led by researchers at The Wistar Institute, depicts the structure and the means of action of a protein complex called NatA.

5 Aug 2013

Research opens potential new avenue for cancer treatment

Scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson who identified a protein's dual role in cancer promotion have discovered a way to shut it down, opening a potential new avenue for cancer treatment.

2 Aug 2013

Researchers identify new culprit that likely plays big role in severity of asthma

MD-A new culprit has been identified that likely plays a big role in the severity of asthma-a small protein chemokine called CCL26. These findings were published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology and represent the first demonstration that CCL26 is a potent regulator of the migration of asthmatic eosinophils, commonly observed in asthmatic airways. Results from this discovery may lead to new drug targets for the treatment of asthma.

2 Aug 2013

Study discover two new mechanisms that govern editing in key neurodevelopmental gene

RNA editing gives organisms a way to adapt the instructions that their DNA provides for making proteins. Few people would have described RNA editing as a simple process, but a new paper in Nature Communications demonstrates the process as more complex and difficult to predict than previously assumed. The study, done in living fruit flies, discovered two new mechanisms that govern editing in a key neurodevelopmental gene.

1 Aug 2013

Miniscule signaling molecule plays critical role in certain acute and chronic diseases

Scientists seeking to harness the healing power of a miniscule signaling molecule that plays a critical role in certain acute and chronic diseases have been awarded a Program Project Grant (PPG) of nearly $10 million by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

1 Aug 2013

Novel protein could lead to development of new drugs to treat variety of cancers

In cancer research, discovering a new protein that plays a role in cancer is like finding a key and a treasure map: follow the clues and eventually there could be a big reward. At least that's the hope from a new study published in the journal Nature that discovered a novel protein called ceramide-1 phosphate transport protein (CPTP) -- a finding that could eventually lead to the development of new drugs to treat a variety of cancers and other conditions involving inflammation and thrombosis, or blood clotting.

1 Aug 2013

Article suggests socially-based approach for treating Alzheimer's, other cognitive disorders

In the article "The Challenges of Cognitive Aging: Integrating Approaches from Neuroscience to Intergenerational Relationships," published in the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, author Peter Whitehouse suggests a more socially-based approach to treating Alzheimer's and other cognitive disorders.

31 Jul 2013

Researchers create calcium-sensitive proteins that respond quickly to changes in neuron activity

Princeton University researchers have created "souped up" versions of the calcium-sensitive proteins that for the past decade or so have given scientists an unparalleled view and understanding of brain-cell communication.

26 Jul 2013

Child cancer survival: an interview with Prof Kathy Pritchard-Jones, University College London

Back in the early 1960s, just before chemotherapy really started to be used, only about 30% of children survived cancer. That was mainly because they had cancers that were amenable to surgery.

24 Jul 2013

Digital versions of standard molecular biology tool to detect common tumor-associated mutation in CSF

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers and their colleagues have used digital versions of a standard molecular biology tool to detect a common tumor-associated mutation in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with brain tumors. In their report being published in the open-access journal Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids, the investigators describe using advanced forms of the gene-amplification technology polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to analyze bits of RNA carried in membrane-covered sacs called extracellular vesicles for the presence of a tumor-associated mutation in a gene called IDH1.

24 Jul 2013

Cepheid, American Lung Association partner to promote TB awareness in U.S.

Cepheid and the American Lung Association today announced a partnership to promote tuberculosis-related awareness in the U.S. and the need for improved TB diagnostics.

23 Jul 2013

p53 and cancer research: an interview with Professor Sir David Lane, Scientific Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

P53 is a tumor suppressor gene. The gene encodes for a protein that monitors the state of the cell. If something goes wrong, it stops the cell from dividing or causes the cell to commit suicide. I call it the “guardian of the genome” as it is the molecule that seems to keep cells normal. It is one of our big defenses against cancer.

22 Jul 2013

CLAMP: A newly discovered protein that regulates genes

They say a good man is hard to find. Were it not for a newly discovered protein, the X chromosome of a male fruit fly could never be found by a gene-regulating complex that male flies need to develop and survive. And that case is just one example of what the new finding means. More generally, the research provides biologists with a model of how proteins that govern gene transcription find their targets on chromosomes, a process that's essential to healthy cell function and sometimes implicated in disease.

22 Jul 2013

Monash University researchers provide novel pathways to develop treatments for diseases

Monash University researchers have gained new insight into the early stages of our immune response, providing novel pathways to develop treatments for diseases from multiple sclerosis to cancer.

22 Jul 2013

Sir Michael Stratton, Thijn Brummelkamp and Anne Glover to speak at The EMBO Meeting 2013

Predisposition to cancer and other diseases, genetic testing, infectious proteins and ubiquitin signalling -- these are some of the topics internationally renowned speakers will tackle at The EMBO Meeting 2013 to be held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from 21-24 September 2013.

22 Jul 2013

Structural properties have changed across bacterial families without putting limits on antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been emerging at an alarming rate. In some of the scariest of these pathogens, the mechanism responsible for the bacteria's ability to defeat antibiotics is a complex protein molecule embedded in the bacterial cell wall -- the enzyme β-lactamase.

20 Jul 2013

Ketamine anesthesia drug can cause learning and memory disorders in children

Recent studies have found that anesthesia drugs have neurotoxicity on the developing neurons, causing learning and memory disorders and behavioral abnormalities. Ketamine is commonly used in pediatric anesthesia.

20 Jul 2013

Molecular Biology News and Research

Further Reading

TGen receives $20,000 grant from ACF for STEM education

NIH-funded study of aquaporin proteins could hold clues to cataract

Study: Stem cells in mouth tissue can relieve inflammatory disease

Researchers find vital enzyme complex that gets elevated in many cancers

Research opens potential new avenue for cancer treatment

Researchers identify new culprit that likely plays big role in severity of asthma

Study discover two new mechanisms that govern editing in key neurodevelopmental gene

Miniscule signaling molecule plays critical role in certain acute and chronic diseases

Novel protein could lead to development of new drugs to treat variety of cancers

Article suggests socially-based approach for treating Alzheimer's, other cognitive disorders

Researchers create calcium-sensitive proteins that respond quickly to changes in neuron activity

Child cancer survival: an interview with Prof Kathy Pritchard-Jones, University College London

Digital versions of standard molecular biology tool to detect common tumor-associated mutation in CSF

Cepheid, American Lung Association partner to promote TB awareness in U.S.

p53 and cancer research: an interview with Professor Sir David Lane, Scientific Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

CLAMP: A newly discovered protein that regulates genes

Monash University researchers provide novel pathways to develop treatments for diseases

Sir Michael Stratton, Thijn Brummelkamp and Anne Glover to speak at The EMBO Meeting 2013

Structural properties have changed across bacterial families without putting limits on antibiotic resistance

Ketamine anesthesia drug can cause learning and memory disorders in children

Industry Focus eBook - Cell biology (5th edition) eBook

Latest eBooks

Industry Focus eBook - Microbiome (1st edition)

Industry Focus eBook - Cell biology (5th edition)

Advancing degrader and proximity-based drug development

Driving innovation in Korean drug development

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC