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.

Gadd45g protein essential in initiating development of male sex organs

Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz have identified a protein essential for initiating the development of male sex organs. Loss of the gene Gadd45g results in complete sex reversal of male mice, making them appear female.

28 Nov 2012

REEAD technology can diagnose malaria infections with very high sensitivity

Malaria is a life-threatening disease that strikes more than 200 million people every year - mainly in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The disease is caused by the Plasmodium parasite, which is spread by infected mosquito bites. Today, malaria can be prevented and successfully treated, but more than half a million people nevertheless die every year from the disease.

28 Nov 2012

Liver disease therapies: an interview with Eric Halioua, CEO of Promethera Biosciences

Liver disease is a very broad family of diseases. There are two main categories of liver disease:

27 Nov 2012

Renowned biotech researcher to receive TJU's Lennox K. Black International Prize

Thomas Jefferson University will honor the renowned biotech researcher whose discoveries led to a slew of innovative drugs that revolutionized treatment including Herceptin-one of the first gene-based medications for breast cancer-with its prestigious Lennox K. Black International Prize for Excellence in Biomedical Research.

27 Nov 2012

Paper illuminates importance of PKM2 in cancer development and progression

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have tracked down a cancer-promoting protein's pathway into the cell nucleus and discovered how, once there, it fires up a glucose metabolism pathway on which brain tumors thrive.

26 Nov 2012

Chronic suppurative lung disease: an interview with Dr Robyn Marsh

Chronic suppurative lung disease, or CSLD, is used to describe a range of lung diseases characterised by a chronic wet cough and progressive lung damage. We are interested in the non-cystic fibrosis forms of the disease with a focus on bronchiectasis – the severe form of CSLD.

26 Nov 2012

Elsevier announces launch of Leukemia Research Reports journal

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and solutions, is pleased to announce the launch of a new open access, online journal, Leukemia Research Reports.

26 Nov 2012

Researchers trace specific paths of chandelier cells during development into the cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex of the human brain has been called "the crowning achievement of evolution." Ironically, it is so complex that even our greatest minds and most sophisticated science are only now beginning to understand how it organizes itself in early development, and how its many cell types function together as circuits.

23 Nov 2012

Major advance in understanding how flu viruses replicate within infected cells

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have made a major advance in understanding how flu viruses replicate within infected cells. The researchers used cutting-edge molecular biology and electron-microscopy techniques to "see" one of influenza's essential protein complexes in unprecedented detail. The images generated in the study show flu virus proteins in the act of self-replication, highlighting the virus's vulnerabilities that are sure to be of interest to drug developers.

23 Nov 2012

UPC teams conduct research in biomedical engineering to improve people's health

Systems to improve patient rehabilitation, methods that help detect diseases, and smart biomaterials for optimising treatments—scientific advances in the field of biomedical engineering are unstoppable. A number of leading UPC teams are carrying out research aimed at harnessing technology to improve people's health.

23 Nov 2012

Researchers create 3D map of rod sensory cilium architecture affected by mutation

Using a new technique called cryo-electron tomography, two research teams at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) have created a three-dimensional map that gives a better understanding of how the architecture of the rod sensory cilium (part of one type of photoreceptor in the eye) is changed by genetic mutation and how that affects its ability to transport proteins as part of the light-sensing process.

23 Nov 2012

IRCM researchers discover a nerve cell's internal clock

A team of IRCM researchers, led by Dr. Fr-d-ric Charron, recently uncovered a nerve cell's internal clock, used during embryonic development.

22 Nov 2012

Heidelberg researchers uncover function of specific molecular chaperones

Clumped proteins can be dissolved with the aid of cellular repair systems - a process of critical importance for cell survival especially under conditions of stress. Heidelberg researchers have now decrypted the fundamental mechanism for dissolving protein aggregates that involves specific molecular chaperones.

22 Nov 2012

Certain mutated cells continue DNA replication process even after drug treatment

Certain mutated cells keep trying to replicate their DNA - with disastrous results - even after medications rob them of the raw materials to do so, according to new research from USC.

21 Nov 2012

UBC microbiologist receives Prix Galien 2012 Research Award

UBC microbiologist Robert E.W. Hancock has received the Prix Galien 2012 Research Award, widely considered the most prestigious honour in Canadian pharmaceutical research and innovation. Hancock is being recognized for pioneering work unravelling the complex interactions between antibiotics and bacteria.

20 Nov 2012

Abacus Diagnostica’s GenomEra C. difficile assay receives CE mark

Abacus Diagnostica Ltd announced that it has received the CE mark for the GenomEra C. difficile assay for the detection of toxin-producing Clostridium difficile directly from stool samples. C. difficile is the leading cause of infectious nosocomial diarrhea in Europe and North America.

19 Nov 2012

Scientists discover new mode of action for enzymes immersed in cellular membranes

Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered a new mode of action for enzymes immersed in cellular membranes. Their experiments suggest that instead of recognizing and clipping proteins based on sequences of amino acids, these proteases' location within membranes gives them the unique ability to recognize and cut proteins with unstable structures.

17 Nov 2012

New England Biolabs launches new NEBNext Ultra kits at ASHG annual meeting

New England Biolabs, Inc. launched their new NEBNext "Ultra" kits at the recent American Society for Human Genetics annual meeting.

From New England Biolabs 17 Nov 2012

HCV medications' side effects can now be replicated and observed in Petri dishes and test tubes

The adverse side effects of certain hepatitis C medications can now be replicated and observed in Petri dishes and test tubes, thanks to a research team led by Craig Cameron, the Paul Berg Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State University.

17 Nov 2012

New pathway appears to play a major role in information processing in the brain

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified a new pathway that appears to play a major role in information processing in the brain. Their research also offers insight into how imbalances in this pathway could contribute to cognitive abnormalities in humans.

16 Nov 2012