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.

Microbes in the guts of carpenter ants could lead to better drugs

Scientists have discovered two key proteins that guide one of the two groups of pathogenic bacteria to make their hardy outer shells -- their defense against the world.

26 Mar 2008

New insight into radiation damage to DNA

A new technique for assessing the damage radiation causes to DNA indicates that the spatial arrangement of damaged sites, or lesions, is more important than the number of lesions in determining the severity of the damage.

24 Mar 2008

More efficient gene targeting improves prospects for gene therapy

The Nobel prize-winning MRC scientist Sir Aaron Klug and a team from an American company, Sangamo BioSciences, have announced a new way to target genes that may revolutionise medical research and pave the way for new treatments.

20 Mar 2008

First 3-D view of anti-cancer agent

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Purdue School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis have created the first three-dimensional image of how a well-established chemotherapy agent targets and binds to DNA.

19 Mar 2008

Blood vessel protein reverses macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy in mice

Two major eye diseases and leading causes of blindness—age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy can be reversed or even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in blood vessel cells, researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine and several other institutions have announced in a new study.

17 Mar 2008

Scientists characterizes novel regulator of chromosome function

The Stowers Institute's Workman Lab has shed new light on a novel histone acetyltransferase protein complex called ATAC.

11 Mar 2008

Adult stem cell changes underlie Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome associated with accelerated aging

Adult stem cells may provide an explanation for the cause of a Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a rare disease that causes premature aging in children, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

3 Mar 2008

Worm defecation holds clues to widespread cell-to-cell communication process

The focus of two recent Nobel prizes, a species of roundworm has made possible another advance in the understanding of how cells talk to one another, according to a study published online Feb. 21 in the journal Current Biology.

22 Feb 2008

Biochemists reveal details of mysterious bacterial microcompartments

UCLA biochemists and colleagues have answered an important question about the structure of microcompartments - the mysterious molecular machines that seem to be present in a wide variety of pathogens and other bacteria.

21 Feb 2008

Researchers determine structure of protein that mutates DNA of the AIDS virus HIV-1

Understanding the structure of proteins involved in inhibiting HIV-1 infection could help in the battle against AIDS, and University of Minnesota researchers have taken a crucial step in that direction.

21 Feb 2008

Single microRNA plays role in innate immune response

Over the last few years scientists have discovered hundreds of microRNAs - tiny RNAs that regulate the expression of protein-coding genes.

20 Feb 2008

Chronic exposure to beta-blockers attenuates inflammation and mucin content in asthma model

Inverseon, Inc. has announced the publication of a rapid communication of groundbreaking research led by Professor Richard Bond of the University of Houston, Inverseon's Scientific Founder.

20 Feb 2008

NIH and EPA announce new chemical toxicity testing agreement

Testing the safety of chemicals ranging from pesticides to household cleaners will benefit from new technologies and a plan for collaboration, according to federal scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who today announced a new toxicity testing agreement.

17 Feb 2008

Search for genes tied to social behavior

The first genome-wide search for genes governing social behavior has found that even the simplest social creatures - the amoebae Dictyostelium discoideum - have more than 100 genes that help regulate their cooperative behavior.

14 Feb 2008

Maslinic acid from olives shows anti-cancer properties

A research group of the University of Granada has found out that maslinic acid, a compound present in the leaf and the olive skin wax extracted from alpeorujo (crushed olive pulp), has the capacity of preventing cancer as well as regulating apoptosis in carcinogenic processes.

14 Feb 2008