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Biochemists detect subtle new gyration that protein molecules undergo

Biochemists have detected a surprising, subtle new gyration that protein molecules undergo in the intricate, squirming dance that influences their activity in the cell.

7 Feb 2006

Mad cow proteins also maintain stem cells

What do mad cow disease and stem cell research have in common? Whitehead Institute scientists have found that the same protein that causes neurodegenerative conditions such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) is also important for helping certain adult stem cells maintain themselves.

7 Feb 2006

New insight into one of the fundamental features of evolution

By experimentally promoting rapid, small-scale evolution within a lab population of yeast, researchers have shed light on the kinds of genetic changes that may underlie the emergence of new species.

7 Feb 2006

60 new genes controlled by regulatory sequences

Researchers worldwide are seeking to define ancient sections of our genetic code that may soon be as important to medical science as genes.

2 Feb 2006

Proof that proteins can be custom-designed

Ever since the advent of recombinant-DNA technology, scientists have conceived that it will be feasible to create entirely new enzymes for specific needs.

27 Jan 2006

First large-scale bird flu genome study

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have completed the first large-scale study of bird flu virus genomes, thereby doubling the amount of genetic information available on the genes and proteins of these viruses.

26 Jan 2006

New biochip predicts evolution of inflammatory bowel disease

The treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, has very high costs and can include admissions and surgical interventions. Until now, there was no precise tools to predict the evolution and prognosis of these diseases.

26 Jan 2006

Identity Swap: Finding the variants that human history has favoured

Sequence differences in less than 0.2% of the 3-billion-base human genome play a vital role in a bewildering variety of human disease. Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Cambridge University’s Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, together with international colleagues report in PLoS Genetics their detailed maps of differences implicated in disease as well as genes that are unchanged in recent human history.

26 Jan 2006

Avian influenza could have disastrous effects on countries' economies, infrastructures, populations, public health and stability

In the past, when government leaders, policymakers and scholars have turned their attention to peace and security issues, the talk invariably has focused on war, arms control or anti-terrorism strategies. But Julian Palmore believes it's time to expand the scope of the conversation.

25 Jan 2006

Morphotek issued patent covering the use of chemical inhibitors of mismatch repair

Morphotek Inc. announced today the issuance of United States Patent 6,982,169 covering the use of chemical inhibitors to enhance evolution of target host cell genomes by reversibly regulating mismatch repair (MMR) in vivo.

23 Jan 2006

Histidine may be key to new therapies for cardiovascular disease

It's just one little amino acid, but it makes all the difference in protecting the heart from the harmful effects of heart attack and cardiac failure. Researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School suggest this amino acid, called histidine, could be the key to a new therapy for cardiovascular disease

23 Jan 2006

Genome-wide prediction of mammalian enhancers for control of gene expression

Molecular biologists, developmental biologists and computer scientists at the Universtity of Helsinki, Finland, came together to advance towards cracking the code for how gene expression is controlled. The results of this work are published in Cell, in January 2006.

16 Jan 2006

DinB DNA polymerase is a key player in DNA repair

A quarter century after they discovered it, researchers have identified the job of one of the most common DNA-damage response proteins. The enzyme has puzzled scientists because it is present in nearly every organism, which suggests that it is crucial to life, and yet, in laboratory experiments, its function has remained a mystery.

11 Jan 2006

Slow human evolution revealed by worm genome

Humans have retained genomic characteristics of a very ancient ancestor that have been lost in simpler animals such as the fly, indicating that humans are one of the most slowly evolving species. This is the finding of an international team of scientists including Dr David Ferrier of Oxford’s Department of Zoology published in a recent edition of the journal Science.

10 Jan 2006

Scientists describe phenomenon in the human genome called transcription-induced chimerism

In the January issue of the journal Genome Research, two teams of scientists describe a widespread phenomenon in the human genome called transcription-induced chimerism (TIC), where two adjacent genes produce a single, fused RNA transcript.

6 Jan 2006

Researchers discover that large segments of human genome are devoid of mobile DNA elements called transposons

Scientists from the University of Queensland, Australia report in the journal Genome Research that large segments of the human genome are conspicuously devoid of ubiquitous mobile DNA elements called transposons.

6 Jan 2006

Researchers move closer to understanding the basis of a severe epilepsy and mental retardation

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine took a step closer to understanding the basis of a severe epilepsy and mental retardation syndrome with work published in the January 5, 2006 issue of the journal Neuron.

5 Jan 2006

Discovery reveals how malaria infects humans

Researchers at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in India and a unit of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in France have made a key discovery about a molecule that helps the malaria parasite infect human cells.

22 Dec 2005

Finding how water channels - aquaporins - open and close may lead to new drugs

Living organisms are dependent on being able to adjust the water content in their cells. This is achieved by regulating the flow of water through the cell membrane.

12 Dec 2005

Dog gene map may help explain human diseases

U.S. scientists say a detailed analysis of the dog genome answers such questions as how dogs of a different breed still belong to the same species, and may also explain some aspects of human health and biology.

11 Dec 2005