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DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

Baylor researchers report creation of an 'epigenetic couch potato' mouse

Why is it that some people love to exercise, and others hate it? Most people would assume it's all due to genetics, but a new Baylor College of Medicine led study in mice shows for the first time that a different molecular level of regulation - epigenetics - plays a key role in determining one's innate drive to exercise.

4 Dec 2019

Ground breaking discovery could lead to new anti TB drugs

New drugs to treat strains of TB which have become resistant to treatment are now a possibility following a ground breaking discovery from the University of Surrey.

4 Dec 2019

China raises ethical concern by recreating faces using DNA samples

Researchers in China are reportedly using blood samples taken from minority groups in an attempt to reconstruct faces from DNA.

4 Dec 2019

Experts condemn CRISPR babies research as original manuscript is made public

Scientists have criticized the gene-editing of the Chinese twins last year, following the first public release of the research.

4 Dec 2019

Researchers create new technology to help understand how the body battles diseases

Much remains unknown about diseases and the way our bodies respond to them, in part because the human genome is the complete DNA assembly that makes each person unique. A Virginia Tech professor and his team of researchers have created new technology to help in understanding how the human body battles diseases.

3 Dec 2019

New study could help prevent fatal infections in babies

Premature infants born before 28-30 weeks of life are at high risk for many complications, among which the chances of dying from an infection starting in the intestine are very great. A new study published in the journal Nature Medicine reports that such infections are very much more likely if something interferes with the normal microbial accumulation in the gut. Adding certain bacterial strains protects against such infections, on the other hand.

3 Dec 2019

Justinianic plague did not wipe out the Romans as history books tell us

A new study has revealed that it was not plague that killed half of the world’s population and thus proved to be the downfall of the Roman Empire as we know from history. The study was published this week in the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study involved scholars from different fields including history, archaeology and science. The study is titled, “The Justinianic Plague: An inconsequential pandemic?”

3 Dec 2019

Researchers discover regulatory map of the human EphB4 gene

Pierluigi Scalia and coworkers at the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, and the affiliated Italian research organization ISOPROG, have announced the regulatory map of the human EphB4 gene.

3 Dec 2019

Discovery could offer insight into different risk of diseases in African Americans

The percentage of African ancestry in a person's genome determines the level that certain genes are expressed, called mRNA, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

3 Dec 2019

New model for late-onset sepsis explores potential treatments for neonatal infection

Extremely premature infants are at risk for life-threatening infections that spread into their bodies from the intestine. Infections after the first three days of life are called late-onset sepsis, or LOS.

3 Dec 2019

Daughters of women with PCOS five times more likely to develop the syndrome in adulthood

Daughters of women with polycystic ovarian syndrome are five times more likely to be diagnosed with PCOS as adults, and the generational transmission is driven by high androgen levels during pregnancy, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report.

2 Dec 2019

Blood proteins could help provide a comprehensive 'liquid health check' in future

Proteins in our blood could in future help provide a comprehensive 'liquid health check', assessing our health and predicting the likelihood that we will we will develop a range of diseases, according to research published today in Nature Medicine.

2 Dec 2019

Unexpected versatility of an ancient DNA repair factor revealed

If a bone breaks or a tendon snaps, you know to seek treatment immediately. But your most fragile and precious cellular commodity, chromosomal DNA, breaks with astounding frequency- some estimate as many as 10,000 times a day per cell- usually without consequence.

2 Dec 2019

75-year old blood-stained microscope slide reveals historical spread of malaria

DNA from 75-year old eradicated European malaria parasites uncovers the historical spread of one of the two most common forms of the disease, Plasmodium vivax, from Europe to the Americas during the colonial period, finds a new study co-led by UCL.

2 Dec 2019

New study uncovers multiple effects of little-known DNA repair protein

Injury and repair are part of the normal life cycle of any tissue or organ in the human body. However, if macroscopic tears or breaks occur in the bones or joints, for instance, the effects are immediately perceptible. Not so with chromosomes, which contain the DNA of life. Both extremely valuable and extremely fragile, DNA is the focus of highly efficient repair proteins.

2 Dec 2019

SDSU researchers show cancer-inhibiting potential of flavonoid metabolite

Eating fruits and vegetables is more important than ever.

2 Dec 2019

People who eat bushmeat may be at risk of contracting life-threatening diseases

People who eat wildebeests, wart hogs and other wild African animals may be at risk for contracting potentially life-threatening diseases, according to an international team of researchers.

2 Dec 2019

Scientists discover new principle for activation of cancer genes

Researchers have long known that some genes can cause cancer when overactive, but exactly what happens inside the cell nucleus when the cancer grows has so far remained enigmatic.

2 Dec 2019

“Liquid health check” could predict disease risk in the future

Measuring proteins in the blood could serve as a “liquid health check” that could predict people’s risk of developing diseases.

2 Dec 2019

Scientists uncover functions of mysterious organelles in stress response

Stress is a normal response to physical and emotional stimuli, particularly when people face changes in their lives. Though it’s a normal feeling, long-term stress may lead to a range of health conditions. Though people feel stressed from time to time, not all stress is bad.

1 Dec 2019