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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).

Excessive phosphate fertilizer may hurt plants by altering microbial composition in soil

Phosphorus is crucial for plant growth--with it, plants can acquire, transfer, and store the energy that helps them flourish in full health.

19 Mar 2019

New case study describes adolescent patient with rapid-onset schizophrenia and Bartonella infection

In a new case study, researchers at North Carolina State University describe an adolescent human patient diagnosed with rapid onset schizophrenia who was found instead to have a Bartonella henselae infection.

19 Mar 2019

Gene medication shows promise to treat spinal cord injuries

The two-gene medication has been proven to recover motor functions in rats. After several months of treatment, rodents were able to use previously paralyzed limbs. Researchers at Kazan Federal University are now seeking pre-clinical trial investment.

18 Mar 2019

Painkillers taken by pregnant mothers unlikely to cause asthma in the child

Paracetamol or other painkillers taken during pregnancy are unlikely to cause asthma in the child, according to a large study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Queen Mary University of London.

18 Mar 2019

World's oldest semen viable for artificial insemination

Semen stored since 1968 in a laboratory in Sydney has been defrosted and successfully used to impregnate 34 Merino ewes, with the resulting live birth rate as high sperm frozen for just 12 months.

18 Mar 2019

Call for halt to human gene editing and designer babies experiments

Powerful gene editing tools could soon face a global regulations on their use on human embryos, sperms or eggs.

18 Mar 2019

Researchers develop new technique that could pave way for next generation of optical tweezers

Scientists have developed a pioneering new technique that could pave the way for the next generation of optical tweezers.

15 Mar 2019

New research opens possibility of using sperm taken from testicles to overcome infertility

Scientists have found that sperm DNA from the testicles of many infertile men is as good as that of ejaculated sperm of fertile men. This may explain a major cause of male infertility and opens the possibility of using sperm taken directly from the testicles of these men; to overcome their infertility

15 Mar 2019

USP15 enzyme could potentially lead to new treatments for breast, pancreatic cancer

Researchers at the George Washington University Cancer Center found that the enzyme USP15 could potentially lead to new treatments for breast and pancreatic cancer. Their findings were published in Nature Communications.

15 Mar 2019

Deadly inherited blood disorders cured with bone marrow transplant

Doubling the low amount of total body radiation delivered to patients undergoing bone marrow transplants with donor cells that are only "half-matched" increased the rate of engraftment from only about 50 percent to nearly 100 percent, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers.

15 Mar 2019

Natural speed limit on DNA replication sets pace for life's first steps

Fruit flies make for stingy mothers, imparting only a portion of the genetic building blocks their offspring need to survive. The rest must be produced by the fertilized egg in its first few steps of growth.

15 Mar 2019

Oral bacteria in pancreas associated with tumor severity

The presence of oral bacteria in so-called cystic pancreatic tumours is associated with the severity of the tumour, a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal Gut reports. It is hoped that the results can help to improve diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

14 Mar 2019