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Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biologically important type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate.

Scientists show how pluripotent stem cells mobilize in wounded planarian worms

The skin, the blood, and the lining of the gut-adult stem cells replenish them daily. But stem cells really show off their healing powers in planarians, humble flatworms fabled for their ability to rebuild any missing body part. Just how adult stem cells build the right tissues at the right times and places has remained largely unanswered.

1 Sep 2012

Scientists establish genetic mouse model for primary ovarian insufficiency

Scientists have established a genetic mouse model for primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), a human condition in which women experience irregular menstrual cycles and reduced fertility, and early exposure to estrogen deficiency.

31 Aug 2012

Quest Diagnostics announces availability of TERC test for cervical cancer

Quest Diagnostics, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced the availability of a new laboratory test that identifies molecular changes to cervical cells that increase the likelihood a woman may develop cervical cancer.

From Quest Diagnostics 31 Aug 2012

Enrollment complete in Arrowhead’s CALAA-01 phase 1b trial on solid tumors

Arrowhead Research Corporation, a targeted therapeutics company, today announced that, through its Calando Pharmaceuticals subsidiary, it has completed enrollment of a phase 1b clinical trial of CALAA-01, its RNAi therapeutic candidate targeting solid tumors. All patients participating in the trial have completed dosing with the exception of one patient who is still receiving treatment and will continue to be monitored.

31 Aug 2012

DNA synthesis in the 3’ and 5’ direction possible using new template-directed method

When a cell divides, it passes on genetic information by producing copies of its DNA. Chemists have also learned to copy DNA. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a German team has now introduced a new copying technique that uses a single strand of DNA as the “master copy”, like a cell, but does not require enzymes.

30 Aug 2012

GWSMHS professor to study correlation between genetics and susceptibility to drug abuse

Norman H. Lee, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), received a total of $405,001 in grant funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to continue to study the correlation between genetics and susceptibility to drug abuse.

30 Aug 2012

U.S. District Court rules in favor of Illumina over Helicos lawsuit

Illumina, Inc. announced today that District Judge Sue L. Robinson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware granted Illumina's motion for summary judgment of invalidity of U.S. Patent No. 7,593,109, a patent asserted by Helicos BioSciences Corporation in a lawsuit filed against Illumina in October 2010. Judge Robinson ruled that the '109 patent was invalid for inadequate written description.

From Illumina, Inc. 30 Aug 2012

PrecisionMed announces enrollment of first donor into Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Registry

PrecisionMed Inc., the world's leading supplier of human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), today announced enrollment of the first donor into the PrecisionMed Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Registry.

30 Aug 2012

NYU-Poly creates ultra-sensitive biosensor to identify small single virus particles

Researchers at Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) have created an ultra-sensitive biosensor capable of identifying the smallest single virus particles in solution, an advance that may revolutionize early disease detection in a point-of-care setting and shrink test result wait times from weeks to minutes.

29 Aug 2012

Control of siRNA could aid regenerative medicine, cancer therapy

Some of the body's own genetic material, known as small interfering RNA (siRNA), can be packaged then unleashed as a precise and persistent technology to guide cell behavior, researchers at Case Western Reserve University report in the current issue of the journal, Acta Biomaterialia.

28 Aug 2012

CardioDx completes two-tranche equity financing

CardioDx, Inc., a pioneer in the field of cardiovascular genomic diagnostics, today announced the completion of a $58 million two-tranche equity financing.

27 Aug 2012

Profilin-1 gene influences survival time in Lou Gehrig's disease

A team of scientists, including faculty at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), have discovered a gene that influences survival time in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease).

27 Aug 2012

Researchers create super-sensor that can detect even single samples of viruses

By affixing nanoscale gold spheres onto a microscopic bead of glass, researchers have created a super-sensor that can detect even single samples of the smallest known viruses. The sensor uses a peculiar behavior of light known as "whispering gallery mode," named after the famous circular gallery in St. Paul's Cathedral in London, where a whisper near the wall can be heard around the gallery.

24 Aug 2012

Study demonstrates how DBP production is modulated by daily variations of temperature

Numerous processes in our body fluctuate in a regular pattern during the day. These circadian (or daily) variations can be driven by local oscillators present within our cells or by systemic signals controlled by the master pacemaker, located in the brain. Ueli Schibler, professor at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, unveils a molecular mechanism by which body temperature rhythms influence the expression of 'clock genes' and synchronize local oscillators.

24 Aug 2012

The Wistar Institute, MSKCC partner to publish first annotated atlas of Epstein-Barr virus genome

Researchers from The Wistar Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have teamed to publish the first annotated atlas of the Epstein-Barr virus genome, creating the most comprehensive study of how the viral genome interacts with its human host during a latent infection. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is thought to be responsible for one percent of all human cancers, establishes a latent infection in nearly 100 percent of infected adult humans.

24 Aug 2012

Influenza virus can change microRNA expression to control immune responses in human lung cells

When you are hit with the flu, you know it immediately -- fever, chills, sore throat, aching muscles, fatigue. This is your body mounting an immune response to the invading virus. But less is known about what is happening on the molecular level.

24 Aug 2012

NCKU research team identifies Au nanorod complex for cancer therapy

A National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) research team has discovered Near-Infrared Light-Responsive oligonucleotide-gated Au nanoensembles (Au nanorod complex), a potent new anti-cancer complex that is seen as a promising targeted therapy for curing cancer.

24 Aug 2012

New results describe development of DC cancer vaccine with enhanced immunogenic potential

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and collaborators at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands announced today that they have published new pre-clinical results in the journal Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy describing the development of a dendritic cell (DC) cancer vaccine with enhanced immunogenic potential.

23 Aug 2012

Study identifies how RNA viruses hijack a host cell to multiply

By discovering how certain viruses use their host cells to replicate, UC Irvine microbiologists have identified a new approach to the development of universal treatments for viral illnesses such as meningitis, encephalitis, hepatitis and possibly the common cold.

23 Aug 2012

RNA switches can better equip and regulate viruses for many therapeutic applications

Numerous viruses are used in the service of science today. They serve as gene taxis to transfer therapeutic genes into body cells or as therapeutic viruses targeted to infect and destroy cancer cells. For such applications, the viruses are often equipped with additional genes, such as for immune mediators or for proteins inducing programmed cell death. However, these gene products can harm the body if they are released at the wrong moment or at excessive levels.

22 Aug 2012

RNA News and Research

Further Reading

Scientists show how pluripotent stem cells mobilize in wounded planarian worms

Scientists establish genetic mouse model for primary ovarian insufficiency

Quest Diagnostics announces availability of TERC test for cervical cancer

Enrollment complete in Arrowhead’s CALAA-01 phase 1b trial on solid tumors

DNA synthesis in the 3’ and 5’ direction possible using new template-directed method

GWSMHS professor to study correlation between genetics and susceptibility to drug abuse

U.S. District Court rules in favor of Illumina over Helicos lawsuit

PrecisionMed announces enrollment of first donor into Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Registry

NYU-Poly creates ultra-sensitive biosensor to identify small single virus particles

Control of siRNA could aid regenerative medicine, cancer therapy

CardioDx completes two-tranche equity financing

Profilin-1 gene influences survival time in Lou Gehrig's disease

Researchers create super-sensor that can detect even single samples of viruses

Study demonstrates how DBP production is modulated by daily variations of temperature

The Wistar Institute, MSKCC partner to publish first annotated atlas of Epstein-Barr virus genome

Influenza virus can change microRNA expression to control immune responses in human lung cells

NCKU research team identifies Au nanorod complex for cancer therapy

New results describe development of DC cancer vaccine with enhanced immunogenic potential

Study identifies how RNA viruses hijack a host cell to multiply

RNA switches can better equip and regulate viruses for many therapeutic applications

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