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p14 ARF protein also regulates tumor-induced angiogenesis

Researchers at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have identified a new function for a gene that normally prevents the development of cancer.

2 Mar 2012

Study examines mRNA transcripts in the sperm of fruitflies and humans

It had long been assumed that the human sperm cell's mission in life ended once it had transferred its freight of parental DNA to the egg. More recently however, other components of sperm have been implicated in fertilization, and perhaps even in subsequent embryonic development.

1 Mar 2012

HDAC2 enzyme could be a potential target for new Alzheimer's drugs

MIT neuroscientists have shown that an enzyme overproduced in the brains of Alzheimer's patients creates a blockade that shuts off genes necessary to form new memories. Furthermore, by inhibiting that enzyme in mice, the researchers were able to reverse Alzheimer's symptoms.

1 Mar 2012

WUSM to study children with weakened immune systems

Not all viruses make us sick. But which ones are friends and which ones are foes? Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a five-year, $3.3 million grant to study children with weakened immune systems to identify the viruses that make children sick.

29 Feb 2012

Genome sequencing helps characterize S. aureus ST398-NM strain

Using genome sequencing and household surveillance, National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists and their colleagues from Columbia University Medical Center and St. George's University of London have pieced together how a newly emerging type of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria has adapted to transmit more easily among humans.

29 Feb 2012

Researchers discover connection between early humans and Neanderthals' genome

A striking discovery in the study of human genetics was the focus of the most-visited press release posted on EurekAlert! in 2011. Researchers found that part of the non-African human X chromosome came from Neanderthals, confirming that they interbred with early human populations.

28 Feb 2012

Childhood adversity may lead to epigenetic changes in glucocorticoid receptor gene

In a look at how major stressors during childhood can change a person's biological risk for psychiatric disorders, researchers at Butler Hospital have discovered a genetic alteration at the root of the association.

28 Feb 2012

Scripps Florida receives NIH grant to create novel HIV inhibitors

A Scripps Florida team has been awarded nearly $1.5 million by the National Institutes of Health to identify and develop novel potent inhibitors of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS.

27 Feb 2012

Study finds genetic variants that elevate risk for skin lesions in people exposed to arsenic

One of the first large-scale genomic studies conducted in a developing country has discovered genetic variants that elevate the risk for skin lesions in people chronically exposed to arsenic. Genetic changes found near the enzyme for metabolizing the chemical into a less toxic form can significantly increase an individual's risk for developing arsenic-related disease.

26 Feb 2012

UA researchers identify the likely culprit of epilepsy

Only 10 years ago, deciphering the genetic information from one individual in a matter of weeks to find a certain disease-causing genetic mutation would have been written off as science fiction. It was the time of the Human Genome Project, and it had taken armies of sequencing robots working around the clock for almost a decade to unravel the complete sequence of the human genetic code - referred to as the genome - by churning out the DNA alphabet letter by letter.

24 Feb 2012

FSU receives NIH grant to better understand and diagnose dyslexia

If you can read this sentence with ease, consider yourself fortunate: Millions of Americans with dyslexia cannot. In the hope of improving the lives of those struggling readers, a team of experts at Florida State University is working to better understand and diagnose dyslexia and other learning disabilities with a new, $8.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

23 Feb 2012

VTT participates in two new EU projects that focus on type 2 diabetes

VTT is participating in two new European projects focusing on type 2 diabetes. The projects aim at identifying new therapeutic choices and strategies for preventing the disease. Focus is on obtaining information on cellular dysfunction in diabetes and the effects of changes in lifestyle. The goal includes planning individual lifestyle instructions for people at high risk of diabetes and exploiting the results in a major European health insurance system.

22 Feb 2012

Study: MRSA jumps from food animals to humans

A strain of the potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant bacterium known as MRSA has jumped from food animals to humans, according to a new study involving two Northern Arizona University researchers.

22 Feb 2012

DANSR/FORTE assay more effective in diagnosing Edwards and Down syndrome

Using a noninvasive test on maternal blood that deploys a novel biochemical assay and a new algorithm for analysis, scientists can detect, with a high degree of accuracy, the risk that a fetus has the chromosomal abnormalities that cause Down syndrome and a genetic disorder known as Edwards syndrome.

22 Feb 2012

PNAS selects six papers to receive 2011 Cozzarelli Prize

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Editorial Board has selected six papers published by PNAS in 2011 to receive the Cozzarelli Prize, an award that recognizes outstanding contributions to the scientific disciplines represented by the National Academy of Sciences.

22 Feb 2012

Tasmanian devil cancer genome mapped

Researchers, including those from Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge, have sequenced the genome of a facial cancer that is threatening the existence of the Tasmanian devil.

21 Feb 2012

Biotech company defends patent on gene mutation for breast cancer

A US biotechnology company is defending the granting of a controversial patent over a common genetic mutation for breast cancer, rejecting accusations it amounts to the privatization of the human body.

21 Feb 2012

Genomic instability allows malignant cells to acquire more deadly characteristics

Genomic instability caused by an erosion of the protective caps on chromosomes, followed by activation of an enzyme that reinforces those aps, allows malignant cells to evade destruction and acquire more deadly characteristics, researchers report in an Online Now article at the journal Cell.

21 Feb 2012

Precision BioSciences sues Cellectis over engineered meganucleases patent infringement

Precision BioSciences, Inc., a leader in the field of genome engineering, today announced that it has filed two patent infringement lawsuits against Cellectis SA and a number of its affiliates in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

21 Feb 2012

Gene that destroys cancerous cells also causes ageing

The role of one of our genes which protects us from cancer but could also cause us to age will be explained in a lecture at the University of Leicester.

21 Feb 2012