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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).

Genetic mutations could help explain cause of cancer in pediatric patients

Combined whole exome tumor and blood sequencing in pediatric cancer patients revealed mutations that could help explain the cause of cancer or have the potential to impact clinical cancer care in 40 percent of patients in a study led by researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Cancer Center.

29 Jan 2016

Scientists discover epigenetic switch linked to obesity

It is well known that a predisposition to adiposity lies in our genes. A new study by researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg now shows that it is also crucial how these genes are regulated. The scientists led by Andrew Pospisilik discovered a novel regulatory, epigenetic switch, which causes individuals with identical genetic material, such as monozygotic twins, to either be lean or obese.

29 Jan 2016

Study provides detailed new information about diffuse glioma

An international collaborative study has revealed detailed new information about diffuse glioma, the most common type of tumor found in some 80 percent of adult brain cancer patients, raising hopes that better understanding of these disease groups may aid improved clinical outcomes.

29 Jan 2016

Researchers identify cells that likely give rise to Group 4 medulloblastoma

Researchers have identified the cells that likely give rise to the brain tumor subtype Group 4 medulloblastoma. The finding removes a barrier to developing more effective targeted therapies against the brain tumor's most common subtype.

28 Jan 2016

Scientists pin down molecular process linked to schizophrenia origin

For the first time, researchers have managed to home in on a molecular process in the brain that contributes to the development of schizophrenia.

28 Jan 2016

CosmosID announces $6M in Series B funding round

CosmosID, the leading genomic big data company focused on microbiome research, outbreak investigations, and infectious disease diagnostics, using next-generation DNA sequencing, announced $6M in Series B funding.

28 Jan 2016

CUMC, Iowa scientists use CRISPR to repair genetic mutation responsible for retinitis pigmentosa

Columbia University Medical Center and University of Iowa scientists have used a new gene-editing technology called CRISPR, to repair a genetic mutation responsible for retinitis pigmentosa (RP), an inherited condition that causes the retina to degrade and leads to blindness in at least 1.5 million cases worldwide.

28 Jan 2016

Stopping disruptions in cellular 'trash removal' may guard against neurodegenerative diseases

Stopping disruptions in cellular "trash removal" brought on by errors in molecular marks on DNA may guard against neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's.

27 Jan 2016

DNA imprinting defect may affect children diagnosed with osteosarcoma

Children diagnosed with osteosarcoma may be impacted by a DNA imprinting defect also found in parents, according to new research from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota. DNA imprinting is a phenomenon in which just one of the two inherited genes is active while the other is present but inactive.

27 Jan 2016

Results from STRIVE trial of enzalutamide versus bicalutamide in CRPC published in Journal of Clinical Oncology

Astellas US LLC, a United States (U.S.) subsidiary of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc., and Medivation, Inc. today announced that results from the STRIVE trial of enzalutamide compared to bicalutamide in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

27 Jan 2016

Researchers identify three single-driver genetic alterations that occur in neuroepithelial tumors

The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) has identified critical driver genes that account for disease-related alterations in a range of uncommon low-grade neuroepithelial tumors.

26 Jan 2016

Using Single-Molecule Studies to Understand Cellular Processes: An Interview with Professor W. E. Moerner

Single fluorescent molecules provide a local nanometer-sized probe of complex systems. We can measure the motion of the single molecule, use them to achieve imaging on a scale down to 20 nanometers, or we can infer aspects of the behaviour of the object under study by the details of the light that is emitted.

From Pittcon 26 Jan 2016

Monitoring HBcrAg levels could help optimise PEG-IFN therapy

Serum hepatitis B core-related antigen could serve as a quantitative marker of response to pegylated interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection positive for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), findings indicate.

26 Jan 2016

Rescue TDF monotherapy effective in multidrug resistant chronic HBV

Researchers from the Republic of Korea say that rescue therapy with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate alone is an appropriate option for patients with multidrug resistant chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

26 Jan 2016

STAT4 variant predicts HBV IFNα response

Variation in the STAT4 gene is associated with response to interferon (IFN)α therapy in patients with hepatitis B e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B virus infection, suggests research published in Hepatology.

26 Jan 2016

Using acidity to detect cancer

Normally, tissues demonstrate a slightly acidic intracellular pH (pHi) and slightly alkaline extracellular pH (pHe). However, proliferating tissues demonstrate transient pH Gradient Reversal i.e. alkalinization of pHi and acidification of pHe.

26 Jan 2016

Involuntarily childless couples could be helped with extra sperm analysis

New research findings from Lund University in Sweden show that a simple analysis of chromosomal breaks in sperms can facilitate choice of the most efficient treatment and, thereby, increase chances of successful assisted reproduction in involuntary childless couples.

26 Jan 2016

Genetic code and epigenetics revealing adaption traits

A well-known songbird, the great tit, has revealed its genetic code, offering researchers new insight into how species adapt to a changing planet. Their initial findings suggest that epigenetics -- what's on rather than what's in the gene -- may play a key role in the evolution of memory and learning. And that's not just true for birds.

26 Jan 2016

Scientists find how APOBEC protein becomes dangerous when DNA replication process goes wrong

Cancer is caused by the growth of an abnormal cell which harbours DNA mutations, "copy errors" occurring during the DNA replication process. If these errors do take place quite regularly without having any damaging effect on the organism, some of them affect a specific part of the genome and cause the proliferation of the mutant cell, which then invades the organism.

25 Jan 2016

Adjuvant Chemotherapy Colon Cancer Trials Should ‘Stratify By MSI, KRAS, BRAF’

A post hoc analysis of the PETACC-8 trial has revealed an interaction between microsatellite instability and BRAF and KRAS mutation status when determining the prognosis of patients with resected stage III colon adenocarcinoma.

22 Jan 2016