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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).

Antibiotic resistance awareness: an interview with Professor Colin Garner

The threat of antibiotic resistance is very real. It is estimated that 700,000 people die each from resistant infections. In Europe the figure is 25,000 deaths and a similar number in the USA.

7 Sep 2015

PTC Therapeutics announces recipients of STRIVE Awards

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. is pleased to announce five recipients of its first-ever global awards program, the STRIVE Awards (Strategies to Realize Innovation, Vision and Empowerment), designed to aid nonprofit organizations that are committed to serving the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) community.

4 Sep 2015

Researchers document accuracy of new tests for rapid diagnosis of drug-resistant forms of TB

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have documented the accuracy of three new tests for more rapidly diagnosing drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis (TB), which are much harder and more expensive to treat and which, experts say, represent a major threat to global public health.

4 Sep 2015

Gut bacteria play major role in diabetes, obesity depending on host’s genetic makeup

The trillions of bacteria in your digestive system play a major role in your metabolism, and they're linked to your risks of type 2 diabetes, obesity and the related conditions that make up "metabolic syndrome," which has become a global health epidemic.

4 Sep 2015

Prenatal exposure to historical Ukraine Famine increases risk for Type 2 diabetes

Men and women exposed in early gestation to the man-made Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 in regions with extreme food shortages were 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in adulthood.

4 Sep 2015

IDT to host webinar on high throughput qPCR profiling studies

Integrated DNA Technologies will be hosting a webinar to help researchers get the most out of gene expression studies that analyze large numbers of samples.

From Integrated DNA Technologies 4 Sep 2015

Quest Diagnostics receives FDA 510(k) clearance for Simplexa HSV 1 & 2 Direct molecular test

Quest Diagnostics, the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, today announced that its Focus Diagnostics products business has received FDA 510(k) clearance to add the genital swab claim to its Simplexa HSV 1 & 2 Direct molecular test on the Integrated Cycler.

From Quest Diagnostics 4 Sep 2015

Mel18 protein regulates development of heart muscle

It is arguably the hardest working muscle in our body and without its incessant, regular beating our organs would be starved of life-giving nutrients.

4 Sep 2015

HBV DNA levels guide antiviral treatment in chemotherapy setting

Pretreatment levels of hepatitis B virus DNA could inform the withdrawal of pre-emptive antiviral therapy in chronic HBV patients undergoing cytotoxic chemotherapy for cancer, indicate research findings published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences.

3 Sep 2015

Risk score predicts ACLF risk in chronic HBV patients

A risk score incorporating routinely collected clinical information can identify patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection at high risk of developing acute-on-chronic liver failure following severe acute exacerbation, research suggests.

3 Sep 2015

New computational method reveals links between bacterial growth rates and type II diabetes, IBD

It is increasingly clear that the thousands of different bacteria living in our intestinal tract - our microbiome - have a major impact on our health. But the details of the microbiome's effects are still fairly murky.

3 Sep 2015

Children's Hospital Los Angeles receives $2 million to spur research on brain, spinal cord tumors

A life-changing event for a Los Angeles family has resulted in their funding an endowment to support The Kort Family Foundation Brain and Spinal Cord Tumor Research Program in the Division of Neurosurgery at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

3 Sep 2015

First ever SNP array optimized for Japanese population

A research group, led by Professor Masao Nagasaki and Senior Assistant Professor Yosuke Kawai at Tohoku University Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, has successfully designed the first ever SNP array that has been optimized for the Japanese population.

3 Sep 2015

Scientists map genes responsible for early embryonic development in humans

An international team of scientists led from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet has for the first time mapped all the genes that are activated in the first few days of a fertilized human egg. The study, which is being published in the journal Nature Communications, provides an in-depth understanding of early embryonic development in human - and scientists now hope that the results will help finding for example new therapies against infertility.

3 Sep 2015

Study reveals new epigenetic mechanism underlying progression of cancer tumors

Aggressive cancer growth and alterations in gene activity without changes in DNA sequence (epigenetics) are associated with mutant p53 proteins, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

3 Sep 2015

Study reveals presence of new genetic mutation in melanoma cancer cells

There is strong evidence that the protein complex APC/C may function as a tumor suppressor in multiple cancers including lymphoma, colorectal and breast cancer, and now melanoma. A new study has revealed that a genetic mutation leading to repression of a specific protein, Cdh1, which interacts with APC/C, is present in melanoma cancer cells.

3 Sep 2015

Shire and Sangamo revise agreement to expedite development of ZFP Therapeutics for Huntington's disease, hemophilia A and B

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc., a leader in therapeutic genome editing, announced today that the company and its collaborator, Shire plc, have agreed to revise their January 2012 collaboration and license agreement to expedite the development of ZFP Therapeutics for hemophilia A and B and Huntington's disease.

2 Sep 2015

New approach may bring scientists one-step closer to DNA nanomachines

Scientists have been studying ways to use synthetic DNA as a building block for smaller and faster devices. DNA has the advantage of being inherently "coded". Each DNA strand is formed of one of four "codes" that can link to only one complementary code each, thus binding two DNA strands together.

2 Sep 2015

Huntington’s disease prevention breakthrough? An interview with Professor Lesley Jones

Huntington’s disease is an inherited disease which, whilst quite rare, is one of the more common inherited neurodegenerative diseases. About 1 in 6,000 people in the UK are at risk and what’s horrible about this disease is that if one of your parents has it, then you have a fifty-fifty chance of inheriting it.

2 Sep 2015

Incorporating clinical genomic sequencing data into clinical management improves pediatric cancer treatment

In a study that included children and young adults with relapsed or refractory cancer, incorporation of integrative clinical genomic sequencing data into clinical management was feasible, revealed potentially actionable findings in nearly half of the patients, and was associated with change in treatment and family genetics counseling for a small proportion of patients, according to a study in the September 1 issue of JAMA.

2 Sep 2015

DNA News and Research

Further Reading

Antibiotic resistance awareness: an interview with Professor Colin Garner

PTC Therapeutics announces recipients of STRIVE Awards

Researchers document accuracy of new tests for rapid diagnosis of drug-resistant forms of TB

Gut bacteria play major role in diabetes, obesity depending on host’s genetic makeup

Prenatal exposure to historical Ukraine Famine increases risk for Type 2 diabetes

IDT to host webinar on high throughput qPCR profiling studies

Quest Diagnostics receives FDA 510(k) clearance for Simplexa HSV 1 & 2 Direct molecular test

Mel18 protein regulates development of heart muscle

HBV DNA levels guide antiviral treatment in chemotherapy setting

Risk score predicts ACLF risk in chronic HBV patients

New computational method reveals links between bacterial growth rates and type II diabetes, IBD

Children's Hospital Los Angeles receives $2 million to spur research on brain, spinal cord tumors

First ever SNP array optimized for Japanese population

Scientists map genes responsible for early embryonic development in humans

Study reveals new epigenetic mechanism underlying progression of cancer tumors

Study reveals presence of new genetic mutation in melanoma cancer cells

Shire and Sangamo revise agreement to expedite development of ZFP Therapeutics for Huntington's disease, hemophilia A and B

New approach may bring scientists one-step closer to DNA nanomachines

Huntington’s disease prevention breakthrough? An interview with Professor Lesley Jones

Incorporating clinical genomic sequencing data into clinical management improves pediatric cancer treatment

Understanding the DNA Damage Response in Innate Immunity eBook

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