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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).

Male genetic diversity declined due to wealth, power rather than `survival of fittest`

The DNA you inherit from your parents contributes to the physical make-up of your body -- whether you have blue eyes or brown, black hair or red, or are male or female.

23 Mar 2015

Gene regulatory code remained same across the evolution

The language used in the switches that turn genes on and off has remained the same across millions of years of evolution, according to a new study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal "eLife", indicate that the differences between animals reside in the content and length of the instructions that are written using this conserved language.

23 Mar 2015

Discovery may lead to new potential treatment for drug-resistant melanoma

In the last several years, targeted therapies - drugs that directly impact specific genes and proteins involved in the progression of cancer - have been approved for a wide variety of cancers, including melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Now, researchers at The Wistar Institute have discovered one way in which melanoma becomes resistant to a particular form of targeted therapy, and understanding this phenomenon may lead to a new melanoma target or prompt new designs of these treatments.

23 Mar 2015

Hypermethylation serves as protective barrier inhibiting development of ALS, FTD

Penn Medicine researchers have discovered that hypermethylation - the epigenetic ability to turn down or turn off a bad gene implicated in 10 to 30 percent of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD) - serves as a protective barrier inhibiting the development of these diseases.

21 Mar 2015

Promising new treatment for hereditary breast/ovarian cancer

European scientists recently discovered a novel therapy to treat a subgroup of patients with hereditary breast/ovarian cancer. Both the EU and the US have approved an accelerated procedure to market this promising new treatment with few side effects.

20 Mar 2015

New triple combination therapy shows promise in controlling advanced melanoma

Results of a new study by UCLA researchers has found that a groundbreaking new triple combination therapy shows promising signs of more effectively controlling advanced melanoma than previous BRAF + MEK inhibitor or BRAF inhibitor + immunotherapy combos alone, and with increased immune response and fewer side effects.

20 Mar 2015

PARP inhibitors can be effective in broader group of patients

A pioneering class of drugs that target cancers with mutations in the BRCA breast cancer genes could also work against tumours with another type of genetic fault, a new study suggests.

20 Mar 2015

New technology developed to determine resistance to rabies virus

Researchers at Texas A&M AgriLife Research have developed a new technology to determine sensitivity or resistance to rabies virus.

20 Mar 2015

New diagnostic method replaces surgery for bowel tumor assessment

A new study at the MedUni Vienna's Comprehensive Cancer Center is assessing patients with metastasised bowel cancer to determine whether it is possible to characterise tumour and better control resistance mechanisms with a blood test. The aim of this is to spare patients the stress of having tissue removed via biopsies and to make the targeted use of therapy easier.

19 Mar 2015

Los Alamos scientists develop new method for metagenomic analysis

Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a new method for DNA analysis of microbial communities such as those found in the ocean, the soil, and our own guts.

19 Mar 2015

UVA researcher identifies potential therapeutic target for myotonic muscular dystrophy

A doctor who was one of the discoverers of the gene responsible for myotonic muscular dystrophy has now identified a therapeutic that could modify progression of muscle damage and muscle dysfunction associated with the disease - issues that cause patients significant disability and deterioration in quality of life.

19 Mar 2015

New research identifies promising drug therapy target for breast cancer

The genome of a cell is under constant attack, suffering DNA damage that requires an army of repair mechanisms to keep the cell healthy and alive. Understanding the behavior of the enzymes defending these assaults helps determine how - and where - cancer gets its foothold and flourishes.

18 Mar 2015

Gentronix signs three-year technology access deal with SIMM

UK based Gentronix Limited, the specialist genetic toxicology company, today announced it has signed a three year technology access deal with one of China's most prestigious research intensive institutes, Shanghai Institute Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

18 Mar 2015

Virginia Tech researchers use genome-editing method to study lethal disease-carrying animal

Life science researchers at Virginia Tech have accelerated a game-changing technology that's being used to study one of the planet's most lethal disease-carrying animals.

18 Mar 2015

Laura De Laporte receives ERC grant to develop minimally invasive therapy for spinal cord injury

The research objective of Dr.-Ing. Laura De Laporte, junior group leader at DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials in Aachen, is to develop a minimally invasive therapy for spinal cord injury. Her goal and her scientific approach to develop an injectable material with the ability to provide biochemical and physical guidance for regenerating nerves across the injury site, was selected by the European Research Council.

18 Mar 2015

GenomeNext completes whole genome sequencing analysis at unprecedented 1,000 genomes per day

GenomeNext, LLC, a leader in genomic data management and integrated analysis, announced today that, through the "Intel Heads In The Clouds Challenge on Amazon Web Services" with support from JHC Technology, and in conjunction with Nationwide Children's Hospital, has benchmarked whole genome sequencing analysis at an unprecedented 1,000 genomes per day.

18 Mar 2015

New study gives glimmer of hope for personalizing treatment for adrenal cancer

A new international study gives a glimmer of hope for personalizing treatment for one of the most rare and aggressive forms of cancer.

18 Mar 2015

Students attending Brainworks program to learn how regular exercise may help improve brain health

About 140 seventh- and eighth-graders attending Cedars-Sinai's Brainworks program March 23 will learn how hopping, skipping, jumping and other elements of a regular exercise routine may help improve brain health. An exercise station - a new feature of the 17-year-old program - will be one of nine areas where students will interact with Cedars-Sinai neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuroscientists and other health professionals.

18 Mar 2015

DNA sequence determines flexibility, stability of DNA package inside microscopic cell

To pack two meters of DNA into a microscopic cell, the string of genetic information must be wound extremely carefully into chromosomes. Surprisingly the DNA's sequence causes it to be coiled and uncoiled much like a yoyo, scientists reported in Cell.

18 Mar 2015

Scientists identify how mRNA deciphers critical information within genetic code

Case Western Reserve scientists have discovered that speed matters when it comes to how messenger RNA (mRNA) deciphers critical information within the genetic code — the complex chain of instructions critical to sustaining life. The investigators' findings, which appear in the March 12 journal Cell, give scientists critical new information in determining how best to engage cells to treat illness — and, ultimately, keep them from emerging in the first place.

18 Mar 2015