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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).

Researchers develop low-cost, electricity-free device for detecting DNA of infectious pathogens

Diagnosing HIV and other infectious diseases presents unique challenges in remote locations that lack electric power, refrigeration, and appropriately trained health care staff. To address these issues, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a low-cost, electricity-free device capable of detecting the DNA of infectious pathogens, including HIV-1.

2 Dec 2014

DFG to establish eight new Collaborative Research Centres

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish eight new Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs).

2 Dec 2014

Exome sequencing refines 46,XY DSD diagnosis

Exome sequencing can identify a likely genetic cause of 46,XY disorders of sex development in about a third of cases, report researchers.

1 Dec 2014

Promising new therapeutic strategy for chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects at least one in four Americans who are older than 60 and can significantly shorten lifespan. Yet the few available drugs for CKD can only modestly delay the disease's progress towards kidney failure. Now, however, a team led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has found an aspect of CKD's development that points to a promising new therapeutic strategy.

1 Dec 2014

BioNano Genomics' IrysChip V2 named Top 10 Innovations of 2014

BioNano Genomics, the leader in genome mapping, announced today that The Scientist named the Company's IrysChip™ V2 one of the Top 10 Innovations of 2014.

1 Dec 2014

New vaccine shows promise in patients with metastatic breast cancer

A breast cancer vaccine developed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is safe in patients with metastatic breast cancer, results of an early clinical trial indicate. Preliminary evidence also suggests that the vaccine primed the patients' immune systems to attack tumor cells and helped slow the cancer's progression.

1 Dec 2014

Grand Challenges Canada announces $1.2 million in grant for 11 new global health innovations

Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, today announced $1.2 million in funding for 11 new global health innovations implemented in member states of La Francophonie.

29 Nov 2014

DFG to establish new Collaborative Research Centres

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish eight new Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs).

29 Nov 2014

Study provides proof of concept for developing antibodies against human pathogens

Scientists investigating the potentially deadly hantavirus have used a novel approach to developing protective antibodies against it. Their work, published in today's online edition of Science Translational Medicine, provides proof of concept for producing antibodies against a broad range of human pathogens.

28 Nov 2014

Finding could upend scientific consensus about when embryonic cells begin separating into cell types

Bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that mouse embryos are contemplating their cellular fates in the earliest stages after fertilization when the embryo has only two to four cells, a discovery that could upend the scientific consensus about when embryonic cells begin differentiating into cell types.

28 Nov 2014

TET1 enzyme may be important target for cancer diagnostics, treatment

Mutations in the KRAS gene have long been known to cause cancer, and about one third of solid tumors have KRAS mutations or mutations in the KRAS pathway. KRAS promotes cancer formation not only by driving cell growth and division, but also by turning off protective tumor suppressor genes, which normally limit uncontrolled cell growth and cause damaged cells to self-destruct.

27 Nov 2014

CMU scientists use Harry Potter book to identify brain activity

Some people say that reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" taught them the importance of friends, or that easy decisions are seldom right. Carnegie Mellon University scientists used a chapter of that book to learn a different lesson: identifying what different regions of the brain are doing when people read.

27 Nov 2014

Researchers find unusual role of lactate in metabolism of alveolar soft part sarcoma

Researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah discovered the unusual role of lactate in the metabolism of alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS), a rare, aggressive cancer that primarily affects adolescents and young adults. The study also confirmed that a fusion gene is the cancer-causing agent in this disease.

27 Nov 2014

New research brings personalized cancer vaccine approach one step closer to reality

In the near future, physicians may treat some cancer patients with personalized vaccines that spur their immune systems to attack malignant tumors. New research led by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has brought the approach one step closer to reality.

27 Nov 2014

Researchers uncover easily detectable, 'pre-malignant' state in the blood

Researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard-affiliated hospitals have uncovered an easily detectable, "pre-malignant" state in the blood that significantly increases the likelihood that an individual will go on to develop blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, or myelodysplastic syndrome.

27 Nov 2014

Tufts University study explores relationship between transcription, expansions of DNA repeats

Researchers in human genetics have known that long nucleotide repeats in DNA lead to instability of the genome and ultimately to human hereditary diseases such Freidreich's ataxia and Huntington's disease.

26 Nov 2014

New Sophia DDM platform offers full BRCA1/2 analysis on a single NGS run

Sophia Genetics, the European leader in Clinical Genomics and Next Generation DNA Sequencing (NGS), has today launched a major upgrade to its Data Driven Medicine Platform (Sophia DDM), offering full BRCA1/2 analysis on a single NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) run, for the first time.

26 Nov 2014

Antibiotic for infections comes from good bacteria found in turkeys

While the turkey you eat on Thursday will bring your stomach happiness and could probably kick-start an afternoon nap, it may also save your life one day.

26 Nov 2014

New hybrid vehicle to improve delivery of DNA vaccines is under development

Described recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the technology is a biomedical advancement that could help unleash the potential of DNA vaccines, which despite two decades of research, have yet to make a significant impact in the treatment of major illnesses.

26 Nov 2014

Study reveals how one type of DNA damage may lead to several human diseases

Using a new imaging technique, National Institutes of Health researchers have found that the biological machinery that builds DNA can insert molecules into the DNA strand that are damaged as a result of environmental exposures. These damaged molecules trigger cell death that produces some human diseases, according to the researchers.

26 Nov 2014