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Anthrax vaccine will add to America's arsenal against bioterrorism

A company, based in Rockville, Maryland in the USA, with the help of government funding, has used the human genome to develop a vaccine that may give protection from anthrax.

19 Dec 2007

Overexcited neurons not good for cell health

Neurotransmitters have consequences. They initiate events that are critical to a healthy life, giving us the ability to move, to talk, to breathe, to think. But that's if the neurotransmitters are getting it right and sending proper signals downstream to muscle cells, neurons or other cells.

18 Dec 2007

Bowel cancer genes that triple risk discovered

Cancer Research UK funded scientists have identified two common genetic variants that could triple a person's risk of getting bowel cancer. Their findings are published in Nature Genetics (Sunday).

17 Dec 2007

Researchers spearhead key genome initiative

The complete collection of genes - the genome - of a moss has been sequenced, providing scientists an important evolutionary link between single-celled algae and flowering plants.

17 Dec 2007

Evolution with a restricted number of genes

The development of higher forms of life would appear to have been influenced by RNA polymerase II.

17 Dec 2007

Same genetic machinery generates skin color evolution in fish and humans

When humans began to migrate out of Africa about 100,000 years ago, their skin color gradually changed to adapt to their new environments.

14 Dec 2007

Researchers shine the light of venus to learn how the herpes virus invades cells

University of Pennsylvania researchers have uncovered an important step in how herpes simplex virus, HSV-1, uses cooperating proteins found on its outer coat to gain entry into healthy cells and infect them.

14 Dec 2007

DAB2IP gene linked to aggressive prostate cancer

Results from two genome-wide association studies have identified a genetic variant of the DAB2IP gene that is associated with the risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

13 Dec 2007

$1.7 million grant to advance understanding of genetic influences on diabetes

Scientists at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) expect to make big leaps in their understanding of genetic influences on diabetes, thanks to a new $1.7 million grant awarded to Dr. Joanne Curran, the grant's principal investigator.

13 Dec 2007

New quicker technique for sequencing DNA

Using computer simulations, researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstrated a strategy for sequencing DNA by driving the molecule back and forth through a nanopore capacitor in a semiconductor chip.

13 Dec 2007

More regulatory DNA than previously thought

Surrounding the small islands of genes within the human genome is a vast sea of mysterious DNA. While most of this non-coding DNA is junk, some of it is used to help genes turn on and off.

13 Dec 2007

Losses of long-established genes contribute to human evolution

While it is well understood that the evolution of new genes leads to adaptations that help species survive, gene loss may also afford a selective advantage.

13 Dec 2007

Lethal human H5N1 influenza virus Replikin gene still upregulated

Replikins Ltd. has announced its latest findings regarding the virus replikin count in human H5N1 influenza virus. The company's software-driven analysis has found that the prevalence of these sequences has remained high in Indonesia; in addition, higher counts now have been found in China.

12 Dec 2007

When a female is attracted to a male some of her genes turn on and off

When a female is attracted to a male, entire suites of genes in her brain turn on and off, show biologists from The University of Texas at Austin studying swordtail fish.

10 Dec 2007

Keeping at-risk cells from developing cancer

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that cancers arising from epigenetic changes - in this case the inappropriate activation of a normally silent gene - develop by becoming addicted to certain growth factors.

10 Dec 2007

Human evolution in genetic fast lane

Countering a common theory that human evolution has slowed to a crawl or even stopped in modern humans, a new study examining data from an international genomics project describes the past 40,000 years as a time of supercharged evolutionary change, driven by exponential population growth and cultural shifts.

10 Dec 2007