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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).

Viewpoints: Local political fallout from Obama insurance pledge; 'debunking' sob story; is single payer still a possibility?

Democratic state leaders have been some of ObamaCare's strongest advocates. To show his gratitude, President Obama is sticking them with political responsibility for the millions of insurance policies that are being cancelled because they don't comply with the law's minimum-benefits mandates. ... Renewing lapsed policies could weaken the state exchanges as healthy young people will want to keep their discontinued, lower-cost plans ... there are other political considerations. Namely, the criticism they'll face from both the right and left if they don't back the president's directive to allow policy renewals (Allysia Finley, 11/25).

27 Nov 2013

Freiburg scientists discover substance that suppresses unchecked cell division in leukemia cells

Scientists of the University of Freiburg and the Freiburg University Medical Center from the collaborative research center Medical Epigenetics (SFB 992) have discovered a new active substance that inhibits cell division in leukemia cells and could play an important role in the fight against cancer.

27 Nov 2013

CSHL identifies specific stretch of DNA that helps cancerous blood cells to proliferate in AML

A team of researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has identified a leukemia-specific stretch of DNA called an enhancer element that enables cancerous blood cells to proliferate in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a devastating cancer that is incurable in 70% of patients.

27 Nov 2013

FDA orders halt to marketing for DNA test kit

The agency says the tests haven't been proven effective. The Food and Drug Administration has ordered the maker of a popular genetic-testing kit to halt sales of its heavily marketed product, saying the mail-order tests haven't been proven effective and could dangerously mislead people about their health.

27 Nov 2013

Biochemist receives grant to identify pathway to regulate DNA damage repair in cancer cells

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are often used to kill cancer cells by causing irreparable DNA damage. However, some cancer patients resist chemotherapy and radiation due to a highly active DNA damage repair system.

26 Nov 2013

Researchers successfully target T lymphocytes which play key role in body's immune response

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have successfully targeted T lymphocytes - which play a central role in the body's immune response - with another type of white blood cell engineered to synthesize and deliver bits of non-coding RNA or microRNA (miRNA).

26 Nov 2013

Vitamin pills can do more harm than good

Vitamin supplements are a billion-dollar industry. We want to stay healthy and fit and help our bodies with this. But perhaps we are achieving precisely the opposite?

26 Nov 2013

Researcher receives $225,000 grant to study epigenetic changes associated with chemotherapy

Western University cancer researcher Shun-Cheng (Shawn) Li, PhD, has been awarded a China-Canada Joint Health Research Initiative grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

26 Nov 2013

Researchers reveal why some breast cancer cells are resistant to chemotherapy

Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine, working with cell lines in a lab, have discovered why some of the most aggressive and fatal breast cancer cells are resistant to chemotherapy, and UNC scientists are developing ways to overcome such resistance.

26 Nov 2013

Asparagine found in meat, eggs and dairy products is important for normal brain development

Asparagine, found in foods such as meat, eggs, and dairy products, was until now considered non-essential because it is produced naturally by the body. Researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital found that the amino acid is essential for normal brain development.

26 Nov 2013

Genetic variation linked to increased levels of triglycerides associated with heart disorders

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have found that a genetic variation that is linked to increased levels of triglycerides -- fats in the blood associated with disorders such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and stroke -- is far more common than previously believed and disproportionally affects people of African ancestry.

26 Nov 2013

Researchers repurpose genetic data, electronic medical records to perform large-scale PheWAS study

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers and co-authors from four other U.S. institutions from the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network are repurposing genetic data and electronic medical records to perform the first large-scale phenome-wide association study (PheWAS), released today in Nature Biotechnology.

26 Nov 2013

Seed grants support cancer diagnosis and treatment, vascular health research

Five teams of scientists earned research seed grants awarded this year by the John S. Dunn Foundation. The awards support new collaborations by researchers at Rice University's BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) and their partners at other institutional members of the Gulf Coast Consortia (GCC).

26 Nov 2013

Cleveland Clinic researchers elected as AAAS Fellows for excellent contributions to science

Cleveland Clinic researchers Richard A. Padgett, Ph.D., and Edward F. Plow, Ph.D., have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This year's AAAS Fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Nov. 29, 2013.

26 Nov 2013

Dysregulation of epigenetic marks may play role in chronic kidney disease, shows study

The research of physician-scientist Katalin Susztak, MD, PhD, associate professor of Medicine in the Renal Electrolyte and Hypertension Division, at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, strives to understand the molecular roots and genetic predisposition of chronic kidney disease.

26 Nov 2013

Chicken eggs can provide better understanding of human birth defects

Clemson University researchers found that chicken eggs can provide a better understanding of human birth defects. Susan Chapman, associate professor in Clemson's College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences, received a South Carolina IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence award that allowed researchers to identify two regions in the chicken genome that are associated with congenital deafness and spine deformities in humans.

26 Nov 2013

Exposure of fetus to maternal mood disorders may lead to behavioral problems in offspring

A great number of women experience depression or anxiety while pregnant, and exposure of the fetus to these maternal mood disorders may lead to long-term emotional and behavioral problems in the offspring.

26 Nov 2013

Arrowhead seeks approval to start ARC-520 phase 2a trial for chronic hepatitis B infection

Arrowhead Research Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted RNAi therapeutics, today announced that it recently filed an application for approval to begin a phase 2a clinical trial of its RNAi-based therapeutic candidate, ARC-520, for the potential treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

25 Nov 2013

Waseda University researchers observe molecular motors that play critical role in chromosome transport

Researchers at Waseda University in Japan have for the first time directly observed the “molecular motor”, called Xkid, that plays a critical role in facilitating the proper alignment of chromosomes during cell division. Their findings are expected to contribute greatly to elucidating the molecular mechanisms of chromosome segregation, a key aspect of the development of certain medical disorders including cancer and birth defects.

25 Nov 2013

CRISPR-Cas-system: A promising tool for genetic engineering

Viruses cannot only cause illnesses in humans, they also infect bacteria. Those protect themselves with a kind of 'immune system' which - simply put - consists of specific sequences in the genetic material of the bacteria and a suitable enzyme. It detects foreign DNA, which may originate from a virus, cuts it up and thus makes the invaders harmless.

25 Nov 2013

DNA News and Research

Further Reading

Viewpoints: Local political fallout from Obama insurance pledge; 'debunking' sob story; is single payer still a possibility?

Freiburg scientists discover substance that suppresses unchecked cell division in leukemia cells

CSHL identifies specific stretch of DNA that helps cancerous blood cells to proliferate in AML

FDA orders halt to marketing for DNA test kit

Biochemist receives grant to identify pathway to regulate DNA damage repair in cancer cells

Researchers successfully target T lymphocytes which play key role in body's immune response

Vitamin pills can do more harm than good

Researcher receives $225,000 grant to study epigenetic changes associated with chemotherapy

Researchers reveal why some breast cancer cells are resistant to chemotherapy

Asparagine found in meat, eggs and dairy products is important for normal brain development

Genetic variation linked to increased levels of triglycerides associated with heart disorders

Researchers repurpose genetic data, electronic medical records to perform large-scale PheWAS study

Seed grants support cancer diagnosis and treatment, vascular health research

Cleveland Clinic researchers elected as AAAS Fellows for excellent contributions to science

Dysregulation of epigenetic marks may play role in chronic kidney disease, shows study

Chicken eggs can provide better understanding of human birth defects

Exposure of fetus to maternal mood disorders may lead to behavioral problems in offspring

Arrowhead seeks approval to start ARC-520 phase 2a trial for chronic hepatitis B infection

Waseda University researchers observe molecular motors that play critical role in chromosome transport

CRISPR-Cas-system: A promising tool for genetic engineering

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