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Penn researchers discover gene that creates "second skeleton" bone disorder

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have located the "skeleton key," a gene that, when damaged, causes the body's skeletal muscles and soft connective tissue to undergo a metamorphosis into bone, progressively locking joints in place and rendering movement impossible.

23 Apr 2006

WRN exonuclease structure and molecular mechanism imply an editing role in DNA end processing

A team of scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Scripps Research Institute has determined the crystal structure and molecular mechanisms of a key part of WRN, a protein that protects humans from premature aging and cancer.

23 Apr 2006

Genetic data from an island population proves to be a useful tool in understanding disease

With fewer than 4,000 residents, the genetically isolated Micronesian island of Kosrae, in the West Pacific, provides an ideal population in which to research heritability of disease.

20 Apr 2006

New method designed to analyze the genes that regulate the immune system

Seattle scientists have developed a new method for analyzing the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) of the human genome.

20 Apr 2006

Important new global mechanism for gene repression

Most of the time in most cells of the body, the great majority of genes are silenced, locked away within the compacted but orderly material that makes up chromosomes.

18 Apr 2006

217 new targets for anti-cancer drugs

By identifying novel genes critical to cancer progression, biologists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have expanded the number of drug targets researchers have available for study to find ways to stop tumors in their tracks.

18 Apr 2006

Active ingredient in soy may explain why Asians have lower rates of obesity and cancer

A single nutrient found in soy products elicits changes in gene behavior that permanently reduce an embryo's risk of becoming obese later in life, according to an animal study at Duke University Medical Center.

13 Apr 2006

Researchers identify the role of a protein in hemoglobin gene silencing

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have identified the role of a protein in hemoglobin gene silencing that may one day be a potential target for the treatment of genetic blood disorders like sickle-cell anemia and beta-thalassemia on the molecular level.

11 Apr 2006

Losartan can prevent progression of Marfan syndrome

A commonly prescribed blood pressure medication may provide the first ray of hope in preventing potentially deadly complications of Marfan syndrome, a genetic disease that weakens the structural meshwork of blood vessels.

11 Apr 2006

Genetic variants in estrogen-related genes linked to Parkinson's disease in women

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered a possible connection between increased risk for Parkinson's disease and variants in three genes that control estrogen production and activity in the body.

11 Apr 2006

Important advance in understanding the complex interactions between proteins

Interactions between proteins are the engines that drive the lives of cells, and a better understanding of these relationships -- and the structures that enable them -- are the next great frontier in the biological sciences.

10 Apr 2006

Whole genome analysis of the protein kinases from Dictyostelium

The journal PLoS Genetics has published the findings of a team of scientists at the nonprofit Boston Biomedical Research Institute that provides a whole genome analysis of the protein kinases from a scientifically valuable model organism known as Dictyostelium.

10 Apr 2006

Discovery of new human retrovirus

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers and their colleagues have discovered a new retrovirus in humans that is closely related to a cancer-causing virus found in mice. Their findings describe the first documented cases of human infection with a retrovirus that is native to rodents.

10 Apr 2006

Specific gene that could be responsible for metabolic diseases

We are all familiar with the dangers of too much fat in our diet--increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity are just a few of the most severe consequences.

7 Apr 2006

Genome evolution in gibbons erased fat gene

Scientists from The University of Tokyo have discovered that gibbons, arboreal primates that inhabit the jungles of Southeast Asia, do not carry a major obesity gene that is present in the genomes of all other primates, including humans.

4 Apr 2006

Johns Hopkins scientists identify genes in fruitflies that may shed light on human cancer spread

By searching through all the genes in the fruitfly genome, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified those required for a certain type of cell migration and simultaneously captured a global view of all the genes turned on when cells are on the move.

4 Apr 2006

Researchers narrow search for effective prostate cancer biomarkers

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have narrowed the search for effective prostate cancer biomarkers (genetic variations that point to a specific disease or condition), identifying changes in the expression of genes of the whole genome closely correlated to prostate cancer development and progression.

4 Apr 2006