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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).

TU Darmstadt’s biosensor can diagnose African sleeping sickness before it breaks out

African sleeping sickness is an infectious disease that is widespread south of the Sahara Desert. Although the around sixty million people residing in tropical Africa run the risk of becoming infected with the disease every day, only around four million of them are monitored for the disease by disease-control authorities.

13 Dec 2012

Dantrolene may help combat Duchenne muscular dystrophy in boys

Drugs are currently being tested that show promise in treating patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), an inherited disease that affects about one in 3,600 boys and results in muscle degeneration and, eventually, death.

13 Dec 2012

Study finds many patients with family history of LINE-1 hypomethylated colorectal cancer

When people with a family history of colorectal cancer develop the disease, their tumors often carry a molecular sign that the cancer could be life-threatening and may require aggressive treatment, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists report in a new study.

13 Dec 2012

TKI-resistant human leukemia stem cells are the source of genomic instability

An international team of scientists, led by researchers from Temple University School of Medicine, has found that a source of mounting genomic chaos, or instability, common to chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) may lie in a pool of leukemia stem cells that are immune to treatment with potent targeted anticancer drugs.

12 Dec 2012

Scientists determine specific genetic switches that sync liver activity to the circadian cycle

When it's dark, and we start to fall asleep, most of us think we're tired because our bodies need rest. Yet circadian rhythms affect our bodies not just on a global scale, but at the level of individual organs, and even genes.

12 Dec 2012

Oncogene-induced senescence could play a key role in future cancer therapy

Cell aging, or cellular senescence, has an important role in the natural physiological response to tumor development. Activated oncogenes are able to induce senescence, and recent findings have suggested that oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) could play a key role in future cancer therapy.

12 Dec 2012

New collaborative model for drug discovery can ensure antibiotics are not lost to resistance

Noting "multidrug-resistant organisms are showing up in top-flight hospitals" around the world, Carl Nathan, chair of the department of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College, writes in this New York Times opinion piece, "What makes the rapid loss of antibiotics to drug resistance particularly alarming is that we are failing to make new ones."

12 Dec 2012

GeneTex to introduce new Histone H3 antibody

GeneTex, a leading manufacturer of antibodies and antibody-related reagents, is set to launch a new antibody against phosphorylated Histone H3.

11 Dec 2012

FAC PET identifies liposarcoma tumors that are sensitive to chemotherapy

Liposarcoma, the most common type of sarcoma, is an often lethal form of cancer that develops in fat cells. It is particularly deadly, in part, because the tumors are not consistently visible with positron emission tomography (PET) scans that use a common probe called FDG and because they frequently do not respond to chemotherapy.

11 Dec 2012

UNM study to understand why and how DNA repair mechanisms go awry in cancer cells

DNA, like houses and cars, needs ongoing maintenance. Rays of ultraviolet sunlight, chemical pollutants and normal biochemical processes in the cell can damage it. Cells routinely repair this damage before making proteins or copying DNA for cell division. The repairs are remarkably accurate in normal cells but cancer cells make far more mistakes in fixing their DNA.

11 Dec 2012

FGFR1 amplification heralds poor prognosis in SCCL

Amplification of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 gene independently predicts poor outcomes in patients who have undergone resection of squamous cell lung cancer, research shows.

10 Dec 2012

Microarray analysis ‘best test for prenatal diagnosis’

Chromosomal microarray analysis is able to identify significantly more clinically relevant information for prenatal diagnosis than is karyotyping, and is equally able to highlight aneuploidies and unbalanced rearrangements, US study findings suggest.

10 Dec 2012

New study could help develop anti-inflammatory drugs with fewer side effects

10 Dec 2012

Angiocidin reduces acute myeloid leukemia cells in vivo by almost two-thirds in pre-clinical studies

Angiocidin, a novel tumor-inhibiting protein, has been shown to reduce acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells in vivo by almost two-thirds in pre-clinical experiments.

10 Dec 2012

Researchers track emergence and global spread of healthcare-associated C. difficile

Researchers show that the global epidemic of Clostridium difficile 027/NAP1/BI in the early to mid-2000s was caused by the spread of two different but highly related strains of the bacterium rather than one as was previously thought. The spread and persistence of both epidemics were driven by the acquisition of resistance to a frontline antibiotic.

10 Dec 2012

Targeting RAD52 protein can block the process by which leukemia stem cells repair themselves

Despite treatment with imatinib, a successful drug that targets chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a deadly type of cancer, some patients may continue to be at risk for relapse because a tiny pool of stem cells is resistant to treatment and may even accumulate additional genetic aberrations, eventually leading to disease progression and relapse. These leukemia stem cells are full of genetic errors, loaded with potentially lethal breaks in DNA, and are in a state of constant self-repair.

10 Dec 2012

Most triple-negative breast cancer patients have multiple genetic mutations after chemo treatment

Most triple-negative breast cancer patients who were treated with chemotherapy to shrink the tumor prior to surgery still had multiple genetic mutations in their tumor cells, according to a study by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigators.

10 Dec 2012

DNA News and Research

Further Reading

TU Darmstadt’s biosensor can diagnose African sleeping sickness before it breaks out

Dantrolene may help combat Duchenne muscular dystrophy in boys

Study finds many patients with family history of LINE-1 hypomethylated colorectal cancer

TKI-resistant human leukemia stem cells are the source of genomic instability

Scientists determine specific genetic switches that sync liver activity to the circadian cycle

Oncogene-induced senescence could play a key role in future cancer therapy

New collaborative model for drug discovery can ensure antibiotics are not lost to resistance

GeneTex to introduce new Histone H3 antibody

FAC PET identifies liposarcoma tumors that are sensitive to chemotherapy

UNM study to understand why and how DNA repair mechanisms go awry in cancer cells

FGFR1 amplification heralds poor prognosis in SCCL

Microarray analysis ‘best test for prenatal diagnosis’

New study could help develop anti-inflammatory drugs with fewer side effects

Angiocidin reduces acute myeloid leukemia cells in vivo by almost two-thirds in pre-clinical studies

Researchers track emergence and global spread of healthcare-associated C. difficile

Targeting RAD52 protein can block the process by which leukemia stem cells repair themselves

Most triple-negative breast cancer patients have multiple genetic mutations after chemo treatment

Novel sensor measures individual particles in blood samples

Noncoding DNA sequence required for epidermal differentiation

Novel organic metamaterial holds promise for drug delivery

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