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Study stresses importance of investigating telomeres to improve diagnoses, develop treatments for many diseases

Studying telomeres, the structures that protect the ends of chromosomes, has become a key issue in biology. In recent years, not only has their relation to ageing been confirmed; defective telomeres seem to be linked to more and more illnesses, including many types of cancer.

16 Jul 2015

Additional preclinical data on DelMar’s VAL-083 to treat temozolomide-resistant GBM presented at AACR

DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing proven cancer therapies in new orphan drug indications, presented additional preclinical data at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Advances in Brain Cancer Research Conference on the potential for its lead product candidate VAL-083 (dianhydrogalactitol) to treat patients with temozolomide-resistant glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

1 Jun 2015

Scientists find key to light-induced color change in fish skin

The neon tetra fish from the Amazonas River, along with some reptiles, amphibians, and other fish, takes advantage of structural colors in its skin to change its appearance in response to a triggering signal. In the light-adapted state, its lateral stripe shimmers blue-green, in the dark it is indigo. Scientists from Israel have now found an unambiguous answer to how this intriguing mechanism works. They present their results, which favor the so-called "Venetian blind" model, in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

20 May 2015

Researcher reports possible existence of sixth DNA base

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the main component of our genetic material. It is formed by combining four parts: A, C, G and T (adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine), called bases of DNA combine in thousands of possible sequences to provide the genetic variability that enables the wealth of aspects and functions of living beings.

6 May 2015

Research findings could bolster efforts to develop next gen of anti-viral treatments

A newly developed spectroscopy method is helping to clarify the poorly understood molecular process by which an anti-HIV drug induces lethal mutations in the virus's genetic material.

16 Apr 2015

Experimental oligonucleotide-based drug stimulates human immune system to fight infections

An experimental single-stranded oligonucleotide-based drug, MGN1703, comprised only of natural DNA components, stimulates the human immune system to fight infections and attack cancer cells without causing the harmful side effects associated with similar compounds that also contain non-natural DNA components.

8 Apr 2015

New study reveals how cells sort out loops meant to encode microRNAs

Just as two DNA strands naturally arrange themselves into a helix, DNA's molecular cousin RNA can form hairpin-like loops. But unlike DNA, which has a single job, RNA can play many parts -- including acting as a precursor for small molecules that block the activity of genes. These small RNA molecules must be trimmed from long hairpin-loop structures, raising a question: How do cells know which RNA loops need to be processed this way and which don't?

25 Mar 2015

Loyola's Genomics Facility uses next generation sequencing to study genetic make-up of organisms

Loyola University Chicago's Genomics Facility is using an advanced technology called next generation sequencing to assist a broad range of researchers studying the genetic make-up of organisms ranging from viruses to humans.

9 Mar 2015

Researchers one step closer to unraveling complex processes crucial to sperm development

Researchers are one step closer to unraveling the extraordinarily complex series of processes that leads to an event crucial to human reproduction: the creation of sperm.

5 Mar 2015

University of Tokyo researchers reveal how TLR9 binds to pathogen DNA

University of Tokyo researchers have elucidated how Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) binds to pathogen DNA, activating the innate immune system. This discovery is vital for the design of new antiviral, antibacterial, allergy and other drugs targeting TLR9.

10 Feb 2015

New approach to turn diseased cells into unique manufacturing sites for treating muscular dystrophy

In a new study that could ultimately lead to many new medicines, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have adapted a chemical approach to turn diseased cells into unique manufacturing sites for molecules that can treat a form of muscular dystrophy.

3 Sep 2014

Researchers reveal how alteration of single nucleotide could initiate fragile X syndrome

Researchers reveal how the alteration of a single nucleotide—the basic building block of DNA—could initiate fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual disability. The study appears in The Journal of Cell Biology.

2 Sep 2014

Researchers reveal how early changes in DNA methylation involved in Alzheimer's disease

A new study led by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Rush University Medical Center, reveals how early changes in brain DNA methylation are involved in Alzheimer's disease.

18 Aug 2014

Identifying epigenetic markers in cancer cells could improve patient treatment

Scientists have known for decades that cancer can be caused by genetic mutations, but more recently they have discovered that chemical modifications of a gene can also contribute to cancer.

13 Aug 2014

Researchers identify new biomarker that predicts effectiveness of glioblastoma treatment

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a new biomarker that predicts whether glioblastoma - the most common form of primary brain cancer - will respond to chemotherapy. The findings are published in the July print issue of Oncotarget.

2 Jul 2014

DNA methylation identified as potential anti-TNF response biomarker for RA

DNA methylation has been identified as a potential biomarker of response to etanercept and adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) according to preliminary results from one of the largest methylome-wide investigations of treatment response to anti-TNF therapies.

12 Jun 2014

New research shows how misfolded proteins are precisely selected for degradation

It's almost axiomatic that misfolded proteins compromise how cells normally function and cause debilitating human disease, but how these proteins are detected and degraded within the body is not well understood.

30 May 2014

Analysis of key cellular protein demonstrates the effectiveness of Taxol anti-cancer drug

A pathway to the design of even more effective versions of the powerful anti-cancer drug Taxol has been opened with the most detailed look ever at the assembly and disassembly of microtubules, tiny fibers of tubulin protein that form the cytoskeletons of living cells and play a crucial role in mitosis.

23 May 2014

TSRI scientists create bacteria with expanded DNA code

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have engineered a bacterium whose genetic material includes an added pair of DNA “letters,” or bases, not found in nature. The cells of this unique bacterium can replicate the unnatural DNA bases more or less normally, for as long as the molecular building blocks are supplied.

8 May 2014

Johns Hopkins biochemists figure out HIV-fighting activity of enzyme

Johns Hopkins biochemists have figured out what is needed to activate and sustain the virus-fighting activity of an enzyme found in CD4+ T cells, the human immune cells infected by HIV. The discovery could launch a more effective strategy for preventing the spread of HIV in the body with drugs targeting this enzyme, they say.

2 May 2014