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Primordial soup where life began on earth was hot and not cold

A new theory that explains why the language of our genes is more complex than it needs to be also suggests that the primordial soup where life began on earth was hot and not cold, as many scientists believe.

2 Aug 2005

Customized gene chip will offer clues to prognosis in cases of neuroblastoma

Genetics researchers have developed a customized gene chip to rapidly scan tumor samples for specific DNA changes that offer clues to prognosis in cases of neuroblastoma, a common form of children's cancer.

2 Aug 2005

Researchers modify software to predict gene transcription

A modification to an "ace" gene prediction program by computer scientists at Washington University in St. Louis now enables scientists to predict the very beginnings of gene transcription start sites and where the first splice occurs thereby defining the first exon of the gene.

13 Jul 2005

Metabolic syndrome prevented by a fit heart

According to a new study, a person's cardiorespiratory fitness is a strong predictor of their risk of developing metabolic syndrome.

12 Jul 2005

Major study says for diabetics with high blood pressure diuretics are the best option

A major new study has found that for people with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, cheaper diuretic medications may be the most cost-effective option in reducing hypertension.

29 Jun 2005

Unique arrays of proteins tethered onto self-assembled DNA nanostructures

In the fifty-year history since the structure of DNA was first revealed, what was once a Nobel prize- winning research discovery has become an omnipresent cultural icon co-opted for promoting everything from fragrances to musical acts.

20 Jun 2005

Inactive gene may explain higher incidence of prostate cancer in African-Americans compared to Caucasians

Among African-Americans with prostate cancer, a tumor-suppressing gene called GSTP1 is inactivated at a rate 3.5 times higher than among Caucasians, according to a study conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).

16 Jun 2005

Scientists have tracked down the biological trigger that gives rise to Van Buchem disease

...a hereditary, disfiguring bone disorder that can cause blindness and deafness. The findings provide insight into long-range gene regulation and could lead to new treatments for osteoporosis and other crippling bone disorders.

16 Jun 2005

Improving access to trauma care in the United States

A study led by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers has, for the first time, determined access to trauma centers at the national level.

31 May 2005

Nearly 50 millions Americans do not have access to a level I or II trauma center within an hour

Despite the growing number of trauma centers over the past decade, studies indicate that their geographic distribution varies widely across states, according to background information in the article.

25 May 2005

Scientists take aim at virulent bacteria by decoding machinery of key control enzyme

By deciphering the ingenious mechanism used by a particular enzyme to modify bacterial chromosome chemistry, scientists have come a step closer to designing a new kind of drug that could stop virulent bacterial infections in their tracks. Their research will be published in the May 6 issue of the journal Cell.

5 May 2005

Researchers unravel how nature releases the torque built up in DNA at the molecular level

A Dutch led international team of researchers has unravelled how nature releases the torque built up in DNA at the molecular level. The researchers from Delft University of Technology, the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris and the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York published their findings in the 31 March 2005 issue of Nature. An artistic impression of the enzyme at work is featured on the cover of this issue.

4 May 2005

First study of mercury and cognitive function in urban, U.S. adults

Although the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are well known for their health benefits, many fish are also the primary source of mercury in the general population.

20 Apr 2005

Wolbachia genome reveals new targets to combat infectious disease

More than a billion people are at risk for infection with filarial nematodes, parasites that cause elephantiasis, African river blindness, and other debilitating diseases in more than 150 million people worldwide.

29 Mar 2005

DNA sequencing made portable and faster by "colour-blind" technology

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Rice University have developed a"colour-blind" method of fluorescence detection which could open new doors that would take DNA sequencing to the patient's bedside, the doctor's office and even the scene of a crime or a battlefield.

29 Mar 2005

Images of brain activity may hold clues to the onset of schizophrenia

Images of brain activity may hold clues to the onset of schizophrenia in people at high risk for the disease, according to a study headed by psychiatry researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

21 Mar 2005

New way of looking at MicroRNA and how it controls gene expression

A group of scientists at The Scripps Research Institute is reporting a discovery that sheds light on an area of research fundamental to everything from the normal processes that govern the everyday life of human cells to the aberrant mechanisms that underlie many diseases, including cancer and septic shock.

13 Mar 2005

Finding may open new horizons for understanding the initiation of chemically induced cancers

A team from the chemistry and biology departments of New York University, in collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), has uncovered a conformational switch - a change in shape in a carcinogen-damaged DNA site - in tumor suppressor genes altered by a known cancer-causing chemical found in cigarette smoke.

9 Mar 2005

DNA ejection from single phage particles

Studying phage, a primitive class of virus that infects bacteria by injecting its genomic DNA into host cells, researchers have gained insight into the driving force behind this poorly understood injection process, which has been proposed in the past to occur through the release of pressure accumulated within the viral particle itself.

7 Mar 2005

Visual cortex contains neurons that are sensitive to viewing angle

Mistakes made by human subjects in identifying the facing direction of faces, cars or meaningless objects have yielded evidence that the brain contains nerve cells, or neurons, whose job is to encode the viewing angle of objects. It is well known that certain neurons respond to color, motion, edges and other aspects of our environment.

3 Mar 2005