DNA News and Research

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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).

Scientists identifiy elusive telomere RNA subunit in single cell model

The Stowers Institute's Baumann Lab has identified the long-sought telomerase RNA gene in a single-cell research model.

28 Dec 2007

Research could turn the tables on superbugs

Scientists in Australia and America believe they have found a way to deal with the increasing antibiotic resistance of deadly superbugs such as MRSA.

27 Dec 2007

Australian researchers tackle antibiotic resistance

The development of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria that are problematic and expensive to treat is a major healthcare problem around the world. The "selective pressure" of antibiotic usage inevitably results in the emergence and proliferation of resistant bacteria.

20 Dec 2007

Genetic link to spina bifida discovered

Researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston have discovered an association between genes regulating glucose metabolism and spina bifida.

20 Dec 2007

Discovery of molecular signal that helps muscle regenerate and protects it from atrophy

It does not take much to injure a muscle. Sometimes one sudden, inconsiderate movement does the job.

20 Dec 2007

Surprising findings related to myotonic muscular dystrophy and heart protein

New research from the University of Virginia Health System shows that, in cases of Type 1 myotonic muscular dystrophy (DM1), a well known heart protein does several surprising things.

18 Dec 2007

Discovery of new ALS gene

The ALS research team at Umea University in Sweden, working with Dutch and Belgian colleagues, has found new connections between mutations in gene DPP6 and contracting the non-hereditary form of ALS. The findings are being published december 16 in Nature Genetics on the Web.

18 Dec 2007

New findings on myotonic muscular dystrophy

New research from the University of Virginia Health System shows that, in cases of Type 1 myotonic muscular dystrophy (DM1), a well known heart protein does several surprising things. DM1 is the most common form of muscular dystrophy in adults and affects approximately 40,000 adults and children in the U.S.

18 Dec 2007

Medical College of Georgia selected as RNA laboratory for worldwide diabetes study

The Medical College of Georgia Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine has been selected to isolate RNA and DNA from the blood of thousands of children involved in a worldwide study of the causes of type 1 diabetes.

18 Dec 2007

Discovery reveals how fat is stored in cells

In discovering the genes responsible for storing fat in cells, scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have answered one of biology's most fundamental questions.

18 Dec 2007

Researchers spearhead key genome initiative

The complete collection of genes - the genome - of a moss has been sequenced, providing scientists an important evolutionary link between single-celled algae and flowering plants.

17 Dec 2007

Genetic cause of Kawasaki disease

Researchers from Japan's RIKEN SNP Research Center, collaborating with a team at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), have discovered a new genetic variation that affects a child's risk of getting Kawasaki disease (KD), an illness characterized by acute inflammation of the arteries throughout the body.

17 Dec 2007

Highly promising Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research

The TI Pharma project is a large-scale study into the brain material of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients, who gave permission to the Netherlands Brain Bank for their tissue to be used for scientific research.

17 Dec 2007

Evolution with a restricted number of genes

The development of higher forms of life would appear to have been influenced by RNA polymerase II.

17 Dec 2007

Researchers zero in on the tiniest members in the war on cancer

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University have uncovered another reason why one of the most commonly activated proteins in cancer is so dangerous.

14 Dec 2007

Study uncovers clues to cystic fibrosis gene dysfunction and gastrointestinal disease

A new study by researchers at Hasbro Children's Hospital, the pediatric division of Rhode Island Hospital, and Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, offers new insight into the role that the cystic fibrosis gene plays in the development of gastrointestinal disease.

14 Dec 2007

Molecular 'trip switch' shuts down inflammatory response

Like a circuit breaker that prevents electrical wiring from overheating and bringing down the house, a tiny family of three molecules stops the immune system from mounting an out-of-control, destructive inflammatory response against invading pathogens, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found.

14 Dec 2007