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).

Breakthrough on cytomegalovirus transmission

Researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have shown that cytomegalovirus (CMV) in the salivary glands can be reduced , and in some cases eliminated , through the use of antibodies to enhance the disease-fighting power of the immune system.

11 May 2007

Protein findings establish better understanding of tumor development

Peter Baumann, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator, and Nancy Bae, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Baumann Lab, have published a paper offering insight into the way cells protect chromosome ends from misguided repair.

11 May 2007

New understanding of ubiquitylation

It turns out there's more than one way to skin a gene. New research from Rockefeller University suggests that two closely related DNA unpackaging mechanisms may not work the way scientists thought.

10 May 2007

Opossum DNA provides new insight into natural selection

Study of the DNA of a South American marsupial called the opossum has revealed that a gene's location influences whether or not it is likely to gather changes that could lead to disease.

10 May 2007

Researchers discover genetic 'shut down' trigger in healthy immune cells

A fundamental genetic mechanism that shuts down an important gene in healthy immune system cells has been discovered that could one day lead to new therapies against infections, leukemia and other cancers.

10 May 2007

Genetic component to autism

Using an innovative statistical approach, a research team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California, Los Angeles, has identified two regions of DNA linked to autism.

10 May 2007

Food scientists develop rapid, reliable technique to ensure fruit and vegetable juices adhere to quality standards

Increasingly, consumer products, especially food and beverage products, are being scrutinized for better quality.

10 May 2007

Researchers watch repair proteins arrive around DNA breaks

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital had a molecule's eye view of the human cell's DNA repair kit as it assembled on a double-strand break to link together the broken ends.

10 May 2007

Structural variation in the human genome

A major new effort to uncover the medium- and large-scale genetic differences between humans may soon reveal DNA sequences that contribute to a wide range of diseases, according to a paper by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Evan Eichler and 17 colleagues published in the May 10, 2007, Nature.

10 May 2007

Sigma-Aldrich acquires Molecular Medicine BioServices

Sigma-Aldrich Corporation has announced that it has acquired Molecular Medicine BioServices Inc. (MMB), a biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing organization (CMO) located in Carlsbad, California, to further enhance the biologics capabilities within its SAFC Pharma business segment.

9 May 2007

Research sheds light on memory by erasing it

For years, scientists have studied the molecular basis of memory storage, trying to find the molecules that store memory, just as DNA stores genetic memory.

9 May 2007

Gene mutation linked to cognition is found only in humans

The human and chimpanzee genomes vary by just 1.2 percent, yet there is a considerable difference in the mental and linguistic capabilities between the two species.

9 May 2007

Fluorescent nanoparticles open up new possibilities for cellular imaging

Scientists from the University of Twente, the Netherlands, have successfully exploited the optical properties of fluorescent nanoparticles to broaden the scope of single-cell microscopy.

9 May 2007

Sperm from diabetic men have greater levels of DNA damage which may affect their fertility

In the first study to compare the quality of DNA in sperm from diabetic and non-diabetic men, researchers at Queen’s University Belfast showed that the DNA in the nuclei of the sperm cells had greater levels of fragmentation in diabetic men, and that there were more deletions of DNA in the tiny, energy-generating structures in the cells called mitochondria.

8 May 2007

New mapping technique will answer fundamental questions about chromosome structure

Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a simple and economical technique for imaging and mapping fruit fly chromosomes.

8 May 2007

Multitasking mental cells

In the mid-1990s, scientists at the University of Parma, in Italy, made a discovery so novel that it shifted the way psychologists discuss the brain. After researchers implanted electrodes into the heads of monkeys, they noticed a burst of activity in the premotor cortex when the animals clutched a piece of food.

8 May 2007

Diabetes drug rosiglitazone boosts power of platinum chemotherapy

A widely used diabetes drug dramatically boosted the potency of platinum-based cancer drugs when administered together to a variety of cancer cell lines and to mice with tumors, scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report.

8 May 2007

Six week baby sex test available on the internet

Prospective parents eager to know the sex of their unborn child can now buy a test on the internet which will tell them at just six weeks whether they are having a boy or a girl.

7 May 2007

Fecal microbes high in New Orleans sediments following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

In a new study documenting the microbial landscape of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, scientists report that sediments in interior portions of the city appear to be contaminated with fecal microbes, a chronic condition they say persisted in the area before the hurricanes, and that the resulting water quality in the city and in nearshore waters of the lake continues to be impacted by discharges from this contamination.

4 May 2007

New understanding of genetic mutation that contributes to autism

The investigators now know more about how the mutation causes problems with a specific gene and are testing for additional mutations of the same gene in other people with autism.

4 May 2007