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).

New compound CDDO-Im protects against the development of liver cancer

Researchers have identified a new compound called CDDO-Im that protects against the development of liver cancer in laboratory animals.

17 Feb 2006

Scientists put ehrlichiosis under the genomic spotlight

Ehrlichiosis is no star of science. This emerging disease has an awkward name, vague flu-like symptoms, and a nasty habit of being caused by bacteria that live inside ticks and flatworms.

17 Feb 2006

Inactivating Rad9 protien could make cancer cells easier to kill with ionizing radiation

The researchers found that Rad9, previously considered a "watchman" that checks for DNA damage, is actually a "repairman" that fixes dangerous breaks in the DNA double helix. They found Rad9 is especially active in telomeres, the protective ends of chromosomes.

17 Feb 2006

Genome data may contain small but significant errors

Since the genome sequence of the bacterial pathogen Haemophilus influenzae was published in 1995, the genetic code of many other large, complex, medically, and commercially significant organisms including humans has also been elucidated

17 Feb 2006

Cost of sexuality in microbes

The next time you mutter about the high cost of relationship maintenance, take comfort in knowing that microbes share your pain.

16 Feb 2006

Less is more hypothesis - gene loss may explain unique human traits

Humans and chimps share most of their genes, yet they differ dramatically in many ways - their walk, the sizes of their brains and their capacities for speech and language, for example.

16 Feb 2006

Taking aim at one of mankind's most common diseases

A detailed structural picture of a molecule that plays a key role in activating the Epstein Barr Virus in human cells has now been obtained by researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the Institute of Molecular and Structural Virology (IVMS), associated with the University Joseph Fourier and the CNRS, in Grenoble.

16 Feb 2006

A new way of recognising DNA

Scientists led by Mike Hannon at the University of Birmingham and Miquel Coll at the Spanish Research Council in Barcelona have discovered a new way that drugs can attach themselves to DNA, which is a crucial step forward for researchers who are developing drugs to combat cancer and other diseases.

16 Feb 2006

Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage help repair damaged DNA

Need another reason to eat your vegetables? New research shows that some of them contain chemicals that appear to enhance DNA repair in cells, which could lead to protection against cancer development, say Georgetown University Medical Center researchers.

14 Feb 2006

Researchers unmask secrets of a tiny virus that infects bacteria

Using powerful computer tools and cryo-electron microscopes, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine unmasked the secrets of a tiny virus that infects bacteria and, in doing so, opened the door to a better understanding of a variety of viruses that infect people and animals.

13 Feb 2006

New technology could replace time-intensive urine specimens

For the millions of people who suffer from urinary tract infections each year and the doctors who treat them, a promising new biosensor technology has been developed that may replace antiquated testing methods and save precious health care dollars.

12 Feb 2006

New DNA-based cell adhesion strategy

A new technique in which single strands of synthetic DNA are used to firmly fasten biological cells to non-biological surfaces has been developed by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley.

9 Feb 2006

Advocacy groups unite to make lung cancer in women a top priority

Women's health and lung cancer advocacy groups, led by the Society for Women's Health Research, vowed today to make lung cancer education and advocacy, especially among women, a top priority for their organizations in 2006 and beyond.

7 Feb 2006

FDA grants fast track status for ViroPharma's Maribavir

ViroPharma Incorporated has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation for maribavir, an oral antiviral drug candidate for the prevention of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in allogeneic bone marrow (stem cell) and solid organ transplant patients.

7 Feb 2006

Faster screening test for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

A new screening technique for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) cuts by 75% the time taken to identify patients carrying MRSA and could be used to help prevent transmission of the bacteria in hospitals.

7 Feb 2006

HIV subtype is a better predictor than viral load for determining rapid death from AIDS

Traditional testing standards help monitor the progression of an HIV infection to AIDS by keeping track of viral load, using a scale in which less than 50 viral particles per cubic milliliter of blood is considered suppressed disease and a viral load of more than 75,000 particles per cubic milliliter of blood means that the disease will progress more rapidly.

7 Feb 2006

Abraham Lincoln may have suffered from movement disorder

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene mutation in the descendants of Abraham Lincoln's grandparents that suggests the Civil War president himself might have also suffered from a disease that destroys nerve cells in the cerebellum-- the part of the brain that controls movement.

7 Feb 2006

DNA end caps may lead to cancer treatments

The two ends of human DNA have different structures that are treated differently as a cell divides, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found in a study that could help lead to cancer therapies.

7 Feb 2006

Research sheds light on origins of "junk" DNA

In experiments with transgenic mice, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers discovered the remaining steps in the complicated process of how the largest class of jumping genes replicates and inserts themselves within the human genome.

7 Feb 2006

Intracellular observation of RNA metabolism will help identify disease-associated RNAs

For the first time, researchers can now peer inside intact cells to not only identify RNA-binding proteins, but also observe-in real-time-the intricate activities of these special molecules that make them key players in managing some of the cell's most basic functions.

7 Feb 2006