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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).

Life Technologies, ASU partner on new project to quickly measure radiation exposure

Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute- has announced a partnership with Life Technologies Corporation as it enters the next phase of a multi-million-dollar, multi-institutional research project to develop a medical device to rapidly assess an individual's exposure to radiation in the event of a nuclear incident.

18 Jan 2013

Scientists identify new mechanism for schistosomiasis-bladder cancer connection

About 200 million people across 75 of the poorest countries in the world are now infected by the blood parasite Schistosoma haematobium (S. haematobium). The infection causes severe urogenital disease, but also causes bladder cancer in a number of patients and why this occurs is not clear.

17 Jan 2013

SF3B1 gene mutations in uveal melanoma linked to favorable features

Melanomas that develop in the eye often are fatal. Now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have identified a mutated gene in melanoma tumors of the eye that appears to predict a good outcome.

17 Jan 2013

UCI study identifies transgenerational effects of tributyltin

Exposing pregnant mice to low doses of the chemical tributyltin - which is used in marine hull paint and PVC plastic - can lead to obesity for multiple generations without subsequent exposure, a UC Irvine study has found.

17 Jan 2013

Protein Sciences receives FDA approval for Flublok vaccine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has approved Flublok, the first trivalent influenza vaccine made using an insect virus (baculovirus) expression system and recombinant DNA technology. Flublok is approved for the prevention of seasonal influenza in people 18 through 49 years of age.

16 Jan 2013

Sp2 protein plays a key role in creation of neurons from stem cells

A protein known as Sp2 is key to the proper creation of neurons from stem cells, according to researchers at North Carolina State University. Understanding how this protein works could enable scientists to "program" stem cells for regeneration, which has implications for neural therapies.

16 Jan 2013

MI-ONCOSEQ program identifies NAB2-STAT6 fusion in solitary fibrous tumors

It started with a 44-year-old woman with solitary fibrous tumor, a rare cancer seen in only a few hundred people each year. By looking at the entire DNA from this one patient's tumor, researchers have found a genetic anomaly that provides an important clue to improving how this cancer is diagnosed and treated.

16 Jan 2013

Research shows genetic factors increase risk of visceral leishmaniasis

A new study published in Nature Genetics last week shows that genetics likely influence whether an individual develops visceral leishmaniasis, a lethal form of the parasitic disease transmitted by sandflies, the New York Times reports.

16 Jan 2013

Study identifies 24 new copy number variants linked with autism

University of Utah (the U) researchers, in collaboration with several groups from around the country, published a paper on Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, following one of the biggest studies of its kind, that extends our understanding of genes related to autism spectrum diseases (ASDs) and advances methods for early detection and treatment.

16 Jan 2013

Experimental vaccine elicits antibodies that can protect against Ebola virus infection

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have found that an experimental vaccine elicits antibodies that can protect nonhuman primates from Ebola virus infection.

16 Jan 2013

Genetics researchers identify 25 additional copy number variations associated with autism

Genetics researchers have identified 25 additional copy number variations (CNVs)—missing or duplicated stretches of DNA—that occur in some patients with autism. These CNVs, say the researchers, are "high impact": although individually rare, each has a strong effect in raising an individual's risk for autism.

16 Jan 2013

Thermo Fisher's expandable portfolio of lab automation solutions to be showcased at SLAS 2013

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today introduced a new range of laboratory automation and screening solutions during the Second Annual Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) conference and exhibition.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 16 Jan 2013

Diospyrin inactivates a drug target for tuberculosis in new way

A compound from the South African toothbrush tree inactivates a drug target for tuberculosis in a previously unseen way.

16 Jan 2013

Aggressive breast cancer’s metastasis molecular switch identified

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered the molecular switch that allows aggressive triple negative breast cancer cells to grow the amoeba-like protrusions they need to crawl away from a primary tumor and metastasize throughout the body. Their findings, published in Cancer Cell, suggest a novel approach for developing agents to treat cancer once it has spread.

15 Jan 2013

Sequencing-based test effectively detects many fetal genetic defects

Researchers have developed a new screening test that allows detection of fetal abnormalities in maternal blood by deep sequencing cell-free DNA extracted from plasma.

14 Jan 2013

Human papillomavirus an etiologic factor in 6% of OCSCC cases

High-risk human papillomavirus is an etiologic factor in approximately 6% of cases of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma, according to epidemiologic research.

14 Jan 2013

‘PapGene’ test detects endometrial and ovarian cancers

Researchers have adapted the papanicolaou smear test currently used to detect cervical cancer so that it can be used to screen women for endometrial and ovarian cancers.

14 Jan 2013

Repression of PTB protein in fibroblasts can convert pluripotent stem cells into functional neurons

Repression of a single protein in ordinary fibroblasts is sufficient to directly convert the cells - abundantly found in connective tissues - into functional neurons. The findings, which could have far-reaching implications for the development of new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, will be published online in advance of the January 17 issue of the journal Cell.

11 Jan 2013

Cancer researchers solve mystery of how Chd5 protein exerts its beneficial effects

A team of cancer researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has solved the mystery of how one of the most powerful of the body's natural tumor-suppressing proteins, called Chd5, exerts its beneficial effects.

11 Jan 2013

Johns Hopkins develops PapGene test to diagnose ovarian and endometrial cancers

Using cervical fluid obtained during routine Pap tests, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have developed a test to detect ovarian and endometrial cancers. In a pilot study, the "PapGene" test, which relies on genomic sequencing of cancer-specific mutations, accurately detected all 24 (100 percent) endometrial cancers and nine of 22 (41 percent) ovarian cancers. Results of the experiments are published in the Jan. 9 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine.

11 Jan 2013