DNA News and Research

RSS

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 sequencing approach can provide more effective method of BRCA1/2 mutational analysis

Individuals with mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have a significantly higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers. Families at risk have been seeking genetic testing and counseling based on their mutation carrier status, but the standard method of direct sequencing is labor-intensive, costly, and it only targets a part of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

6 Aug 2012

Mammalian cells divide when their growth rate hits a specific threshold

It's a longstanding question in biology: How do cells know when to progress through the cell cycle? In simple organisms such as yeast, cells divide once they reach a specific size. However, determining if this holds true for mammalian cells has been difficult, in part because there has been no good way to measure mammalian cell growth over time.

6 Aug 2012

DNA inherited from mother can speed up male ageing

Women outlive men by about five to six years but why? By age 85 there are roughly six women to every four men and by age 100 the ratio is more than two to one.

3 Aug 2012

Strawberry extract protects against UVA rays

An experiment has shown that strawberry extract added to skin cell cultures acts as a protector against ultraviolet radiation as well as increasing its viability and reducing damage to DNA. Developed by a team of Italian and Spanish researchers, the study opens the door to the creation of photoprotective cream made from strawberries.

3 Aug 2012

Sta Op Tegen Kanker International Translational Cancer Research Grant recipients announced

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) and the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF Kankerbestrijding), along with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), SU2C's Scientific Partner, announce the recipients of the Sta Op Tegen Kanker International Translational Cancer Research Grant.

3 Aug 2012

Exposure to mold during infancy linked to asthma development during childhood

In the United States, one in 10 children suffers from asthma but the potential environmental factors contributing to the disease are not well known. Cincinnati-based researchers now report new evidence that exposure to three types of mold during infancy may have a direct link to asthma development during childhood.

3 Aug 2012

HSF1 increases expression of chaperones and supports cancer metastasis

Whitehead Institute researchers have found that increased expression of a specific set of genes is strongly associated with metastasis and death in patients with breast, colon, and lung cancers.

3 Aug 2012

Anacardic acid can rescue some ALS phenotypes in vitro

A research group at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Japan's Kyoto University has successfully recapitulated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-associated abnormalities in motor neurons differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) obtained from patients with familial ALS, a late-onset, fatal disorder which is also known for Lou Gehrig's disease. In a drug screening assay using the disease model, the team further found that the chemical compound anacardic acid can rescue some ALS phenotypes in vitro.

3 Aug 2012

New method could increase number of genetic components in synthetic biologists' toolkit

Through the assembly of genetic components into "circuits" that perform logical operations in living cells, synthetic biologists aim to artificially empower cells to solve critical problems in medicine, energy and the environment. To succeed, however, they'll need far more reliable genetic components than the small number of "off-the-shelf" bacterial parts now available.

3 Aug 2012

Three papers focus on nucleosomes and may help uncover the rules governing gene transcription

A trio of groundbreaking publications from researchers in Northwestern University's Physical Sciences-Oncology Center (PS-OC) report important methodological advances that will enable a better understanding of how gene expression is regulated, both in normal cells and in cancer cells. This knowledge could lead to the development of more effective therapeutic agents to treat cancer patients.

2 Aug 2012

CAP publishes revised version of molecular pathology checklist with dedicated section on NGS

The College of American Pathologists (CAP) published a revised version of its molecular pathology checklist with a dedicated section on next generation sequencing (NGS) as part of the new edition of the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program checklists released July 31, 2012.

2 Aug 2012

Orc1 mutations may explain pathology in manifestations of Meier-Gorlin syndrome

Research published Aug. 1 by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) links gene mutations found in some patients with Meier-Gorlin syndrome (MGS) with specific cellular dysfunctions that are thought to give rise to a particularly extreme version of dwarfism, small brain size, and other manifestations of abnormal growth which generally characterize that rare condition.

1 Aug 2012

Stemgent acquires Asterand’s Human Tissue Business for $9 million

Stemgent, Inc. announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Asterand Plc's Human Tissue Business for $9 million. Asterand provides a set of high quality, human-tissue based tools for drug and drug target discovery that is highly complementary to Stemgent's growing portfolio of innovative research products and services to advance cellular reprograming and stem cell research.

1 Aug 2012

MDxHealth’s Irvine, California and CLIA laboratory receive CAP accreditation

MDxHealth SA, a leading molecular diagnostic company that develops and commercializes epigenetic tests to support cancer treatment, today announced that the company's Irvine, California, CLIA laboratory has received College of American Pathology (CAP) accreditation.

1 Aug 2012

Chk1 gene alone is sufficient to kill cancer cells

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered a mutant form of the gene, Chk1, that when expressed in cancer cells, permanently stopped their proliferation and caused cell death without the addition of any chemotherapeutic drugs.

1 Aug 2012

NYGC purchases four Life Technologies' Ion Proton Sequencers

Life Technologies Corporation today announced that the New York Genome Center (NYGC) has purchased four Ion Proton Sequencers for its new Innovation Center.

31 Jul 2012

OrPro to advance development of ORP-100 for treatment of cystic fibrosis

OrPro Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that the company has been awarded a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

31 Jul 2012

Australia's top medical researchers for 2012 announced

Finalists for one of Australia’s longest running and most prestigious awards for medical research were announced today. This year’s winner will join a list of alumni winners that includes many of the country’s most respected scientists.

31 Jul 2012

Population Genetics validates GenomePooling™ for cancer

Population Genetics Technologies Ltd., creator of innovative methods for genetic analyses and biomarker discovery, has successfully completed a pilot study to prove that its GenomePooling™ method is sensitive and accurate enough to detect even small percentages of gene variants within cancer tissue. This validates the method’s suitability for use in IntReALL 2010, the world’s largest genetic analysis of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) relapse cases. ALL is the most common childhood malignant disease.

31 Jul 2012

High choline intake during pregnancy may improve how a child responds to stress

If you're sick from stress, a new research report appearing in the August 2012 issue of The FASEB Journal suggests that what your mother ate-or didn't eat-may be part of the cause.

31 Jul 2012