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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).

Electronics Letters publishes special supplement on Semiconductors in Personalised Medicine

Electronics Letters, renowned for its short, high quality international research papers at the cutting edge of technology, has now embraced Semiconductors in Personalised Medicine in its latest special supplement, available FREE online www.theiet.org/el-special.

14 Mar 2012

Researchers identify first gene mutation associated with chronic, often fatal form of neuroblastoma

Researchers have identified the first gene mutation associated with a chronic and often fatal form of neuroblastoma that typically strikes adolescents and young adults. The finding provides the first clue about the genetic basis of the long-recognized but poorly understood link between treatment outcome and age at diagnosis.

14 Mar 2012

Gene simultaneously protects against and also promotes cancer growth

Can a gene simultaneously protect against cancer and favor its growth? Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre have discovered a gene with this double-edged property and suspect there may be many more that share it. In the words of Oscar Fernandez Capetillo, head of the group responsible for the study, this gene "can be both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in that it can either protect us against the appearance of tumors or promote tumor growth".

14 Mar 2012

New research could make it easier to grow health-promoting blood oranges

For the red pigmentation to develop, blood oranges normally require a period of cold as they ripen. The only place to reliably grow them on a commercial scale is in the Sicilian area of Italy around Mount Etna. Here, the combination of sun and cold/sunny days and warm nights provides ideal growing conditions.

14 Mar 2012

Yoga can improve cognitive functioning and reduce depression in dementia caregivers

For every individual who's a victim of Alzheimer's - some 5.4 million persons in the United States alone - there's a related victim: the caregiver. Spouse, son, daughter, other relative or friend, the loneliness, exhaustion, fear and most of all stress and depression takes a toll.

14 Mar 2012

Another role for protein Mer in novel, targeted cancer treatments

Since the mid-1990s, doctors have had the protein Mer in their sights - it coats the outside of cancer cells, transmitting signals inside the cells that aid their uncontrolled growth.

14 Mar 2012

Researchers crack problem of predicting gene targets for PcG proteins

Cancer is usually attributed to faulty genes, but growing evidence from the field of cancer epigenetics indicates a key role for the gene "silencing" proteins that stably turn genes off inside the cell nucleus. A new study from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine promises to speed research in the field by rapidly identifying the genes that epigenetic proteins can target for silencing.

14 Mar 2012

Inovio achieves strong T cell immune responses in PENNVAX-B Phase I HIV study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has achieved strong T cell immune responses in a Phase I clinical study of PENNVAX-B, its product for the treatment of the HIV subtype prevalent in North America and Europe, in HIV-positive subjects.

13 Mar 2012

EBV can infect and may also contribute to lymphomas in man's best friend

More than 90 percent of humans have antibodies to the Epstein Barr virus. Best known for causing mononucleosis, or "the kissing disease," the virus has also been implicated in more serious conditions, including Hodgkin's, non-Hodgkin's and Burkitt's lymphomas. Yet little is known about exactly how EBV triggers these diseases.

13 Mar 2012

Researchers discover over 500 genes that may contribute to pancreatic cancer

A global team led by scientists from The Methodist Hospital Research Institute has identified more than 500 genes that may cause or contribute to the development of pancreatic cancer.

13 Mar 2012

JAK-STAT inhibitors reverse MS-like disease in mice

A new class of drugs completing clinical trials soon for rheumatoid arthritis should be examined as a treatment for multiple sclerosis, according to the authors of a University of Alabama at Birmingham study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

13 Mar 2012

Researchers elucidate function of Codanin-1 protein

Within all our cells lies two meters of DNA, highly ordered in a structure of less than 10 micro meters in diameter. Special proteins called histones act as small building bricks, organising our DNA in this structure. Preservation of the structure is necessary to maintain correct function of our genes, making histones detrimental for maintaining a healthy and functional body.

13 Mar 2012

UnitedHealth report: Spending on genetic tests to rise sharply in a decade

Genetic tests could become a $25 billion market by 2021. Currently, spending on these tests is estimated at $5 billion annually.

12 Mar 2012

Researchers unlock mystery of how an inflammatory molecule is produced in the body

Cedars-Sinai researchers have unlocked the mystery of how an inflammatory molecule is produced in the body, a discovery they say could lead to advances in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Type 2 diabetes and numerous other chronic diseases that affect tens of millions of people.

12 Mar 2012

Salk scientists' discovery explains how a class of chemotherapy drugs works

The well-being of living cells requires specialized squads of proteins that maintain order. Degraders chew up worn-out proteins, recyclers wrap up damaged organelles, and-most importantly-DNA repair crews restitch anything that resembles a broken chromosome. If repair is impossible, the crew foreman calls in executioners to annihilate a cell. As unsavory as this last bunch sounds, failure to summon them is one aspect of what makes a cancer cell a cancer cell.

12 Mar 2012

Researchers determine structure of concentrative nucleoside transporter

A team of researchers at Duke University has determined the structure of a key molecule that can carry chemotherapy and anti-viral drugs into cells, which could help to create more effective drugs with fewer effects to healthy tissue.

12 Mar 2012

Chlamydia has evolved more actively than previously thought

In a study released today in Nature Genetics, researchers have found that Chlamydia has evolved more actively than was previously thought. Using whole genome sequencing the researchers show that the exchange of DNA between different strains of Chlamydia to form new strains is much more common than expected.

12 Mar 2012

Tranylcypromine shows promise against AML

A retinoid called all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), which is a vitamin A-derivative, is already used successfully to treat a rare sub-type of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), however this drug has not been effective for the more common types of AMLs.

12 Mar 2012

Gene that causes aggression in men under stress discovered

Scientists have found that “macho” gene that makes men behave more aggressively than women under stress. They say this one gene could explain why men have a 'fight or flight' response while women are more likely to try and defuse the situation. The study has been published in the journal BioEssays.

11 Mar 2012

Tumors can be more complex than imagined earlier: Study

Researchers speculate that cancers may be more complex that they knew. And that's why a single tissue sample taken from a single tumor may not be the best way to figure out a course of treatment they claim.

11 Mar 2012