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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).

Protein p97/VCP aids DNA repair like a corkscrew

Human genetic material is constantly at risk of injury from the environment. Possible causes of damage include metabolic processes, chemical substances or ionizing radiation, such as X-radiation.

9 Nov 2011

Maryland anesthesiologist named 2011 Researcher of the Year

Often on the mind of Gary Fiskum, PhD, are the more than 250,000 people in the U.S. who get resuscitated from cardiac arrest each year, the 6 million living with traumatic brain injuries, and the wounded warriors whose brain whose brains sustain enormous G-forces from roadside bombs in the war zone.

9 Nov 2011

Novel mathematical method reveals genetic distinction between individuals

At a time when profound gaps remain in our understanding of how one person's genes differ from another person's, developing accurate methods to interpret the human genome is essential to uncover population history, population relationships and the genetic basis of some of the most common diseases affecting society.

9 Nov 2011

Johns Hopkins researchers unravel how breast cancer metastasizes

The spread of breast cancer is responsible for more than 90 percent of breast cancer deaths. Now, the process by which it spreads—or metastasizes—has been unraveled by researchers at Johns Hopkins. Reporting in two papers, the researchers have discovered the switch that enables breast cancer cells to travel to and be received in the lungs.

9 Nov 2011

ScreenCell, Transgenomic sign collaboration and distribution agreement for CTC technology

Transgenomic, Inc. and ScreenCell, a privately-held company, today announced the signing of a perpetual, worldwide collaboration and distribution agreement for ScreenCell's Isolation Devices and Dilution Buffers, designed for the collection of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood.

9 Nov 2011

Study: Genes that are active in brain are transcribed with special mechanism

Knowledge about the development of the nervous system is of the greatest importance for us to understand the function of the brain and brain disorders. Researchers at Uppsala University have examined the key step when genes are read and found that genes that are active in the brain are transcribed with a special mechanism.

8 Nov 2011

Prefrontal cortex neurons from individuals with autism show changes in chromatin structures

Neurons in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with autism show changes at numerous sites across the genome, according to a study being published Online First by the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

8 Nov 2011

Epigenetic alterations may play an important role in autism

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School are the first to map epigenetic changes in neurons from the brains of individuals with autism, providing empirical evidence that epigenetic alterations-changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence-may play an important role in the disease.

8 Nov 2011

Study on epigentics and cellular memory

How do fetal cells know what cell types to become? Why do cells in the adult body sometimes forget what they are and develop into cancer cells? These are some of the questions intensively investigated within the research field of epigenetics.

8 Nov 2011

Research: Nucleolar disruption could destroy cancer cells

DAMAGING a cell's nucleolus could destroy cancer cells by increasing levels of the most important tumour prevention protein, p53, reveals research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool, today.

7 Nov 2011

Transgenomic and A. Menarini Diagnostics enter distribution agreement for mutation detection systems

Transgenomic, Inc. and A. Menarini Diagnostics today announced an exclusive distribution agreement for Transgenomic's SURVEYOR Scan and WAVE MCE (Micro-Capillary Electrophoresis) Mutation Detection system to its network of over 2,000 pathologists throughout Europe.

7 Nov 2011

Encouraging results from SEEK's FLU-v Phase II study

SEEK, a leading UK privately-owned drug-discovery group, today announced encouraging results following the successful completion of its Universal Flu Vaccine Phase II challenge study.

7 Nov 2011

Blocking APE1 enzyme could provide new way to kill cancer cells

BLOCKING a key DNA damage repair enzyme, called APE1, could provide a new way to kill cancer cells containing faulty BRCA genes, according to research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool.

7 Nov 2011

Sleeping Beauty transposon system plays a vital role in investigating colorectal cancer pathway

A jumping gene with the fairy tale name "Sleeping Beauty" has helped to unlock vital clues for researchers investigating the genetics of colorectal cancer.

7 Nov 2011

Vitamin D supplementation benefits people with lupus

The first study to report the effects vitamin D has on the immune system of people with lupus was reported this week a the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago.

7 Nov 2011

IFNa-kinoid shows promise against lupus

The first study to show results using active immunotherapy against the signaling protein interferon alpha in the treatment of lupus will be presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago.

7 Nov 2011

Active ingredient in saffron shows promise against MS

Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered that an active ingredient in the Persian spice saffron may be a potential treatment for diseases involving neuroinflammation, such as multiple sclerosis.

5 Nov 2011

Common gut pathogen increases activity of SMO gene and causes colon tumors

Working with lab cultures and mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have found that a strain of the common gut pathogen Bacteroides fragilis causes colon inflammation and increases activity of a gene called spermine oxidase (SMO) in the intestine.

5 Nov 2011

'Medicine that grows' confronts antibiotics resistance

It's been called "the trots," "Montezuma's Revenge," "the runs" and worse. But no matter the name, when it strikes, victims wish for a medicine that could go straight to the offending bacteria to quickly knock it dead.

4 Nov 2011

New way to screen hirsutism among women

Examining the chin and upper and lower abdomen is a reliable, minimally invasive way to screen for excessive hair growth in women, a key indicator of too much male hormone, researchers report.

4 Nov 2011