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UCSB researchers explore genetic underpinnings of nerve-cell spacing

The functional organization of the central nervous system depends upon a precise architecture and connectivity of distinct types of neurons.

27 Jun 2014

Cancer drug shows promise in treating blood cell disorders

Scientists working to make gene therapy a reality have solved a major hurdle: how to bypass a blood stem cell's natural defenses and efficiently insert disease-fighting genes into the cell's genome.

27 Jun 2014

Researchers compare genome sequences of malaria vectors to investigate insecticide resistance

Researchers from LSTM have exploited a natural experiment created by insecticidal pressure to determine how the most important malaria vectors - A. gambiae s.s. and A. coluzzii - respond rapidly to environmental change.

26 Jun 2014

USAMRIID scientists propose new standards to sequence viral genomes

Scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) have proposed a set of standards aimed at developing a common "language" among investigators working to sequence viral genomes and characterize viral stocks.

26 Jun 2014

Gene partnership may be fueling cancer spread in as much as 20% of cancers

A key cancer-causing gene, responsible for up to 20 percent of cancers, may have a weak spot in its armor, according to new research from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota.

25 Jun 2014

Study: Cohesin mutations are common in melanoma and bladder cancer

Massive sequencing of cancer genomes brings to light new genes every day that could be involved in the process of tumour formation.

25 Jun 2014

Frederic Bushman gets Pioneer Award from Human Gene Therapy

Frederic D. Bushman, PhD's (University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine) early pioneering work in understanding how HIV reproduces by inserting its genetic material into the DNA of a host cell led to key advances in the ability to move pieces of DNA and whole genes between cells.

25 Jun 2014

Researchers identify two oncogenes that drive the development of medulloblastoma

A new collaborative study carried out by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, UC San Diego, the German Cancer Research Center, the University of Heidelberg (Germany), and 33 other research institutions has identified two oncogenes, called GFI1 and GFI1B, that drive the development of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children.

23 Jun 2014

Overlooked DNA shuffling drives deadly paediatric brain tumour

One of the deadliest forms of paediatric brain tumour, Group 3 medulloblastoma, is linked to a variety of large-scale DNA rearrangements which all have the same overall effect on specific genes located on different chromosomes.

23 Jun 2014

Researchers explore genetic and cellular mechanisms of retinal development

The circuitry of the central nervous system is immensely complex and, as a result, sometimes confounding. When scientists conduct research to unravel the inner workings at a cellular level, they are sometimes surprised by what they find.

20 Jun 2014

Yap1 oncogene drives recurrence and progression of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer tumors addicted to mutant Kras signaling for their growth and progression have a ready-made substitute to tap if they're ever forced to go cold-turkey on the mutant oncogene, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in the journal Cell.

20 Jun 2014

New research reveals gene's role in type 1 diabetes

New research describes details of how a diabetes-related gene functions on a biological pathway that affects the release of insulin. The study authors say that finding drugs that act on that pathway may eventually lead to a new treatment for type 1 diabetes.

20 Jun 2014

Susceptibility gene for type 1 diabetes regulates self-destruction of cell's energy factory

A team led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that a susceptibility gene for type 1 diabetes regulates self-destruction of the cell's energy factory. They report their findings this week in Cell.

20 Jun 2014

Weizmann Institute scientists 'fingerprint' a culprit in depression and anxiety disorders

According the World Health Organization, such mood disorders as depression affect some 10% of the world's population and are associated with a heavy burden of disease. That is why numerous scientists around the world have invested a great deal of effort in understanding these diseases. Yet the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie these problems are still only partly understood.

20 Jun 2014

Research provides unique insight into lncRNAs that regulate lung development

It's a long way from DNA to RNA to protein, and only about two percent of a person's genome is eventually converted into proteins.

19 Jun 2014

DNA sequencing does not reveal the pathogenicity of bacteria

While more and more genomic information is becoming available at a drastically increasing pace, the knowledge we can gain about how microorganisms interact with their surrounding, infect hosts and alter their molecular programs in accordance to changing environmental conditions remains widely not deducible from genomic data alone, the researchers from University of Southern Denmark claim.

19 Jun 2014