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pDCs promote growth and survival of malignant myeloma cells

Multiple myeloma cancer cells thwart many of the drugs used against them by causing nearby cells to turn traitor - to switch from defending the body against disease to shielding the myeloma cells from harm - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists report in the October issue of Cancer Cell.

6 Oct 2009

Small molecule blocks aberrant pathway associated with myotonic dystrophy

Researchers at the University of Illinois have designed a small molecule that blocks an aberrant pathway associated with myotonic dystrophy type 1, the most common form of muscular dystrophy.

8 Sep 2009

Oxidative DNA damage: Primary cause of mutation

A study that tracked genetic mutations through the human equivalent of about 5,000 years has demonstrated for the first time that oxidative DNA damage is a primary cause of the process of mutation - the fuel for evolution but also a leading cause of aging, cancer and other diseases.

8 Sep 2009

Backtracking and proofreading in DNA transcription

Accuracy is essential for life, so in converting the information stored in DNA into a form in which it can be used, a high level of precision is required. Dr Tanniemola Liverpool from the University of Bristol Department of Mathematics, working with colleagues from the University of Leeds, has developed a mathematical model for how the required accuracy is achieved.

23 Jun 2009

DNA template could explain evolutionary shifts

Rearrangements of all sizes in genomes, genes and exons can result from a glitch in DNA copying that occurs when the process stalls at a critical point and then shifts to a different genetic template, duplicating and even triplicating genes or just shuffling or deleting part of the code within them, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a recent report in the journal Nature Genetics.

22 Jun 2009

Scientists create simple chemical system that mimics DNA

A team of Scripps Research scientists has created a new analog to DNA that assembles and disassembles itself without the need for enzymes. Because the new system comprises components that might reasonably be expected in a primordial world, the new chemical system could answer questions about how life could emerge.

13 Jun 2009

New nucleotide could revolutionize epigenetics

Anyone who studied a little genetics in high school has heard of adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine - the A,T,G and C that make up the DNA code.

16 Apr 2009

Quantum effect may hold promise for low-cost DNA sequencing, sensor applications

A ghostly property of matter, called quantum tunneling, may aid the quest for accurate, low-cost genomic sequencing, according to a new paper in Nature Nanotechnology Letters by Stuart Lindsay and his collaborators at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University.

22 Mar 2009

Bottom up assembly of cells into 3-D microtissues

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory can now control how cells connect with one another in vitro and assemble themselves into three-dimensional, multicellular microtissues.

5 Mar 2009

From the works of Shakespeare to the genomes of viruses

What does uncovering the true authorship of plays attributed to Shakespeare have to do with identifying our genetic ancestors or classifying new life forms?

11 Feb 2009

Gene switch sites found mainly on 'shores,' not just 'islands' of the human genome

Scientists who study how human chemistry can permanently turn off genes have typically focused on small islands of DNA believed to contain most of the chemical alterations involved in those switches.

19 Jan 2009

Researchers reveal a new aspect of tumor development

The DNA in our cells is constantly under assault from oxygen, the sun's radiation and environmental stresses.

20 Nov 2008

Discovery of gene variant for cleft lip

About 20 percent of isolated cleft lip, one of the world's most common birth defects, may be due to a one-letter difference in the DNA sequence of a gene involved in facial development, researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health report.

6 Oct 2008

Genetic biomarker linked to subcutaneous growth hormone dose-response

The interindividual variability of response to subcutaneously applied protein-based drugs remains poorly understood. However, defining genetic markers that can be associated with biological effects of such drugs may improve the understanding of individual variability of response and even drug resistance.

6 Aug 2008

Gene linked to inherited blood biomarker associated with asthma risk

Risk for developing asthma is linked to variants in a gene called CHI3L1, which can be measured by checking levels of an inherited blood protein regulated by that gene, according to new research sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.

11 Apr 2008

Variation in CHI3L1 gene increases risk of asthma

A tiny variation in a gene known as CHI3L1 increases susceptibility to asthma, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and decline in lung function, researchers report early online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

10 Apr 2008

Enzyme complex could be key to new cancer treatments

Penn State scientists are the first to observe in living cells a key step in the creation of adenine and guanine, two of the four building blocks that comprise DNA.

4 Apr 2008

Potential method for repairing misspelling in DNA code that causes spinal muscular atrophy

Researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered a novel technique - that acts like a "spell-checker" for correcting a misspelling in the DNA code - to repair the defective gene that causes spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

12 Feb 2008

New understanding of cancer initiation

Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha have assisted in a significant discovery - the understanding of a common mechanism of cancer initiation - that could result in better cancer assessment, prevention and detection.

7 Feb 2008

Huntington's disease problem starts early

The damaging effects of the mutated protein involved in Huntington's disease take place earlier in cell life than previously believed, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in a report that appears in the current edition of the journal Neuron.

10 Jan 2008