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Small gene embedded in large gene contributes to development of acute myeloid leukemia

A small gene that is embedded in a larger, well-known gene is the true leukemia-promoting force usually attributed to the larger gene, according to a new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James).

22 Apr 2014

Researchers demonstrate accurate identification of amino acids

Some three billion base pairs make up the human genome-the floor plan of life. In 2003, the Human Genome Project announced the successful decryption of this code, a tour de force that continues to supply a stream of insights relevant to human health and disease.

7 Apr 2014

Genetic diagnostic test for inherited eye diseases now available from Mass. Eye and Ear

The Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology today announced the availability of a comprehensive genetic diagnostic test for inherited eye diseases.

22 Nov 2013

Scientists unravel secrets of mechanism that snips our genes

Certain diseases such as cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy are linked to genetic mutations that damage the important biological process of rearranging gene sequences in pre-messenger RNA, a procedure called RNA splicing.

27 Sep 2013

Study indicates that RNA translation is dictated by translational hotspots

Protein synthesis in the extensions of nerve cells, called dendrites, underlies long-term memory formation in the brain, among other functions. "Thousands of messenger RNAs reside in dendrites, yet the dynamics of how multiple dendrite messenger RNAs translate into their final proteins remain elusive," says James Eberwine, PhD, professor of Pharmacology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and co-director of the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute.

27 Sep 2013

Medical investigators discover new aspect of gene-splicing process that produces mRNA

A rare, small RNA turns a gene-splicing machine into a switch that controls the expression of hundreds of human genes. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and professor of Biochemistry Gideon Dreyfuss, PhD, and his team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, discovered an entirely new aspect of the gene-splicing process that produces messenger RNA (mRNA).

22 Aug 2013

Cancer-linked mitosis: an interview with Professor Scott Kern, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Mitosis is the process by which a cell gives rise to two daughter cells. It’s the basis behind the growth of the human body, the renewal of the human body as it ages, and unfortunately, the growth of cancers.

7 Aug 2013

Roche releases new software for accurate sequencing of long 16S ribosomal RNA amplicons

Roche announced today the global launch of a new software update that significantly extends the range of amplicon lengths available for targeted next-generation sequencing studies on the 454 GS FLX+ System.

7 Aug 2013

Study discover two new mechanisms that govern editing in key neurodevelopmental gene

RNA editing gives organisms a way to adapt the instructions that their DNA provides for making proteins. Few people would have described RNA editing as a simple process, but a new paper in Nature Communications demonstrates the process as more complex and difficult to predict than previously assumed. The study, done in living fruit flies, discovered two new mechanisms that govern editing in a key neurodevelopmental gene.

1 Aug 2013

Researchers identify mutations in new genes that might be associated with ALS disease

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified mutations in several new genes that might be associated with the development of spontaneously occurring cases of the neurodegenerative disease known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

27 May 2013

Researchers discover SCANR that helps protect a cell's genes against DNA interlopers

Gene wars rage inside our cells, with invading DNA regularly threatening to subvert our human blueprint. Now, building on Nobel-Prize-winning findings, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered a molecular machine that helps protect a cell's genes against these DNA interlopers.

15 Feb 2013

Researchers create high-resolution map of gene regulatory elements in the brain

Future research into the underlying causes of neurological disorders such as autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia, should greatly benefit from a first-of-its-kind atlas of gene-enhancers in the cerebrum (telencephalon).

2 Feb 2013

CSHL scientists discover new way to specifically target and kill cancer cells

Cancer cells grow fast. That's an essential characteristic of what makes them cancer cells. They've crashed through all the cell-cycle checkpoints and are continuously growing and dividing, far outstripping our normal cells. To do this they need to speed up their metabolism.

1 Nov 2012

Researchers use baker's yeast to identify new therapies for Lou Gehrig's disease

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a devastatingly cruel neurodegenerative disorder that robs sufferers of the ability to move, speak and, finally, breathe.

29 Oct 2012

Two CUMC studies provide new insights into spinal muscular atrophy

A study by scientists from the Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) suggests that spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic neuromuscular disease in infants and children, results primarily from motor circuit dysfunction, not motor neuron or muscle cell dysfunction, as is commonly thought.

12 Oct 2012

Common RNA pathway links frontotemporal lobar dementia with ALS

Two proteins previously found to contribute to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, have divergent roles. But a new study, led by researchers at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, shows that a common pathway links them.

1 Oct 2012

UNMCC researcher to investigate possible mechanism for cancer tumor development

Most of us think of DNA mutations as the culprits that cause cancer. Scott Ness, PhD, University of New Mexico Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and Associate Director at the UNM Cancer Center, thinks there may be another, more elusive culprit. If Dr. Ness is right his research, funded as part of the National Cancer Institute's Provocative Questions Project, might open a whole new arena in which to target anticancer drugs.

28 Sep 2012

RNA researcher to receive 2012 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize from The Rockefeller University

Joan A. Steitz, Ph.D., a pioneer in the field of RNA biology whose discoveries involved patients with a variety of autoimmune diseases, will be awarded the 2012 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize from The Rockefeller University. The prize, which honors female scientists who have made extraordinary contributions to biomedical science and carries an honorarium of $100,000, will be presented at a ceremony on Thursday, November 29 at Rockefeller University's Caspary Auditorium.

11 Sep 2012

Researchers discover small DNA sequence that drives GATA2 protein

The protein GATA2 is known as a "master regulator" of blood cell development. When a mutation occurs in the gene that makes GATA2, serious blood diseases such as acute myeloid leukemia can result.