Molecular Biology News and Research

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Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry. Molecular biology chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between DNA, RNA and protein biosynthesis as well as learning how these interactions are regulated.

Breakthrough could revolutionise drug development

Scientists in Leeds have devised a new way to create the next generation of man-made molecules in a breakthrough that could revolutionise drug development.

19 Nov 2008

Discovery of key contributor to Alzheimer's disease process

Walter J. Lukiw, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Ophthalmology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, is the lead author of a paper identifying, for the first time, a specific function of a fragment of ribonucleic acid (RNA), once thought to be no more than a byproduct, in regulating inflammation and the development of Alzheimer's disease.

16 Nov 2008

Breakthrough in cellular analysis

Like skilled assassins, many diseases seem to know exactly what types of cells to attack.

16 Nov 2008

Breakthrough in cell-type analysis offers new ways to study development and disease

Like skilled assassins, many diseases seem to know exactly what types of cells to attack. While decimating one cadre of cells, diseases will inexplicably spare a seemingly identical group of neighbors. What makes cells vulnerable or not depends largely on the kinds and amounts of proteins they produce - their 'translational profile,' in the lingo of molecular biology. For this reason, scientists have struggled to parse the subtle molecular differences among the hundreds of specialized cell types that are tangled together in tissues like the brain.

13 Nov 2008

Breakthrough in rheumatoid arthritis research

Rheumatoid arthritis is a painful, inflammatory type of arthritis that occurs when the body's immune system attacks itself.

12 Nov 2008

Discovery of mechanism that regulates the development of stem cells into neurons

Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a novel mechanism in the regulation and differentiation of neural stem cells.

11 Nov 2008

Researchers describe how cells recycle protein waste

Garbage collectors are important for removing trash; without them waste accumulates and can quickly become a health hazard.

11 Nov 2008

Chaotic vasculature hinders tumor growth

Dense networks of blood vessels thought to spur cancer's growth could actually hinder rather than promote tumor progression, according to a new study at the University of California, San Diego.

10 Nov 2008

Discovery of gene that regulates mold's resistance to drugs

Montana State University scientists concerned about lethal mold infections have found a gene that regulates the mold's resistance to drugs.

8 Nov 2008

H5N1 protein hides in tiny tubules

A protein found in the virulent avian influenza virus strain called H5N1 forms tiny tubules in which it "hides" the pieces of double-stranded RNA formed during viral infection, which otherwise would prompt an antiviral immune response from infected cells, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in an online report in the journal Nature.

6 Nov 2008

Researchers discover new way to attack some forms of leukemia

Each year, some 29,000 adults and 2,000 children are diagnosed with leukemia, a form of cancer that is caused by the abnormal production of white blood cells in the bone marrow. Current treatments rely primarily on killing the cancer cells, which also destroys normal cells. But what if a way could be found to reprogram cancerous cells back into normal cells? A team of Syracuse University researchers believes it may have found a way to do just that.

28 Oct 2008

Gene mutation in worms could further understanding of alcoholism in humans

The work follows a study carried out by Oregon Health and Science University, which suggested a link between a gene mutation in mice and tolerance to alcohol. Researchers at Liverpool have investigated this in worms, looking specifically at the role the gene plays in communication between cells in the nervous system.

22 Oct 2008

Link found between mitochondria and tumor formation in stem cells

Researchers report on a previously unknown relationship between stem cell potency and the metabolic rate of their mitochondria -a cell's energy makers. Stem cells with more active mitochondria also have a greater capacity to differentiate and are more likely to form tumors.

12 Oct 2008

Landmark study unlocks stem cell, DNA secrets to speed therapies

In a groundbreaking study led by an eminent molecular biologist at Florida State University, researchers have discovered that as embryonic stem cells turn into different cell types, there are dramatic corresponding changes to the order in which DNA is replicated and reorganized.

12 Oct 2008

On the trail of a targeted therapy for blood cancer

Investigators from the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine are focusing on a family of blood proteins that they hope holds a key to decreasing the toxic effects of chemotherapy in children and adults.

12 Oct 2008

Existing anti-obesity drugs may be effective against flu, hepatitis and HIV

Viruses dramatically increase cellular metabolism, and existing anti-obesity drugs may represent a new way to block these metabolic changes and inhibit viral infection, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

29 Sep 2008

Discovery offers new understanding of diabetes drug target

Scientists at the University of Leicester have published findings about a new advance in the study of major diabetes drug target.

25 Sep 2008

New tool for early diagnosis of breast cancer

Scientists from Finland, Germany and the ESRF have developed a new X-ray technique for the early detection of breast cancer. This allows a 3D visualization of the breast with a high spatial resolution and is extremely sensitive to alterations in the tissue, such as those generated by cancer. This technique could be used in the next years in hospitals. It may help doctors to detect tumours with greater precision than is possible using current X-ray mammography.

17 Sep 2008

Newly discovered molecule promises better treatments for heart attacks, heart surgery

Scientists have discovered a compound that could lead to new treatments for heart attacks as well as methods to protect hearts during open heart surgery and other situations in which blood flow to the heart is interrupted.

11 Sep 2008

Framing the concept of a gene

Even scientists define 'a gene' in different ways, so it comes as little surprise that the media also have various ways of framing the concept of a gene, according to a new study appearing in the October 2008 issue of EMBO reports.

4 Sep 2008