RNA News and Research

RSS

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biologically important type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate.

QIAGEN launches human siRNA library sets

Prime Standard QIA a leading supplier of products and technologies for nucleic acid separation, purification and handling today announced that it has launched a series of off-the-shelf human library siRNA sets, covering a broad gene family selection including kinases, GPCRs, apoptosis related genes, and oncogenes, to name a few.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 3 May 2004

A new prognostic marker has shown potential to predict recurrence in certain colon cancer patients

In the study, a team of researchers led by Veridex, LLC, a Johnson & Johnson company, used gene expression profiling to identify the new marker – a 23-gene signature – which may predict disease recurrence in patients initially diagnosed with Dukes' B colon cancer.

29 Apr 2004

Scientists have unraveled the behavior of one key component of bacteria

The researchers studied a mechanism of action they call the "magic spot" – an important regulator of gene expression. They describe their results in the current issue of the journal Cell.

29 Apr 2004

Mystery surrounding ageing, death and cancer is dispelled by new study

Scientists from Cancer Research UK and Breast Cancer Campaign have uncovered the first evidence of an entirely new system for holding the ravages of time at bay.

29 Apr 2004

Lou Gehrig’s disease gene discovered

A gene for a rare juvenile-onset form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) has been isolated in families in the United States, Belgium and Austria, the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) announced today.

29 Apr 2004

The world's smallest computer made entirely of biological molecules

The world's smallest computer (around a trillion can fit in a drop of water) might one day go on record again as the tiniest medical kit.

28 Apr 2004

New analytical approach that combines genetic and clinical data to give individualized prognosis of cancer recurrence

Researchers at Duke University have developed a new analytical approach that combines genetic and clinical data to give cancer patients an individualized prognosis of their cancer recurrence. The information could prove critical in deciding how aggressively to treat the disease following surgery.

26 Apr 2004

Overview of West Nile virus before season starts

West Nile virus is a newly emergent virus of the family Flaviviridae, found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is also the cause of a number of conditions in humans, horses, and some other mammals. It is transmitted by bites of infected mosquitoes.

24 Apr 2004

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) overview

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is an atypical form of pneumonia that first appeared in November 2002 in Guangdong Province, China.

24 Apr 2004

Respiratory syncytial virus, a common cold virus, can act as a 'hit and hide' virus

An international team of researchers has discovered that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common cold virus causing bronchiolitis in children, can act as a 'hit and hide' virus. It was thought that the virus could only survive in the body for a few days, but these new results show that the virus can survive for many months or years, perhaps causing long-term effects on health, such as damage to the lungs.

23 Apr 2004

Researchers make millions upon millions of drug-like peptides quickly and efficiently

Two Johns Hopkins scientists have figured out a simple way to make millions upon millions of drug-like peptides quickly and efficiently, overcoming a major hurdle to creating and screening huge "libraries" of these super-short proteins for use in drug development.

23 Apr 2004

New survey on the U.S. market for synthetic oligonucleotides

According to a recent survey, the overwhelming majority (91%) of scientific customers have not changed their primary supplier of custom synthetic oligonucleotides (oligos) over the past 12 months.

From Integrated DNA Technologies 22 Apr 2004

No relationship between HIV and oral polio vaccine

HIV-AIDS did not come from oral polio vaccine contaminated with chimpanzee virus, reports a research team led by a University of Arizona evolutionary biologist

21 Apr 2004

Researchers have discovered a genetic mutation associated with an inherited form of motor neuron disease

Researchers have discovered a genetic mutation associated with an inherited form of motor neuron disease in which symptoms first appear in childhood or young adulthood. The finding is slated for publication in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

20 Apr 2004

Oral treatment of chronic hepatitis C

Valeant Pharmaceuticals today presented 24-week data from Phase 2 clinical trials of Viramidine, a nucleoside (guanosine) analog Valeant is developing in oral form for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (HCV) in conjunction with a pegylated interferon.

17 Apr 2004

Cancer could be inactivated by RNA library

CANCER RESEARCH UK and the Netherlands Cancer Institute have completed the first stage of a landmark initiative to systematically uncover the function of our genes, the charities announce today.

14 Apr 2004

Protein sequences harder to predict than originally thought

Scientists have believed for decades that the sequencing of the human genome would automatically yield the sequences of proteins, the functional products of genes, and thus lead to the unraveling of the mechanisms behind human cell biology and disease.

12 Apr 2004

Genetic trick makes gene therapy vectors more versatile

A genetic trick used by viruses to replicate themselves has been adapted for laboratory use to build complex protein structures required by immune system cells, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

7 Apr 2004

Completion of the sequencing of human chromosome 19

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and Stanford University report today the completion of the sequencing of human chromosome 19, the most gene-rich of all the human chromosomes. This achievement is described in the April 1, 2004 edition of the journal Nature.

7 Apr 2004