Genetics News & Research
 | Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany, applied a new strategy to identify and characterize genes involved in endocytosis. From their findings the scientists also hope to derive significant information about how infections could be prevented and diseases treated in future. ...> Full Article |
In a significant leap forward in the understanding of how specific types of tissue are determined to develop in mammals, an international team of scientists has succeeded in mapping the entire network of DNA-binding transcription factors and their interactions. This global network, indicating which factors can combine to determine cell fate, will be published in the March 5 issue of the journal Cell.
...> Full Article
 | Scientists with the Joint Genome Institute have sequenced the genome of a weird creature that exists as an amoeba until the food runs out, then turns into a two-tailed swimmer to find new hunting grounds. The organism, Naegleria, is an early eurkaryote -- a cell with a nucleus and internal organs -- and could shed light on the origin of complex cells like those in humans, according to an analysis led by UC Berkeley biologists and bioinformaticists. ...> Full Article |
Tobacco might become as well known for keeping us healthy as it is for causing illness thanks to researchers from the UK. In a new research report appearing in the March 2010 print issue of the FASEB Journal scientists explain how they developed a genetically modified strain of tobacco that helps temper the damaging effects of toxic pond scum, scientifically known as microcystin-LR which makes water unsafe for drinking, swimming or fishing.
...> Full Article
A scientific paper that describes a file format used by scientists to represent models of biological processes has exceeded 500 citations. The Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) is designed to enable the exchange of quantitative models of biochemical networks between different computer software packages, allowing the models to be shared and published in a form other researchers can use in various software environments.
...> Full Article
Researchers at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center have figured out how ATP is broken down in cells, providing for the first time a clear picture of the key reaction that allows cells in all living things to function and flourish. Discovered some 80 years ago, adenosine triphosphate is said to be second in biological importance only to DNA.
...> Full Article
Both genetic and environmental factors affect susceptibility to alcohol dependence (AD).
To date, researchers have identified several genes associated with AD.
Findings from a new genome-wide association study support an association between AD and a cluster of genes on chromosome 11.
...> Full Article
For the second time in as many months the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has signed a licensing agreement with US-based Athena Diagnostics Inc. to market a new genetic test. The test analyzes a small sample of blood or saliva for the CC2D2A gene mutations that cause about 10 percent of cases involving a type of intellectual disability, similar to and including Joubert's syndrome.
...> Full Article
UCLA researchers have discovered what they describe as a biochemical link between misery and death, and in addition found a specific genetic variation that seems to break that link. Additionally, they have developed a computer model of gene-environment interactions to more efficiently probe the "genetic haystack."
...> Full Article
The origins of flowering plants from peas to oak trees are now in clearer focus thanks to the efforts of University of Florida researchers.
...> Full Article
A breakthrough in decoding gene regulation of Helicobacter pylori has been made by an international research team led by Jorg Vogel of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin. Using a newly developed sequencing technique, the researchers discovered 60 small ribonucleic acids -- tiny RNA-particles which can regulate genes -- in the genome of this human pathogen. These findings could facilitate the development of new therapeutic strategies against this widespread pathogen.
...> Full Article
Flightless birds, blind cave shrimp, and other oddities suggest a "use it or lose it" tendency in evolution. In the microbial world, an unusual marine microorganism appears to have ditched several major metabolic pathways, leaving it with a remarkably reduced set of genes.
...> Full Article
The International Aphid Genomics consortium has sequenced the genome of the pea aphid, said Dr. Stephen Richards, assistant professor in the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center and leader of the sequencing effort. The consortium released the 464 megabyte draft genome of the pea aphid in the current issue of PLoS Biology .
...> Full Article
Working with worms may not be your average person's idea of a good time. The benefit to working with the simple creatures is that half the 20,000 genes in a worm are similar to humans, and the way those genes work together also share some similarities with us, says Dr. Fraser. But researchers are able to carry out experiments in worms that they would never be able to attempt in people, he says.
...> Full Article
A UCLA study reveals how human genes interact with their environment to boost disease risk. Published in the Feb. 18 online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics, the findings shed light on why the search for specific gene variants linked to human diseases can only partly explain common disorders.
...> Full Article
| 
Subscribe
Fish can recognize a face based on UV pattern alone
Ancient DNA from rare fossil reveals that polar bears evolved recently and adapted quickly
'Anaconda' meets 'Jurassic Park': Study shows ancient snakes ate dinosaur babies
Scientists locate apparent hydrothermal vents off Antarctica
Mars Express heading for closest flyby of Phobos
Artificial bee silk a big step closer to reality
Predicting the fate of stem cells
Artificial foot recycles energy for easier walking
New fiber nanogenerators could lead to electric clothing
Juggling enhances connections in the brain
Tracking down the human 'odorprint'
Fill 'er up - with algae
Scientists discover quantum fingerprints of chaos
Researchers help identify cows that gain more while eating less
A fingerprint for genes
Genome sequencing complete on plodding amoeba that flips into free-swimming flagellate