Genetics News And Research - April 2008 Archives

Single-celled bacterium works 24-7 (4/30/2008)

Researchers have gained the first detailed insight into the way circadian rhythms govern global gene expression in Cyanothece, a type of cyanobacterium (blue-green algae) known to cycle between photosynthesis during the day and nitrogen fixation at night. ...> Full Article

Team develops safe, effective RNA interference technique (4/29/2008)

Method holds promise for treating cancer and infection ...> Full Article

Scientists Automate Molecular Evolution (4/28/2008)

Under the control of a computer, a population of billions of genes morphed through 500 cycles of forced adaptation to emerge as molecules that could grow faster and faster on a continually dwindling source of chemical fuel ...> Full Article

Epigenetic research uncovers new targets for modification enzymes (4/28/2008)

Enzymes regulating genetic expression can be just as important as the genome itself, increasing evidence shows ...> Full Article

Nurture Over Nature (4/28/2008)

Geneticists have shown that environmental factors such as lifestyle and geography play a large role in whether certain genes are turned on or off ...> Full Article

Proteins that stop a major signaling pathway can also generate new proteins (4/27/2008)

Researchers have recently discovered that a crucial communications pathway in cells not only stops cells from making proteins, it also makes them go ...> Full Article

Invention gives improved gene technology analysis (4/26/2008)

A patent for a system that gives more reliable results in gene technology-based diagnostic tests has been granted to researchers in Norway ...> Full Article

Pathway Found That Lets Mosquitoes Fatten Up, Slow Down For Winter (4/25/2008)

Two genes that help insulin regulate mosquitoes' growth have been identified as key contributors to how the insects enter a dormant state to survive winter's cold. ...> Full Article

First draft of transgenic papaya genome yields many fruits (4/24/2008)

A broad collaboration of research institutions in the U.S. and China has produced a first draft of the papaya genome. This draft, which spells out more than 90 percent of the plant's gene coding sequence, sheds new light on the evolution of flowering plants. ...> Full Article

Analysis Of RNA Role In Spreading Disease Advances Study Of Damaging Plant Infections (4/24/2008)

Recent research that links specific pieces of RNA to an infectious organism's duplication and spread could lead the way to the prevention of viroids, pathogens that can kill or damage food crops and other plants. ...> Full Article

Scientists Clarify a Mechanism of Epigenetic Inheritance (4/23/2008)

"Silent" DNA stays that way as a result of RNA interference during chromosome replication ...> Full Article

Zinc link made in barley breeding (4/23/2008)

Chromosomal regions conferring zinc efficiency in barley ...> Full Article

Key Grape Genes Sought From US Grape Germplasm Collection (4/22/2008)

Scientists are embarking on a study to index the useful genetic variation of more than 2,000 accessions in the ARS grape germplasm collection ...> Full Article

Protein role in cell division re-evaluated researchers (4/21/2008)

Work could impact study of miscarriages, birth defects ...> Full Article

Fertility Expert finds Genetic Markers of an Egg's Maturity (4/21/2008)

Fertility have long been interested in understanding why so few human eggs harvested during in vitro fertilization result in pregnancies. New research narrows the list of suspects. ...> Full Article

The Tree of Flowering Plants (4/20/2008)

Biologists attempting to find when plants families split ...> Full Article

Plant researchers publish finding on enzyme, drought connection (4/20/2008)

A better understanding of how plants tolerate drought could result ...> Full Article

Researchers Discover Critical Detail of Cellular Defense Against Genetic Mistakes (4/19/2008)

Researchers are closing in on a completed diagram of how human cells protect themselves against constant genetic mistakes that contribute to most diseases ...> Full Article

Scientists Show First 3-D Image of Antibody Gene (4/19/2008)

Researchers have shown for the first time how a genome is organized in three-dimensional space. ...> Full Article

Charting the Epigenome (4/18/2008)

Until recently, the chemical marks littering the DNA inside our cells like trees dotting a landscape could only be studied one gene at a time. But new high-throughput DNA sequencing technology has enabled researchers to map the precise position of these individual DNA modifications throughout the genome of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and chart its effect on the activity of any of Arabidopsis' roughly 26,000 genes. ...> Full Article

New technique yields more detailed picture of chromatin structure (4/18/2008)

Researchers have developed a technique for imaging cells under an electron microscope that yields a sharper image of the structure of chromatin, the tightly wound bundle of genetic material and proteins that makes up the chromosomes ...> Full Article

Gene Therapy Reduces Cocaine Use in Rats (4/17/2008)

Flooding brain with "pleasure chemical" receptors works on cocaine, as on alcohol ...> Full Article

Clearer day for gene therapy: New vector carries big genes linked to inherited blindness (4/17/2008)

Mouse study shows that gene therapy could be used to improve eye function in humans. ...> Full Article

Gene-environment interaction in yeast gene expression (4/16/2008)

Study increases the ability to study thousands of gene expression patterns simultaneously ...> Full Article

Are sacrificial bacteria altruistic or just unlucky? (4/16/2008)

Genetic study finds chance helps determine fate of B. subtilis bacteria ...> Full Article

Gene mutations found in many children with abnormally thick heart muscles (4/16/2008)

Gene mutation known to cause heart muscle disease in adults ...> Full Article

Scientists develop strategy to rapidly describe outbreak strains with next-generation DNA sequencing (4/15/2008)

Rapid comparative genomic analysis for clinical microbiology ...> Full Article

Novel 'Gene Toggles' In Rice, World's Top Food Crop (4/15/2008)

Researchers have found a new type of molecule--a kind of "micro-switch"--that can turn off genes in rice, which is the primary source of food for more than half the world's population. ...> Full Article

Gene oppositely controlled by dietary protein, sugar (4/14/2008)

Researchers have discovered a gene in flies whose activity rises and falls depending upon the amount of protein and sugar in the insects' diets ...> Full Article

A genetic cause for iron deficiency (4/14/2008)

Rare syndrome may provide general insight into iron deficiency, and suggests new treatments for iron disorders ...> Full Article

Exciting new approach for identifying microRNAs (4/13/2008)

Researcher has developed a software package that can detect not only which miRNAs are active in a tissue sample, but can also discover previously unknown miRNAs. ...> Full Article

Technique traces origins of disease genes in mixed races (4/12/2008)

A team of researchers has developed a technique to detect the ancestry of disease genes in hybrid, or mixed, human populations. ...> Full Article

Killer Gene Switches that Regulate Cell Fate Found (4/12/2008)

Geneticists have pinpointed the terminator controls in a pathway for cells destined to live or die, switching on a killer gene when needed to assure the development of a healthy animal ...> Full Article

Study Shows How Rare Genes Have Big Impact on Blood Pressure (4/11/2008)

Researchers report that they have discovered that rare genetic variants can be associated with a dramatically lower risk of developing high blood pressure in the general population. ...> Full Article

Computation to unravel how genes are regulated and shed light on how cells become different (4/11/2008)

A closer alliance between computational and experimental researchers is needed to make progress towards one of biology's most challenging goals, understanding how epigenetic marks contribute to regulation of gene expression ...> Full Article

Data-handling technique finds genes to be team players in curbing brain cancer cell growth (4/10/2008)

Researchers describe a new algorithm for ranking abnormal genes according to their likelihood of contributing to a cancer. And they show that a gene identified by the algorithm as a likely restrainer of tumor growth does indeed play that role in a common type of brain cancer, and is not a mere "bystander" to another restrainer gene ...> Full Article

Genes linked to height no longer in short supply (4/10/2008)

Large-scale study reveals ten novel height-related genes, provides new biological insights ...> Full Article

Researchers rise to the occasion for yeast study (4/9/2008)

Scientists have found a vital missing link for the regulation of genes essential for cell metabolism. ...> Full Article

New Structure Shows Mobile RNA is Poised and Ready (4/8/2008)

Researchers have solved the structure of a group II splicing intron ...> Full Article

Scientists obtain first direct observations of protein-synthesis mechanism (4/7/2008)

Research has led to the first direct observations of the mechanism for protein synthesis in living cells. Their new findings on ribosomes, the protein-making molecular machines in all cells ...> Full Article

Gene mutation begins vicious heat-sensitivity cycle (4/6/2008)

A mutation in a gene controlling calcium flux in skeletal muscle cells links the rare condition malignant hyperthermia to enhanced susceptibility to heat stroke and sudden death ...> Full Article

A place in the sun (4/5/2008)

Scientists learn how plants compete for sunlight. ...> Full Article

Researchers Answer Troublesome Question of Why Some Genetic Association Studies Have Failed Replication Attempts (4/4/2008)

Paper Resulted from Identification of Childhood Obesity Gene and Carries Implications for Fundamental Study Design and Analysis ...> Full Article

Brain DNA 'Remodeled' in Alcoholism (4/3/2008)

Reshaping of the DNA scaffolding that supports and controls the expression of genes in the brain may play a major role in the alcohol withdrawal symptoms, particularly anxiety, that make it so difficult for alcoholics to stop using alcohol. ...> Full Article

Mitosis gets harder thanks to new gene discovery (4/2/2008)

A biological process taught to every pupil studying GCSE science has just become a little more complicated ...> Full Article

Physician Revolutionizes Gene Research (4/1/2008)

A dramatic new study questions some of the mechanisms underlying a new class of drugs based on Nobel Prize-winning work designed to fight diseases ranging from macular degeneration to diabetes. ...> Full Article