Genetics News And Research - April 2010 Archives

'Epigenetic' concepts offer new approach to degenerative disease (4/30/2010)

In studies on cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders and other degenerative conditions, some scientists are moving away from the "nature vs. nurture" debate, and are finding you're not a creature of either genetics or environment, but both -- with enormous implications for a new approach to health. ...> Full Article

Scientists uncover alternative pathway of microRNA generation (4/29/2010)

MicroRNAs control gene expression with the help of a unique class of proteins called Argonautes. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory researchers led by Professor and HHMI investigator Gregory Hannon, Ph.D, now report that in animal cells, one of Argonautes, called Ago2, has a different role -- it helps generate microRNAs instead. The study, which points to an alternative pathway of microRNA generation, appears in the journal Nature on April 27th. ...> Full Article

Hypertensive rat genome sequence expected to uncover genetic basis of human hypertension (4/29/2010)

Chronic high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a serious health risk factor that afflicts more than 25 percent of all adults worldwide, but the molecular basis of the disease remains poorly understood. In a study published online today in Genome Research, scientists have sequenced the genome of the spontaneously hypertensive rat, building a rich catalog of genetic variants that will help researchers to understand causes of the disease in humans. ...> Full Article

New computational method to uncover gene regulation (4/28/2010)

Scientists have developed a new computational model to uncover gene regulation, the key to how our body develops -- and how it can go wrong.The researchers, from the University of Manchester, Aalto University and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory Heidelberg, say the new method identifies targets of regulator genes. ...> Full Article

Worm genes KO'd (4/27/2010)

Knocking genes out of action allows researchers to learn what genes do by seeing what goes wrong without them. University of Utah biologists pioneered the field. Mario Capecchi won a Nobel Prize for developing knockout mice. Kent Golic found a way to cripple fruit fly genes. Now, biologist Erik Jorgensen and colleagues have devised a procedure for knocking out genes in nematode worms. ...> Full Article

The silence of the genes (4/27/2010)

Viruses can hide from the immune system by using small RNAs to silence the expression of cellular genes. Scientists of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich have now identified the human genes targeted by herpes viruses that cause cancer. This represents a significant first step towards the development of new antiviral therapies. ...> Full Article

DNA barcoding reveals mislabeled cod and haddock in Dublin (4/26/2010)

Ecological scientists in Ireland recently used DNA barcoding to identify species of fish labeled as either "cod" or "haddock" in fish and chip shops, fresh fish counters and supermarkets in 10 postal districts in Dublin. They found that 39 out of 156 randomly sampled "cod" and "haddock" were genetically entirely different species and, therefore, mislabeled under European Union regulations. ...> Full Article

Ontogenesis is regulated by moving microRNA molecules (4/25/2010)

The genes in humans and many other species have been surveyed but their operating principles remain rather unknown. Researchers do not know precisely how genes guide development of various human tissues, or what causes developmental disorders. MicroRNA molecules, are recently identified regulatory factors, whose on-going analysis, provide more insight into the matter. The article introduces new information about this gene group, which is essential for the formation of structure of plants and animals. ...> Full Article

Student research team sequences genome of bacterium discovered in Virginia Tech garden (4/24/2010)

Under the supervision of a Virginia Tech plant pathologist, a group of high school, undergraduate, and graduate students isolated and characterized a formerly unknown group of bacteria. ...> Full Article

New evidence in plants shows micro-RNA can move (4/23/2010)

Ever since tiny bits of genetic material known as microRNA were first characterized in the early 1990s, scientists have been discovering just how important they are to regulating the activity of genes within cells. ...> Full Article

New methods identify thousands of new DNA sequences missing from the human genome reference map (4/21/2010)

New approaches enabled researchers to discover 2,363 new DNA sequences on the human genome. The sequences represent areas not charted in the human genome reference map. The extent of human genetic variation suggested to the scientist that there must be portions of the human genome where DNA sequences had yet to be discovered, annotated and characterized. ...> Full Article

Newly discovered RNA steers brain development (4/20/2010)

A newly discovered class of RNA molecules helps elucidate the long-standing scientific question of how a person's external experiences turn on the genes that over time help shape the connections among cells that make up the human brain. Called enhancer RNAs, these molecules operate globally throughout the genome within neurons. ...> Full Article

Scientists discover new genetic sub-code (4/20/2010)

In a multidisciplinary approach, Professor Yves Barral, from the Biology Department at ETH Zurich and the computer scientists Dr. Gina Cannarozzi and Professor Gaston Gonnet, from the Computer Science Department of ETH Zurich and the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, joined forces to chase possible sub-codes in genomic information. The study, which will be published in today's issue of the journal Cell, led to the identification of novel sequence biases and their role in the control of genomic expression. ...> Full Article

Patents block competition, slow innovation in gene testing (4/19/2010)

Exclusive licenses to gene patents, most of which are held by academic institutions and based on taxpayer-funded research, do more to block competition in the gene testing market than to spur the development of new technologies for gauging disease risk, say researchers at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy. ...> Full Article

Sequence is scaffold to study sleeping sickness (4/18/2010)

Researchers have published the genome sequence for T. b. gambiense -- the strain of Trypanosoma brucei responsible for almost all cases of sleeping sickness in humans. A remarkable level of similarity with the previously sequenced bovine infecting strain suggests the sequences provide a foundation for studies into how these parasites cause disease. The team found no genetic cause for T. b. gambiense's human infectivity, but suggest new avenues for future studies to understand the disease. ...> Full Article

High-performance computing reveals missing genes (4/17/2010)

Scientists have used high-performance computing to locate small genes that have been missed by scientists in their quest to define the microbial DNA sequences of life. Using an ephemeral supercomputer made up of computers from across the world, the mpiBLAST computational tool used by the researchers took only 12 hours instead of the 90 years it would have required if the work were performed on a standard personal computer. ...> Full Article

Scientists find new genes for cancer, other diseases in plants, yeast and worms (4/16/2010)

From deep within the genomes of organisms as diverse as plants, worms and yeast, scientists have uncovered new genes responsible for causing human diseases such as cancer and deafness. ...> Full Article

Key protein aids in DNA repair (4/15/2010)

In a paper published in the journal Nature, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have shown that a particular protein -- called Ku -- is particularly adept at healing damaged strands of DNA. ...> Full Article

Mutations directly identifiable in active genes (4/14/2010)

Researchers at Uppsala University have developed a new method for identifying genetic variation, including mutations, in active genes. Hopes are strong that the method represents an important research tool that will lead to the development of new diagnostic tests. ...> Full Article

New study of autism reveals a 'DNA tag' (methylation) amenable to treatment (4/13/2010)

A new discovery raises hope that autism may be more easily diagnosed and that its effects may be more reversible than previously thought. In a new study appearing online in the FASEB Journal, scientists have identified a way to detect the disorder using blood and have discovered that drugs which affect the methylation state ("DNA tagging") of genes could reverse autism's effects. This type of drug is already being used in some cancer treatments. ...> Full Article

Graduate student finds a 'start/stop switch' for retroviruses (4/11/2010)

A University of British Columbia doctoral candidate has discovered a previously unknown mechanism for silencing retroviruses, segments of genetic material that can lead to fatal mutations in a cell's DNA. ...> Full Article

Powerful new method allows scientists to probe gene activation (4/10/2010)

NYU Langone Medical Center researchers have developed a powerful new method to investigate the discrete steps necessary to turn on individual genes and examine how the process goes wrong in cancer and other diseases. The finding, based on seven years of research and described in the April 9 issue of Molecular Cell, allows scientists to investigate the unfolding of DNA, a process required for gene activation. ...> Full Article

Variations on the genetic theme (4/9/2010)

Integrating data from an unprecedented variety of human tissue samples, scientists at EMBL-EBI and their collaborators have produced the first-ever global map of gene expression, published today in Nature Biotechnology. ...> Full Article

Genes under control (4/8/2010)

The organelles of photosynthesis -- the chloroplasts - have their own DNA, messenger RNA and ribosomes for forming proteins. Max Planck scientists have now discovered how to regulate the formation of proteins in the chloroplasts. They can use so-called riboswitches to switch the genes in the chloroplasts of tobacco plants on and off. These riboswitches could provide future benefit by making plants capable of delivering drugs or raw materials, or by improving the biological safety of genetically modified plants. ...> Full Article

Researchers sequence DNA if peach tree (4/7/2010)

As peach trees go, it doesn't look much different than its kin at the Clemson University Musser Fruit Research Farm, but appearances can be deceiving. This one, a Lovell variety, has a unique genetic characteristic that made it a standout in the orchard. Its DNA -- its genetic set of instructions for living -- has been sequenced by scientists, enabling further research to identify beneficial traits to grow better trees and fruit. ...> Full Article

New tool for RNA silencing (4/5/2010)

Anti-sense reagents have been developed for C. Elegans micro RNA. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Silence have created the first class of reagents to potently and selectively inhibit miRNAs in this widely used model organism. ...> Full Article

Bees with an impaired insulin partner gene prefer proteins over carbs (4/5/2010)

A new study of food-choice behavior in honey bees, published April 1 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, has identified a gene involved in bees' decisions to bring protein or nectar back to the colony. By taking control of the insulin receptor substrate gene, an insulin partner gene in the bees' fat cells, researchers at Arizona State University and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences made the insects forego carbohydrates (sugar-containing nectar) and favor protein (pollen). ...> Full Article

Common copy number variations unlikely to contribute significantly toward common diseases (4/4/2010)

A study of the genetics of common diseases including diabetes, heart disease and bipolar disorder has found that commonly occurring copy number variations -- duplicated or missing chunks of DNA in our genome -- are unlikely to play a major role in such diseases. The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, is published online today in the journal Nature. ...> Full Article

Songbird genome sings of the communicating brain (4/3/2010)

The Australian zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata, weighs less than half an ounce, mates for life and, unlike most vocalizing animals, learns its songs from its elders. A new analysis of its genome, the first of a songbird, is providing tantalizing clues to the mechanisms and evolution of vocal communication. ...> Full Article

Movies for the human genome (4/2/2010)

Name a human gene, and you'll find a movie online showing you what happens to cells when it is switched off, thanks to work by researchers at EMBL Heidelberg and their collaborators in the Mitocheck consortium, in a study published today in Nature where they identify the genes involved in mitosis in humans. ...> Full Article