Genetics News And Research - January 2010 Archives

The Genetics Society of America announces its 2010 award recipients (1/31/2010)

The Genetics Society of America announces the recipients of its five awards for distinguished service to the field of genetics. The five awardees are: Alexander Tzagoloff, Ph.D., Columbia University; Thomas Cline, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley; Barbara J. Meyer, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley; William M. Gelbart, Ph.D., Harvard University; and, Utpal Banerjee, Ph.D., UCLA. ...> Full Article

Researchers find new way to study how enzymes repair DNA damage (1/30/2010)

Researchers at Ohio State University have found a new way to study how enzymes move as they repair DNA sun damage -- and that discovery could one day lead to new therapies for healing sunburned skin. Ultraviolet (UV) light damages skin by causing chemical bonds to form in the wrong places along the DNA molecules in our cells. ...> Full Article

Researchers develop new tool for gene delivery (1/29/2010)

Researchers have developed a new tool to deliver DNA in gene therapy. DNA delivered to the retina with a peptide called PEG-POD was expressed 215 times more efficiently than delivery of DNA alone. The finding highlights PEG-POD as a tool for non-viral gene therapy treatments for eye disorders such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. ...> Full Article

Scientists achieve first rewire of genetic switches (1/28/2010)

Researchers in Manchester have successfully carried out the first rewire of genetic switches, creating what could be a vital tool for the development of new drugs and even future gene therapies. ...> Full Article

Gene family found to play key role in early stages of development (1/27/2010)

Scientists have identified a gene family that plays a key role in one of the earliest stages of development in which an embryo distinguishes its left side from the right and determines how organs should be positioned within the body. The finding in mice likely will lead to a better understanding of how certain birth defects occur in humans. ...> Full Article

Genomic surveillance of pandemic H1N1 (1/25/2010)

The BC Centre for Disease Control has launched an influenza genome sequencing project to better understand how the pandemic H1N1 flu virus has evolved in British Columbia, and may continue to evolve in the coming months. ...> Full Article

NSF grant to launch world's first open-source genetic parts production facility (1/24/2010)

Bioengineers from UC Berkeley and Stanford are ramping up efforts to characterize the thousands of control elements critical to the engineering of microbes so that eventually, researchers can mix and match these "DNA parts" in synthetic organisms to produce new drugs, fuels or chemicals. Their new lab, called BIOFAB, was seeded with funds from NSF, and will provide tools, standardized parts, support and legal and ethical guidelines to further the field of synthetic biology. ...> Full Article

Genetics helps to crack down on chimpanzee smuggling (1/23/2010)

The population of chimpanzees across western Africa has decreased by 75 percent in the past 30 years, due in part to widespread chimp hunting. New strategies are needed to curb this illegal activity. Research published in BioMed Central's open-access journal BMC Ecology suggests that genetics may provide valuable clues as to how to crack down on the animal smuggling trade, while also helping to safely reintroduce rescued apes into the wild. ...> Full Article

Excess DNA damage found in cells of patients with Friedreich's ataxia (1/21/2010)

Elevated levels of DNA damage have been found in the mitochondria and nuclei of patients with the inherited, progressive nervous system disease called Friedreich's ataxia, says a multicenter team led by the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. The findings, described in PLoS Genetics, shed light on the molecular abnormalities that lead to the disease, as well as point the way to new therapeutic approaches and the development of biomarker blood tests to track its progression. ...> Full Article

Genome of parasitic wasps released (1/20/2010)

The whole genome of "Nasonia" has been decoded by an international team of researchers supported by zoologists from Jena University. Their findings will be published in this Friday's issue of the well renowned journal Science. "We now have the fully elaborated genome of Nasonia at our disposal," says Dr. Reinhard Predel from the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany, pleased about it. ...> Full Article

Researchers find new method of fixing broken proteins to treat genetic diseases (1/19/2010)

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have demonstrated how it could be possible to treat genetic diseases by enhancing the natural ability of cells to restore their own mutant proteins. In particular, they found that drugs called proteosome inhibitors could provide one way of manipulating cells into producing more of a so-called chaperone protein, named Hsp70, which helps amino acid chains fold into their proper protein form. ...> Full Article

Paradigm changing mechanism is revealed for the control of gene expression in bacteria (1/19/2010)

A new study led by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center is shedding new light on the action of Rho, a key regulatory protein in E. coli and many other bacteria. The study published in the Jan. 14, 2010, issue of Nature reveals a new paradigm to understand the molecular principles of gene transcription. This work could potentially lead to the development of new types of antibiotics that could target Rho and its crucial functions. ...> Full Article

Scientists move a step closer to understanding why leopards can't change their spots (1/18/2010)

Research published in the January 2010 issue of Genetics reveals something about how cats end up with spots and stripes. It demonstrates for the first time that at least three different genes are involved in the emergence of stripes, spots and other markings on domestic cats. Researchers have also determined the genomic location of two of these genes, which will allow for further studies that could shine scientific light on various human skin disorders. ...> Full Article

New genetic map will speed up plant breeding of the world's most important medicinal crop (1/18/2010)

Plant scientists at the University of York have published the first genetic map of the medicinal herb Artemisia annua. The map is being used to accelerate plant breeding of Artemisia and rapidly develop the species into a high-yielding crop. This development is urgently needed to help meet escalating demand for effective malaria treatments. ...> Full Article

Scientists use next-gen sequencing to rapidly discover genetic cause of devastating disorder (1/17/2010)

Two scientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory are part of an international team that has discovered a genetic mutation that causes Joubert Syndrome, a devastating inherited neurological disorder. The CSHL scientists identified this mutation using whole exome sequencing -- a rapid "next-gen" sequencing approach that minimizes time and cost. The mutation, which causes a single nucleotide change in the TMEM216 gene, has a high carrier rate of 1:92 among Ashkenazi Jews. ...> Full Article

USDA scientists, collaborators sequence soybean genome (1/16/2010)

The US Department of Agriculture scientists are part of a team that has sequenced the majority of the soybean genome, providing an unprecedented look into how this important legume crop converts four critical ingredients -- sunlight, water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen -- into protein and oil, the basic building blocks for many consumer products. The research team from 18 federal, state, public and private organizations published their research today in the journal Nature. ...> Full Article

Genetics 2010: Model Organisms to Human Biology Meeting (1/15/2010)

The Genetics Society of America is pleased to announce its meeting, "Genetics 2010: Model Organisms to Human Biology," June 12-15, 2010, at the Sheraton Boston, in Boston. This biannual meeting brings together investigators who study genetic models in flies, yeast, fungi, mice and other nonhuman organisms, with researchers in human genetics. Keynote speakers include Carol Greider, the 2009 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Gary Ruvkun, a 2008 Lasker Award winner, and Jeremy Berg, director, NIGMS/NIH. ...> Full Article

Scientists sequence genome of the woodland strawberry, a model system for rosaceae plants (1/14/2010)

The genome of a model plant related to peach, cherry and cultivated strawberry has been sequenced by a consortium of international researchers that includes scientists with the Agricultural Research Service. Scientists announced the sequencing of the genome of woodland strawberry over the weekend at the Plant and Animal Genome Conference in San Diego. ...> Full Article

Researchers discover molecular security system that protects cells from potentially harmful DNA (1/13/2010)

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered a molecular security system in human cells that deactivates and degrades foreign DNA. This discovery could open the door to major improvements in genetic engineering and gene therapy technologies. ...> Full Article

Researchers Identify microRNA targets in C. elegans (1/12/2010)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are noncoding RNAs that impact almost every aspect of biology. In recent years, they have been strongly implicated in stem cell biology, tissue and organism development, as well as human conditions ranging from mental disorders to cancer. Now, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have identified the binding sites of these miRNAs in one of the foremost model organisms, C. elegans, using biochemical means to capture targeted mRNA sequences in vivo. ...> Full Article

How plants 'feel' the temperature rise (1/11/2010)

Plants are incredibly temperature sensitive and can perceive changes of as little as one degree Celsius. Now, a report in the Jan. 8 issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, shows how they not only 'feel' the temperature rise, but also coordinate an appropriate response -- activating hundreds of genes and deactivating others; it turns out it's all about the way that their DNA is packaged. ...> Full Article

Periodic paralysis study reveals gene causing disorder (1/10/2010)

Scientists have identified a gene underlying a disease that causes temporary paralysis of skeletal muscle. The finding, they say, illustrates how investigations of rare genetic diseases can drive insights into more common ones. ...> Full Article

Scientists uncover role of protein critical for activating DNA replication (1/9/2010)

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have discovered how a protein long known to be an essential activator of DNA replication actually triggers this process in cells. The protein, called DDK (for Ddf4-dependent protein kinase), is one of two cell-cycle-regulated protein kinases that facilitate coordination with other processes during cell division. DDK is now shown to block the inhibitory activity of a domain within the DNA unwinding enzyme Mcm4, thereby promoting DNA replication. ...> Full Article

Rules governing RNA's anatomy revealed (1/8/2010)

University of Michigan researchers have discovered the rules that dictate the 3-D shapes of RNA molecules, rules that are based not on complex chemical interactions but simply on geometry. ...> Full Article

Protein linked to leukemia 'bookmarks' highly active genes during cell division (1/8/2010)

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientists have discovered how some epigenetic instructions get stably transferred from one generation of cells to the next. They report that newly formed cells learn which genes need to become highly active right away thanks to a helpful protein that "bookmarks" these genes during the division of their parent cell. ...> Full Article

'Junk DNA' could spotlight breast and bowel cancer (1/7/2010)

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have found that a group of genetic rogue elements, produced by DNA sequences commonly known as "junk DNA," could help diagnose breast and bowel cancer. Their research, funded by Cancer Research UK, is published in this month's Genomics journal. ...> Full Article

Researchers pin down long-elusive protein that's essential to 'life as we know it' (1/6/2010)

A team of researchers is being recognized for devising a new way to study a human protein that long has evaded close scrutiny by scientists investigating its role in the communication of important genetic messages inside a cell's nucleus to workhorse molecules found elsewhere. ...> Full Article

Team determines how precursors of gene-regulating small RNAs are sorted by cellular machinery (1/5/2010)

A team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has determined a hierarchical set of criteria that explain how the molecular precursors of gene-regulating small RNAs are sorted by the cellular machinery. ...> Full Article

Carbon nanotubes show promise for high-speed genetic sequencing (1/1/2010)

In the current issue of Science, Stuart Lindsay, director of Arizona State University's Center for Single Molecule Biophysics at the Biodesign Institute, along with his colleagues, demonstrates the potential of a new DNA sequencing method in which a single-stranded ribbon of DNA is threaded through a carbon nanotube. ...> Full Article