Genetics News And Research - July 2011 Archives

Novel DNA sequencer for systems biology (7/31/2011)

The Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology of the Max Delbrueck Center, Germany, will be the first academic research institution in Continental Europe to acquire a novel DNA sequencer enabling the sequencing of single DNA molecules in real time. The SMRT (single molecule, real-time) technology is also faster than current high-throughput technologies. ...> Full Article

New gene for intellectual disability discovered (7/30/2011)

A gene linked to intellectual disability was found in a study involving the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health -- a discovery that was greatly accelerated by international collaboration and new genetic sequencing technology, which is now being used at CAMH. ...> Full Article

The unfolding 'SAGA' of transcriptional co-activators (7/29/2011)

Successful gene expression requires the concerted action of a host of regulatory factors. Long overshadowed by bona fide transcription factors, co-activators -- the hangers-on that facilitate transcription by docking onto transcription factors or modifying chromatin -- have recently come to the fore. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify seventh and eighth bases of DNA (7/29/2011)

For decades, scientists have known that DNA consists of four basic units -- adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine. Those four bases have been taught in science textbooks and have formed the basis of the growing knowledge regarding how genes code for life. Yet in recent history, scientists have expanded that list from four to six. Now, researchers from the UNC School of Medicine have discovered the seventh and eighth bases of DNA. ...> Full Article

Ready, go! (7/28/2011)

Stowers researchers pinpoint the Super Elongation Complex as a major regulator in the coordinated expression of early developmental genes. ...> Full Article

Genome blueprint for horse and human vaccines (7/27/2011)

Two strains of Streptococcus bacteria, that have evolved to cause potentially fatal infections in either horses or humans, use the same box of tricks to cause disease. Exploiting their genetic similarities could lead to novel vaccines for both man and beast, according to a review published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. ...> Full Article

Researchers create the first artificial neural network out of DNA (7/27/2011)

Researchers at Caltech have now taken a major step toward creating artificial intelligence -- not in a robot or a silicon chip, but in a test tube. The researchers are the first to have made an artificial neural network out of DNA, creating a circuit of interacting molecules that can recall memories based on incomplete patterns, just as a brain can. ...> Full Article

Proteins enable essential enzyme to maintain its grip on DNA (7/26/2011)

Scientists have identified a family of proteins that close a critical gap in an enzyme that is essential to all life, allowing the enzyme to maintain its grip on DNA and start the activation of genes. The enzyme, called RNA polymerase, is responsible for setting gene expression in motion in all cells. RNA polymerase wraps itself around the double helix of DNA, using one strand to match nucleotides and make a copy of genetic material. ...> Full Article

Keeping it together (7/26/2011)

Scientists at EMBL Heidelberg have discovered how condensin keeps chromosome arms folded and easy-to-transport during cell division, potentially acting as a cord-stopper. ...> Full Article

Researchers create the world's most advanced genetic map (7/26/2011)

A consortium led by scientists at the University of Oxford and Harvard Medical School has constructed the world's most detailed genetic map, built from data from 30,000 African-Americans. The researchers assert that this is the most accurate and highest resolution genetic map yet. ...> Full Article

Editing the genome (7/26/2011)

Researchers unveil genome-engineering technologies capable of fundamentally re-engineering genomes from the nucleotide to the megabase scale. Treating the chromosome as both an editable and an evolvable template, the researchers have demonstrated methods to rewrite a cell's genome through powerful new tools for biotechnology, energy and agriculture. ...> Full Article

The first studies utilizing the Collaborative Cross mice (7/25/2011)

The Collaborative Cross represents a large collection of new inbred mouse strains created by the mouse genetics community aimed at revolutionizing the study of complex genetic traits and diseases. Genome Research has published three articles online in-advance utilizing strains from the emerging Collaborative Cross mouse strains. ...> Full Article

Multiple 'siblings' from every gene: Alternate gene reading leads to alternate gene products (7/24/2011)

A genome-wide survey by researchers at The Wistar Institute shows how our cells create alternate versions of mRNA transcripts -- and therefore alternate proteins -- by slightly altering how they "read" DNA. They found that, in one type of brain cancer, tumors created differing amounts of these protein alternates than did normal cells. Reading our genetic instructions is less a matter of War and Peace for our cells and more like Choose Your Own Adventure. ...> Full Article

Whole genome sequencing and bioinformatics expertise used on potato genome research (7/23/2011)

BGI (previously known as the Beijing Genomics Institute), the largest genomic organization in the world, announced today that it was among the research organizations comprising the Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium that completed the genome sequence and analysis of the tuber crop potato, published as an advance online publication in Nature. ...> Full Article

Research could be path to new energy sources (7/22/2011)

A team of researchers led by University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Professor Joe Chappell is making a connection from prehistoric times to the present that could result in being able to genetically create a replacement for oil and coal shale deposits. ...> Full Article

The turn of the corkscrew: Structural analysis uncovers mechanisms of gene expression (7/21/2011)

A team led by Professor Karl-Peter Hopfner at the Gene Center at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich has clarified the structure and function of the remodeler Mot1 (Modifier of Transcription 1), which binds directly to DNA. Acting as a molecular corkscrew, Mot1 brings about a redistribution of a crucial transcription factor by removing it from specific locations on the DNA and facilitating its binding to other sequences. ...> Full Article

First release of updated bioinformatics software (7/20/2011)

BGI (previously known as the Beijing Genomics Institute), the largest genomics organization in the world, released its latest bioinformatics software, including its Short Oligonucleotide Analysis Package (SOAP series, etc.), Population Genetics Analysis Package, and Parallelization and Optimization of Traditional Tools. These provide the latest and most advanced solutions for biologists, and enable more efficient and reliable results of a wide range of bioinformatics analyses. ...> Full Article

Sexual orientation and gender conforming traits in women are genetic (7/19/2011)

Sexual orientation and 'gender conformity' in women are both genetic traits, according to new research from Queen Mary, University of London. ...> Full Article

Discovering the bigger picture in chromosomes (7/18/2011)

By mapping various genomes onto an X-Y axis, a team comprised mostly of Kansas State University researchers has found that Charles Darwin and a fruit fly -- among other organisms -- have a lot in common genetically. ...> Full Article

Gene therapy stimulates protein that blocks immune attack and prevents Type 1 diabetes in mice (7/17/2011)

Increasing a specific protein in areas of the pancreas that produce insulin blocks the immune attack that causes Type 1 diabetes, researchers reported in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, published early online. ...> Full Article

Test for chromosome abnormalities sheds light on genetic origins of faulty eggs (7/16/2011)

Researchers are developing a new way to test a woman's egg for chromosome abnormalities that avoids the need to manipulate and biopsy the egg itself. The research may also shed light on the crucial role played by certain genes in the development of chromosome abnormalities that are a major cause of miscarriages and conditions such as Down's syndrome. ...> Full Article

Kinetochores prefer the 'silent' DNA sections of the chromosome (7/15/2011)

The protein complex responsible for the distribution of chromosomes during cell division is assembled in the transition regions between heterochromatin and euchromatin. ...> Full Article

Gene secrets of the reef revealed (7/14/2011)

Australian scientists today announced they have sequenced the genome of the staghorn coral Acropora millepora, a major component of the Great Barrier Reef and coral reefs worldwide.This is the first animal genome project to be carried out entirely in Australia, and is an important milestone in Australian biotechnology and in the study of coral reefs, said the researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and the Australian Genome Research Facility. ...> Full Article

Mutant flies shed light on inherited intellectual disability (7/13/2011)

Clumsy fruit flies with poor posture are helping an international team of scientists understand inherited intellectual disability in humans -- and vice versa. The flies can't hold their wings tightly against their bodies, and have trouble with flying and climbing behaviors, because they have mutations in a gene called dNab2. In humans, mutations in the same gene (with a clunkier name, ZC3H14) have been found to cause intellectual disability in studies of some Iranian families. ...> Full Article

Scientists solve mystery of nerve disease genes (7/12/2011)

For several years, scientists have been pondering a question about a genetic disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease type 2D: how can different types of mutations, spread out across a gene, produce the same condition? Now, a team of scientists at the Scripps Research Institute may have found the answer. ...> Full Article

'Megapixel' DNA replication technology promises faster, more precise diagnostics (7/11/2011)

UBC researchers have developed a DNA measurement platform that sets dramatic new performance standards in the sensitivity and accuracy of sample screening. ...> Full Article

Scientists sequence DNA of cancer-resistant rodent (7/10/2011)

Scientists at the University of Liverpool, in partnership with The Genome Analysis Centre, Norwich, have generated the first whole-genome sequencing data of the naked mole-rat, a rodent that is resistant to cancer and lives for more than 30 years. ...> Full Article

Researchers decipher protein structure of key molecule in DNA transcription system (7/9/2011)

Scientists have deciphered the structure of an essential part of Mediator, a complex molecular machine that plays a vital role in regulating the transcription of DNA. ...> Full Article

Genome analysis will reveal how bacteria in our guts make themselves at home (7/8/2011)

Researchers from the Institute of Food Research and the Genome Analysis Centre have published the genome sequence of a gut bacterium to help understand how these organisms evolved their symbiotic relationships with their hosts. ...> Full Article

Fungus farming ant genome reveals insight into adaptation of social behavior (7/7/2011)

The development of agriculture was a significant event in human cultural evolution, but we are not the only organisms to have adopted an agricultural way of life. In a study published online today in Genome Research, researchers have sequenced the genome of a fungus farming leaf-cutting ant, revealing new insights into the genetics and molecular biology behind this unusual lifestyle. ...> Full Article

Social amoeba rely on genetic 'lock and key' to identify kin (7/6/2011)

Baylor College of Medicine have identified the genetic "lock and key" that enable the amoeba to tell kin from non-kin. ...> Full Article

Genome editing, a next step in genetic therapy, corrects hemophilia in animals (7/5/2011)

Using an innovative gene therapy technique called genome editing that hones in on the precise location of mutated DNA, scientists have treated the blood clotting disorder hemophilia in mice. This is the first time that genome editing, which precisely targets and repairs a genetic defect, has been done in a living animal and achieved clinically meaningful results. ...> Full Article

Hitting moving RNA drug targets (7/4/2011)

By accounting for the floppy, fickle nature of RNA, researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Irvine, have developed a new way to search for drugs that target this important molecule. Their work appears in the June 26 issue of Nature Chemical Biology. ...> Full Article

Next-generation gene sequencing brings personal genomics closer, IDs mutation in new syndrome (7/3/2011)

Harnessing the new generation of rapid, highly accurate gene-sequencing techniques, a research team has identified the disease-causing mutation in a newly characterized rare genetic disease, by analyzing DNA from just a few individuals. The power and speed of the innovative bioinformatics tool marks a step toward personalized genomics -- discovering causative mutations in individual patients. The previously unknown lethal syndrome has affected infant boys in two unrelated families. ...> Full Article

Computational software provides rapid identification of disease-causing gene variations (7/2/2011)

VAAST provides a highly accurate, statistically robust means to rapidly search personal genomes for genes with disease-causing mutations. ...> Full Article

Mechanism for stress-induced epigenetic inheritance uncovered in new study (7/2/2011)

Researchers at RIKEN have uncovered a mechanism by which the effects of stress in the fly species Drosophila are inherited epigenetically over many generations through changes to the structure of chromatin, the material that makes up the cell nucleus. Published in the journal Cell, the results highlight the role of the transcription factor dATF-2 in chromatin assembly, marking a major advance in our understanding of non-Mendelian inheritance. ...> Full Article

The human genome -- now on an tablet near you (7/1/2011)

Navigating the human genome with software that you can view on an iPad sounds pretty impressive, until perhaps you reflect that nature has already encoded trillions of copies of this in your chromosomes. Then again, printing that data using ink and paper would produce a mind-staggering pile of pages -- so viewing it on an iPad may be impressive after all. The Genome Wowser, a free app, is a convenient, mobile tool for exploring genomic information. ...> Full Article