Genetics News And Research - May 2010 Archives

Allen Institute for Brain Science launches Allen Human Brain Atlas (5/31/2010)

The Allen Institute for Brain Science announced today that it has launched the Allen Human Brain Atlas, a publicly available online atlas charting genes at work throughout the human brain. The data provided in this initial data release represent the most extensive and detailed body of information about gene activity in the human brain to date, documenting which genes are expressed, or "turned on," where. ...> Full Article

Preventing cells from getting the kinks out of DNA (5/30/2010)

Some of the most common antibiotics and anticancer drugs block topoisomerases that snip the tangles out of DNA. If a cell cannot remove the tangles, it dies. UC Berkeley researchers investigating the structure of these enzymes have found that Type II topoisomerases, which snip double-stranded DNA, use their metal catalysts in a novel way that could help drug designers improve antimicrobials and cancer poisons and make them less toxic to the host. ...> Full Article

DOE JGI produces new QC tool for microbial genomes (5/29/2010)

To assist in checking the quality of the microbial genomic DNA sequences generated before they are submitted to the federally funded public archive GenBank, the DOE Joint Genome Institute has introduced a quality-control tool known as the Gene Prediction IMprovement Pipeline or GenePRIMP. ...> Full Article

Newly discovered gene variants lead to autism and mental retardation (5/28/2010)

Researchers working with Professor Gudrun Rappold, Director of the Department of Molecular Human Genetics at Heidelberg University Hospital, have discovered previously unknown mutations in autistic and mentally impaired patients in what is known as the SHANK2 gene, a gene that is partially responsible for linking nerve cells. The study has already been published online in the leading scientific journal Nature Genetics. ...> Full Article

New research indicates that DNA sequence itself influences mutation rate (5/27/2010)

Genetic variation due to DNA mutation is a driving force of adaptation and evolution, as well as a contributing factor to disease. However, the mechanisms governing DNA mutation rate are not well understood. In a report published online today in Genome Research, researchers have identified intrinsic properties of DNA that influence mutation rate, shedding light on mechanisms involved in genome maintenance and potentially disease. ...> Full Article

An sRNA controls a bacterium's social life (5/26/2010)

Reporting in this week's Science, Indiana University Bloomington scientists identify an sRNA as a key regulator of social behavior in Myxococcus xanthus, a soil bacterium widely studied for its ability to cooperatively construct fruiting bodies that house stress-resistant spores when food runs out. ...> Full Article

Gene discovery potential key to cost-competitive cellulosic ethanol (5/25/2010)

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are improving strains of microorganisms used to convert cellulosic biomass into ethanol, including a recent modification that could improve the efficiency of the conversion process. ...> Full Article

First-ever high-resolution observations of DNA unfolding (5/24/2010)

The separation of the two DNA strands occurs in millionths of a second. Consequently, it is extremely difficult to study this phenomenon experimentally and researchers must rely on computational simulations. After four years of fine-tuning an effective physical model and massive use of the supercomputer Mare Nostrum, researchers at IRB Barcelona and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center have managed to produce the first realistic simulation of DNA opening at high resolution. ...> Full Article

Low-cost, ultra-fast DNA sequencing brings diagnostic use closer (5/23/2010)

Boston University researchers show the viability of a novel, more efficient method to sequence DNA using nanopores. By doing it fast and inexpensively, this method brings routine use of DNA sequencing in medical diagnostics closer to reality. ...> Full Article

Gene therapy may be effective in treating PAH (5/22/2010)

Gene therapy has been shown to have positive effects in rat models of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), according to researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia. ...> Full Article

Between the genes - a making sense of genomic 'dark matter' (5/21/2010)

A group of University of Toronto scientists have uncovered some of the secrets behind what molecular biologists call "dark matter" transcripts. The findings will be published next week in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology. ...> Full Article

Genetics Society of America to host Model Organisms to Human Biology Meeting, June 12-15, 2010 (5/20/2010)

The Genetics Society of America will host the GENETICS 2010: Model Organisms to Human Biology Meeting, on June 12‐15, 2010, in Boston, Mass. The 2010 MOHB meeting will bring together investigators who study genetic disease in model organisms such as flies, yeast, fungi, and mice, with human genetics researchers. This meeting will feature discussions on how basic genetics research impacts the study of human diseases, including sessions on stem cells, disease models, personal genomics and more. ...> Full Article

First Self-Replicating, Synthetic Bacterial Cell Constructed (5/20/2010)

Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit genomic research organization, published results today describing the successful construction of the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell. The team synthesized the 1.08 million base pair chromosome of a modified Mycoplasma mycoides genome. The synthetic cell is called Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 and is the proof of principle that genomes can be designed in the computer, chemically made in the laboratory and transplanted into a recipient cell to produce a new self-replicating cell controlled only by the synthetic genome. ...> Full Article

Scientist awarded next-generation DNA sequencer to monitor water quality (5/20/2010)

Mitchell Sogin of the Marine Biological Laboratory has been awarded the Dr. Gordon Moore Environmental Grant from Ion Torrent of Guilford, Conn., and San Francisco. ...> Full Article

Gene loss causes leukemia (5/19/2010)

Researchers from VIB and K.U.Leuven, both in Flanders, Belgium, have discovered a new factor in the development of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a disease that mainly affects children. In the cells of the patients, the specific gene PTPN2 ceases to function, causing the cancer cells to survive longer and grow faster. The study provides genetic and functional evidence for a tumor suppressor role of PTPN2. ...> Full Article

Chemists create DNA assembly line (5/18/2010)

Chemists at New York University and China's Nanjing University have created a DNA assembly line that has the potential to create novel materials efficiently on the nanoscale. ...> Full Article

Molecular robots on the rise (5/17/2010)

Researchers from Columbia University, Arizona State University, the University of Michigan and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created and programmed robots the size of single molecule that can move independently across a nano-scale track. ...> Full Article

Without this protein, embryonic development halts (5/16/2010)

Researchers studying the common genetic disorder chromosome 22q.11 deletion syndrome (also known as DiGeorge syndrome) have identified key proteins that act together to regulate early embryonic development. One protein, Ash21, is essential to life; in animal studies, embryos without it do not survive past the first few days of gestation. The findings shed light on the biological events that give rise to this deletion syndrome, which often includes congenital heart defects. ...> Full Article

DNA could be backbone of next generation logic chips (5/15/2010)

In a single day, a solitary grad student at a lab bench can produce more simple logic circuits than the world's entire output of silicon chips in a month. ...> Full Article

Researchers share insights into RNA (5/14/2010)

Investigators from around the country came to Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute on Friday, May 7, to share their knowledge of the burgeoning young field of microRNAs. These small non-coding nucleic acids turn off proteins and have been implicated in viral infection, cancer, cardiovascular disease, HIV and numerous other conditions. ...> Full Article

US Department of Defense SMART scholarship winner's focus is synthetic biology (5/13/2010)

The US Department of Defense has awarded a prestigious scholarship to a graduate research assistant at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech whose research includes assessing the benefits and risks of synthetic biology. ...> Full Article

Enabling easy access to DNA sequence information (5/12/2010)

The European Nucleotide Archive is launched today, consolidating three major sequence resources to become Europe's primary access point to globally comprehensive DNA and RNA sequence information. The ENA is freely available from the European Bioinformatics Institute, a part of European Molecular Biology Laboratory. ...> Full Article

Neandertal genome sequence published (5/11/2010)

An international research team has sequenced the Neandertal genome, using pill-sized samples of bone powder from three Neandertal bones found in a cave in Croatia. The results appear in the May 7 issue of the journal Science, which is published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society. ...> Full Article

Chromosome 'glue' surprises scientists (5/10/2010)

Proteins called cohesins ensure that newly copied chromosomes bind together, separate correctly during cell division, and are repaired efficiently after DNA damage. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution have found that cohesins are needed in different concentrations for their different functions. This discovery helps to explain how certain developmental disorders, arise without affecting cell division essential to development. The research was made possible by a new technique developed by the scientists. ...> Full Article

MicroRNA network study implicates rewired interactions in cancer (5/9/2010)

Genes interact in complex networks that govern cellular processes, much like people connect a social network through relationships. Researchers are now discovering how biological networks change and are rewired in cancer. In a study published today in Genome Research, scientists have analyzed the genetic networks of microRNAs in tumors, shedding light on how interactions go awry in disease. ...> Full Article

Rapid analysis of DNA damage now possible (5/8/2010)

Our DNA is under constant siege from a variety of damaging agents. Damage to DNA and the ability of cells to repair that damage has broad health implications, from aging and heritable diseases to cancer. Unfortunately, the tools used to study DNA damage are quite limited, but MIT researchers have developed a new tool for rapid DNA damage analysis that promises to make an impact on human health. ...> Full Article

Brain changes associated with fragile X take place before age 2 (5/7/2010)

Brain changes associated with the most common cause of mental retardation can be seen in magnetic resonance imaging scans of children as young as 1 to 3 years old, according to a study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Stanford University. ...> Full Article

Scientists report first genome sequence of frog (5/6/2010)

Because of its large eggs, Xenopus laevis -- the African clawed frog -- has become a popular model for studying embryo development and cell biology. It's smaller cousin, X. tropicalis, is now gaining converts, however, because, with its diploid rather than polyploidy genome, it is easier to insert or block genes in order to determine their function. The X. tropicalis genome is now the first amphibian genome to be sequenced. ...> Full Article

New tool enables wider analysis of genome 'deep sequencing' (5/5/2010)

A new Stanford-developed, web-based algorithm allows scientists to plumb the unprecedented depths of the data provided by new "deep-sequencing" techniques to reveal a pantheon of control regions for nearly any gene. ...> Full Article

'Junk DNA' drives cancer growth (5/4/2010)

Researchers from the University of Leeds, UK, the Charité University Medical School and the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany, have discovered a new driving force behind cancer growth. ...> Full Article

Scientists alter developing brain to resemble that of another species (5/4/2010)

Biologists have been able to change the brain of a developing fish embryo to resemble that of another species. ...> Full Article

Gene therapy sets stage for new treatments for inherited blindness, Penn veterinary researchers say (5/3/2010)

Veterinary vision scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have safely and successfully used a viral vector in targeting a class of photoreceptors of the retina called rods, a critical first step in developing gene therapies for inherited blindness caused by rod degeneration. ...> Full Article

Spanish gene expression data promise targeting of anti-angiogenesis treatment (5/2/2010)

Analyzing the expression of particular genes in lung cancers could soon allow researchers to identify groups of patients who are likely to benefit most from treatment with angiogenesis-inhibitor drugs ...> Full Article

Brain tumor growth linked to lowered expression of hundreds of immune function genes (5/1/2010)

A new study links progression of a lethal type of brain tumor with reduced expression of more than 600 immune system genes, suggesting how complex the immune response is to the cancer and the resulting difficulty in targeting specific immune system proteins for treatment.  ...> Full Article