Genetics News And Research - May 2012 Archives

Plan to unravel the relation between DNA methylomes and obesity (5/31/2012)

In a highlighted paper published online in Nature Communications, researchers from Sichuan Agricultural University and BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, reported the atlas of DNA methylomes in porcine adipose and muscle tissues, providing a valuable epigenomic source for obesity prediction and prevention as well as boosting the further development of pig as a model animal for human obesity research. ...> Full Article

Does polyploidy play a role in the onset of the Italian endemic flora? (5/30/2012)

Plants show a higher variation in chromosome numbers than animals do, mainly because of polyploidy- the occurrence of more than two sets of chromosomes. In plants, polyploidy can cause reproductive isolation and the consequent onset of new species. In our research, we set out to estimate to what extent polyploidy is involved in the onset of the Italian endemic plants. ...> Full Article

Researchers solve structure of human protein critical for silencing genes (5/30/2012)

In a study published in the journal Cell on May 24, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientists describe the three-dimensional atomic structure of a human protein bound to a piece of RNA that "guides" the protein's ability to silence genes. The protein, Argonaute-2, is a key player in RNA interference, a powerful cellular phenomenon that has important roles in diverse biological processes, including an organism's development. ...> Full Article

New approach to 'spell checking' gene sequences (5/29/2012)

A Ph.D. student from CSIRO and the University of Queensland has found a better way to 'spell check' gene sequences. ...> Full Article

Bioengineers create rewritable digital data storage in DNA (5/28/2012)

Scientists from Stanford's Department of Bioengineering have devised a method for repeatedly encoding, storing and erasing digital data within the DNA of living cells. ...> Full Article

Heliconius butterfly genome explains wing pattern diversity (5/27/2012)

Pooling funds and putting their heads together, more than 70 scientists from 9 institutions including the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, sequenced the entire genome of the butterfly genus Heliconius, a brightly colored favorite of collectors and scientists since the Victorian era. Their results are published in the prestigious journal, Nature. ...> Full Article

Genes may hold the key to a life of success, study suggests (5/26/2012)

Genes play a greater role in forming character traits -- such as self-control, decision making or sociability -- than was previously thought, new research suggests. ...> Full Article

Cellular secrets of plant fatty acid production understood (5/25/2012)

A curious twist in a family of plant proteins called chalcone-isomerase recently was discovered by Salk Institute for Biological Studies scientist Joseph Noel and colleagues at Iowa State University led by Eve Wurtele. ...> Full Article

New biospecimens management system in development (5/24/2012)

Persistent Systems, the leader in outsourced software product development services, and the Translational Genomics Research Institute today announced that they are developing a high-quality biospecimen management system called Bio4D. ...> Full Article

Study uncovers a new exception to a decades-old rule about RNA splicing (5/24/2012)

There are always exceptions to a rule, even one that has prevailed for more than three decades, as demonstrated by a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) study on RNA splicing, a cellular editing process. The rule-flaunting exception uncovered by the study concerns the way in which a newly produced RNA molecule is cut and pasted at precise locations called splice sites before being translated into protein. ...> Full Article

Resolving the ortholog conjecture (5/23/2012)

Researchers at the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute have confirmed the long-held conjecture that studying the genes we share with other animals is a viable means of extrapolating information about human biology. ...> Full Article

New evidence that many genes of small effect influence economic decisions and political attitudes (5/23/2012)

Genetic factors explain some of the variation in a wide range of people's political attitudes and economic decisions -- such as preferences toward environmental policy and financial risk taking -- but most associations with specific genetic variants are likely to be very small, according to a new study led by Cornell University economics professor Daniel Benjamin. ...> Full Article

DNA replication protein also has a role in mitosis, cancer (5/22/2012)

University of North Carolina School of Medicine scientists have discovered that a protein known as Cdt1, which is required for DNA replication, also plays an important role in a later step of the cell cycle, mitosis. The finding presents a possible explanation for why so many cancers possess not just genomic instability, but also more or less than the usual 46 DNA-containing chromosomes. ...> Full Article

Researchers reveal an RNA modification influences thousands of genes (5/22/2012)

Over the past decade, research in the field of epigenetics has revealed that chemically modified bases are abundant components of the human genome and has forced us to abandon the notion we've had since high school genetics that DNA consists of only four bases. ...> Full Article

Completed sequence of foxtail millet genome (5/21/2012)

BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, in cooperation with Zhangjiakou Academy of Agricultural Science, has completed the genome sequence and analysis of foxtail millet, the second-most widely planted species of millet. ...> Full Article

New technique reveals unseen information in DNA code (5/21/2012)

A multi-institutional research team has used a new technique to map 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) in DNA from human and mouse embryonic stem cells, revealing new information about their patterns of distribution. These studies have revealed that these DNA modifications play major roles in fundamental life processes such as cell differentiation, cancer and brain function. ...> Full Article

Researchers use light to switch on gene expression (5/20/2012)

Imagine being able to control genetic expression by flipping a light switch. Researchers at North Carolina State University are using light-activated molecules to turn gene expression on and off. Their method enables greater precision when studying gene function, and could lead to targeted therapies for diseases like cancer. ...> Full Article

Genes underlying the key domestication process in sorghum and other cereals (5/20/2012)

A study by a team of university and government scientists led by a Kansas State University researcher, indicates that genes responsible for seed shattering -- the process by which grasses disseminate their seeds -- were under parallel selection during sorghum, rice and maize domestication. ...> Full Article

Enzyme corrects more than 1 million faults in DNA replication (5/19/2012)

Enzyme corrects more than one million faults in DNA replication. Scientists from the Medical Research Council Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine at the University of Edinburgh have discovered an enzyme that corrects the most common mistake in mammalian DNA. ...> Full Article

Think global, act local: New roles for protein synthesis at synapses (5/18/2012)

Planck researchers found over 2500 mRNA along dendrites and axons. ...> Full Article

It's a trap! New laboratory technique captures microRNA targets (5/17/2012)

To better understand how microRNAs -- small pieces of genetic material -- influence human health and disease, scientists first need to know which microRNAs act upon which genes. To do this, Tariq Rana, Ph.D., professor and program director at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, and his team developed miR-TRAP, a new easy-to-use method to directly identify microRNA targets in cells. The method was first revealed in a paper published May 8 by the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. ...> Full Article

Advanced genetic screening method may speed vaccine development (5/16/2012)

Vaccines remain the best line of defense against deadly pathogens and now Kathryn Sykes and Stephen Johnston, researchers at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, along with co-author Michael McGuire from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center are using clever functional screening methods to attempt to speed new vaccines into production that are both safer and more potent. ...> Full Article

Discovery of a new family of key mitochondrial proteins for the function and viability of the brain (5/15/2012)

A team headed by Eduardo Soriano at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine has published a study in Nature Communications describing a new family of six genes whose function regulates the movement and position of mitochondria in neurons. Many neurological conditions, including Parkinson's and various types of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, are caused by alterations of genes that control mitochondrial transport, a process that provides the energy required for cell function. ...> Full Article

Repeat act: Parallel selection tweaks many of the same genes to make big and heavy mice (5/14/2012)

Max Planck scientists decode genes for a complex characteristic. ...> Full Article

Men can rest easy - sex chromosomes are here to stay (5/13/2012)

Fears that sex-linked chromosomes, such as the male Y chromosome, are doomed to extinction have been refuted in a new genetic study which examines the sex chromosomes of chickens. ...> Full Article

A needle in a haystack: How does a broken DNA molecule get repaired? (5/12/2012)

Scientists from the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology have discovered a key element in the mechanism of DNA repair. Using a smart new dual-molecule technique, the Delft group has now found out how the DNA molecule is able to perform this search and recognition process in such an efficient way. Today, the researchers report their findings in Molecular Cell. ...> Full Article

Bioluminescent technology for easy tracking of GMO (5/11/2012)

New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Biotechnology shows that products from genetically modified crops can be identified at low concentration, using bioluminescent real time reporter technology and loop mediated isothermal amplification. The combination of these techniques was able to recognize 0.1 percent GM contamination of maize, far below the current EU limit of 0.9 percent. ...> Full Article

Jarid2 may break the Polycomb silence (5/10/2012)

Historically, fly and human Polycomb proteins were considered textbook exemplars of transcriptional repressors, or proteins that silence the process by which DNA gives rise to new proteins. Now, work by a team of researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research challenges that dogma. ...> Full Article

Long-held genetic theory doesn't quite make the grade, biologists find (5/9/2012)

NYU biologists have discovered new mechanisms that control how proteins are expressed in different regions of embryos, while also shedding additional insight into how physical traits are arranged in body plans. Their findings, which appear in the journal Cell, call for reconsideration of a decades-old biological theory. ...> Full Article

Mini cargo transporters on a rat run (5/8/2012)

Kinesins assume a vital function in our cells: The tiny cargo transporters move important substances along lengthy protein fibers and ensure an effective transportation infrastructure. Biophysicists of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen and the Ludwig Maximillians Universitaet Muenchen have now discovered how some of these transporters can, like cars on a multi-lane motorway, change lanes. The researchers report on this hitherto unknown phenomenon in the current edition of the renowned journal Molecular Cell ...> Full Article

Scientists find the structure of a key 'gene silencer' protein (5/7/2012)

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the three-dimensional atomic structure of a human protein that is centrally involved in regulating the activities of cells. ...> Full Article

Scientists have demonstrated a new technique that will transform epigenetics research (5/6/2012)

Collaboration between scientists at Cambridge University and the Babraham Institute have demonstrated a new technique that will significantly improve scientists' ability to perform epigenetics research and help unlock the door to understanding how cells develop and function. Epigenetics is a branch of genetics that studies modifications to the DNA which affect gene activity. The research, published today, 26 April, in the journal Science, has important implications for stem cell research and the development of regenerative medicines. ...> Full Article

BGI debuts 'EasyGenomics' cloud-based bioinformatics solution for omics-related research (5/5/2012)

BGI debuts 'EasyGenomics' cloud-based bioinformatics solution for omics-related research. ...> Full Article

Study shows how mitochondrial genes are passed from mother to child (5/5/2012)

This finding helps answer some long-standing questions about how mitochondria- linked gene mutations are inherited. Gene mutations in cell mitochondria can cause several diseases, including forms of cancer, diabetes, infertility and neurodegenerative diseases. With this new information, we now better understand how and when these mutations are passed to children to improve diagnosis and prevention. ...> Full Article

Duke team turns scar tissue into heart muscle without using stem cells (5/4/2012)

Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have shown the ability to turn scar tissue that forms after a heart attack into heart muscle cells using a new process that eliminates the need for stem cell transplant. ...> Full Article

Doubling the information from the double helix (5/4/2012)

Our genes control many aspects of who we are -- from the color of our hair to our vulnerability to certain diseases -- but how are the genes, and consequently the proteins they make themselves controlled? Researchers have discovered a new group of molecules which control some of the fundamental processes behind memory function and may hold the key to developing new therapies for treating neurodegenerative diseases. ...> Full Article

Locked down, RNA editing yields odd fly behavior (5/4/2012)

At the level of proteins, organisms can adapt by editing their RNA -- an and editor can even edit itself. Brown University scientists working with fruit flies found that "locking down" the self-editing process at two extremes created some strange behaviors. They also found that the process is significantly affected by temperature. ...> Full Article

'Junk DNA' can sense viral infection (5/3/2012)

Non-coding RNA -- molecules that do not translate into proteins -- were once considered unimportant "junk DNA" by researchers. Now Dr. Noam Shomron of Tel Aviv University has discovered that when infected with a virus, ncRNA gives off signals that indicate the presence of an infectious agent, providing researchers with a new avenue to fight off infections. ...> Full Article

An unexpected virus reservoir (5/3/2012)

International researchers under the aegis of the University of Bonn have discovered the probable cause of not just one, but several infectious agents at the same time. Paramyxoviruses originate from ubiquitous bats, from where the pathogens have spread to humans and other mammals. This could make eradicating many dangerous diseases significantly more difficult than had been thought. The results of this study have just been published in the current issue of Nature Communications. ...> Full Article

Control of gene expression: Histone occupancy in your genome (5/3/2012)

When stretched out, the genome of a single human cell can reach six feet. To package it all into a tiny nucleus, the DNA strand is tightly wrapped around a core of histone proteins in repeating units -- each unit known as a nucleosome. To allow access for the gene expression machinery the nucleosomes must open up and regroup when the process is complete. ...> Full Article

ORNL, Yale take steps toward fast, low-cost DNA sequencing device (5/2/2012)

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Yale University have developed a new concept for use in a high-speed genomic sequencing device that may have the potential to substantially drive down costs. ...> Full Article

Leeches are DNA bloodhounds in the jungle (5/1/2012)

Copenhagen Zoo and University of Copenhagen have in collaboration developed a new and revolutionary, yet simple and cheap, method for tracking mammals in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. They collect leeches from tropical jungles, which have been sucking blood from mammals, and subsequently analyze the blood for mammal DNA. By using this method, the researchers can get an overview of the biodiversity of the mammals without having to find them. The groundbreaking results are to be published in the prestigious scientific journal Current Biology. ...> Full Article