Genetics News And Research Archives Page 4

Are sacrificial bacteria altruistic or just unlucky? (4/16/2008)

Genetic study finds chance helps determine fate of B. subtilis bacteria ...> Full Article

Scientists develop strategy to rapidly describe outbreak strains with next-generation DNA sequencing (4/15/2008)

Rapid comparative genomic analysis for clinical microbiology ...> Full Article

Novel 'Gene Toggles' In Rice, World's Top Food Crop (4/15/2008)

Researchers have found a new type of molecule--a kind of "micro-switch"--that can turn off genes in rice, which is the primary source of food for more than half the world's population. ...> Full Article

Gene oppositely controlled by dietary protein, sugar (4/14/2008)

Researchers have discovered a gene in flies whose activity rises and falls depending upon the amount of protein and sugar in the insects' diets ...> Full Article

A genetic cause for iron deficiency (4/14/2008)

Rare syndrome may provide general insight into iron deficiency, and suggests new treatments for iron disorders ...> Full Article

Exciting new approach for identifying microRNAs (4/13/2008)

Researcher has developed a software package that can detect not only which miRNAs are active in a tissue sample, but can also discover previously unknown miRNAs. ...> Full Article

Technique traces origins of disease genes in mixed races (4/12/2008)

A team of researchers has developed a technique to detect the ancestry of disease genes in hybrid, or mixed, human populations. ...> Full Article

Killer Gene Switches that Regulate Cell Fate Found (4/12/2008)

Geneticists have pinpointed the terminator controls in a pathway for cells destined to live or die, switching on a killer gene when needed to assure the development of a healthy animal ...> Full Article

Study Shows How Rare Genes Have Big Impact on Blood Pressure (4/11/2008)

Researchers report that they have discovered that rare genetic variants can be associated with a dramatically lower risk of developing high blood pressure in the general population. ...> Full Article

Computation to unravel how genes are regulated and shed light on how cells become different (4/11/2008)

A closer alliance between computational and experimental researchers is needed to make progress towards one of biology's most challenging goals, understanding how epigenetic marks contribute to regulation of gene expression ...> Full Article

Data-handling technique finds genes to be team players in curbing brain cancer cell growth (4/10/2008)

Researchers describe a new algorithm for ranking abnormal genes according to their likelihood of contributing to a cancer. And they show that a gene identified by the algorithm as a likely restrainer of tumor growth does indeed play that role in a common type of brain cancer, and is not a mere "bystander" to another restrainer gene ...> Full Article

Genes linked to height no longer in short supply (4/10/2008)

Large-scale study reveals ten novel height-related genes, provides new biological insights ...> Full Article

Researchers rise to the occasion for yeast study (4/9/2008)

Scientists have found a vital missing link for the regulation of genes essential for cell metabolism. ...> Full Article

New Structure Shows Mobile RNA is Poised and Ready (4/8/2008)

Researchers have solved the structure of a group II splicing intron ...> Full Article

Scientists obtain first direct observations of protein-synthesis mechanism (4/7/2008)

Research has led to the first direct observations of the mechanism for protein synthesis in living cells. Their new findings on ribosomes, the protein-making molecular machines in all cells ...> Full Article

Gene mutation begins vicious heat-sensitivity cycle (4/6/2008)

A mutation in a gene controlling calcium flux in skeletal muscle cells links the rare condition malignant hyperthermia to enhanced susceptibility to heat stroke and sudden death ...> Full Article

A place in the sun (4/5/2008)

Scientists learn how plants compete for sunlight. ...> Full Article

Researchers Answer Troublesome Question of Why Some Genetic Association Studies Have Failed Replication Attempts (4/4/2008)

Paper Resulted from Identification of Childhood Obesity Gene and Carries Implications for Fundamental Study Design and Analysis ...> Full Article

Brain DNA 'Remodeled' in Alcoholism (4/3/2008)

Reshaping of the DNA scaffolding that supports and controls the expression of genes in the brain may play a major role in the alcohol withdrawal symptoms, particularly anxiety, that make it so difficult for alcoholics to stop using alcohol. ...> Full Article

Mitosis gets harder thanks to new gene discovery (4/2/2008)

A biological process taught to every pupil studying GCSE science has just become a little more complicated ...> Full Article

Physician Revolutionizes Gene Research (4/1/2008)

A dramatic new study questions some of the mechanisms underlying a new class of drugs based on Nobel Prize-winning work designed to fight diseases ranging from macular degeneration to diabetes. ...> Full Article

Defining gene's role may lead to prevention of dangerous corn toxin (3/31/2008)

Discovery that a specific gene is integral to both fungal invasion of corn and development of a potentially deadly toxin in the kernels may lead to ways to control the pathogen and the poison. ...> Full Article

Software developed by Boston College lab delivers speed and accuracy to genome research (3/30/2008)

Software aids researchers analyzing millions of DNA sequences ...> Full Article

Researchers link genetic errors to schizophrenia (3/29/2008)

Researchers have uncovered genetic errors that may shed light on the causes of schizophrenia. The scientists found that deletions and duplications of DNA are more common in people with the mental disorder, and that many of those errors occur in genes related to brain development and neurological function. ...> Full Article

Toward the ethical treatment of whole genome research participants (3/28/2008)

The ability to sequence a person's entire genome has created a whole new set of moral challenges that standard research ethics guidelines were not designed to solve ...> Full Article

A Fly's Tiny Brain May Hold Huge Human Benefits (3/27/2008)

Before swatting at one of those pesky flies that come out as the days lengthen and the temperature rises, one should probably think twice. A University of Missouri researcher has found, through the study of Drosophila (a type of fruit fly), that by manipulating levels of certain compounds associated with the "circuitry" of the brain, key genes related to memory can be isolated and tested. The results of the study may benefit human patients suffering from Parkinson's disease and could eventually lead to discoveries in the treatment of depression. ...> Full Article

Genes Previously Thought Not To Function May Hold Key Information About Disease, Aging (3/27/2008)

Genes that scientist believe are turned off are actually functioning at a low level that has previously been undetected, a discovery that could help answer questions about chronic disease and aging ...> Full Article

First beetle genome sequenced (3/26/2008)

Sequencing the genome of the red flour beetle, also known as Tribolium castaneum, could prove of double benefit - both in understanding how organisms develop and in fighting the insect pest ...> Full Article

Less can be more, for plant breeders too (3/25/2008)

Imagine you are a rice breeder and one day within a large field you discover a plant that has just the characteristics you have been looking for. You happily take your special plant to the laboratory where you find out that the spontaneous, beneficial event was due to inactivation of a single gene. This is a great observation; however, there are many different strains grown in different parts of the world, well adapted to the particular region they grow in. How can you now transfer the inactivated gene to other strains of rice? Conventionally, you would have to go through years and years of breeding, until you have successfully transferred that single gene, without affecting all the other genes that are responsible for the target strains being so well adapted to their local environment. Would it not be great, if one could do this faster? ...> Full Article

Plant gene clusters for natural products (3/24/2008)

scientists have found that plants may cluster the genes needed to make defence chemicals. Their findings may provide a way to discover new natural plant products of use as drugs, herbicides or crop protectants. Using a gene cluster that makes an antifungal compound in oats as a template, they uncovered a previously unknown gene cluster making a related compound in a very different species, and now want to extend the search to other plants. ...> Full Article