Genetics & Molecular Biology
jenwong |
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a devastating autoimmune disease, where the immune system attacks the white matter throughout the nervous system. While the cause for MS is currently unknown, epidemiological data so far suggests that the disease is likely triggered by both environmental and genetic factors. To pinpoint the molecular mechanism for MS, Sergio Baranzini and colleagues at UCSF conducted a recent twin study on multiple sclerosis using advanced tools such as genomic deep sequencing analysis. In their study published recently in Nature, Baranzini analyzed immune cells from identical twins…
Scientists have developed the first cell controlled by a synthetic genome which may allow them to probe the basic machinery of life and engineer bacteria specially designed to solve environmental or energy problems.
The research team, led by Craig Venter, has already chemically synthesized a bacterial genome, and transplanted the genome of one bacterium to another. Now, the scientists have put both methods together, to create what they call a "synthetic cell," although only its genome is synthetic.
In the project, researchers synthesized the genome of the bacterium M. mycoides and added DNA…
Researchers from the University of Barcelona and the University of California, San Francisco have captured the first high resolution images of DNA unfolding.
The team studied a small DNA fragment consisting of 12 base pairs (the human genomes has about 3,000 million base pairs) and obtained 10 million structural snapshots of how DNA unfolds. In this process they revealed the two main ways by which the natural folded structure move to an unfolded state. The results of the research were published in Angewandte Chemie.
The project is part of a larger effort to "understand the changes that…
Researchers have programmed an autonomous molecular "robot" made out of DNA to start, move, turn, and stop while following a DNA track.
The development could ultimately lead to molecular systems that might one day be used for medical therapeutic devices and molecular-scale reconfigurable robots---robots made of many simple units that can reposition or even rebuild themselves to accomplish different tasks.
Results of the research have been published in Nature.
The traditional view of a robot is that it is "a machine that senses its environment, makes a decision, and then does something---it…
I am constantly amazed at how pathologizing variable phenomena is usually a human social agent. Consider the XY fertile Akodon females who go roaming around in South America. No other rodents seem to have told these fertile XY females that they have a disorder of sex development (DSD). That will undoubtedly be left to some of the "powers that be" of the human species. Shall I say rats? Or shall I say of mice and men?
These Akodon rodents are not classic mice or rats even though they are rodents. The XY fertile females of several Akodon species have a mechanism whereby the XY females are…
Scientists have identified two new genes that may be risk factors for the development of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), according to a new paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Using an intensive, genome-wide association analysis study (GWAS), the researchers identified two new genes at specific locations in the DNA called loci that reached the required genome-wide statistical significance threshold for the first time, thus identifying them as very likely associated with AD.
They were found on chromosomes 2 and 19, the first being close to a gene called BIN1 (…
jenwong |
Neural stem cells have long been defined as origin of nervous system development, spontaneously giving rise to the heterogeneous multitude of cells that make up the brain. Remarkably, neural stem cells seem to have the uncanny sense to differentiate at the right time and place, and to the appropriate fate, to produce a complex network consisting of neuronal connections and supportive glial cells.
Indeed, if you culture neural stem cells in a plastic dish, they can be induced to differentiate into neurons and glia resembling a grab bag of cells that looks nothing like the nervous system. It is…
Researchers writing in Nature say they can have discovered how living cells use a limited number of genes to generate enormously complex organs such as the brain.
The team describes how a hidden code within DNA explains how a limited number of human genes can produce a vastly greater number of genetic messages. The discovery bridges a decade-old gap between our understanding of the genome and the activity of complex processes within cells, and could one day help predict or prevent diseases such as cancers and neurodegenerative disorders.
The researchers developed a new computer-assisted…
A variant of the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme ADH1B*3 is associated with reduced rates of alcohol dependence (AD), according to a study in Alcoholism: Clinical&Experimental Research.
The enzyme variant appears to cause sedation and reduce the amount alcohol a person will drink. ADH1B*3 is found almost exclusively in populations with African ancestry, the study's authors say.
"In one study looking at genetic samples from a number of African groups, the ADH1B*3 variant was found in almost every group," explained Denis M. McCarthy, associate professor of psychology at the University…
Using ancient DNA preserved in bones from Siberian mammoths 25,000 to 43,000 years old, scientists have brought the primary component of the specimens' blood "back to life."
The seven-year research effort, detailed this week in Nature Genetics, reveals special evolutionary adaptations that allowed the mammoth to cool its extremities down in harsh Arctic conditions to minimize heat loss.
The findings will also help scientists study the DNA of other extinct species, such as Australian marsupials.
This is the structural model of the mammoth hemoglobin, with the three key changes to the protein…