Genetics & Molecular Biology

Cell division is central to life and the last stage, when two daughter cells split from each other, has fascinated scientists since the dawn of cellular biology. The name given to this process by those early biologists, cytokinesis, translates as "cell movement" and captures the sense of a highly active and organized series of events. Studying the final step, when the dividing cell creates a furrow before cleaving in two, has been difficult.  How does the cell signal where the furrow should be?   It's hard to see and test such a complex feat in living cells. Now Harvard Medical…

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) became the target of researchers a decade ago due to restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). While media reports were claiming biology was dead if President Bush didn't violate President Clinton's Dickey-Wicker law, researchers instead moved to iPSCs and now they have been able to generate functional, three-dimensional human stomach tissue in a laboratory. Thanks to advances, iPSCs can now become any cell type in the body and results were able to grow a miniature version of the stomach (called gastric organoids) to study…

Greenpeace is set to launch a series of attacks against crop biotechnology this week. It has scheduled a news conference for Friday titled “Ecological Agriculture, A Climate Resilient Model of Agriculture: The Way Forward,” which purportedly makes  its case against vitamin-enhanced Golden Rice. According to the Greenpeace news release, the panel of speakers will address what it calls “Ecological Agriculture,” which Greenpeace says is a model of farming better adapted to deal with climate change. Dr. Janet Cotter, a Greenpeace geologist, will lead a parade of speakers including activist…

By Robert Wager, Genetic Literacy Project There is tremendous controversy about genetically modified (GM) crops and derived food. Even the definition of what is a GM crop can differ depending upon with whom you talk. From a strictly scientific perspective all food has been manipulated at the genetic level by human activity; therefore all foods are genetically modified. A more scientifically precise term for what goes by the popular term GMOs is genetically engineered (GE). This definition involves the use of recombinant DNA technology in the crop breeding process. For thousands of year’s…

Imagine we lived in a world where spontaneous mutations were caused by radiation and then released on an unsuspecting public without any testing. Well, we do. It's called nature.  High-energy cosmic rays have been breaking chromosomes into pieces that reattach randomly, and sometimes creating genes that didn't previously exist, for as long as some thing has eaten some other thing. Once science discovered that new versions of plants could be created much faster than the old way of grafting, by controlling radiation instead of letting nature just create chaos and danger, they began to do…

Disrupted circadian clocks are listed as a possible reason that shift workers experience higher incidences of type 2 diabetes, obesity and cancer. The body's primary circadian clock, which regulates sleep and eating, is in the brain, but other body tissues also have circadian clocks, including the liver, which regulates blood glucose levels.  In a new study in Diabetes online, University of Utah researchers show that dietary iron plays an important role in the circadian clock of the liver. Judith A. Simcox, Ph.D., a University of Utah postdoctoral fellow in biochemistry, is the study's…

Obesity was once only for the wealthy, then it was only for Americans and the science engine that made food cheap for all, but now globalization has made it possible for the rich and poor worldwide to be fat - which brings greater risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke and diabetes. No one wants to eat less delicious food, but they would take a pill to shed fad and a team ed by Professor Alexander Pfeifer from the University Hospital Bonn believe they have come one step closer to that.  They have found that a signaling molecule can stimulate brown fat and burn energy from food: The…

It sounds a little trampy to humans but in nature, it's not unusual for a female to copulate with several males in quick succession. Chimpanzees are a well-known example.   When that happens, sperm war breaks out. "The sperm of the different males then compete within the female to fertilize the eggs," says   evolutionary biologist Steven Ramm from Bielefeld University. "Generally speaking, the best sperm wins. This may involve its speed or also be due to the amount of sperm transferred. It can also be useful for the seminal fluid to be viscous, meaning it sticks inside the female…

Patients with severe psoriasis are more likely to have uncontrolled hypertension, according to a cross-sectional study using information collected from a medical records database, which the authors say provides further evidence of a strong link between psoriasis and hypertension.  Defining uncontrolled hypertension as blood pressure measured as at least 140/90, the researchers found a clear relationship between psoriasis and uncontrolled hypertension in patients with a confirmed diagnosis of psoriasis. Additional finding indicate there is a significant dose-response relationship, meaning…

The Natural Resources Defense Council became the first environmental group to file suit in an attempt to block the rollout of the latest GMO crop and weed killer system, Enlist Duo, developed by Dow AgroSciences.  The genetically modified corn and soybean system was approvedWednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency. It won U.S. Department of Agriculture approval last month.   "When used according to label directions," the EPA said on Wednesday. "Enlist Duo is safe for everyone, including infants,the developing fetus, the elderly and more…