Genetics & Molecular Biology

Recently, scientists have begun to make precise genetic modifications to genes in order to move a beneficial effect of one plant to another. This is not without controversy but far superior to prior methods of optimizing plant biology. The most random thing that can happen is letting natural radioactivity within DNA alter chemical compounds, providing a new pathway for genetic mutation. Radioactivity occurs naturally in our bodies as well as in every living organism across the planet and  a new paper looked at natural radioactivity within human DNA on the atomic-scale. It was not known…

There are examples of positive political campaigns - Ronald Reagan appealed to what America could be, for example - but even that message of hope had an undercurrent of fear, namely that if things did not change, America would stay morassed in 1970s stagflation. Fear is still used in political campaigns to steer public opinion, but a political scientist claims not everyone is equally predisposed to be influenced by that strategy. Who is most genetically predisposed to be swayed by fear?  Well, it is a humanities study done by someone with no science training, so take a guess.  …

Mothers get all the blame these days but a new paper led suggests that the father's diet before conception may play an equally important role in the health of their offspring. It also raises concerns about the long-term effects of current Western diets and of food insecurity. The research focused on vitamin B9, also called folate, which is found in a range of green leafy vegetables, cereals, fruit and meats. It is well known that in order to prevent miscarriages and birth defects mothers need to get adequate amounts of folate in their diet. But the way that a father's diet can influence the…

A method to model the way proteins fold, and sometimes misfold, has revealed branching behavior that may have implications for Alzheimer's and other aggregation diseases.  In an earlier study of the muscle protein titin, Rice chemist Peter Wolynes and colleagues analyzed the likelihood of misfolding in proteins, in which domains – discrete sections of a protein with independent folding characteristics – become entangled with like sequences on nearby chains. They found the resulting molecular complexes called "dimers" were often unable to perform their functions and could become part of…

The "new genetics" promises to fix the faulty genes of future generations by introducing new, functioning genes using "designer sperm", according to a report appearing in The FASEB Journal. In a mouse model, introducing new genetic material via a viral vector into the sperm of mice leads to the presence and activity of those genes in the resulting embryos. This new genetic material is actually inherited, present and functioning through three generations of the mice tested. This discovery—if successful in humans—could lead to a new frontier in genetic medicine in which diseases and disorders…

Epigenetics has been used for rather comical effect in some cases, with a whole lot of things being correlated to the diets of parents and even grandparents. There is good news; your epigenetic heritage is not a prison. Rats whose mothers were fed a high-fat diet during pregnancy and nursing were able to stave off some of the detrimental health effects of obesity by exercising during their adolescence. Get the kids out and play and it doesn't matter how fat their moms are. The rat offspring weighed the same as their sedentary counterparts, the exercising rats had fewer fat deposits and their…

An international collaboration has discovered a novel receptor, which allows the immune system of modern humans to recognize dangerous invaders, and subsequently elicits an immune response. The blueprint for this advantageous structure was also identified in the genome of Neanderthals, hinting at its origin. The receptor provided these early humans with immunity against local diseases. The presence of this receptor in Europeans but its absence in early men suggests that it was inherited from Neanderthals. When pathogens infect the human body, the immune system identifies and attacks…

Researchers from the University of Granada have grown artificial skin from the adult stem cells of an umbilical cord. The paper inl Stem Cells Translational Medicine shows the ability of Wharton jelly mesenschymal stem cells to turn to oral-mucosa or skin-regeneration epithelia. To grow the artificial skin the researchers also used a biomaterial made of fibrin and agarose, designed and developed by the University of Granada research team. The work has been carried out in the laboratories of the Faculty of Medicine, alongside the Experimental Unit of the Granada "Virgen de las Nieves"…

Ever since the term 'junk DNA' was coined (1) - like the 'God particle' it quickly spun out of control due to colloquial misunderstanding of what it meant scientifically - and even more so when the human genome was decoded and it was discovered that only about 3 percent of the entire genome contains information that encodes for proteins, the question has been, 'what is happening in all that other stuff?' Researchers working toward an understanding of the most basic signals that direct cell function uncovered a novel mechanism that allows proteins that direct pre-mRNA splicing – RNA-binding…

It can explain ANYTHING, which means it explains nothing. Discovery, naturally, happily gives up on science: Yoga Changes Gene Expression, Improves Immunity http://news.discovery.com/human/health/yoga-benefits-immune-system-changes-genes-130427.htm --  http://www.biostars.org/p/80196/ Why Does Biostar Cover Questions on Epigenetics, but not Intelligent Design? If you have been concerned epidemiology is interested in becoming anthropology, this book won't make you feel better. It is anecdotes and correlation; an analysis of twins compared to survey results of parents may mean…