Genetics & Molecular Biology

Because energy resources in the body must be optimized as much as possible, a new paper says, tasks inherently related to survival, like immune function, take priority. Any leftover energy is then dedicated to reproduction. There is a balance between resource allocation to maintenance and reproductive efforts, and environmental stressors can lessen available resources, so the researchers studied a group of healthy, premenopausal, rural Polish women who participate in traditional farming practices. They collected the women's urine and saliva samples during the harvest season, when…

A new study uses mouse genetics to demonstrate how a handful of workhorse signaling pathways interact to construct multiple structures that comprise the vertebrate body and how crosstalk between two of those pathways - those governed by proteins known as Notch and BMP (for Bone Morphogenetic Protein) receptors - occurs over and over in processes as diverse as forming a tooth, sculpting a heart valve and building a brain.  One Notch family protein, Notch2, shapes an eye structure known as the ciliary body (CB), most likely by ensuring that BMP signals remain loud and clear. …

Unique cellular and molecular mechanisms behind tooth renewal in American alligators may help science learn how to stimulate tooth regeneration in people, according to a new study. We regenerate teeth now. We grow baby teeth and then we replace those with adult teeth.  Yet most vertebrates can replace teeth throughout their lives and we cannot, despite the lingering presence of dental lamina, a band of epithelial tissue crucial to tooth development. Because alligators have well-organized teeth with similar form and structure as mammalian teeth and are capable of lifelong tooth renewal,…

Mammals have the ability to adapt to a range of the temperature. While physiological homeostasis has a lot to do with this, part of the reason why mammals can adapt to cold temperatures is the presence of energy-burning brown fat cells. Unlike the large fat storage units in white fat cells (the cell type responsible for obesity), brown fat cells have the capacity to generate heat and provide insulation from cold. Recently, scientists discovered a population of fat cells with the properties of brown and white fat cells, a population dubbed the beige (brite cells) that emerges in mammalian fat…

Brown and white fat cells in a living organism can be converted from one cell type to the other, according to a study using mice as a model organism. Two types of fat cells are found in mammals: White fat cells function primarily as highly flexible energy stores that get filled when our bodies have excess calories. The fat is stored in the form of lipid droplets, which are mobilized when energy is needed. Brown adipocytes specialize in burning energy in the form of fat and sugar to produce heat. New-born babies possess substantial amounts of brown fat and utilize it to maintain body…

Cloned fruit is widely sold in grocery stores.  Some of it is even cloned mutant fruit.  None of these fruits are labeled as such.  They aren't even regulated. You can't avoid this kind of fruit by going to Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.  Should you be concerned? Actually,  almost all fruit is cloned for good reasons that I will describe below.  I like to use this question as a way to show people how emotive language can be used to make something ordinary sound scary.  That is why a healthy dose of skepticism is needed as we encounter so many alarmist…

Researchers have found a way to turn bone marrow stem cells directly into brain cells, bypassing current cumbersome techniques and bringing about the possibility of simpler and safer methods. Stem cell therapies derived from patients' own cells are widely hoped to one day treat spinal cord injuries, strokes and other conditions throughout the body, with no immune rejection. "These results highlight the potential of antibodies as versatile manipulators of cellular functions," said Richard A. Lerner of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI, principal investigator for the new study. "This is…

In 2013, stem cell therapy is touted as the future of medicine by proponents in Europe and Asia while scientists in America urge caution. Contrast that to a decade ago, when the concern was that American President George W. Bush was holding back progress because he limited federal funding for one form of stem cell research. In 2012, Governor Rick Perry of Texas not only believed in stem cell research, he declared that he wanted to make his state the home of American stem cell science. The stem cell issue is controversial again because Italy formally approved stem cell therapy in 32 terminally…

Scientists in the UK, Portugal and Germany solved the structure of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), a protein implicated in the neurodegeneration (destruction of nerve cells) seen in diseases associated with old age, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s.  It also reveals how to block KMO in a major first step to develop a promising new therapeutic approach for a group of diseases that, despite affecting millions worldwide, remain without cure or treatment.  “Neurodegenerative diseases linked to old age are rising non-stop and need urgent control. KMO-targeted…

Men with Lynch syndrome, an inherited genetic condition linked to a higher risk of several types of cancer, face a higher lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer and appear to develop the disease at an earlier age, according to a new study. People with Lynch syndrome have up to 80 percent lifetime risk of colorectal cancer and are also more likely to develop endometrial, gastric, ovarian, urinary tract, pancreatic and brain tumors. Overall, about 1 in 440 people are carriers for the genetic mutation, making it one of the most common inherited cancer conditions. The findings have…