Archive for the ‘Genetics’ Category
Friday, May 16th, 2008
A new study released in the online edition of Physiological Genomics finds that individuals with a specific genetic variation consistently consume more sugary foods. The study offers the first evidence of the role that a variation in the GLUT2 gene - a gene that controls sugar entry into the cells ...
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
Fertility researchers have used DNA fingerprinting for the first time to identify which embryos have implanted after in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and developed successfully to result in the births of healthy babies. The technique, combined with sampling cells from blastocysts (the very early embryo) before implantation in the womb, opens ...
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
The list of short RNAs grows longerRNA is best known as a working copy of the DNA sequence of genes. In this role, it's a carrier of the genes' instructions to the cell, which manufactures proteins according to information in the RNA molecule.But molecular biologists have increasingly realized that many ...
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) show profound deficits in social interactions and communications, and display repetitive behaviors and abnormal responses to sensory experiences. One aspect of an autistic child's impaired social abilities is their lack of affiliative behaviors, i.e., behaviors such as touching and hugging that strengthen social bonds. ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
A new study released in the online edition of Physiological Genomics finds that individuals with a specific genetic variation consistently consume more sugary foods. The study offers the first evidence of the role that a variation in the GLUT2 gene - a gene that controls sugar entry into the cells ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Many species participate in nature's version of rock-paper-scissors games, in which rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock. Because no one type is better than all others, such games are a powerful force promoting biodiversity. But what if two of the players in the game belong ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
"Agarose gel electrophoresis." Most teenagers wouldn't have a clue what this scientific term means, but middle school student Andrew Trigiano knows the protocol inside and out. When Andrew was 12, his father Robert Trigiano, a professor at the University of Tennessee, was looking for an interesting science project for his ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have pinpointed the protein that can lead to genetic changes that cause lung cancer.The research is published in the British Journal of Cancer.Researchers discovered that the production of a protein called FANCD2 is slowed when lung cells are exposed to cigarette smoke. ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Cell division is essential to life, but the mechanism by which emerging daughter cells organize and divvy up their genetic endowments is little understood. In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois and Columbia University report on how a key motor protein orchestrates chromosome movements at a critical ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
For decades, evolutionary biologists have sought to discern the types of genetic changes that lead to the creation of new species. To date, very few "speciation genes" have been identified. These "speciation genes" help to create and preserve species boundaries by preventing the production of hybrids. Genes controlling fertilization ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
An international team of scientists has discovered a way of testing IVF embryos using DNA fingerprinting that could one day be used to select the ones that are more likely to implant successfully and grow to full term and thereby increase the likelihood of a successful pregnancy. The study is ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins are a step closer to understanding pain sensitivity - specifically why it's variable instead of constant - having identified a gene that regulates a heat-activated molecular sensor.Their description of the function of a membrane protein called Pirt appears in the May 2 issue of Cell."Pain sensitivity ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Scientists have identified a genetic mutation responsible for a rare condition called epilepsy and mental retardation limited to females (EFMR), The Times reports. As the name suggests, this condition only affects females and causes seizures that start in infancy or early childhood, as well as cognitive impairment. The scientists identified ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
More than 600 million years of evolution has taken two unlikely distant cousins - turkeys and scallops - down very different physical paths from a common ancestor. But University of Leeds researchers have found that a motor protein, myosin 2, remains structurally identical in both creatures.The discovery suggests that the ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Fruit flies are dramatically different from humans not in their number of genes, but in the number of protein interactions in their bodies, according to scientists who have developed a new way of estimating the total number of interactions between proteins in any organism.The new research, published today (13 May ...
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