North Carolina State University researchers are using light-activated molecules to turn gene expression on and off. Their method enables greater precision when studying gene function, and could lead to targeted therapies for diseases like cancer.
Posts tagged "genetics"
-
Using light to switch gene expression on and off for testing therapies →
-
The Protein Machine That Copies Genes →
Before any cell can divide, it must copy its genetic material, which is packaged in a molecule called DNA, to make a second complete set of genes to pass on to its daughter cells. Eventually, the twisted, compacted double helix of DNA unwinds and separates its two strands. Each strand becomes a pattern, or template, for making a new strand.
-
Researchers creating "designer lymph nodes" →
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center are in the first phase of creating “designer lymph nodes.” Designer lymph nodes are built with specialized gene-modified cells that are injected into patients and produce a pre-planned immunologic response for cancer patients locally and then throughout their bodies. The researchers are examining a cancer vaccine “boosting” effect of the manufactured lymph nodes in patients with advanced melanoma.
-
Key genes that switch off with aging highlighted as potential targets for anti-aging therapies →
Researchers have identified key genes that switch off with aging, highlighting them as potential targets for anti-aging therapies.
-
Scientists have created toxic glow fish →
Fish that glow green when put in polluted water have been created in a British lab.
It’s hoped the luminous zebra fish will help improve the cleanliness of our rivers and help identify dangerous chemicals that get in to our water supply.
-
Identical DNA codes discovered in different plant species →
Analyzing massive amounts of data officially became a national priority recently when the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced the Big Data Research and Development Initiative. A multi-disciplinary team of University of Missouri researchers rose to the big data challenge when they solved a major biological question by using a groundbreaking computer algorithm to find identical DNA sequences in different plant and animal species.
-
First complete full genetic map of promising energy crop →
Researchers in Wales and the United States have collaborated to complete the first high-resolution, comprehensive genetic map of a promising energy crop called miscanthus. The results – published in the current edition of the peer-reviewed, online journal PLoS One – provide a significant breakthrough towards advancing the production of bioenergy.
The breakthrough results from the long-term collaboration between energy crop company Ceres, Inc., based in Thousand Oaks, California, USA, and the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University in Wales. The IBERS team created the collection of genetically related plants and Ceres then sequenced and analyzed the DNA. In other crops, this type of comprehensive genetic mapping has significantly shortened product development timelines.
As published in the journal article, Ceres researchers mapped all 19 chromosomes of miscanthus, a towering cane-like grass that can be used as a feedstock for advanced biofuels, bio-products and biopower. The multi-year project involved generation and analysis of more than 400 million DNA sequences creating a blueprint of the genetic alphabet of the plant.
-
Transcriptional barcoding of retinal cells identifies disease target cells →
By developing a large scale gene expression map for retinal cell types, FMI Neurobiologists have been able to identify the cells in the retina, where the genes causing retinal diseases specifically act. This narrows down the search for a better understanding of the diseases and opens up new avenues for therapeutic approaches.
-
“Recreational genomics,” 4 years on →
In an exchange with Mark Shriver, I was pointed to this 2007 position paper in Science, The Science and Business of Genetic Ancestry Testing. It’s an interesting historical artifact. Much of the critique was aimed at AncestrybyDNA, but it can be generalized. Now that 23andMe has ~100,000 customers, have the things which they worried about come to be? Perhaps one of the more curious aspects of all this is that individuals no longer need to rely exclusively on the commercial gatekeepers if they have their raw genotype.
-
Welcome to the genomic revolution →
In this talk from TEDxBoston, GenomeQuest CEO Richard Resnick shows how cheap and fast genome sequencing is about to turn health care (and insurance, and politics) upside down.
-
Tiny Gene Changes Linked to Intelligence →
When it comes to smarts, which is more important — nature or nurture, genetics or environment? Well, yes, it seems. New findings now suggest that half of all differences in intelligence between people appear rooted in the collective influence of many tiny genetic variations. That leaves plenty of influence open to other factors, the researchers said.
-
Chinese Scientists Clone Cows With “Humanized” Milk →
This very moment, grazing in the fields of the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology in Beijing, China is a particular heard of about 300 cows. Each one is a clone, and each one produces milk that contains proteins normally found in human milk. The cows are part of a vision belonging to Ning Li, SKYLAB’s director, to put “human-like milk” onto supermarket shelves–and into baby bottles–all over the world.
-
Designer Babies Will Be Godless Achievement Machines →
Are designer babies a danger to the middle class?
Should we, as a society, specially breed children for submission to the Achievatron to defeat Chinese mothers and live up to the genetic “Sputnik Moment” in which we find ourselves? Will designer babies be atheists? Peter Lawler, ostensible smart person, seems to think so!
-
Partnership of genes affects the brain's development →
The human brain consists of approximately one hundred billion nerve cells. Each of these cells needs to connect to specific other cells during the brain’s development in order to form a fully functional organism. Yet how does a nerve cell know where it should grow and which cells to contact? Scientists of the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now shown that growing nerve cells realise when they’ve reached their target area in the fly brain thanks to the interaction of two genes. Similar mechanisms are also likely to play a role during the development of the vertebrate brain and could thus be important for a better understanding of certain developmental disorders.
-
"Gene-whiz" science strikes again: Researchers discover a liberal gene →
Homosexuality is a lifestyle choice. Or so religious conservatives would have us believe. But liberalism is in our genes. Or so researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and Harvard University would have us believe.
Yes, the inevitable has happened. Just before Election Day—surely not a coincidence—scientists report an association between liberal political views and DRD4, a gene that produces a receptor for the neurotransmitter dopamine. The study in The Journal of Politics, published by Cambridge University Press, examined 2,000 subjects and found a DRD4–liberalism correlation in those who had lots of friends in adolescence.
