Genetics News
Recent Developments in Genetics and Molecular Biology

Obama precision medicine plan would create huge U.S. genetic biobank
29 January 2015

End of the road for Myriad gene patent fight
28 January 2015

Eight genes that make us brainiacs
21 January 2015

Environment, more than genetics, shapes immune system
15 January 2015

T-Cell Therapy Puts Leukemia Patients in Extended Remission
OCT. 15, 2014

Stem cell therapy seems safe for severe eye disease
14 October 2014

New class of fatty molecules battles diabetes in mice
10 October 2014

For diabetes, stem cell recipe offers new hope
9 October 2014

Genes don't just influence your IQ--they determine how well you do in school
6 October 2014

Sticky fingers ground jumping genes
1 October 2014

One hundred and one monarch genomes reveal surprising history of this long-distant migrant
1 October 2014

Gene therapy helps weak mice grow strong
18 September 2014

Experimental drug stops Ebola-like infection (siRNA)
20 August 2014

An RNA Clue to Breast Cancer's Spread (miRNA)
21 April 2010

RNAi Treatment Steps Up
28 August 2013

Human Genome Is Much More Than Just Genes
5 September 2012

Long Noncoding RNAs
March 7, 2012

Henrietta Lacks' family finally gets say in genetic destiny. Can we control our own?
By Stephanie Smith, CNN
updated 12:24 PM EDT, Sun August 11, 2013

Cloning stem cells: What does it mean?
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
updated 9:20 AM EDT, Mon May 20, 2013

'Master Gene' Makes Mouse Brain Look More Human (ScienceNow, 25 April 2013). Tweaking gene's activity alters how the developing brain folds. In the cartoon series named after them, Pinky and the Brain, two laboratory mice genetically enhanced to increase their intelligence plot to take over the world—and fail each time. Perhaps their creators hadn't tweaked the correct gene.

'Living Fossil' Gets Its Genome Sequenced - ScienceNOW.

Could New Liver Hormone Treat Diabetes? (ScienceNOW)A newly discovered hormone in mice prompts the rodents to boost their production of pancreatic β cells, the ones that make insulin and are missing or not productive enough in patients with diabetes. (25 April 2013)

Viruses Might Be Actual Living Creatures, Capable of Stealing (March 15, 2013)

Interbreeding With Neanderthals (March 04, 2013)
Telltale evidence of ancient liaisons with Neanderthals and other extinct human relatives can be found in the DNA of billions of people.

Eggs may be made throughout adulthood [BUT, newer evidences refutes this claim: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/egg-production-after-birth-questioned)
(April 7, 2012) Discovery of stem cells in human ovaries overturns dogma. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://bms.ucsf.edu/sites/ucsf-bms.ixm.ca/files/20120412.feuer_.sky_.pdf

Gene Therapy Shows Promise for Treating Beta-Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease
(Mar 28, 2012) β globin gene-ankyrin insulator construct boosts production of Hb levels in transplanted bone marrow cells. (http://www.genengnews.com/)
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0032345

Frozen mummy's genetic blueprints unveiled
(March 24, 2012) The 5300-year-old Iceman had brown eyes, Lyme disease and modern-day Mediterranean relatives. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

Making mouse memories
(March 22, 2012) Neuroscientists create a synthetic recollection of fear in rodents. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

The yin and yang of male pattern baldness
(March 21, 2012) The discovery of a hormone-like molecule in the scalp may offer new clues for treating baldness. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

Geneticists go ape for better primate family tree
(March 15, 2012) The first gorilla genome and a more detailed look at chimp genetics provide new clues to evolution of humans and their closest relatives. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

Carnivores can lose sweet genes
(March 13, 2012) A string of mammals that eat a lot of meat have lost the power to detect sweetness. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

Long-lived people distinguished by DNA?
(March 10, 2012) Study finds genetic signatures of the extremely old (controversial finding). (http://www.sciencenews.org/)
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0029848

Exercise brings on DNA changes (Epigenetics -- methylation)
(March 7, 2012) Breaking a sweat can activate genes that make energy-regulating proteins. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)http://download.cell.com/cell-ORIGINAL ARTICLE: metabolism/pdf/PIIS1550413112000058.pdf?intermediate=true

Arsenic-based life finding fails follow-up
(February 25, 2012) Tests see no evidence that microbe uses element in cellular machinery. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

Eight-legged evolution exploits editing (RNA Editing)
(February 11, 2012) RNA tweaks adapt octopuses to water temperature. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

Drugs activate dormant gene
(January 28, 2012) Chemotherapy agent may offer hope for treating Angelman syndrome. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

DNA to flutter by (Monarch Butterfly's Genome)
(January 14, 2012) Monarchs' genetic instructions help meet migration, navigation needs. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

A gland grows itself
(December 31, 2011) Pituitary develops in a lab dish with chemical coaching. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

DNA highlights Native American die-off (Mitochondrial DNA)
(December 5, 2011) Brief, dramatic population decline after European contact left genetic mark. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

Unraveling synesthesia
(November 22, 2011) Tangled senses may have genetic or chemical roots, or both. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

GTF2I gene copy number tied to separation anxiety
(November 17, 2011) Finding joins other links between extra or missing genes and mental conditions. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

Three Gene Discovery May Lead to New Breast Cancer Treatments
(04 May 2011 - 8:00 PDT) Scientists from the United Kingdom (UK) have hailed their discovery of three genes linked to the most common form of breast cancer as groundbreaking.

Cardiovascular Side Effects of Popular Diabetes Drugs Explained
(04 May 2011 - 7:00 PDT) Drugs known as thiazolidinediones, or TZDs for short, are widely used in diabetes treatment, but they come with a downside.

Tracking the Evolution and Spread of Deadly Fungus, One of the World's Major Killers
(04 May 2011 - 7:00 PDT) New research has shed light on the origins of a fungal infection which is one of the major causes of death from AIDS-related illnesses.

The Early History of Genetics Revised
(04 May 2011 - 7:00 PDT) The early history of genetics has to be re-written in the light of new findings.

Researchers Demonstrate Why DNA Damage Occurs in Cancer Cells
(04 May 2011 - 6:00 PDT) Now, for the first time, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have shown that in early cancer development, cells suffer from insufficient building blocks to support normal DNA replication.

Bone Deformity Gene Discovered
(04 May 2011 - 1:00 PDT) The Human Genetics team at The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute have successfully used a new gene-mapping approach for patients affected by severe skeletal abnormalities.

Researchers find way to assemble full genome of fetus
Los Angeles Times, Amina Khan (4:33 PM PST, December 8, 2010) - The discovery, made using a sample of the mother's blood, could offer a safer alternative to invasive screening procedures used to detect genetic problems in fetuses, experts say.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/2/61/61ra91.full.html

Genome of barley disease reveals surprises
Science Centric (10 Dec 2010 21:48 GMT) - Scientists have sequenced the genome of a major fungal disease that affects barley and other cereal crops, a breakthrough that could lead to significant advances in our understanding of how plant diseases evolve. The research, published today in the journal Science, suggests that parasites within the genome of the fungus help the disease to adapt and overcome the plant's defences...

Scientists find gene linked to congenital heart defect
Science Centric
(7 Dec 2010 17:55 GMT) - A gene that can cause congenital heart defects has been identified by a team of scientists, including a group from Princeton University. The discovery could lead to new treatments for those affected by the conditions brought on by the birth defect...

Gene that causes some cases of familial ALS discovered
Science Centric (10 Dec 2010 21:54 GMT) - Using a new gene sequencing method, a team of researchers led by scientists from Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health has discovered a gene that appears to cause some instances of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The finding could lead to novel ways to treat the more common form of this fatal neurodegenerative disease, which kills the vast majority of the nearly 6,000 Americans diagnosed with ALS every year...

Satellites, DNA and dolphins
Science Centric (1 May 2010 09:33 GMT) - Using DNA samples and images from Earth-orbiting satellites, conservationists from Columbia University, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and Fundacion AquaMarina, are gathering new insights about the franciscana - a poorly known coastal dolphin species of eastern South America - in an effort to understand populations and conserve them...

Lake sturgeon have genes from parasite, signs of human STD
Science Centric (12 May 2010 13:43 GMT) - While trying to find a DNA-based test to determine the sex of lake sturgeon, Purdue University researchers found that the sturgeon genome contains trematode genes that didn't originally belong to it and may harbour a protozoan parasite that causes a sexually transmitted disease in humans...

From toxicity to life: Arsenic proves to be a building block
Science Centric (3 Dec 2010 17:14 GMT) - Arsenic - an element that triggers death for most Earthly life forms - is actually allowing for a bacterium to thrive and reproduce…
HOWEVER: see more recent news:
Arsenic-based life finding fails follow-up
(February 25, 2012) Tests see no evidence that microbe uses element in cellular machinery. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)

New Parkinson's gene is linked to immune system
Science Centric (28 Aug 2010 10:07 GMT) - A hunt throughout the human genome for variants associated with common, late-onset Parkinson's disease has revealed a new genetic link that implicates the immune system and offers new targets for drug development...

NIA researchers find gene to explain mouse embryonic stem cell immortality
Science Centric (25 Mar 2010 11:46 GMT) - Researchers at the National Institute on Ageing (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, have discovered a key to embryonic stem (ES) cell rejuvenation in a gene - Zscan4 - as reported in the March 24, 2010, online issue of Nature. This breakthrough finding could have major implications for ageing research, stem cell biology, regenerative medicine and cancer biology...

Making the blind see: Gene therapy restores vision in mice
Science Centric (1 Apr 2010 11:24 GMT) - Take a look at this: Scientists from Buffalo, Cleveland, and Oklahoma City made a huge step toward making the blind see, and they did it by using a form of gene therapy that does not involve the use of modified viruses. In a research report published in the April 2010 print issue of The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), scientists describe how they used a non-viral, synthetic nanoparticle carrier to improve and save the sight of mice with retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited disease characterised by progressive vision loss and eventual blindness...

Rice physicists help unravel mystery of repetitive DNA segments
Science Centric (7 Dec 2010 17:58 GMT) - With new tools that can grab individual strands of DNA and stretch them like rubber bands, Rice University scientists are working to unravel a mystery of modern genomics. Their latest findings, which appear in Physical Review Letters, offer new clues about the physical makeup of odd segments of DNA that have just one DNA base, adenine, repeated dozens of times in a row...

Scientists uncover novel role for DNA repair protein linked to cancer
Science Centric (2 Jul 2010 11:44 GMT) - Tufts University researchers in the School of Arts and Sciences have pinpointed a key cellular protein that repairs damaged DNA molecules but may also promote the development of cancer...

New DNA repair pathway
Science Centric (10 Nov 2010 14:13 GMT) - UC Davis researchers have found a new pathway for repairing DNA damaged by oxygen radicals. The results are published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

Genome of barley disease reveals surprises
Science Centric (10 Dec 2010 21:48 GMT) - Scientists have sequenced the genome of a major fungal disease that affects barley and other cereal crops, a breakthrough that could lead to significant advances in our understanding of how plant diseases evolve. The research, published today in the journal Science, suggests that parasites within the genome of the fungus help the disease to adapt and overcome the plant's defences...

Study links microRNA to shut-down of DNA-repair genes
Science Centric (1 May 2010 09:48 GMT) - New research shows for the first time that molecules called microRNA can silence genes that protect the genome from cancer-causing mutations...

Gene therapy sets stage for new treatments for inherited blindness
Science Centric (30 Apr 2010 09:28 GMT) - Veterinary vision scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have safely and successfully used a viral vector in targeting a class of photoreceptors of the retina called rods, a critical first step in developing gene therapies for inherited blindness caused by rod degeneration...

Genome sequence marks big leap forward for frog researchers
Science Centric (30 Apr 2010 09:25 GMT) - An African clawed frog has joined the spotted green puffer fish, the honeybee, and the human among the ranks of more than 175 organisms that have had their genetic information nearly completely sequenced...

Study reveals new genetic link to scleroderma
Science Centric (30 Apr 2010 09:22 GMT) - An international research consortium including scientists from The University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston (UTHealth) has identified a new genetic link to the systemic form of scleroderma. Researchers believe a thorough understanding of the genetic nature of the disease is crucial to developing a cure...

Spanish gene expression data promise targeting of anti-angiogenesis treatment
Science Centric (30 Apr 2010 09:10 GMT) - Analyzing the expression of particular genes in lung cancers could soon allow researchers to identify groups of patients who are likely to benefit most from treatment with angiogenesis-inhibitor drugs, a Spanish team reports...

Stanford study first to analyse individual's genome for risk of diseases, responses to treatment
Science Centric (30 Apr 2010 08:49 GMT) - For the first time, researchers have used a healthy person's complete genome sequence to predict his risk for dozens of diseases and how he will respond to several common medications. The risk analysis, from the Stanford University School of Medicine, also incorporates more-traditional information such as a patient's age and gender and other clinical measurements. The resulting, easy-to-use, cumulative risk report will likely catapult the use of such data out of the lab and into the waiting room of average physicians within the next decade, say the scientists...

Our genes can be set on pause
Science Centric (30 Apr 2010 08:37 GMT) - New evidence in embryonic stem cells shows that mammalian genes may all have a layer of control that acts essentially like the pause button on your DVR. The researchers say the results show that the pausing phenomenon, previously thought to be a peculiarity of particular genes, is actually a much more general feature of the genome...

New research about human genetic diseases and human development
Science Centric (30 Apr 2010 08:19 GMT) - The density of transposable (jumping) elements between sex chromosomes in primates may have important consequences for the studies of human genetic diseases, say Penn State University researchers. Erika Kvikstad, a 2009 Penn State Ph.D. graduate in genetics, and Kateryna Makova, an associate professor of biology at Penn State, used a statistical regression method to study the genomes of the human, chimpanzee, macaque, and orangutan, concluding that there is a strong sex-chromosome bias in the distribution of transposable elements, and providing insights about whether these non-coding, but important, DNA elements integrate themselves specifically into the male germline or female germline, or integrate themselves into the genome during the early stages of embryogenesis. Their study will be published in the May 2010 issue of the scientific journal Genome Research...

Hypertensive rat genome sequence expected to uncover genetic basis of human hypertension
Science Centric (29 Apr 2010 11:22 GMT) - Chronic high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a serious health risk factor that afflicts more than 25% of all adults worldwide, but the molecular basis of the disease remains poorly understood. In a study published online today in Genome Research (www.genome.org), scientists have sequenced the genome of the spontaneously hypertensive rat, building a rich catalogue of genetic variants that will help researchers to understand causes of the disease in humans...

The Search for Genes Leads to Unexpected Places  By CARL ZIMMER  New York Times  Published: April 26, 2010
Edward M. Marcotte and colleagues have found hundreds of genes involved in human disorders.

Student research team sequences genome of bacterium discovered in Virginia Tech garden Science Centric (22 Apr 2010 09:56 GMT) - Under the supervision of a Virginia Tech plant pathologist, a group of high school, undergraduate, and graduate students isolated and characterised a formerly unknown group of bacteria...

Gene therapy cures canines of inherited form of day blindness
Science Centric (22 Apr 2010 09:50 GMT) - Veterinary ophthalmology researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have used gene therapy to restore retinal cone function and day vision in two canine models of congenital achromatopsia, also called rod monochromacy or total colour blindness...

Gene variant may protect memory and thinking skills in older people
Science Centric (20 Apr 2010 11:11 GMT) - New research shows a gene variant may help protect the memory and thinking skills of older people. The research will be published in the April 20, 2010, issue of Neurology(R), the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology...

Obesity gene, carried by more than a third of the US population, leads to brain tissue loss
Science Centric (20 Apr 2010 10:20 GMT) - Three years ago, geneticists reported the startling discovery that nearly half of all people in the U.S. with European ancestry carry a variant of the fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene, which causes them to gain weight - from three to seven pounds, on average - but worse, puts them at risk for obesity...

First named female genome sequenced

Surprising genetic connections between humans and hydras

UTHealth research shows modified adult stem cells may be helpful in spinal cord injury 25 Feb 2010 15:30
Researchers at UTHealth have demonstrated in rats that transplanting genetically modified adult stem cells into an injured spinal cord can help restore the electrical pathways associated...

Stem cells restore sight in mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa 25 Feb 2010 13:25
An international research team led by Columbia University Medical Centre successfully used mouse embryonic stem cells to replace diseased retinal cells and restore sight in a mouse...

Mayo oral cancer study shows full tumor genome 24 Feb 2010 13:29
Mayo Clinic researchers along with collaborators from Life Technologies are reporting on the application of a new approach for sequencing RNA to study cancer tumours. Their findings...

Successful genome sequencing of pea aphid is a breakthrough for ecology and agricultural research 24 Feb 2010 13:05
A special issue of Insect Molecular Biology reports the detailed analyses of specific aspects of the genome of the important plant pest, the Pea Aphid. The analyses are based on the...

Gene mutation is linked to autism-like symptoms in mice 24 Feb 2010 12:41
When a gene implicated in human autism is disabled in mice, the rodents show learning problems and obsessive, repetitive behaviours, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Centre have...

Gene regulation: Can we stomach it? 24 Feb 2010 12:32
About 50 percent of the world's population carry Helicobacter pylori in their gastrointestinal tract - 30 percent of the German population are infected. Besides cancer,...

Genes That Make Us Human
ScienceNOW Daily News, 1 September 2009 -
Intensive computer search turns up three newly formed human genes. (Article to appear in Genome Research - Online - September 2, 2009).

Anti-ageing gene linked to high blood pressure
Science Centric
(20 Aug 2009 13:57 GMT) - Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Centre have shown the first link between a newly discovered anti-ageing gene and high blood pressure. The results, which appear this month in the journal Hypertension, offer new clues on how we age and how we might live longer...

New reagents for genomic engineering of mouse models to understand human disease
Science Centric (19 Aug 2009 14:05 GMT) - The ability to specifically target and modify genes in the mouse allows researchers to use this small rodent to study how certain genes contribute to human disease. A common method used to make genetic changes in mice and cells is called site-specific recombination, where two DNA strands are exchanged. The two strands may contain very different sequences, but are designated at their ends by specific target sequences that are not commonly found elsewhere in the genome. A protein, called a recombinase, cuts the DNA at its target sites and rearranges it. Scientists use this technique to exchange a naturally occurring DNA sequence for an altered or deleted gene to gain insight into the gene's normal function or how it contributes to disease...

Mutation in renin gene linked to inherited kidney disease
Science Centric
(19 Aug 2009 11:55 GMT) - A mutation in a gene that helps regulate high blood pressure is a cause of inherited kidney disease, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and colleagues...

Scientists link genetic glitches to common childhood cancer
Science Centric (18 Aug 2009 12:08 GMT) - A multicentre team of childhood cancer researchers has discovered two genetic variations linked to an increased risk for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, or ALL, the most common childhood cancer in the United States...

To contract or not to contract: Decision controlled by 2 microRNAs
Science Centric (18 Aug 2009 11:36 GMT) - The walls of blood vessels contain muscle cells known as vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). These cells contract and relax to modulate blood pressure and distribute blood to the areas of the body that need it most. However, some environmental signals, many of which are associated with human disease, cause VSMCs to switch from being contractile in nature to being dividing cells that produce large amounts of the proteins that form tissue matrix...

Gene vital to brain's stem cells implicated in deadly brain cancer
Science Centric (18 Aug 2009 11:31 GMT) - Researchers from Columbia University Medical Centre's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Centre have identified a protein that activates brain stem cells to make new neurones - but that may be hijacked later in life to cause brain cancer in humans. The protein called Huwe1 normally functions to eliminate other unnecessary proteins and was found to act as a tumour suppressor in brain cancer...

The first gene-encoded amphibian toxin isolated
Science Centric (18 Aug 2009 11:16 GMT) - Researchers in China have discovered the first protein-based toxin in an amphibian - a 60 amino acid neurotoxin found in the skin of a Chinese tree frog. This finding may help shed more light into both the evolution of amphibians and the evolution of poison...

Faster, cheaper way to find disease genes in human genome passes initial test
Science Centric (18 Aug 2009 10:29 GMT) - University of Washington (UW) researchers have successfully developed a novel genome-analysis strategy for more rapid, lower cost discovery of possible gene-disease links. By saving time and lowering expenses, the approach makes it feasible for scientists to search for disease-causing genes in people with the same inherited disorder but without any family ties to each other...

Newly discovered mechanism in cell division has implications for chromosome's role in cancer
Science Centric (18 Aug 2009 10:13 GMT) - 'A biologist, a physicist, and a nanotechnologist walk into a...' sounds like the start of a joke. Instead, it was the start of a collaboration that has helped to decipher a critical, but so far largely unstudied, phase of how cells divide. Errors in cell division can cause mutations that lead to cancer, and this study could shed light on the role of chromosome abnormalities in uncontrolled cell replication...

Evolutionarily preserved mechanism governs use of genes
Science Centric (18 Aug 2009 09:58 GMT) - Researchers at Uppsala University have found that the protein coding parts of a gene are packed in special nucleosomes. The same type of packaging is found in the roundworm C. elegans, which is a primeval relative of humans. The mechanism can thereby be traced back a billion years in time, according to the study presented in the journal Genome Research...

Synonymous, Not the Same
The genetic code is redundant--many of the 20 common amino acids can be coded for by more than one codon, known as synonymous codons--which means that different DNA sequences can code for the same protein sequence. Synonymous codon usage has been thought to be determined by the abundances of iso-accepting transfer RNAs, which can play an important role in either increasing the efficiency or the accuracy of protein synthesis by the ribosome. To test this idea, Kudla et al. created 154 synonymous variants of the green fluorescent protein gene. Rather than synonymous codon usage playing a dominant role in overall translational efficiency, instead, the secondary structure of the messenger RNA, especially at its 5-end, was most critical. Thus, with regard to protein synthesis, initiation of translation rather than elongation, is limiting for gene expression. Article: Coding-Sequence Determinants of Gene Expression in Escherichia coli, Kudla et al., Science: 10 April 2009: vol. 324. no. 5924, pp. 255-258. Abstract: Synonymous mutations do not alter the encoded protein, but they can influence gene expression. To investigate how, we engineered a synthetic library of 154 genes that varied randomly at synonymous sites, but all encoded the same green fluorescent protein (GFP). When expressed in Escherichia coli, GFP protein levels varied 250-fold across the library. GFP messenger RNA (mRNA) levels, mRNA degradation patterns, and bacterial growth rates also varied, but codon bias did not correlate with gene expression. Rather, the stability of mRNA folding near the ribosomal binding site explained more than half the variation in protein levels. In our analysis, mRNA folding and associated rates of translation initiation play a predominant role in shaping expression levels of individual genes, whereas codon bias influences global translation efficiency and cellular fitness.

Tallying Translation
Messenger RNA (mRNA) abundance measurements by microarrays and, more recently, by deep sequencing have had dramatic impact on diverse areas of biology. By far the most common use of such mRNA abundance measurements is to provide an estimate of which proteins a cell is making. However, because cells use many translational control mechanisms, mRNA measurements are an imperfect proxy for protein synthesis. Ingolia et al. (Science: p. 218, published online 12 February) now present a technique for measuring translation by deep sequencing of the mRNA fragments occupied by ribosomes in living cells. This approach, ribosome profiling, allows the quantification of translation with high precision. The ribosome profiling strategy is simple, comprehensive, and can be adapted easily to other organisms.

Genes from tiny algae shed light on big role managing carbon in world's oceans
Science Centric
(10 Apr 2009 14:09 GMT) - Scientists from two-dozen research organisations led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have decoded genomes of two algal strains, highlighting the genes enabling them to capture carbon and maintain its delicate balance in the oceans. These findings, from a team led by Alexandra Z. Worden of MBARI and published in the 10 April edition of the journal Science, will illuminate cellular processes related to algae-derived biofuels being pursued by DOE scientists...

Scientists identify key gene that protects against leukemia
Science Centric (9 Apr 2009 14:19 GMT) - Researchers have identified a gene that controls the rapid production and differentiation of the stem cells that produce all blood cell types - a discovery that could eventually open the door to more streamlined treatments for leukaemia and other blood cancers, in which blood cells proliferate out of control...

DNA used to distinguish wildfowl meat
Science Centric (8 Apr 2009 16:12 GMT) - A team of researchers from the Veterinary Faculty of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) have developed a quick and easy technique to distinguish the meat of quail, pheasant, pigeon and other wildfowl using DNA analysis. Monitoring the authenticity of these types of meat avoids their being marketed under fraudulent names that do not correspond to the real identity of the product...

Antibiotics could treat cystic fibrosis, other genetic diseases
Science Centric (8 Apr 2009 13:03 GMT) - By modifying the properties of the common antibiotic gentamicin, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed what could become an effective treatment for many human genetic diseases, including cystic fibrosis (CF), Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Usher Syndrome and numerous cancers. The findings were published online 23rd March by the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry...

Is love at first sight real? Geneticists offer tantalizing clues
Science Centric (8 Apr 2009 12:38 GMT) - Leave it to geneticists to answer a question that has perplexed humanity since the dawn of time: does love at first sight truly exist? According to a study published in the April 2009 issue of the journal GENETICS, a team of scientists from the United States and Australia discovered that at the genetic level, some males and females are more compatible than others, and that this compatibility plays an important role in mate selection, mating outcomes, and future reproductive behaviours. In experiments involving fruit flies, the researchers found that before mating, females experience what amounts to 'genetic priming,' making them more likely to mate with certain males over others...

Genetic risk factors play role in autoantibody-negative rheumatoid arthritis
Science Centric (8 Apr 2009 11:55 GMT) - During the past few years, several new genetic risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been identified. The majority of genetic risk factors identified so far have been associated with autoantibody-positive RA, which affects about two-thirds of RA patients, but distinguishing this variant from autoantibody-negative RA, which is less destructive, is considered increasingly important...

Gene therapy appears safe to regenerate gum tissue
Science Centric (8 Apr 2009 11:30 GMT) - Scientists at the University of Michigan have developed a method of gene delivery that appears safe for regenerating tooth-supporting gum tissue - a discovery that assuages one of the biggest safety concerns surrounding gene therapy research and tissue engineering...

UIC biologists use DNA to study migration of threatened whale sharks
Science Centric (8 Apr 2009 12:03 GMT) - Whale sharks - giants of the fish world that strike terror only among tiny creatures like the plankton and krill they eat - are imperilled by over-fishing of the species in parts of its ocean range...

Altered gene can increase risk of schizophrenia
Science Centric (7 Apr 2009 15:36 GMT) - Rutgers geneticist Linda Brzustowicz and her colleagues have identified a specific DNA change that is likely to increase risk for developing schizophrenia in some people. It provides a potential mechanism that may be a point of entry for drug therapy, consistent with the growing trend of personalised medicine...

Researchers develop new way to see single RNA molecules in living cells
Science Centric (7 Apr 2009 15:05 GMT) - Biomedical engineers have developed a new type of probe that allows them to visualise single ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules within live cells more easily than existing methods. The tool will help scientists learn more about how RNA operates within living cells...

Rare window on spinal muscular atrophy genetics
Science Centric (7 Apr 2009 14:50 GMT) - Caused by a mutation of the SMN gene, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an infantile and juvenile neurodegenerative disorder where motor neurone loss causes progressive paralysis. A new study published in the open access journal BMC Medicine details the first research focused on human muscle tissue atrophied due to a genetic condition, and sheds light on two distinct mechanisms at work in different forms of SMA...

Gene helps protect tumour suppressor in breast cancer
Science Centric (7 Apr 2009 13:40 GMT) - Scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Centre have discovered a gene that protects PTEN, a major tumour-suppressor that is reduced but rarely mutated in about half of all breast cancers...

Cracking the species code for plants
Science Centric (17 Feb 2009 10:50 GMT) - Plants are essential to our survival and that of most other animals on earth. It is easy to overlook this fact because they have become discretely embedded into our everyday lives. Plants provide us with food, medicines, and raw materials used by our industries. In spite of their importance, very few of us could name more than a tiny fraction of the plants that surround us...

Does gene show link between migraine and stroke or heart attacks?
Science Centric (17 Feb 2009 10:50 GMT) - New research looks at whether a gene variant may affect the link between migraine and stroke or heart attacks. The study is published in the 17 February 2009, print issue of Neurology(R), the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology...

Genetic 'hotspot' for breast cancer risk
Science Centric (16 Feb 2009 12:56 GMT) - Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Centre investigators have identified a new genetic hotspot for breast cancer. Reporting this week in Nature Genetics, Wei Zheng, M.D., Ph.D, and colleagues have identified a region on chromosome 6 that is strongly associated with breast cancer susceptibility in Asian women. This genetic 'locus' may help guide efforts to find the specific genes linked with sporadic - or non-inherited - forms of the disease, the authors suggest...

Common gene variants increase risk of hypertension, may lead to new therapies
Science Centric (15 Feb 2009 18:00 GMT) - A new study has identified the first common gene variants associated with an increased incidence of hypertension - a significant risk factor for heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. The report receiving early online release in the journal Nature Genetics identifies variants in genes for proteins involved with cardiovascular response to stress that also appear to influence blood pressure levels, an association previously seen in animals but not demonstrated in humans...

How cells handle broken chromosomes
Science Centric (13 Feb 2009 09:20 GMT) - Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry discovered a novel cellular response towards persistent DNA damage: After being recognised and initially processed by the cellular machinery, the broken chromosome is extensively scanned for homology and the break itself is later tethered to the nuclear envelope. Thus the researchers uncovered a surprising feature of how DNA strand breaks can be handled. Their unexpected findings have important implications for the understanding of DNA repair mechanisms (Molecular Cell 33, 13 February 2009)...

Sequences capture the code of the common cold
Science Centric (12 Feb 2009 19:00 GMT) - In an effort to confront our most familiar malady, scientists have deciphered the instruction manual for the common cold. Writing this week (12 February) in the journal Science, a multi-institutional team of researchers reports the sequences for all of the 99 known strains of cold virus, nature's most ubiquitous human pathogen. The feat exposes, in precise detail, all of the molecular features of the many variations of the virus responsible for the common cold, the inescapable ailment that makes us all sneeze, cough and sniffle with regularity...

Researchers cure colour blindness in squirrel monkeys
Science Centric
(17 Sep 2009 00:02 GMT) - Researchers used gene therapy to cure two squirrel monkeys of colour blindness - the most common genetic disorder in people. The work, in this week's Nature, demonstrates the potential for gene therapy to cure adult vision disorders involving cone cells - the most important cells for vision in people. Adding new sensory information, such as visual receptors sensitive to different wavelengths of light, to the brain would only be possible in the early years of life, when the brain is at its most plastic...Genetic Code Sees Double
"Researchers led by biochemist Vadim Gladyshev of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, have discovered that this protozoan (Euplotes crassus) can encode two amino acids with one codon. The codon, UGA, codes for an amino acid known as cysteine in E. crassus. But the researchers found that the protozoan also uses UGA to make the amino acid selenocysteine, a dual amino acid coding not yet seen in any other organism. "We were very surprised," says Gladyshev, whose team reports its findings tomorrow in Science. "The trick seems to be a genetic element known as the selenocysteine insertion sequence (SECIS) located at the end of the messenger RNA strip. The element produces a physical loop in the RNA, Gladyshev explains, which interacts with ribosomes and changes UGA's message. Without it, the codon codes for cysteine; with it, the codon codes for selenocysteine." (from ScienceNOW Daily News, Jan. 8, 2009) (Anton A. Turanov, Alexey V. Lobanov, Dmitri E. Fomenko, Hilary G. Morrison, Mitchell L. Sogin, Lawrence A. Klobutcher, Dolph L. Hatfield, and Vadim N. Gladyshev (9 January 2009) Science 323:5911)

Studies examine genetic determinants of ADHD
Science Centric (8 Jan 2009 14:02 GMT) - A special issue of American Journal of Medical Genetics (AJMG): Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics presents a comprehensive overview of the latest progress in genetic research of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The issue covers major trends in the field of complex psychiatric genetics, underscoring how genetic studies of ADHD have evolved, and what approaches are needed to uncover its genetic origins...

Lost in translation
Science Centric (8 Jan 2009 14:02 GMT) - The enzyme machine that translates a cell's DNA code into the proteins of life is nothing if not an editorial perfectionist. Johns Hopkins researchers, reporting this week in Nature, have discovered a new 'proofreading step' during which the suite of translational tools called the ribosome recognises errors, just after making them, and definitively responds by hitting its version of a 'delete' button...

Converting adult somatic cells to pluripotent stem cells using a single virus
Science Centric (8 Jan 2009 14:02 GMT) - A Boston University School of Medicine-led research team has discovered a more efficient way to create induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells, derived from mouse fibroblasts, by using a single virus vector instead of multiple viruses in the reprogramming process. The result is a powerful laboratory tool and a significant step toward the application of embryonic stem cell-like cells for clinical purposes such as the regeneration of organs damaged by inherited or degenerative diseases, including emphysema, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and Alzheimer's Disease...

Genetic mutation causes familial susceptibility for degenerative brain disease
Science Centric (7 Jan 2009 15:08 GMT) - Mutation of a gene that helps proteins migrate in and out of the cell's genetic command centre - the nucleus - puts some families at higher risk for the degenerative brain disease acute necrotising encephalopathy (ANE)...

New genetic markers for ulcerative colitis identified
Science Centric (4 Jan 2009 20:36 GMT) - An international team led by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers has identified genetic markers associated with risk for ulcerative colitis. The findings, which appear today as an advance online publication of the journal Nature Genetics, bring researchers closer to understanding the biological pathways involved in the disease and may lead to the development of new treatments that specifically target them...

Genetic variation may lead to early cardiovascular disease
Science Centric (3 Jan 2009 16:38 GMT) - Researchers from Duke University Medical Centre have identified a variation in a particular gene that increases susceptibility to early coronary artery disease. For years, scientists have known that the devastating, early-onset form of the disease was inherited, but they knew little about the gene(s) responsible until now. The results are published 2 January in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics...

Bidirectional Transcription & Other Complications
RNA polymerase II -- the enzyme that transcribes DNA to generate protein-coding messenger RNAs -- is generally thought to operate in one direction along a strand of DNA. In the 19 Dec 2008 Science, four studies first reported online on 4 Dec painted a more complex picture of mammalian transcriptional activity that includes RNAs being transcribed in both the forward, protein-coding "sense" direction and the backward "antisense" direction at a variety of places within the genome. Seila et al. identified short, bidirectionally transcribed RNAs that flank active promoters with sense and antisense RNAs peaking at 50 nucleotides downstream and 250 nucleotides upstream of transcription start sites, respectively. Core et al. mapped the position, abundance, and orientation of transcriptionally engaged RNA polymerases in human fibroblasts, genome-wide. They found that antisense transcription is prevalent and that most promoters have an engaged polymerase upstream and in an orientation opposite to the annotated gene. Preker et al. identified what may represent yet another class of short RNAs, which are highly unstable, bidirectional, and are produced 0.5 to 2.5 kilobases upstream of active transcription start sites. Finally, He et al. developed a technique that can be used to quantify the number of sense and antisense transcripts from expressed genes at a global level. Their analysis of five human cell lines revealed that antisense transcripts are abundant, nonrandomly distributed across the genome, and differ among cell types.

Genetic Link to Heart Health
High blood levels of triglycerides, a common form of dietary fat, have been linked to human heart disease. In a Report in the 12 Dec 2008 Science, Pollin et al. described a genome-wide association study aimed at identifying genes that contribute to interindividual differences in how the body handles these dietary fats. The team studied about 800 volunteers from the genetically homogeneous Lancaster Amish population, whose blood triglyceride levels had been measured before and after consumption of a high-fat, 782-calorie milkshake. Those individuals with the lowest starting triglyceride levels and whose blood levels changed relatively little after drinking the milkshake were found to carry a mutation in the APOC3 gene. This gene encodes a protein called apolipoprotein C-III (apoC-III) that decreases the uptake of fatty particles by the liver and impairs the breakdown of triglycerides. Individuals with the mutation produced half the normal amount of normal apoC-III. They also had a favorable cholesterol profile and had little calcification of their coronary arteries, a measure of early atherosclerosis, as compared with noncarriers, suggesting that they are less likely to develop heart disease. A ScienceNOW story by J. Couzin highlighted the findings.

Scientists make strides toward defining genetic signature of Alzheimer's disease
Science Centric (1 Jan 2009 18:28 GMT) - Scientists have new information about the complex genetic signature associated with Alzheimer's disease, the leading cause of cognitive decline and dementia in the elderly. The research, published by Cell Press in the January issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, uses a powerful, high-resolution analysis to look for genes associated with this devastating neurodegenerative disorder...

Johns Hopkins scientists pull protein's tail to curtail cancer
Science Centric (1 Jan 2009 00:02 GMT) - When researchers look inside human cancer cells for the whereabouts of an important tumour-suppressor, they often catch the protein playing hooky, lolling around in cellular broth instead of muscling its way out to the cells' membranes and foiling cancer growth...

Few DNA repair genes maintain association with cancer in field synopsis
Science Centric (1 Jan 2009 00:02 GMT) - Variants of numerous DNA repair genes initially appeared to be statistically significantly associated with cancer risk in epidemiological studies. When the data from individual studies are pooled, however, few DNA repair gene variants appear truly associated with increased cancer risk, according to a field synopsis published in the 30 December online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute...

Researchers identify common gene variant linked to high blood pressure
Science Centric (30 Dec 2008 14:18 GMT) - Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified a common gene variant that appears to influence people's risk of developing high blood pressure, according to the results of a study being published online 29 December in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)...

Scientists isolate genes that made 1918 flu lethal
Science Centric (30 Dec 2008 14:18 GMT) - By mixing and matching a contemporary flu virus with the 'Spanish flu' - a virus that killed between 20 and 50 million people 90 years ago in history's most devastating outbreak of infectious disease - researchers have identified a set of three genes that helped underpin the extraordinary virulence of the 1918 virus...

How chromosomes meet in the dark
Science Centric (27 Dec 2008 14:38 GMT) - A research group lead by scientists at the University of Warwick has discovered the trigger that pulls together X chromosomes in female cells at a crucial stage of embryo development. Their discovery could also provide new insights into how other similar chromosomes spontaneously recognise each other and are bound together at key parts of analogous cell processes. This is an important mechanism as the binding together of too many of too few of a particular chromosome can cause a number of medical conditions such as Down's Syndrome or Turner's Syndrome...

Researcher finds mechanism underlying alternative splicing
Science Centric (25 Dec 2008 13:48 GMT) - An international research team led by Tim Nilsen, Ph.D., a professor of medicine and biochemistry and the director of the School of Medicine's Centre for RNA Molecular Biology, has discovered an unexpected mechanism governing alternative splicing, the process by which single genes produce different proteins in different situations...

Reduction in antibody gene rearrangement in B cells related to type 1 diabetes, lupus
Science Centric (24 Dec 2008 14:00 GMT) - More drafts usually mean a better product and so it also seems to go with the human immune system. As B cells develop, genes rearrange to allow antibodies to recognise different foreign invaders or pathogens. But sometimes antibodies are created that recognise and attack the body's own cells. These self-reactive antibodies, like early drafts of a manuscript, must be edited into versions that won't attack self...

Krumlauf Lab demonstrates modulation of gene expression by protein coding regions
Science Centric (24 Dec 2008 14:00 GMT) - A research team at the Stowers Institute has discovered how the expression of one of the Hox master control genes is regulated in a specific segment of the developing brain. The findings provide important insight into how and where the brain develops some of its unique and important structures...

Gene expression and splicing vary widely from one tissue to the next
Science Centric (23 Dec 2008 14:20 GMT) - Genes talk to themselves and to each other to control how a given cell manufactures proteins. But variation in the control of the same gene in two different tissues may contribute to certain human traits, including the likelihood of getting a disease, said a team of geneticists and neuroscientists at Duke University Medical Centre...

Snails and humans use same genes to tell right from left
Science Centric (22 Dec 2008 12:08 GMT) - Biologists have tracked down genes that control the handedness of snail shells, and they turn out to be similar to the genes used by humans to set up the left and right sides of the body. The finding, reported online in advance of publication in Nature by University of California, Berkeley, researchers, indicates that the same genes have been responsible for establishing the left-right asymmetry of animals for 500-650 million years, originating in the last common ancestor of all animals with bilateral body organisation, creatures that include everything from worms to humans...

SNPs of ABC transporter genes linked to lung cancer risk
Science Centric (22 Dec 2008 12:08 GMT) - Individuals with particular variants of certain genes involved in metabolising the most potent carcinogen found in cigarette smoke have an increased risk of developing lung cancer. That is the conclusion of a new study published in the 1 February 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study's results may help shed light on how lung cancer develops and could have important implications for preventing smoking-related cancers...

Genes may influence popularity
Science Centric (22 Dec 2008 12:08 GMT) - A groundbreaking study of popularity by a Michigan State University scientist has found that genes elicit not only specific behaviours but also the social consequences of those behaviours...

Newly identified gene powerful predictor of colon cancer metastasis
Science Centric (22 Dec 2008 12:08 GMT) - Cancer Researchers in Berlin (Germany) have identified a gene which enables them to predict for the first time with high probability if colon cancer is going to metastasise. Assistant Professor Dr Ulrike Stein, Professor Peter M. Schlag, and Professor Walter Birchmeier were able to demonstrate that the gene MACC1 (Metastasis-Associated in Colon Cancer 1) not only promotes tumour growth but also the development of metastasis....

Various immune-related diseases have a strong genetic overlap
Science Centric (20 Dec 2008 12:52 GMT) - A limited number of genes appear to be involved in the development of eleven immune-related diseases such as type 1 diabetes, coeliac disease, Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. This has emerged from an analysis by geneticists at the University Medical Centre Groningen of all globally conducted association studies of these diseases...

Weakened RNA interference reduces survival in ovarian cancer
Science Centric (18 Dec 2008 11:12 GMT) - Levels of two proteins in a woman's ovarian cancer are strongly associated with her likelihood of survival, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Centre reports in the 18 December issue of the New England Journal of Medicine...

Just a little squeeze lets proteins assess DNA
Science Centric (17 Dec 2008 11:34 GMT) - To find its target, all a protein needs to do is give quick squeezes as it moves along the DNA strand, suggests new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson. Scientists had thought DNA-binding proteins primarily used full-body hugs for accurate readings of the information coded in the DNA's sequence...

Genes involved in antibiotic resistance vary within a species
Science Centric (17 Dec 2008 11:34 GMT) - The recent emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) in Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacteria that causes infections primarily among seriously ill patients in the intensive care unit who may have reduced immune systems, has raised concern in health care settings worldwide...

Study demonstrates how bone marrow transplant can cure sickle cell disease
Science Centric (8 Nov 2008 18:14 GMT) - A unique approach to bone marrow transplantation pioneered in part by a Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC physician has proven to be the only safe and effective cure for sickle cell disease, according to a new study...

Researchers find gene that regulates mold's resistance to drugs
Science Centric (8 Nov 2008 18:14 GMT) - Montana State University scientists concerned about lethal mould infections have found a gene that regulates the mold's resistance to drugs...

Interaction between gene variants may alter brain function in schizophrenia
Science Centric (8 Nov 2008 17:48 GMT) - A collaborative study led by investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is giving what may be the first look at how interactions between genes underlie a key symptom of schizophrenia, impaired working memory...

Dalmatian bladder stones caused by gene that regulates uric acid in humans
Science Centric (7 Nov 2008 17:26 GMT) - A gene mutation in Dalmatian dogs causing high levels of uric acid that can lead to bladder stones has been identified by a team of researchers in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis...

How 'molecular machines' kick start gene activation revealed
Science Centric (7 Nov 2008 17:26 GMT) - How 'molecular machines' inside cells swing into action to activate genes at different times in a cell's life is revealed 6 November in new research published in Molecular Cell...

New research on gene sheds light on T-cell production
Science Centric (7 Nov 2008 17:26 GMT) - New research, just published by researchers from the University of Georgia, provides the first evidence that a key gene may be crucial to maintaining the production of the thymus and its disease-fighting T-cells after an animal's birth...

Unravelling the natural history of the lion using host and virus population genomics
Science Centric (7 Nov 2008 14:24 GMT) - The lion (Panthera leo) is one of the world's most charismatic carnivores. In an article published 7 November in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, an international team of researchers provides insights into the genetic structure and history of lion populations...

Untangling DNA regulation
Science Centric (7 Nov 2008 14:24 GMT) - MIT biologists have discovered that the organisation of DNA's packing material plays a critical role in directing stem cells to become different types of adult cells...

Researchers find key pathways for two deadly cancers
CNN
(4 Sep 2008) - U.S. scientists have mapped the cascade of genetic changes that turn normal cells in the brain and pancreas into two of the most lethal cancers. The result points to a new approach for fighting tumors and maybe even catching them sooner.

Geneticists uncover new gene involved in determining hair texture and density in humans
Science Centric (27 Feb 2008 15:53 GMT) - A Columbia University Medical Centre research team has discovered a new gene involved in determining hair texture in humans. The team's genetic analysis demonstrated that mutations in a gene, known as P2RY5, cause hereditary 'woolly hair' - hair that is coarse, dry, tightly curled and sparse...

Washington University unveils draft sequence of corn genome
Science Centric (26 Feb 2008 20:41 GMT) - A team of scientists led by Washington University in St. Louis has begun to unlock the genetic secrets of corn, a crop vital to U.S. agriculture. The researchers have completed a working draft of the corn genome, an accomplishment that should accelerate efforts to develop better crop varieties to meet society's growing demands for food, livestock feed and fuel...

Researchers piece together gene 'network' linked to schizophrenia
Science Centric
(6 Sep 2008 21:39 GMT) - Reporting this week in the Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have uncovered for the first time molecular circuitry associated with schizophrenia that links three previously known, yet unrelated proteins...

Location, location, location important for genes, too
Science Centric (6 Sep 2008 21:39 GMT) - Cells become cancerous mainly because they lose control of their growth. To better understand how this happens, a new study at Ohio State University's Comprehensive Cancer Centre looks at four genes that help regulate cell growth in embryos and that contribute to cancer in adults...

Scientists locate geographic origins from DNA
Science Centric (6 Sep 2008 21:39 GMT) - One day soon, you may be able to pinpoint the geographic origins of your ancestors based on analysis of your DNA. A study published online this week in Nature by an international team that included Cornell University researchers describes the use of DNA to predict the geographic origins of individuals from a sample of Europeans, often within a few hundred kilometres of where they were born...

Our genome changes over lifetime
Science Centric (27 Jun 2008 22:24 GMT) - Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that epigenetic marks on DNA-chemical marks other than the DNA sequence-do indeed change over a person's lifetime, and that the degree of change is similar among family members...

Coffee's aroma kick-starts genes in the brain
Science Centric (16 Jun 2008 15:44 GMT) - Drink coffee to send a wake-up call to the brain? Or just smell its rich, warm aroma? An international group of scientists is reporting some of the first evidence that simply inhaling coffee aroma alters the activity of genes in the brain. In experiments with laboratory rats, they found that coffee aroma orchestrates the expression of more than a dozen genes and some changes in protein expressions, in ways that help reduce the stress of sleep deprivation...

EuroDYNA takes lid off the genome
Science Centric (13 Jun 2008 13:16 GMT) - European researchers have made significant progress unravelling how genes are governed and why this sometimes goes wrong in disease. The key lies in the dynamic ever-changing structure of the chromatin, which is the underlying complex of protein and DNA making up the chromosomes in which almost all genes are housed within the genome...

Hox genes control the path of neurones responsible for development of the nervous system
Science Centric (10 Jun 2008 04:10 GMT) - Pontine neurones are generated in the rear part of the brain and ultimately end up in the cerebellum, a region in the brain responsible for coordinating the senses and motor functions in the body. How these neurones make the journey across the brain has, until now, been somewhat of a mystery...