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Tag Archives: DNA
DNA nanosensors
Not all sensors are electronic, or at least if you expand the scope of sensor technology, measurement techniques (which is what sensor technology is about) can also be chemical or physical, among other things. In this case, the sensor is built from DNA and it’s called a DNA nanosensor. The idea behind this particular nanosensor [...]
Posted in News: Sensor Technology Also tagged assay, cell programming, nanosensor, protein, RNA, sensor technology, signaling pathway, transcription factor 1 Comment
lincRNA: A recently discovered RNA organizes stem cell differentiation
What makes a scientist’s heart go pitter-patter? Something like this: When the Broad team discovered more than 3,500 unique lincRNAs in the human and mouse genomes in 2009, “the potential was enormous, and we wanted to know what they could be doing.” [Source: Technology Review] Here’s the scenario: A team of researchers at the Broad [...]
Posted in News: Proteomics Also tagged Broad Institute, cell development, genetics, Guttmann, lincRNA, pluripotent, proteomics, RNA, stem cells 1 Comment
Synthetic biology: Making new proteins with E. coli by adding DNA
Sometimes big advances in science happen without much public notice. That’s often because at the time they didn’t look like big advances in science, or just as likely, they were considered marginally workable, so nobody wanted to highlight them. Here’s one such case to consider: Researchers at Yale University (Connecticut, USA) and publishing in the [...]
Posted in Impact: Synthetic Biology Also tagged biochemistry, E. coli, epigenetics, phosphorylation, phosphoserine, protein, synthetic biology, Söll 1 Comment
Epigenetic memory: Another path for genetic inheritance
As we have all been schooled, DNA determines what is inherited. If it isn’t encoded in the genes, it won’t be passed on. Except it is becoming ever more apparent this isn’t completely true. There is another way that characteristics can be passed to the next generations; it’s called epigenetic memory. Or at least it’s [...]
Posted in News: Epigenetics Also tagged Dean, epigenetic memory, FLC, genetics, histones, Howard, inheritance, stress response Leave a comment
Epigenetics and methylation: New DNA bases linked to protein
Adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine: These are the nucleobases, or just plain bases of DNA that in pairs called nucleotides carry the genetic code of life. There are four of them, right? At least that’s what most everybody learns. Of course, there is another base, uracil, which is found in RNA where it replaces thymine. [...]
Posted in News: Epigenetics Also tagged cytosine, epigenetics, methylation, new bases, nucleotide, RNA, Tet, Zhang Leave a comment
Toward a new DNA: thymine out, chlorouracil in
Scientists have been twiddling with DNA for some time. While DNA may be the blueprint of life, it is not immutable (of course) and that means the hand of man likes to poke around in the mix. One kind of poking has been to see if one of the bases – adenine (A), thymine (T), [...]
Posted in News: Synthetic Biology Also tagged chemical evolution, chlorouracil, nucleic acids, RNA, synthetic biology, thymine, uracil, xenobiology 1 Comment
Human genetics: The mysterious unequal mutation by sex
By the numbers, geneticists thought about mutations like this: There are six billion pieces (nucleotides) of genetic information in the genome. Three billion provided by the mother and three billion from the father. Based on evolutionary studies, previous estimates reckoned about 100-200 mutations would be passed on to each child. It was assumed that because [...]
Posted in News: DNA Decoding Also tagged genetics, genome, heredity, mutation, sequencing 2 Comments
Protein complexity could be our demise
Did you know that badly folded proteins could be the cause of our species’ destruction? Neither did I. I know about nuclear bombs, climate change, asteroid strike and even pandemic as possible doomsday scenarios. I’m aware of predictions that in the not too distant future mankind might be overpowered by or merge with artificial intelligence [...]
Posted in Impact: Proteomics Also tagged Alzheimer’s, folding, gene-pool, genetic drift, genetics, natural selection, pandemic, Parkinson’s, prions, proteins 1 Comment
Breast cancer study: 50 women, 1700 genetic mutations
It isn’t always true for science, but it sure seems like the more we learn, the more complicated the knowledge becomes. Take breast cancer for an example. Every few months a new study is published that announces the discovery that this that or another gene is ‘linked to breast cancer.’ Likewise there is a stream [...]
Posted in Impact: Major Disease Cures Also tagged breast cancer, cancer, cancer study, Ellis, genetic mutation, genome, MAP3K1, personalized therapy, sequencing 2 Comments
Part of what makes us human may be what’s missing
Here’s one of those scientific questions that contains a highly suggestive fact: Why is it that the tiny water flea (Daphnia pulex) has a record 31,000 genes and the human – the infinitely more complex human – has only 23,000 genes? Here’s another similar question: How is it that the human species is so different [...]
Posted in Impact: Epigenetics Also tagged biogenetics, Daphnia, epigenetics, evolution, gene, genetics, genome, junk DNA, Kingsley, missing DNA, penis spines Leave a comment
Paleogenetics: Unlocking the secrets from DNA of long ago
Eighth in a series of posts inspired by ten topics in ‘Insights of the Decade’ from the December 17, 2010 special issue of Science Magazine The topics are: Inflammation, climatology, tricks of light, alien planets, the microbiome, cell reprogramming, Martian water, the DNA time machine, cosmology and epigenetics. The original articles are now behind a [...]
Posted in Impact: Decoding DNA Also tagged dinosaurs, fMRI, Frankenstein, gene sequence, Jurassic Park, Neanderthal, paleobiology, paleogenetics, Splice, STM Leave a comment
Proteins and quantum transition: Instant shape-shifting
Every once in a great while a piece of very interesting science comes along, quietly, until more and more people notice that not only is important but it may be right. Then scientists get into high gear and start doing more intensive experimenting. Sometimes the science press or even the popular media catch wind of [...]
Posted in Impact: Proteomics Also tagged amino acids, biochemistry, configuration, Lu, Luo, protein, protein folding, proteomics, quantum folding, quantum mechanics, quantum transition Leave a comment
Reprogramming cells: The post stem cell future?
Sixth in a series of posts inspired by ten topics in ‘Insights of the Decade’ from the December 17, 2010 special issue of Science Magazine The topics are: Inflammation, climatology, tricks of light, alien planets, the microbiome, cell reprogramming, Martian water, the DNA time machine, cosmology and epigenetics. The original articles are now behind a [...]
Posted in Impact: Stem Cells Also tagged cell biology, cell reprogramming, embryonic stem cells, epigenetics, genetic modification, genetics, Gurdon, iPSC, pluripotent, proteomics, stem cells, Yamanaka Leave a comment
Oh Daphnia, why so many genes?
Ms. Water flea, Daphnia pulex…..credit: Wiki Commons This equal sign, =, is about as big the known champion of the gene-filled genome. Little Daphnia pulex, variously labeled a crustacean (like shrimp) or ‘the water flea,’ is the first of its subphylum to have its genome sequenced. Lo and behold: Daphnia’s genome has more genes – [...]
Posted in Impact: DNA Decoding Also tagged cloning, copy number variation, Daphnia, Environmental Genomics, gene-pool, genetics, genome, phenotype, water flea Leave a comment
Hoogsteen base pairs: An alternate structure in DNA
Reverse Hoogsteen base pairing…..Wikipedia Commons I know some of my biases. One of them is knee-jerk skepticism about taking little-tested scientific results and blowing them up to “…a cure for cancer” or “…revolutionize the electronics industry.” However, like most people I also have a bias to be curious about interesting, if somewhat unusual scientific findings. [...]
Posted in Impact: DNA Decoding Also tagged base pairs, biochemistry, double-helix, epigenetics, genetic coding, genetics, histones, Hoogsteen, NMR, proteins, RNA Leave a comment
The microbiome: Our life in common with microorganisms
Fifth in a series of posts inspired by ten topics in ‘Insights of the Decade’ from the December 17, 2010 special issue of Science Magazine The topics are: Inflammation, climatology, tricks of light, alien planets, the microbiome, cell development, Martian water, the DNA time machine, cosmology and epigenetics. The original articles are now behind a [...]
Posted in Impact: Cell Biology Also tagged Archaea, bacteria, bacteriology, cell biology, extremophile, genetics, hyperthermophile, immune system, microbiology, microbiome, microorganism, pathogen, thermophile, virome, Yellowstone Leave a comment
Increase in ocean acidity affects the marine nitrogen cycle
More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (CO2) means more carbon dioxide dissolves in the oceans. As that happens the acidity of the oceans increases (technically, the pH decreases). This process is chemically obvious and the data indicates that ocean acidification is occurring and increasing. The impact on life in the seas is complex. Many studies [...]
Posted in News: Degrading Oceans Also tagged carbon cycle, carbon dioxide, nitrate, nitrification, nitrogen cycle, ocean acidification Leave a comment
An odd couple: Arsenic and Life
It was unlikely that GFAJ-1 of the Halomonadaceae family of Gammaproteobacteria would grip the imagination; but it did. Of course, it did because instead of the long scientific name or the cryptic GFAJ-1, it was simply called Alien Life! This, of course, caused a minor sensation. It was even covered by the non-science media. The [...]
Posted in Impact: Origin of Life Also tagged alien life, arsenic, arsenic based life, biochemistry, GFAJ-1, origin of life, phosphorus, RNA, Wolfe-Simon Leave a comment
First steps: Converting skin cells to blood cells without stem cells
This is an important story about stem cell research because it doesn’t involve stem cells. I know that sounds odd, but it’s true. Of course, I’m being coy. The research by Mick Bhatia, Eva Szabo and colleagues at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada), published in the November 7, 2010 online issue of Nature [ Direct [...]
Posted in Impact: Stem Cells Also tagged blood cells, cell conversion, cytokines, epigenetic, fibroblast, multipotent, OCT4, pluripotent, POU5F1, progenitor, skin cells, stem cells Leave a comment
The shape of the genome influences genetics
Fission yeast genome……Credit: Wistar Institute It looks like a loose ball of yarn, as in the picture above. In fact, it’s the genome of a common yeast (S. pombe). The human genome spends most of its time in a ball something like this. The familiar “X” shaped chromosomes occur only at the time of cell [...]
Posted in News: DNA Decoding Also tagged 3C, chromosome conformation capture, chromosomes, gene, genetics, genome, genome shape, RNA, sequencing Leave a comment
DNA redundancy: Genetic sequence copies are more prevalent and important than thought
Did you know that our DNA has many copies of some gene sequences, and that it is important? Not long ago and perhaps even now, neither did many genetic scientists. It’s been known in a general way that there is a lot of redundancy in the human genome. It’s even been called ‘a repetitive landscape.’ [...]
Posted in News: DNA Decoding Also tagged Agilent, bases, copy sequences, genetics, human genome, multicopy genes, nucleotide Leave a comment
New finding: Noncoding RNA is the agent of gene silencing
This is news about research by Ingrid Grummt and colleagues at the German Cancer Research Center (Heidelberg, Germany) and their progress in discovering how instructions coded in DNA are correctly sequenced (silenced or activated). But first, an analogy: Way way back in the cave-person era of computing (say 1954), a ‘programmer’ would stand at a [...]
Posted in News: Cell Biology Also tagged epigenetics, gene, gene regulation, methylation, methyltransferase, mRNA, ncRNA, non-coding RNA, pRNA, RNA Leave a comment
Histones: DNA packaging and much more
DNA winds around histones….Credit: Max Planck Society Most everybody knows that DNA is the carrier of the genetic code, the instructions for how life reproduces, grows, and maintains. Cell biologists have long known that DNA comes with a very complex packaging material, proteins called histones, which help the 2 meter (6 foot) strand of DNA [...]
Posted in Impact: DNA Decoding Also tagged biochemistry, cell biology, epigenetics, fruit fly, gene, gene expression, histones, nucleus 1 Comment
Epigenetics in the brain: Evidence of methylation beyond cell division