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Tag Archives: DNA
Genetic pause control
Did you know that the genetic production process (gene expression) can be paused? A few years ago, most geneticists didn’t know either, and now it appears that the ability to pause genetic expression is not limited to a handful of genes (as originally thought) and may be a general capability for cells at all stages [...]
Posted in News: DNA Decoding Also tagged c-Myc, chromosome, DSIF, genes, genetics, mRNA, NELF, nucleus, polymerase enzyme, protein, stem cells, transcription Leave a comment
New technique: DNA transfer to overcome mitochondrial genetic diseases
Most of the time when something refers to genetics, it’s assumed this means the DNA found in the nucleus of cells. However, in one of the three domains of life, Eukarya (all plants and animals), DNA is also found in the mitochondria of cells. One or more mitochondria are found in all eukaryotic cells, where [...]
Posted in Impact: Genetic Modification Also tagged embryo, Eukarya, gene, genetic modification, genetics, mitochondria, mitochondrial myopathy Leave a comment
A new layer of genetic information: DNA sub-code
To some it sounds like something out of a spy story – sub-codes within the genetic code. Ah the hidden code; Dan Brown would be proud of the discovery. The actual discovery is perhaps not so thrilling, but potentially much more important than novelistic entertainment. Two researchers, Professor Yves Barral (ETH Zurich, Switzerland), and Dr. [...]
Posted in News: DNA Decoding Also tagged cell biology, gene expression, genetics, molecular biology, regulation, RNA, sub-code, transcription, tRNA Leave a comment
Enhancer RNA (eRNA): More powerful than previously thought
As should be said repeatedly, we don’t know how the brain works. Not yet. Neuroscience is just starting on the vastly complex study of the brain at the molecular level, perhaps the lowest common denominator and the most important. A new study, published April 15 in Nature, by a team of researchers from Harvard Medical [...]
Posted in News: Neuroscience Also tagged ChIP-seq, epigenetics, eRNA, junk DNA, neurons, neuroscience, RNA, RNA-seq Leave a comment
Evolution treats transcription factors differently than DNA
People with reddish hair have genes for that, but what gets the job done – that is, growing reddish hair – isn’t the DNA or gene, it’s the transcription of the genes by molecules of protein, mainly RNA polymerase transcribing into messenger RNA (mRNA), which takes the designs coded in DNA and guides the production [...]
Posted in News: Proteomics Also tagged epigenetics, evolution, genes, genetics, molecular biology, protein, proteomics, speciation, species, transcription, tRNA Leave a comment
Oil production from living bacteria
In the attempt to find alternative sources of energy, scientists are probing possibilities in almost the entire world of life. This includes plant life, of course, with trees, corn (maize), switch grass, and other crops in the list. It also includes smaller forms of plant life, in particular algae. Even smaller forms of life and [...]
Posted in News: Alternative Energy Also tagged alternative energy, bioengineering, cyanobacteria, fatty acid, genetic modification, lipid, thioesterase Leave a comment
Surprise verdict in U.S. gene patent case
Most people think they own their DNA – “My genes, my body.” Well of course you do. Except when it comes to analyzing those genes. Right now companies own patents on about 2,000 of your genes. Typically they make equipment and/or procedures to analyze them. So far, this is legal in the United States, which [...]
Posted in Impact: DNA Decoding Also tagged BRCA1, BRCA2, cancer, gene diagnostic, genome, Myriad Genetics, patent law, product of nature, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO Leave a comment
Fingered by hand bacteria
Over the last couple of decades it’s become almost routine to identify people with DNA. In the past few years, it’s been shown that bacteria on the skin, or in the gut, can be as individual as genetic code. Now a study from the University of Colorado (Boulder, USA) opens the door to forensic (legal [...]
Posted in News: DNA Decoding Also tagged bacteria, bacterial signature, forensics, sequencing Leave a comment
Biopunk
Biopunk: Combining biotechnology with punk doesn’t sound very appetizing. It’s a punk in a garage messing around with bacteria genetics to produce the world’s first pet-eating amoeba colony. Something like that. The word isn’t that new. Biopunk is, among other things, already a genre of science fiction that focuses on biotechnology and subversives. It has [...]
Posted in Spun Also tagged biohacker, biopunk, biotechnology, Dyson, garage biotech, gene modification, genetics, hacker 1 Comment
New study: Tracking proteins that repair DNA
There are some lines of research in the development of science that in all likelihood will not have a ‘breakthrough’ – a big rush of discovery. Instead, the discovery will be piecemeal; sometimes it will be discovery in very small pieces accumulating until a hypothesis is verified. Not all tracks like this are important, but [...]
Posted in News: Proteomics Also tagged genes, genetics, proteins, proteomics, repair complex, UvrA Leave a comment
Clinical genetics: Two cases
The prospect of being able to identify genetic problems in the genome of an individual and then link that to a specific disease or disability – that’s been on scientists’ minds for a long time. Since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 the prospects have become even better. The sequencing technology is [...]
Posted in Impact: DNA Decoding Also tagged Charcot-Marie-Tooth, chromosome, fMRI, genome, Human Genome Project, Miller Syndrome, mutation, sequencing Leave a comment
Protein pathway competition regulates embryo development
One thing I’ve noticed in following scientific developments for a long time is that when something unexpected is discovered it very often adds to the complexity. Here’s a recent case in point, first, I’ll let a piece of the announcement speak for itself, and then I’ll explain the context: Until now, scientists believed these pathways [...]
Posted in Impact: Cell Biology Also tagged cell biology, enzyme, genes, MAPK, microbiology, pathways, protein, proteomics Leave a comment
Found: Another molecule needed at the origin of life
Very often important science is constructed by a myriad of small advances in knowledge. This is almost certainly going to be true for answering one of the big questions in biology: “How did life on Earth originate?” It’s been known for a long time that it probably originated where there was a concentrated mixture of [...]
Posted in News: Origin of Life Also tagged biochemistry, ethidium, intercalator, oligonucleotides, organic compound, origin of life, paleochemistry, polymer, RNA Leave a comment
Life on Mars, if it exists, is below the surface
Is there life on Mars? We don’t know yet. If there is, it isn’t very big. In fact, if there’s (still) any life at all, it will be bacteria or something even more primitive and small. Whatever there is, it’s also not likely to be on the surface. That’s not because of the cold; it’s [...]
Posted in News: Exogenous Life Also tagged astrobiology, bacteria, environment, extremophiles, LUCA, Mars, microbes, panspermia, UV 1 Comment
Can culture change the genome?
Almost from the beginning of our knowledge of genetics, it’s been asked, “Can the way we (humans) live change our genetics?” These days this is much the same as asking if culture can change the genome. It’s actually a relatively old question. The question got its biggest boost from one who is now a boogeyman [...]
Posted in Impact: Genetic Modification Also tagged biology, culture, EDAR, epigenetics, evolution, genes, genetic modification, genetics, genome, Lamarck, molecular biology, RNA 1 Comment
Small RNA: New pathways for gene regulation?
Sometimes research discovers more than expected. (It could be called serendipity.) In this case, researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Berlin (Germany) were exploring the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which is a microscopic beasty that lives in the gut of about 50% of humanity. H. pylori, as it is abbreviated, has been linked to a [...]
Posted in Impact: DNA Decoding Also tagged biochemistry, genetics, Helicobacter pylori, junk DNA, pathogen, RNA, sRNA, transcription Leave a comment
New medical paradigm: Growing human organs in animals
The ability to manipulate genetics cuts in a number of ways. This way may sound a little strange: Take a mouse; implant human liver cells in it; watch them grow into a mouse-sized but human liver. It’s more complicated than that, but it works. There are reasons to do this. A lot of tests for [...]
Posted in News: Synthetic Biology Also tagged genetics, Hepatitis-C, liver cells, microbiology, NBTC, synthetic biology Leave a comment
Follow-up: Another ‘junk DNA’ study
The blog Science Life (University of Chicago Medical Center) has an excellent follow-up piece to the story about the discovery of non-coding DNA that contributes to heart disease (SciTechStory: More ‘junk DNA’ that actually does something) The Science Life post mentions that work and details another study done by the University of Chicago and the [...]
Posted in News: DNA Decoding Also tagged base pairs, chromosomes, genetics, heart cells, junk DNA, sequence Leave a comment
More ‘junk DNA’ that actually does something
This is not a screed, or it shouldn’t be. However, the next time you read something about ‘junk DNA’ – check its provenance. It’s true that for years researchers have looked at the huge tracts of genetic material that doesn’t appear to do anything vital (that is, coding for proteins) – which is about 98% [...]
Posted in Impact: DNA Decoding Also tagged 9p21, coronary artery disease, genes, genetics, junk DNA, non-coding Leave a comment
Disease linked genes have environmental factors too
Within the human body there are few diseases that aren’t influenced by some kind of environmental factors (stress, obesity, smoking, lack of sleep). Put another way, even diseases that have a genetic link (cancer, heart disease, diabetes) are not fully explained by genetics – environmental factors also play a role. Teasing apart the ‘who does [...]
Posted in News: Cell Biology Also tagged biochemistry, environmental factors, gene expression, genes, genetics, microbiology Leave a comment
Follow-up: iGEM and BioBricks
Chet at his Science Musings blog has a good piece of satire on the story of iGEM 2010 (SciTechStory: iGEM: Proselytizing for synthetic biology). Here’s a sample: June 11, 2012. Hasbro-Mattel, the toy division of Monsanto Universal, today announced a product that will likely be found under many a Christmas tree later this year: The [...]
Posted in News: Synthetic Biology Also tagged BioBricks, genetics, iGEM, synthetic biology Leave a comment
Four-letter codons: A new synthetic biology playground
All life (that we know of) is built from the 4 nucleotides of DNA (Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine and in RNA Uracil instead of Thymine), which provide the code for creating 22 amino acids, which are then combined into proteins. An important part of the process is the reading of the DNA code by RNA [...]
Posted in Impact: Proteomics Also tagged codons, genetics, microbiology, nucleotides, proteomics, RNA, transcription, tRNA Leave a comment
Epigenetics and introns: Life beyond DNA