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Berkeley Lab Startup Wants to Know How Damaged Your DNA Is

By Guest PostMarch 6, 2014Health, Technologyaging, berkeley lab startup, cancer, chemical spill, damage, DNA, dna damage, dna repair, double strand breaks, elk river, environmental event, exogen, genetics, immunity, jonathan tang, NASA, repair, scid, severe combined immunodeficiency, steve yannone, sylvain costes, west virginia

Exogen can check the DNA health not only of an individual but that of an entire region, thus answering questions on the impact of environmental events.

Currently if a scientist or doctor wanted to measure the level of a person’s DNA damage, they would have to look at some cells in a fluorescent microscope and manually count the number of DNA breaks. This kind of counting is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and a highly subjective process. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientist Sylvain Costes, who has spent over a decade studying the effects of low-dose radiation on cellular processes, came up with a way to automate the job using a proprietary algorithm and a machine to scan specimens and objectively score the damaged DNA. (more…)

Ceausescus fliegende Bären: Genetischer Nachweis für ungewöhnlichen Ausbreitungsweg

By Guest PostMarch 1, 2014Naturebalkani research society, bik f, braunbaer, bulgarien, carsten nowak, ceausescus baeren, ceausescus fliegende baeren, christiane frosch, conservation genetics, DNA, europa, genetischer nachweis, milvus group, nicolae ceausescu, rhodopen, russland, senckenberg, zeitschrift

Eine genetische Studie an Braunbären im Balkangebirge und in den Rhodopen in Bulgarien zeigt, dass hier Bären vorkommen, deren Vorfahren aus den Karpaten stammen. Wie sind sie dort hingekommen? Natürliche Wanderung ist unwahrscheinlich. Tatsächlich wurden die Vorfahren dieser Bären eingeflogen. Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler des Senckenberg Fachgebietes Naturschutzgenetik veröffentlichten in der Zeitschrift “Conservation Genetics“ gemeinsam mit rumänischen und bulgarischen Naturschutzorganisationen sowie der Zoologischen Gesellschaft Frankfurt den Beleg für eine legendäre Geschichte von für einen Diktator gezüchteten und angelieferten Bären.

Der Braunbär ist in Europa eine stark bedrohte Art. Während die großen Beutegreifer im Westen des Kontinents bereits weitgehend ausgerottet wurden, existieren in Russland, den Karpaten und in den Gebirgsregionen auf dem Balkan noch größere Populationen. „Über einige dieser letzten großen Bärenbestände wissen wir leider weder die genaue Verbreitung noch die Anzahl an Tieren“, stellt Dr. Carsten Nowak, Wildtiergenetiker bei Senckenberg, fest. Gefördert von der Zoologischen Gesellschaft Frankfurt untersuchten daher Wissenschaftler des Fachgebiets Naturschutzgenetik und des LOEWE Biodiversität und Klima Forschungszentrums (BiK-F) zusammen mit der Milvus Group – Bird and Nature Protection Association und der Balkani Research Society die DNA der Tiere. (more…)

Scientists Chip Away at the Mystery of What Lives in Our Mouths

By Guest PostFebruary 27, 2014Scienceantibiotics, bacterium, biological dark matter, chip, clifford beall, daniel dayeh, DNA, eugene leys, forsythia, genome, mouths, mystery, pathogen, periodontitis, scientists, tannerella bu063, tannerella forsythia

Sequencing of harmless oral bacterium offers insights about its disease-causing relative

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have pieced together sections of DNA from 12 individual cells to sequence the genome of a bacterium known to live in healthy human mouths.

With this new data about a part of the body considered “biological dark matter,” the researchers were able to reinforce a theory that genes in a closely related bacterium could be culprits in its ability to cause severe gum disease. (more…)

Neu im Kino: Tarzan ist zurück!

By Guest PostFebruary 20, 2014Nature3d film, afrika, anna f, astrid korolczuk, britische oelkonzern, cineplex, DNA, gas, neu im kino, regenwald, reinhard klooss, soco oel foerdern, sos virunga, superheld tarzan, tarzan, tarzan opa, UNESCO, virunga nationalpark

Von Ölförderung bedrohtes UNESCO-Weltnaturerbe ist Schauplatz der 3D-Neuverfilmung

Die Legende kehrt zurück: Ab Donnerstag ist Superheld Tarzan in einer Neuverfilmung des Literaturklassikers zurück in den deutschen Kinos. Schauplatz des Dschungelabenteuers ist der Virunga-Nationalpark in Afrika. Der WWF warnt, dass die Zukunft der Region nicht nur im neuen 3D-Film bedroht sei. Im Film sucht ein skrupelloser Konzern nach einer geheimnisvollen Energiequelle im Regenwald. Die Realität ist weniger mysteriös aber nicht weniger bedrohlich: Im Virunga-Nationalpark, ein UNESCO-Weltnaturerbe in der Demokratischen Republik Kongo, will der britische Ölkonzern Soco Öl fördern. (more…)

Smart hydrogels

By Guest PostJanuary 18, 2014Scienceacs, americans, anti inflammatory activity, arthritis foundation, biomacromolecules, chandran sabanayagam, Chicago, darrin pochan, DNA, drug molecules, gel is biocompatible, high tension, hip joint, hyaluronic acid, knee, ligament tears, longxi xiao, mechanical force, osteoarthritis, ph, researchers, rush university, smart hydrogels, stimulate tissue regeneration, temperature, treatment efficacy, university of delaware, xinqiao jia, yingchao chen, zhixiang tong

UD-developed smart gels deliver medicine on demand

Researchers at the University of Delaware have developed a “smart” hydrogel that can deliver medicine on demand, in response to mechanical force.

Over the past few decades, smart hydrogels have been created that respond to pH, temperature, DNA, light and other stimuli. (more…)

Discovery spotlights key role of mystery RNA modification in cells

By Guest PostJanuary 16, 2014Sciencecell differentiation, cells, chuan he, demethylation, deoxyribonucleic acid, diabetes, discovery, DNA, exact function, healthy cells, infertility, key role, m6a, messenger ribonucleic acid, methyl, methylation, mrna, mrna in question, mystery, n6 methyladenosine, neurobiology, obesity, organic compounds, parameter, peking university, proteins, regulating mrna lifetime, rna modification, san diego, sequence, university of california, university of chicago, xiao wang, ythdf2

Researchers had known for several decades that a certain chemical modification exists on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), which is essential to the flow of genetic information. But only recently did experiments at the University of Chicago show that one major function of this modification governs the longevity and decay of RNA, a process critical to the development of healthy cells.

The chemical modification on mRNA in question is called N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A). A recent study by UChicago scientists reveals how the m⁶A modification on mRNA could affect the half-life of mRNA that in turn regulates cellular protein quantities. That discovery could provide fundamental insights into healthy functioning and disorders such as obesity, diabetes and infertility. (more…)

MU Researcher’s Study of African Forest Elephants Helps Guide Research Efforts in the U.S.

By Guest PostJanuary 14, 2014Natureafrican continent. genotyping, african forest elephants, alfonso alonso, arkansas, biodiversity, black bears, central african, DNA, ecosystems, francisco dallmeier, gabon, genetic samples, jesus maldonado, keystone species, lori eggert, missouri, missouri rivers, movement patterns, oil drilling platforms, research efforts, rob fleischer, scbi, survival, threatened animals, university of groningen, university of missouri, university of oxford, US

Study finds that human occupation of an area may not contribute to population decline of an endangered species

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Conservation of a protected or endangered species requires frequent monitoring and the dynamic techniques biologists utilize to ensure the survival of threatened animals. Often, scientists study biodiversity at all levels—from genes to entire ecosystems. Currently, researchers at the University of Missouri are employing genotyping to study movement patterns of African forest elephants in protected and unprotected regions of Gabon to better understand how human occupation of these areas might affect elephants on the African continent. Genotyping is helping conservation biologists determine the best course of action to ensure biodiversity and the preservation of various species in the U.S. and abroad. (more…)

Parasitic DNA proliferates in aging tissues

By Guest PostJanuary 5, 2014Healthaging tissues, cancerous tissue, cancerous tumors, cell culture, DNA, fruit fly drosophila, hepatocellular carcinoma, jill kreiling, john sedivy, journal aging, lymphoma, marco dececco, normal tissues, parasitic dna, replicative senescence, retrotransposable elements, robert reenan, rtes, stephen helfand

As mice age, cells in tissues such as the liver and skeletal muscle lose control over rogue sequences of DNA called “retrotransposable elements,” according to new research in the journal Aging. The elements, which may undermine health, could proliferate in old mice and were also abundant in cancerous tissue. A low-calorie diet, however, restrained their advance.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The genomes of organisms from humans to corn are replete with “parasitic” strands of DNA that, when not suppressed, copy themselves and spread throughout the genome, potentially affecting health. Earlier this year Brown University researchers found that these “retrotransposable elements” (RTE’s) were increasingly able to break free of the genome’s control in cultures of human cells. Now in a new paper in the journal Aging, they show that RTEs were increasingly able to break free and copy themselves in the tissues of mice as the animals aged. In further experiments the biologists showed that this activity was readily apparent in cancerous tumors, but that it also could be reduced by restricting calories. (more…)

Tag Archives: DNA