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Das menschliche Gebiss als Spiegel unserer Evolution

By Guest PostMay 21, 2020Sciencebones, das menschliche gebiss, genes, hannes rathmann, hugo reyes centeno, spiegel unserer evolution, tools, words

Wissenschaftler der Universität Tübingen ermitteln, welche Eigenschaften der Zähne zur Rekonstruktion genetischer Verwandtschaft genutzt werden können

Genetische Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen zwischen individuellen Menschen oder auch Menschengruppen lassen sich anhand ihrer Zahnformen teilweise rekonstruieren. Dr. Hannes Rathmann und Dr. Hugo Reyes-Centeno von der Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe „Words, Bones, Genes, Tools“ an der Universität Tübingen haben nun mithilfe eines Algorithmus herausgearbeitet, welche der zahlreichen Zahnmerkmale sich für Verwandtschaftsanalysen besonders gut eignen und welche Zahnmerkmale weniger die Verwandtschaft, sondern eine ähnliche Anpassung an gleiche Umweltbedingungen widerspiegeln. Die Studie erschien in der Fachzeitschrift Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). (more…)

Conley harnesses tools of social science, genomics to answer lifelong questions

By Guest PostAugust 4, 2017Sciencedalton conley, Environment, genes, genomics, jason fletcher

Dalton Conley was just a kid in 1970s New York, but lessons about race and class came quickly.

He was one of the only white kids among his friends amid the predominantly African American and Latino public housing projects on the Lower East Side. At his local elementary school, there were segregated classes for African American, Latino and Chinese students, but no obvious fit for him. Later, at another school in a more affluent part of the city, he was surrounded by other white students but found himself lost amid their wealth. (more…)

Head injuries can alter hundreds of genes and lead to serious brain diseases, UCLA biologists report

By Guest PostMay 11, 2017Healthalter, brain diseases, fernando gomez pinilla, genes, head injuries, immune system, traumatic brain injury, xia yang

Head injuries can harm hundreds of genes in the brain in a way that increases people’s risk for a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders, UCLA life scientists report. (more…)

Q&A: What studying networks can tell us about the world and ourselves

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2014Technologyandrew papachristos, biological epidemics, computers, daniel spielman, david rand, emily erickson, epidemics of violence, evolutionary biology, game theory, genes, june gruber, known as graph, network phenomena, network science, neurons, nicholas christakis, nodes, phenomena, sociologist, sol goldman family, statistical mechanics, studying networks, tradition in mathematics, yale institute, yins

There was an opening ceremony on Feb. 5 for the Yale Institute for Network Science (YINS), dedicated to exploring fundamental properties of networks as they appear throughout the biological, physical, and social sciences.

The interdisciplinary institute will be led by co-directors Nicholas Christakis, the Sol Goldman Family Professor of Social and Natural Science, and Daniel Spielman, the Henry Ford II Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics.

Christakis and Spielman recently met with YaleNews to discuss the nature of networks and the institute’s mission. The following is an edited version of the conversation. (more…)

Angelina Jolie Effect: Breast Cancer Awareness vs. Knowledge

By Guest PostDecember 28, 2013Healthamericans, angelina jolie effect, brca gene mutation, brca mutation, brca1, brca2, breast cancer awareness, breast cancer risk, cancer, dina borzekowski, family history, genes, genetics in medicine, harmful mutation, increased cancer, johns hopkins school, jolie story, knowledge, preventive double mastectomy, public health, rare health situation, university of maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Angelina Jolie heightened awareness about breast cancer when she announced in a New York Times op-ed that she had undergone a preventive double mastectomy. But a new study led by researchers in the University of Maryland School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health reveals that widespread awareness of Jolie’s story did not translate into increased understanding of breast cancer risk.

The survey of more than 2,500 Americans found that three out of four were aware of Jolie’s story, but fewer than 10 percent of those could correctly answer questions about the BRCA gene mutation that Jolie carries and the typical person’s risk of developing breast cancer. Though very rare, women with harmful mutations in either of two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, have a risk of breast cancer that is about five times the normal risk, and a risk of ovarian cancer that is about ten to thirty times normal. The study is published on December 19, 2013 in Genetics in Medicine. (more…)

UCLA Researchers Further Refine ‘Nanovelcro’ Device to Grab Single Cancer Cells from Blood

By Guest PostMarch 3, 2013Scienceact like velcro, analysis, angewandte chemie, antoni ribas, biopsy samples, blood, blood samples, braf v600e, cancer cells, cancer grow, circulate, circulating melanoma cells, circulating tumor cells, cmcs, configuration, ctcs, disease, dna structure, early stages, fatal metastases, fibers coated, genes, genetic analysis, genomic evolution, growth, hematology, histopathology, hsian rong tseng, jonsson cancer center, laser micro dissection, liquid biopsy, lmd, melanoma, melanoma cells, melanoma tumors, metastasis, method, microscopic structure, nanoscale technology, nanoscale wires, nanovelcro chip, new tumors, oncology, patient, polymer nanofiber, progression, protein antibodies, researchers, roger lo, single cell genotyping, skin cancer, tumors, ucla, velcro like, working mechanism

Improvement enables ‘liquid biopsies’ for metastatic melanoma

Researchers at UCLA report that they have refined a method they previously developed for capturing and analyzing cancer cells that break away from patients’ tumors and circulate in the blood. With the improvements to their device, which uses a Velcro-like nanoscale technology, they can now detect and isolate single cancer cells from patient blood samples for analysis.

Circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, play a crucial role in cancer metastasis, spreading from tumors to other parts of the body, where they form new tumors. When these cells are isolated from the blood early on, they can provide doctors with critical information about the type of cancer a patient has, the characteristics of the individual cancer and the potential progression of the disease. Doctors can also tell from these cells how to tailor a personalized treatment to a specific patient. (more…)

How a Microbial Biorefinery Regulates Genes

By Guest PostMarch 1, 2013Sciencealternatives to petroleum, amino acid, aromatic compounds, biomass, biorefinery, breann brown, brown university, consumption of lignin, depolymerize, digesting lignin, DNA, dna binding activity, enzyme, gene expression, genes, high value chemicals, jason sello, jennifer davis, kind of protein, lignin, marr family, microbial biorefinery, microorganisms, pcav, pcav dna complex, phenomenon, plant biomass, protein crystallography, protocatechuate, rebecca page, streptomyces bacteria, technique, Technology, transcription factor, variety of biofuels

Digesting lignin, a highly stable polymer that accounts for up to a third of biomass, is a limiting step to producing a variety of biofuels. Researchers at Brown have figured out the microscopic chemical switch that allows Streptomyces bacteria to get to work, breaking lignin down into its constituent parts.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Microorganisms that can break down plant biomass into the precursors of biodiesel or other commodity chemicals might one day be used to produce alternatives to petroleum. But the potential of this “biorefinery” technology is limited by the fact that most microorganisms cannot break down lignin, a highly stable polymer that makes up as much as a third of plant biomass.

Streptomyces bacteria are among few microorganisms known to degrade and consume lignin. Now a group of researchers at Brown University has unlocked the genetic and molecular mechanisms behind a key part of that process. The results are published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research. (more…)

Mutant Champions Save Imperiled Species from Almost-Certain Extinction

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 2013Scienceantibiotics, bacterium, benjamin kerr, changing environments, climate change, disease causing bacteria, e coli, environmental changes, environmental deterioration, escherichia coli, eth zurich, evolutionary adaptations, evolutionary rescue, extinction, extinction bullet, genes, genetic engineering, haley lindsey, heavy metals, high concentration environment, human caused changes, imperiled species, insects, jenna gallie, lower concentration, mutant champions, number of factors, overfishing, pesticides, population, populations of microorganisms, rapid rates, relay team, seattle, susan taylor, university of washington

Species facing widespread and rapid environmental changes can sometimes evolve quickly enough to dodge the extinction bullet. Populations of disease-causing bacteria evolve, for example, as doctors flood their “environment,” the human body, with antibiotics. Insects, animals and plants can make evolutionary adaptations in response to pesticides, heavy metals and overfishing.

Previous studies have shown that the more gradual the change, the better the chances for “evolutionary rescue” – the process of mutations occurring fast enough to allow a population to avoid extinction in changing environments. One obvious reason is that more individuals remain alive when change is gradual or moderate, meaning there are more opportunities for a winning mutation to emerge. (more…)

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