Transposable elements are mobile strands of DNA that insert themselves into chromosomes with mostly harmful consequences. Cells try to keep them locked down, but in a new study, Brown University researchers report that aging cells lose their ability to maintain this control. The result may be a further decline in the health of senescent cells and of the aging bodies they compose.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Even in our DNA there is no refuge from rogues that prey on the elderly. Parasitic strands of genetic material called transposable elements — transposons — lurk in our chromosomes, poised to wreak genomic havoc. Cells have evolved ways to defend themselves, but in a new study, Brown University researchers describe how cells lose this ability as they age, possibly resulting in a decline in their function and health. (more…)
International team of scientists finds adaptations to stress in oyster genome
When it comes to stress, oysters know how to deal. The tough-shelled mollusks can survive temperature fluctuations, toxic metals and exposure to air, and a new study of their genetic makeup is helping to explain how.
An international team of scientists, including the University of Delaware’s Patrick M. Gaffney, professor of marine biosciences, sequenced the genome of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, in a Naturepaper published on Sept. 19. (more…)
The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project is the effort of hundreds of scientists to describe the workings of the human genome. Their research, outlined in 30 papers published in multiple journals Sept. 5, has confirmed our genome is far more complex than originally thought. Regions that contain instructions for making proteins, which carry out life’s functions, account for only about 1 percent of our genome. ENCODE has shed light on the other 99%. Almost 80 percent of the genome is biochemically active, much of it involved in some sort of regulation of genes. Vast regions of our DNA once considered “junk” contain some 400,000 regulators called enhancers, which play a key role activating or silencing genes despite residing far away from the gene itself. Yale University researchers played a key role ENCODE, helping to author 9 of the 30 papers published in four journals on Sept. 5. Some of their work is described below.
The massive Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) unveiled Sept. 5 reveals a human genome vastly more rich and complex than envisioned even a decade ago. In a key supporting paper published in the journal Nature, the lab of Yale’s Mark Gerstein, the Albert L. Williams Professor of Biomedical Informatics, has found order amidst the seeming chaos of trillions of potential molecular interactions. (more…)
UD’s Schmidt studies genome of crocodile family in evolution research
University of Delaware scientist Carl Schmidt is working to identify genes in crocodiles, alligators and gharials as he searches for links between the creatures that could give clues as to how they evolved over the years in relation to one another.
Schmidt’s effort is part of a National Science Foundation-funded project being conducted by a team of researchers assembled by David Ray, an evolutionary biologist at Mississippi State University. (more…)
Data Driven Best-in-Class Technology Uncovers Optimal Targeted Audiences at Scale in a Premium Media Ecosystem
NEW YORK — At Internet Week New York, Yahoo!, the premier digital media company, today announces Genome from Yahoo! (www.genomeplatform.com), an online advertising solution that combines Yahoo! data with interclick’s third party data and advertisers’ first party data along with a premium media footprint to provide marketers with the most complete, custom audience solution in the industry. Anticipated to be available in July 2012, Genome is the culmination of a strategy that was put in place last year with the display ad agreement with Microsoft and AOL as well as the acquisition of interclick, which Yahoo! acquired in December 2011, to create a next generation audience buying solution with greater targeting and personalization capabilities.
Genome, designed to leverage data to improve advertiser ROI, can provide marketers with actionable insights enabling them to conduct campaigns that help meet their objectives, and overcome an ever-evolving set of industry challenges that include the proliferation of data, fragmentation of technology, and outdated planning and buying techniques. Genome can help marketers organize and navigate the chaos of the data ecosystem while delivering results that can build brand value, increase conversion rates, and grow revenue. Genome combines the best of the technology, data, analytics and media from Yahoo! and interclick; from Yahoo! — premium media and unmatched user data with proven targeting capabilities— and interclick — unified technology stack, third-party data partnerships and expertise in analytics and audiences. (more…)
Taking a sample from just one part of a tumour may not give a full picture of its‘genetic landscape’, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The findings could help explain why attempts at using single biopsies to identify biomarkers to which personalised cancer treatments can be targeted have not been more successful. (more…)
Researchers led by Matt Sullivan at the UA are among the first to dive into the world of viruses drifting through the world’s oceans.
Surrounded by the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean stretching from horizon to horizon, a lonely dot is glinting in the sun. It is the aluminum hull of a sailboat, a 118-foot schooner with white sails billowing from two masts.
On the deck, crewmembers and scientists are milling about. Commands are flying back and forth, and soon a strange contraption consisting of tubes clustered around an array of sensors dangling from a crane is lowered into the water, until it disappears in the clear blue depths. (more…)
An international team of researchers has discovered 13 new regions of the genome associated with the timing of menopause.
These genes shed light on the biological pathways involved in reproductive lifespan and will provide insights into conditions connected to menopause, such as breast cancer and heart disease.
Menopause is a major hormonal change that affects most women when they are in their early 50s. The timing of menopause can have a huge impact on fertility, as well as influencing the risk of a range of common diseases such as breast cancer. It has been known for some time that genetic factors influenced the onset of menopause, however until recently very few genes had been identified.
In the new study, published in the journal Nature Genetics on 22 January 2012, Dr Anna Murray, University of Exeter, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD) Dr John Perry, PCMD and WTCHG, University of Oxford, and dozens of international collaborators, examined the genomes of over 50,000 women. They identified 13 novel gene regions associated with menopause onset, and confirmed four previously identified. Most of the 17 regions include genes related to DNA damage/repair or the immune system, whilst others are linked to hormonal regulation. (more…)
