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Bacteria Show Capacity for Rapid, Beneficial Mutations

By Guest PostNovember 20, 2016Sciencebacteria, bacterial genome, e coli, jeffrey barrick, ltee, molecular biosciences, mutations, olivier tenaillon, richard lenski

AUSTIN, Texas — Scientists studying how microbes evolve have long assumed that nearly all new genetic mutations get passed down at a predictable pace and usually without either helping or hurting the microbe in adapting to its environment. In a new study published in the journal Nature, an international team of researchers studying tens of thousands of generations of E. coli bacteria report that most new genetic mutations that were passed down were actually beneficial and occurred at much more variable rates than previously thought. The finding could have implications for treating bacterial infections. (more…)

Fertility: Sacrificing eggs for the greater good

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2014Health4 th dimension, andre knie, carnegie, chromosomes, DNA, elch, elektronendynamik chiraler Systeme, eric song, fertility, flower power, gregor hartmann, jumping genes, lernende maschinen, maga, mutations, nanoparticles bioadhesive, roentgenstrahlen impulsen, sticky particles, trump dynasty

A woman’s supply of eggs is a precious commodity because only a few hundred mature eggs can be produced throughout her lifetime and each must be as free as possible from genetic damage. Part of egg production involves a winnowing of the egg supply during fetal development, childhood and into adulthood down from a large starting pool. New research by Carnegie’s Alex Bortvin and postdoctoral fellow Safia Malki have gained new insights into the earliest stages of egg selection, which may have broad implications for women’s health and fertility. The work is reported in the early on-line edition of Developmental Cell. (more…)

Self-fertilizing plants contribute to their own demise

By Guest PostJune 16, 2013Naturebeautiful flowers, capsella grandiflora, capsella rubella, detlef weigel, DNA, extinction, genomic data, Germany, harmful mutations, max planck institute, mutations, own demise, protein sequence, red shepherds purse, self fertilizing plants, selfing, stephen wright, structure, tanja slotte, tuebigen, university of toronto

TORONTO, ON – Many plants are self-fertilizing, meaning they act as both mother and father to their own seeds. This strategy – known as selfing – guarantees reproduction but, over time, leads to reduced diversity and the accumulation of harmful mutations. A new study published in the scientific journal Nature Genetics shows that these negative consequences are apparent across a selfing plant’s genome, and can arise more rapidly than previously thought.

In the study, an international consortium led by Stephen Wright in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto and Detlef Weigel at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology sequenced the genome of the plant species Capsella rubella, commonly known as Red Shepherd’s Purse. They found clear evidence that harmful mutations were accumulating over the species’ relatively short existence. (more…)

Bittersweet: Bait-Averse Cockroaches Shudder at Sugar

By Guest PostJune 9, 2013Nature, Scienceayako wada katsumata, behavior, behavioral resistance, bittersweet, coby schal, cockroaches, entomologist, genetic changes, german cockroaches, glucose, glucose averse roaches, jules silverman, loss of function, memory, mutations, normal cockroaches, north Carolina, paraglossae, receptor neurons, roach bait poison, state university, sugar, types of food

Sugar isn’t always sweet to German cockroaches, especially to the ones that avoid roach baits.

In a study published May 24 in the journal Science, North Carolina State University entomologists show the neural mechanism behind the aversion to glucose, the simple sugar that is a popular ingredient in roach-bait poison. Glucose sets off bitter receptors in roach taste buds, causing roaches to avoid foods that bring on this taste-bud reaction. This aversion has a genetic basis and it eventually spreads to offspring, resulting in increasingly large groups of cockroaches that reject glucose and any baits made with it.

In normal German cockroaches, glucose elicits activity in sugar gustatory receptor neurons, which react when exposed to sugars like glucose and fructose – components of corn syrup, a common roach-bait ingredient. Generally, roaches have a sweet tooth for these sugars. (more…)

UA Geneticists Find Causes for Severe Childhood Epilepsies

By Guest PostMay 11, 2013Healthbio5 member, breakthrough, causes, chromosome abnormalities, clinical genomics, clinical practice, conventional genetic testing, ct scans, developmental brain disorders, dinesh talwar, dna sequencing technique, epilepsy, genetic defects, jeff wilhelm, journal epilepsia, krishna veeramah, linda restifo, magnetic resonance imaging, michael hammer, molecular diagnostics, mutations, neurologist, Phoenix, robert erickson, seizure disorders, severe childhood epilepsies, ua geneticists, university of arizona, whole exome sequencing

Using a state-of-the-art DNA sequencing technique, UA researchers have discovered genetic mutations underlying seizure disorders in previously undiagnosed children.

Researchers at the University of Arizona have successfully determined the genetic mutations causing severe epilepsies in seven out of 10 children for whom the cause of the disorder could not be determined clinically or by conventional genetic testing.

Instead of sequencing each gene one at a time, the team used a technique called whole-exome sequencing: Rather than combing through all of the roughly 3 billion base pairs of an individual’s entire genome, whole-exome-sequencing deciphers only actual genes, and nearly all of them simultaneously. (more…)

Misregulated genes may have big autism role

By Guest PostApril 1, 2013Healthautism, autism cerebral cortex, bank, biochemical exchanges, brain tissue, brains of children, brown university, christianson syndrome, daniel geschwind, endosomes of cells, epilepsy, eric morrow, genetic pathway, human behavior, irinia voineagu, karoly mirnics, key molecular player, krassimira garbett, los angeles, messenger rna, misregulated genes, mutations, nhe6, nhe9, proteins, raw data, statistical analysis, university of california, vanderbilt university

A genetic pathway involving proteins in the endosomes of cells appears to be misregulated in the brains of children with autism, according to a newly published statistical analysis in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. Previously the genes were shown to cause rare forms of the disease but the new study suggests they have a wider role.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study finds that two genes individually associated with rare autism-related disorders are also jointly linked to more general forms of autism. The finding suggests a new genetic pathway to investigate in general autism research. (more…)

Powerful New Approach to Attack Flu Virus

By Guest PostMay 29, 2012Scienceadaptable virus, avian flu, biopharmaceutical industry, dna deep sequencing, flu epidemics, flu virus, H1N1, H5N1, Israel, kurt stepnitz, la jolla, michigan state university, mutations, nature biotechnology, new approach, pandemic influenza viruses, protein, rehovot, san diego, Science, scripps research institute, smallpox, subtypes, swine flu, therapeutic proteins, tim whitehead, university of washington, weizmann institute

EAST LANSING, Mich. — An international research team has manufactured a new protein that can combat deadly flu epidemics.

The paper, featured on the cover of the current issue of Nature Biotechnology, demonstrates ways to use manufactured genes as antivirals, which disable key functions of the flu virus, said Tim Whitehead, assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science at Michigan State University.

“Our most potent design has proven effective on the vulnerable sites on many pandemic influenza viruses, including several H1N1 (Spanish flu, Swine flu) and H5N1 (Avian flu) subtypes,” said Whitehead, the paper’s co-lead author. “These new therapeutics are urgently needed, so we were especially pleased to see that it neutralizes H1N1 viruses with potency.” (more…)

Chernobyl Effects Could Last for Centuries

By PravdaSeptember 4, 2010EnvironmentChernobyl, david sumner, Greenpeace, Hiroshima, iaea, ian fairly, international atomic energy agency, mir, mutations, Nagasaki, NASA, nuclear accident, nuclear power plant, oksana kostikov, pavol stracansky, radiation, radioactive contamination, rianne teuleI, russian space station, thyroid cancer, WHO, wladimir wertelecki, world health organization

Nearly 25 years after the worst nuclear accident in history, new scientific findings suggest that the effects of the explosion at Chernobyl have been underestimated. Experts last month published a series of studies indicating that, contrary to previous findings, populations of animals decreased in the exclusion zone surrounding the site of the former nuclear power plant, and that the effects of radioactive contamination after the outbreak had been “overwhelming.”

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