Archive for the ‘Genetics’ Category
Saturday, April 12th, 2008
The Human Genome Project revealed that only a small fraction of the 3 billion "letter" DNA code actually instructs cells to manufacture proteins, the workhorses of most life processes. This has raised the question of what the remaining part of the human genome does. How much of the rest performs ...
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Friday, April 11th, 2008
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., a physician-geneticist and leader of the Human Genome Project, has been named recipient of the inaugural Inamori Ethics Prize from the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence at Case Western Reserve University.The Inamori Ethics Prize honors outstanding international ethical leaders. It is presented annually ...
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Friday, April 11th, 2008
In the event of an outbreak or a bioterrorist attack, rapid identification of the genetic changes responsible for virulence or drug resistance is essential to mounting an effective response. Standard DNA sequencing and analysis of a pathogen genome is time-intensive and likely impractical during an emergency. ...
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Thursday, April 10th, 2008
A tiny variation in a gene known as CHI3L1 increases susceptibility to asthma, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and decline in lung function, researchers report early online in the New England Journal of Medicine. (The printed version will appear in the April 17 issue). The gene variant causes increased blood levels of YKL-40, ...
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Thursday, April 10th, 2008
A mechanic uses diagnostic tests to determine why your engine is making strange sounds before lifting a wrench to fix the problem. Pediatric cardiologists would love to take a similar approach with patients experiencing cardiac hypertrophy a thickening of the heart muscle. Rational treatment requires understanding the underlying causes of ...
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Congenital myasthenias are inherited disorders characterized by muscle weakness caused by mutations in genes that contain the information for making proteins that are involved in the communication between nerves and muscle cells. For example, some individuals with congential myasthenia have mutations in the genes that contain the information for making ...
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are genes which produce important elements that regulate a wide variety of processes in plants, animals and humans. MiRNAs are considered to be promising diagnostic and therapeutic candidates for the treatment of human diseases. Worldwide, scientists are seeking to develop methods to detect which miRNAs are active in ...
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Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
If you've always suspected there are unknown things living in the dark and dusty corners of your home and office, we are now one step closer to cataloguing exactly what might be lurking in your indoor environment. Buildings have their own pattern of bacteria in indoor dust, which includes species ...
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Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are major contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Several interacting environmental, biochemical, and genetic risk factors can increase disease susceptibility. While some of the genes involved in the etiology of CVD are known, many are yet to be discovered. During the last few decades, scientists have searched ...
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Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
Fungi processing audio signals. E. Coli storing images. DNA acting as logic circuits.It's possible, and in some cases, it's already happened. In any event, performing digital signal processing using organic and chemical materials without electrical currents could be the wave of the future - or so argue Sotirios Tsaftaris, research ...
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