Computational modeling is the use of computers to simulate and study the behavior of complex systems. Computational approaches are widely adopted in the bioimedical sciences and can be used to sift through large volumes of complex data...
Mining the rich uncharted territory of the genome or genetic material of a cancer cell has yielded gold for Princess Margaret scientists: new protein targets for drug development against prostate cancer.
Researchers from the Universities of Cardiff and Bristol have devised a test that could in future help to identify children at risk of developing a very common eye condition.
A recent study by a group of scientists has revealed that a different mechanism is responsible for the formation and maintenance of the cell organelle called endosome that sorts and distributes substances entering a cell. Contrary to...
Following a nearly 25-year search across three continents, parents of a pair of sisters—who as children slowly became paralyzed from the waist down—finally have a diagnosis, according to researchers at University of Southern California...
One might think that the primary cause of most genetically linked diseases comes from mutations in coding DNA—alterations in coding regions of the genome that can lead directly to changes in the expression of particular proteins...
Deletion of the gene that codes for an enzyme called GSTM1 increased kidney injury in mice with hypertension and kidney disease, but supplementing the diet with broccoli powder lessened kidney injury in the genetically altered mice. In...
Bacteria associated with Crohn's disease rely on multiple stress responses to survive, multiply, and tolerate antibiotics within white blood cells called macrophages, according to a new study.
New research has identified a new mechanism that plays a role in controlling how the herpes virus alternates between dormant and active stages of infection.
Every year, more than 59,000 people around the world die of rabies and there remains no cheap and easy vaccine regimen to prevent the disease in humans. Now, researchers report that adding a specific immune molecule to a rabies vaccine...
Researchers have discovered that the Zika virus protein NS4A disrupts brain growth by hijacking a pathway that regulates the generation of new neurons.
AstraZeneca and MSD (Merck) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted acceptance to file status of its application for the MEK inhibitor selumetinib, for use in patients with plexiform neurofibromas, a...
Illegitimacy more likely over past 500 years among urban poor, say geneticists The Romans had a phrase that summed it up nicely: mater semper certa est, pater semper incertus est . The mother is always certain, the father is always...
Cell biologists have systematically investigated the genome of the malaria parasite Plasmodium throughout its life cycle in a large-scale experiment. The researchers were able to identify hundreds of targets that are urgently needed in...
Scientists have simulated every atom of a light-harvesting structure in a photosynthetic bacterium that generates energy for the organism. The simulated organelle behaves just like its counterpart in nature, the researchers report. The...
From organisms as simple as worms to those as complex as humans, sleep is a fundamental necessity. But although an estimated 50 to 70 million people in the United States suffer from a chronic sleep disorder, the genetic mechanisms that...
Endocytosis, a fundamental process that cells use to take in macromolecules, functions a lot like an airlock on a spaceship -- but squishier, says a researcher. Researchers have studied how cells initiate and perform endocytosis since...
Scientists have solved the structure of one of the key components of photosynthesis, a discovery that could lead to photosynthesis being 'redesigned' to achieve higher yields and meet urgent food security needs.
Loops at the ends of telomeres play a vital protective role preventing damage to chromosomes, according to new research. The study showed how the winding and unwinding of 't-loops' at the end of telomeres prevents chromosomes from being...
Researchers have succeeded in reconstructing the evolutionary relationship between a two million year old giant primate and the living orangutan. It is the first time genetic material this old has been retrieved from a fossil in a...
Microbiologists have discovered a new metabolic process in the ocean. Ranging from molecular structures of individual genes and detection of their global distribution, their results give insight into the pathway process and its...
A recent article studies chitin-binding proteins from a soilborne fungus (Verticillium nonalfalfae) that causes vascular wilt in plants. This fungus binds a particular protein (VnaChtBP) to chitin in order to abolish the host plant's...
Research involving several teams has shown that cellular recycling (autophagy) is repressed during the process of cell division, and how repression of autophagy during mitosis utilizes a different master regulator. The findings address a...
While reports of species going extinct are sadly becoming common, an international team of scientists has identified a new species of bird living on the Southern coast of China, that diverged from their Northern relatives around half a...
Researchers uncover the first piece of functional evidence suggesting that Tulane virus and human norovirus use viroporins to control cellular calcium signaling.
A collaborative research group has succeeded in identifying an important transcription factor, GCAM1, which allows liverwort plants to asexually reproduce through creating clonal progenies (vegetative reproduction). Furthermore, this...
In the past week, news has spread of a Florida judge's decision to grant a warrant allowing police to search one of the world's largest online DNA databases, for leads in a criminal case.
Researchers have revealed for the first time how white blood cells control the final moments of their death, helping their own removal from the human body.
Reproducibility is a major challenge in experimental biology. New research identifies a frequent technical bias in data generated by RNA-seq technology, which allows in a single test the simultaneous measurement of the expression level...
The generation of species-specific singing in songbirds is associated with species-specific patterns of gene activity in brain regions called song nuclei, according to a new study. According to the authors, the findings could be a...
A new study has shown that a commonly used vector for large gene transfer can successfully deliver genes to retinal cells in the laboratory, but when injected subretinally into rats it provokes a robust and acute inflammatory response. A...
Researchers discovered that a protein called CoRest, a neural repressor that is also found in humans, plays a central role in determining the social behavior of ants. The study also revealed that worker ants called Majors, known as...
Scientists are increasingly tracing a variety of diseases back to the so-called epigenome, a type of indexing system imposed on DNA that dictates how genes should be read by the cells. Now, a new study finds that changes in two...
Recent studies have found a high genetic similarity of the psychiatric diseases schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, whose disease-specific changes in brain cells show an overlap of more than 70 percent. These changes affect gene...
Those with a family history of schizophrenia and men with lower IQ are more likely to struggle with treatment-resistant schizophrenia than others with the mental disorder, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in...
Many of us crave historical connections – but ultimately, everybody now is descended from everybody then After watching Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey on ITV, I can confidently say that one thing it failed to do for me – and which genetics...
Humans have evolved dynamic defense mechanisms against the viruses that seek to infect our bodies -- proteins that specialize in identifying, capturing and destroying the genetic material that viruses try to sneak into our cells.
Using CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screens a multi-institutional research team systematically interrogated the essentiality of more than 10,000 forkhead box protein A1 (FOXA1) and CTCF binding sites in breast and prostate cancer cells, plucking...
Mitochondrial donation is an assisted reproductive technology sometimes described as "three-parent IVF". It's designed for women at high risk of passing on faulty mitochondrial DNA and having a child with severe mitochondrial disease.
A team has created better biosensor technology that may help lead to safe stem cell therapies for treating Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and other neurological disorders. The technology, which features a unique graphene and...
Biology encodes information in DNA and RNA, complex molecules finely tuned to their functions. Although, other nucleic acid-like polymers are known, yet much remains unknown regarding possible alternatives for hereditary information...
Researchers have converted the CRISPR 'recognition induced enzymatic signal' to an electrical signal, which was then used to detect the biomarkers for viruses such as HPV or parvo. They hope the end result could be a new 'universal...
MIPT researchers have collaborated with Atlas Biomedical Holding and developed a new bioinformatics data analysis method. The developed program, EphaGen, can be used for quality control when diagnosing genetic diseases. The team...
The constant battle against infectious pathogens has had a decisive influence on the human immune system over the course of our evolution. A key role in our adaptation to pathogens is played by HLA molecules. These proteins activate the...