http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Mice without the deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) enzyme have defects in their adaptive immune system, producing very low levels of both T and B lymphocytes, the major players involved in immune response, according to a study by researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. http://www.physorg.com/news180708481.html Medicine & Health Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:49:18 EST news180708481 MIT and Boston University researchers have discovered that the drug hydroxyurea kills bacteria by inducing them to produce molecules toxic to themselves - a conclusion that raises the possibility of finding new antibiotics that use similar mechanisms. http://www.physorg.com/news179674100.html Biology Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:29:28 EST news179674100 (PhysOrg.com) -- On average, our cells encounter a very lethal form of DNA damage 10 times a day. Lucky for us, we have the capacity to repair each and every one of them. New research now reveals exactly how two well-known proteins are involved in the process, a finding that not only helps shed light on cancer but also on how our cells maintain the integrity of our genome. http://www.physorg.com/news177322691.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:50:02 EST news177322691 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists here have identified how the motions of an enzyme are related to correctly copying genetic instructions, setting the stage for studies that can uncover what happens when DNA copying mistakes are made. http://www.physorg.com/news175867311.html Chemistry Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:02:20 EST news175867311 A study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified a key player in a molecular process essential for DNA replication within cells. http://www.physorg.com/news175435791.html Biology Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:20:04 EST news175435791 By discovering the atomic structure of a key human enzyme, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have pointed the way toward designing anti-HIV drugs with far less toxic side effects. http://www.physorg.com/news174833926.html Biology Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:10:01 EST news174833926 A team of scientists, led by a biomedical engineer at The University of Texas at Austin, have demonstrated - for the first time - that mathematical models created from data obtained by DNA microarrays, can be used to correctly predict previously unknown cellular mechanisms. This brings biologists a step closer to one day being able to understand and control the inner workings of the cell as readily as NASA engineers plot the trajectories of spacecraft today. http://www.physorg.com/news174737745.html Biology Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:16:39 EST news174737745 A team of researchers from The Wistar Institute have shown that a large non-coding RNA in mammals and yeast plays a central role in helping maintain telomeres, the tips of chromosomes that contain important genetic information and help regulate cell division. Since this RNA also facilitates the formation of DNA at telomeres -- a process that can protect aging cells and destabilize tumor cells -- manipulating its expression may be useful in treating cancer and other diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news170954150.html Medicine & Health Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:30:02 EST news170954150 (PhysOrg.com) -- A small piece of foreign DNA recognizes when and where to slip into a bacterium's genetic code, allowing bacteria to genetically adapt to their environment -- and develop resistance to antibiotics, according to a new Cornell study in the Aug. 21 issue of the journal Cell. http://www.physorg.com/news170005193.html Biology Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:50:02 EST news170005193 Scientists from the Department of Biological Sciences and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech have developed a quantitative, mathematical model of DNA replication and cell division for the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus. C. crescentus, an alpha-proteobacterium that inhabits freshwater, seawater and soils, is an ideal organism for genetic and computational biology studies due to the wealth of molecular information that has been accumulated by researchers. It also plays a key role in global carbon cycling in its natural environment. http://www.physorg.com/news169448410.html Biology Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:00:42 EST news169448410 The Stowers Institute's Conaway Lab has uncovered a previously unknown function of a gene product called Amplified in Liver Cancer 1 (Alc1), which may play a role in the onset of cancer. The work was published yesterday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Early Edition. http://www.physorg.com/news168967407.html Medicine & Health Sun, 09 Aug 2009 06:30:03 EST news168967407 Peering into the DNA of tiny yeast, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego and the San Diego Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have pinpointed a large number of genes that can prevent a type of genetic rearrangement that may lead to cancer and other diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news168786880.html Medicine & Health Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:15:17 EST news168786880 (PhysOrg.com) -- A group of nanoengineers, biologists and physicists have used innovative approaches to deduce the internal structure of chromatin, a key player in DNA regulation, to reconcile a longstanding controversy in this field. This new finding could unlock the mystery behind the origin of many diseases such as cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news168270003.html Chemistry Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:40:36 EST news168270003 Researchers have devised a scheme for identifying genes in yeast that could lead to the identification of new cancer genes in humans. The study is published online this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news167989074.html Biology Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:00:04 EST news167989074 An iconic photograph (http://img.timeinc.net/time/80days/images/530228.jpg) of Nobel laureates Drs. Francis Crick and James Watson show the pair discussing with a rigid model of the famous double helix. http://www.physorg.com/news166717469.html Biology Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:25:05 EST news166717469 (PhysOrg.com) -- Telomeres, the repetitive sequences of DNA at the ends of linear chromosomes, have an important function: They protect vulnerable chromosome ends from molecular attack. Researchers at Rockefeller University now show that telomeres have their own weakness. They resemble unstable parts of the genome called fragile sites where DNA replication can stall and go awry. But what keeps our fragile telomeres from falling apart is a protein that ensures the smooth progression of DNA replication to the end of a chromosome. http://www.physorg.com/news166442641.html Biology Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:06:21 EST news166442641 Researchers in human genetics have long known that expansions of GAA repeats - resulting in this nucleotide triplet repeating hundreds or thousands of times - cause the most common hereditary neurological disorder known as Friedreich's ataxia. There is no cure for this condition, which damages the nervous system and can result in heart disease. http://www.physorg.com/news166360897.html Biology Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:50:01 EST news166360897 A team of Penn State scientists has shed light on the processes that lead to certain human DNA mutations that are implicated in hundreds of inherited diseases such as tuberous sclerosis and neurofibromatosis type 1. The results one day could influence the way couples who seek to have children receive genetic counseling. The team, led by Kateryna Makova, an associate professor of biology, also includes Erika Kvikstad, a graduate student in the Department of Biology, and Francesca Chiaromonte, an associate professor of statistics. Their findings will be published in the July 2009 issue of the journal Genome Research. http://www.physorg.com/news165736600.html Biology Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:57:15 EST news165736600 Rearrangements of all sizes in genomes, genes and exons can result from a glitch in DNA copying that occurs when the process stalls at a critical point and then shifts to a different genetic template, duplicating and even triplicating genes or just shuffling or deleting part of the code within them, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a recent report in the journal Nature Genetics. The report further elucidated the effect of the fork stalling and template switching mechanism involved in some forms of copy number variation. http://www.physorg.com/news164809504.html Medicine & Health Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:26:26 EST news164809504 Corrupt lifestyles and vices go hand in hand; each feeds the other. But even the worst miscreant needs customary societal amenities to get by. It's the same with cancer cells. While they rely on vices in the form of genetic mutations to wreak havoc, they must sustain their activity, and that requires equal parts vice and virtue. http://www.physorg.com/news162736489.html Medicine & Health Thu, 28 May 2009 13:35:25 EST news162736489 As reported this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology, an international team of scientists studying a rare genetic disease has discovered that a bundle of proteins already known to be important for keeping chromosomes together also plays an important role in regulating gene expression in humans. In addition to shedding light on the biological roles of these proteins, the research may lead to the development of better diagnostic tools for Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS), a multisystem developmental disease. http://www.physorg.com/news162625388.html Biology Wed, 27 May 2009 06:43:35 EST news162625388 Highly fluorescent gold nanoclusters for sub-cellular imaging have been synthesized by researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), one of the research institutes of Singapore's A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research). http://www.physorg.com/news159098428.html Nanotechnology Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:00:56 EST news159098428 Researchers have long known that some repetitive DNA sequences can make human chromosomes "fragile," i.e. appearing constricted or even broken during cell divisions. Scientists at Tufts University have found that one such DNA repeat not only stalls the cell's replication process but also thwarts the cell's capacity to repair and restart it. The researchers focused on this CGG repeat because it is associated with hereditary neurological disorders such as fragile X syndrome and FRAXE mental impairment. http://www.physorg.com/news150905205.html Biology Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:06:45 EST news150905205 Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have demonstrated important new roles for the protein kinase complex Cdc7/Dbf4 or Cdc7/Drf1 (Ddk) in monitoring damage control during DNA replication and reinitiating replication following DNA repair. Since Ddk is often deregulated in human cancers, this new understanding of its role in DNA damage control could help shape new cancer therapies. The research was published in the December 24 issue of Molecular Cell. http://www.physorg.com/news150397201.html Biology Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:00:01 EST news150397201