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. (PhysOrg.com) -- A team led by Penn State's Ross Hardison, T. Ming Chu Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has taken a large step toward unraveling how regulatory proteins control the production of gene products during development and growth. Working with collaborators including Drs. Mitchell Weiss and Gerd Blobel at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, they focused specifically on the complex process of producing red blood cells (erythrocytes). These cells contain large amounts of hemoglobin, a molecule essential for transporting oxygen throughout the body. Abnormalities in hemoglobin figure in many serious diseases, such as sickle-cell disease, and abnormalities in producing blood cells can lead to leukemias. The work will be published in the December 2009 issue of the journal Genome Research. http://www.physorg.com/news177865776.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:40:21 EST news177865776 A new statistical technique developed by researchers at the University of Illinois allows scientists to scan a genome for specific gene-regulatory regions without requiring prior knowledge of the relevant transcription factors. The technique has been experimentally validated in both the mouse genome and the fruit fly genome. http://www.physorg.com/news177859128.html Biology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:19:22 EST news177859128 Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine assistant professor in the Center for RNA Molecular Biology, Jeff Coller, Ph.D., and his team discovered that messenger RNA (mRNA) predominately degrade on ribosomes, fundamentally altering a common understanding of how gene expression is controlled within the cell. The study, "Co-translational mRNA decay in Saccharomyces cerevisiae", is published in the latest issue of Nature. http://www.physorg.com/news170256361.html Biology Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:26:29 EST news170256361 The findings, published in this week's issue of Science, conclude that food-web stability is enhanced when many diverse predator-prey links connect high and intermediate trophic levels. The computations also reveal that small ecosystems follow other rules than large ecosystems: differences in the strength of predator-prey links increase the stability of small webs, but destabilize larger webs. http://www.physorg.com/news168787660.html Biology Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:20:01 EST news168787660 Distinctive patterns of genes turned off - or left on - in healthy versus cancerous cells could enable early screening for many common cancers and maybe help avoid them, Medical College of Georgia scientists say. http://www.physorg.com/news167912666.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:40:01 EST news167912666 Scientists in Michigan and California are reporting an advance toward development of a new generation of drugs that treat disease by orchestrating how genes in the body produce proteins involved in arthritis, cancer and a range of other disorders. Acting like an `on-off switch,` the medications might ratchet up the production of proteins in genes working at abnormally low levels or shut off genes producing an abnormal protein linked to disease. http://www.physorg.com/news163362257.html Chemistry Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:24:52 EST news163362257 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the quest for new approaches to treating and preventing disease, one appealing route involves turning genes on or off at will, directly intervening in ailments such as cancer and diabetes, which result when genes fail to turn on and off as they should. http://www.physorg.com/news163249974.html Chemistry Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:13:59 EST news163249974 A study of gene expression in chickens, frogs, pufferfish, mice and people has revealed surprising similarities in several key tissues. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Biology have shown that expression in tissues with a limited number of specialized cell types is strongly conserved, even between the mammalian and non-mammalian vertebrates. http://www.physorg.com/news159081834.html Biology Thu, 16 Apr 2009 06:31:33 EST news159081834 A new study has identified a potential strategy for removing the abnormal protein that causes Huntington's disease (HD) from brain cells, which could slow the progression of the devastating neurological disorder. In the April 3 issue of Cell, a team of researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) describes how an alteration to the mutated form of the huntingtin protein appears to accelerate its breakdown and removal through normal cellular processes. http://www.physorg.com/news157895508.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:52:15 EST news157895508 (PhysOrg.com) -- Providing another tool to help to understand gene regulation on a global scale, a nationwide research team has identified and mapped 55,000 enhancers, short regions of DNA that act to enhance or boost the expression of genes. The map, which will be published March 18 in the advance on-line edition of the journal Nature, will help scientists understand how cells control expression of genes specific to their particular cell type. http://www.physorg.com/news156604690.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:19:29 EST news156604690 A novel Brandeis University study this week in PLoS Biology reports on some of the molecular gymnastics performed by a protein involved in regulating DNA transcription. Using state-of-the art tools, researchers observed the shape and behavior of individual DNA molecules bent into tight loops by Lac repressor, a protein from the bacterium E.coli that switches on and off individual genes. http://www.physorg.com/news141989440.html Biology Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:30:40 EST news141989440 Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have discovered a type of gene regulation never before observed in mammals--a "ribozyme" that controls the activity of an important family of genes in several different species. http://www.physorg.com/news134828776.html Biology Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:26:16 EST news134828776