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. Evolutionary biology tells us that replaying life's tape will not not look at all like the original. The outcome of evolution is contingent on everything that came before. Now, scientists at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia in Portugal, New York University and the University of California, Irvine, provide the first quantitative genetic evidence of why this is so. http://www.physorg.com/news150905616.html Biology Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:13:36 EST news150905616 A Mayo Clinic-led international consortium has found a mechanism that may help explain Parkinson's and other neurological disorders. http://www.physorg.com/news150904281.html Medicine & Health Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:51:21 EST news150904281 As a chemical for industrial processes, butanol is used in everything from brake fluid, to paint thinners, to plastics. According to a University of Illinois researcher, butanol made from plant material could displace butanol made from petroleum, just not at the fuel pump. http://www.physorg.com/news150653472.html Biology Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:11:12 EST news150653472 An international consortium of researchers, including major contribution from a team led by Dr. John D. Rioux, a professor of medicine at the Université de Montréal and the Montreal Heart Institute, has identified genetic markers associated with risk for ulcerative colitis. The findings, published in the advance online journal Nature Genetics, bring researchers closer to understanding the biological pathways involved in the disease and may lead to the development of new treatments that specifically target them. http://www.physorg.com/news150642174.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:02:54 EST news150642174 The first people to arrive in America traveled as at least two separate groups to arrive in their new home at about the same time, according to new genetic evidence published online on January 8th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. http://www.physorg.com/news150642011.html Biology Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:00:11 EST news150642011 The international GIANT (Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Parameters) consortium works on the discovery of obesity genes. So far, the scientists have analyzed two million DNA variations in 15 genome-wide association studies with a total of more than 32,000 participants. The hereby identified candidate genes were validated in 14 further studies including 59,000 participants. In addition to the FTO and MC4R genes already known, it was now possible for six more obesity genes to be identified: TMEM18, KCTD15, GNPDA2, SH2B1, MTCH2, and NEGR1. http://www.physorg.com/news150636788.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:33:08 EST news150636788 The enzyme machine that translates a cell's DNA code into the proteins of life is nothing if not an editorial perfectionist. http://www.physorg.com/news150559493.html Biology Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:04:53 EST news150559493 A special issue of American Journal of Medical Genetics (AJMG): Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics presents a comprehensive overview of the latest progress in genetic research of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The issue covers major trends in the field of complex psychiatric genetics, underscoring how genetic studies of ADHD have evolved, and what approaches are needed to uncover its genetic origins. http://www.physorg.com/news150557888.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:38:08 EST news150557888 is no cure for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic disorder that causes the weakening of muscles and is the leading genetic cause of infant death, but University of Missouri researchers have discovered a new therapeutic target that improves deteriorating skeletal muscle tissue caused by SMA. The new therapy enhanced muscle strength, improved gross motor skills and increased the lifespan in a SMA model. http://www.physorg.com/news150556755.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:19:15 EST news150556755 New evidence in mice bolsters the notion that a version of a gene earlier shown to protect lean people against weight gain and insulin resistance can have the opposite effect in those who eat a high-fat diet and are heavier, reveals a report in the January 7th issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. http://www.physorg.com/news150468784.html Biology Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:53:04 EST news150468784 Digitalis-based drugs like digoxin have been used for centuries to treat patients with irregular heart rhythms and heart failure and are still in use today. In the Dec. 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine now report that this same class of drugs may hold new promise as a treatment for cancer. This finding emerged through a search for existing drugs that might slow or stop cancer progression. http://www.physorg.com/news150389159.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:45:59 EST news150389159 An international team led by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers has identified genetic markers associated with risk for ulcerative colitis. The findings, which appear today as an advance online publication of the journal Nature Genetics, bring researchers closer to understanding the biological pathways involved in the disease and may lead to the development of new treatments that specifically target them. http://www.physorg.com/news150298032.html Medicine & Health Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:27:12 EST news150298032 MIT engineers have developed a new, highly efficient way to pair up cells so they can be fused together into a hybrid cell. The new technique should make it much easier for scientists to study what happens when two cells are combined. For example, fusing an adult cell and an embryonic stem cell allows researchers to study the genetic reprogramming that occurs in such hybrids. http://www.physorg.com/news150297594.html Biology Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:19:54 EST news150297594 Researchers from Duke University Medical Center have identified a variation in a particular gene that increases susceptibility to early coronary artery disease. For years, scientists have known that the devastating, early-onset form of the disease was inherited, but they knew little about the gene(s) responsible until now. The results are published January 2 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. http://www.physorg.com/news150179720.html Medicine & Health Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:35:20 EST news150179720 A team of scientists has discovered a new syndrome associated with severe congenital neutropenia (SCN), a rare disorder in which children lack sufficient infection-fighting white cells, and identified the genetic cause of the syndrome: mutations in the gene Glucose-6-phosphatase, catalytic subunit 3 (G6PC3). The findings, which are published in the Jan. 1, 2009 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, were made by an international team of scientists, composed of 14 researchers from the Medical School of Hannover in Germany and 12 from other research institutions, including the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. http://www.physorg.com/news150122330.html Medicine & Health Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:38:50 EST news150122330 A new clinical trial suggests that long-term use of candesartan, a drug currently used to treat hypertension, may significantly reduce the symptoms of genetic heart disease. The related report by Penicka et al, "The effects of candesartan on left ventricular hypertrophy and function in non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a pilot, randomized study," appears in the January issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. http://www.physorg.com/news149838893.html Medicine & Health Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:54:53 EST news149838893 Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have, for the first time in history, derived authentic embryonic stem (ES) cells from rats. This breakthrough finding will enable scientists to create far more effective animal models for the study of a range of human diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news149343895.html Biology Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:24:55 EST news149343895 (PhysOrg.com) -- Genes talk to themselves and to each other to control how a given cell manufactures proteins. But variation in the control of the same gene in two different tissues may contribute to certain human traits, including the likelihood of getting a disease, said a team of geneticists and neuroscientists at Duke University Medical Center. http://www.physorg.com/news149264483.html Biology Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:21:23 EST news149264483 (PhysOrg.com) -- Here's one more reason to say "shade grown, please" when you order your morning cup of coffee. Shade coffee farms, which grow coffee under a canopy of multiple tree species, not only harbor native birds, bats and other beneficial creatures, but also maintain genetic diversity of native tree species and can act as focal points for tropical forest regeneration. http://www.physorg.com/news149171330.html Biology Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:28:50 EST news149171330 Scientists have found that genetic variation at the hexokinase-1 gene is linked to variation in the blood concentration of glycated hemoglobin, an index of long-term blood glucose concentration widely used in the follow-up of diabetes patients. The study, conducted by researchers from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, USA, is published December 19 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. http://www.physorg.com/news148885518.html Medicine & Health Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:05:18 EST news148885518 According to the National Institute of Mental Health, borderline personality disorder (BPD) is more common than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and is estimated to affect 2 percent of the population. In a new study, a University of Missouri researcher and Dutch team of research collaborators found that genetic material on chromosome nine was linked to BPD features, a disorder characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image and behavior, and can lead to suicidal behavior, substance abuse and failed relationships. http://www.physorg.com/news148653587.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:39:47 EST news148653587 A genetic study of more than 90,000 people has identified six new genetic variants that are associated with increased Body Mass Index (BMI), the most commonly used measure of obesity. Five of the genes are known to be active in the brain, suggesting that many genetic variants implicated in obesity might affect behaviour, rather than the chemical processes of energy or fat metabolism. http://www.physorg.com/news148488011.html Medicine & Health Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:40:11 EST news148488011 A fundamental process in the transmission of genes from mother to child has been identified by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University. The new study published in the December issue of the journal Nature Genetics identifies a mechanism that plays a key role in how mutations are transmitted from one generation to the next, providing unprecedented insight into metabolic diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news148238709.html Medicine & Health Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:25:09 EST news148238709 Human impacts on the environment have reduced populations of wild species to dangerously low levels. Nowhere is this more apparent than in worldwide fisheries, where thanks to overfishing and habitat destruction, countless species and populations of fish are on the brink of disappearing forever. To attempt to mitigate the dire situation, captive breeding, the controlled breeding of organisms in protected environments, is regularly initiated. http://www.physorg.com/news148218342.html Biology Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:45:42 EST news148218342 Carrier screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) -a serious genetic disease affecting approximately 1 in 10,000 infants that causes progressive muscle weakness and death -should be made available to all families, according to a new practice guideline issued by the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG). The statement appears in the November 2008 issue of Genetics in Medicine, the official peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Medical Genetics. In the past, tests to identify carriers of the gene responsible for SMA have generally been offered only to people with a family history of the disease. http://www.physorg.com/news148063945.html Medicine & Health Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:52:25 EST news148063945 Researchers at the UCSF Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center have identified a region on the human genome that appears to determine how strongly drinkers feel the effects of alcohol and thus how prone they are to alcohol abuse. http://www.physorg.com/news148063260.html Medicine & Health Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:41:00 EST news148063260 Scientists have identified a genetic signature that is remarkably effective at predicting the prognosis of an aggressive liver cancer in children. The research, published by Cell Press in the December issue of the journal Cancer Cell, may lead to better treatments for pediatric liver cancers. http://www.physorg.com/news147965816.html Medicine & Health Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:36:56 EST news147965816 Scientists have identified 12 new genes that are somewhat strange bedfellows: Some link gallstones and blood cholesterol levels, others link melatonin and sleep patterns to small increases in glucose levels and larger jumps in the risk of diabetes. http://www.physorg.com/news147885016.html Medicine & Health Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:10:16 EST news147885016 A new genome-wide study examines genetic variants associated with nine metabolic traits and is the first to draw out novel variants from a population unselected for current disease. The traits are indicators for common disease such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, blood pressure, inflammation and lipid levels. http://www.physorg.com/news147884792.html Medicine & Health Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:06:32 EST news147884792 A new study presages a real aim of genetics: to look at whole populations to in order determine the significance of individual genetic variants for individual health. The research team, whose work is published in Nature Genetics, find six novel genetic variants that are associated with lipid levels, a common indicator of heart or artery disease. http://www.physorg.com/news147884469.html Medicine & Health Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:01:09 EST news147884469