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Health experts, scientists to discuss bird flu studies

The World Health Organization said Friday it will meet next week to determine whether scientists can publish research on a bird flu virus that may be easily passed among humans.

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Feb 10, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Cure of ADPKD by selection for spontaneous genetic repair events in Pkd1-mutated iPS cells

A research group including Kyoto University researchers demonstrates that mouse iPS cells, in which genetic correction occurs spontaneously through mitotic recombination, is selectable from the population of genetically mutated ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 10, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Further support for a role of synaptic proteins in autism spectrum disorders

A new study combines genetic and neurobiological approaches to confirm that synaptic mutations increase the risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). It also highlights a role for modifier genes in these disorders. Published ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Using the body's own immune system in the fight against cancer

DNA sequences from tumor cells can be used to direct the immune system to attack cancer, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Medicine & Health / Research

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Gene mutation discovery sparks hope for effective endometriosis screening

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have, for the first time, described the genetic basis of endometriosis, a condition affecting millions of women that is marked by chronic pelvic pain and infertility. ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'ROCK' off: Study establishes molecular link between genetic defect and heart malformation

UNC researchers have discovered how the genetic defect underlying one of the most common congenital heart diseases keeps the critical organ from developing properly. According to the new research, mutations ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New virtual tool may provide more accurate diagnosis of genetic mutations

DNA sequencing to detect genetic mutations can aid in the diagnosis and selection of treatment for cancer. Current methods of testing DNA samples, Sanger sequencing and pyrosequencing, occasionally produce complex results ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Rare mutations may help explain aneurysm in high-risk families

An innovative approach to genome screening has provided clues about rare mutations that may make people susceptible to brain aneurysms, predisposing them to brain bleeds, according to preliminary late-breaking research presented ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Feb 03, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Combination drug therapy urged to battle lung cancer

Combination drug therapy may be needed to combat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Van Andel Research Institute (VARI).

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Same genes linked to early- and late-onset Alzheimer's disease

The same gene mutations linked to inherited, early-onset Alzheimer's disease have been found in people with the more common late-onset form of the illness.

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Chaos in the cell's command center

A defective operating system is never a good thing. Like computers, our cells depend on operating systems to drive normal functions. Gene expression programs comprise the software code our cells rely on, with each cell type ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Gene mutation in autism found to cause hyperconnectivity in brain's hearing center

New research from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) might help explain how a gene mutation found in some autistic individuals leads to difficulties in processing auditory cues and paying spatial attention to sound.

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Jan 31, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Gene mutation is linked to accumulation of fat, other lipids in liver

A team of scientists from the University of Utah and the University of California at San Francisco has discovered that the mutation of a gene encoding a ketone body transporter triggers accumulation of fat and other lipids ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Jan 31, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genes linked to cancer could be easier to detect with liquid lasers

Using a liquid laser, University of Michigan researchers have developed a better way to detect the slight genetic mutations that might predispose a person to a particular type of cancer or other diseases.

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Jan 31, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Cancer drugs shown to cause mutations in mice offspring

(Medical Xpress) -- For many years, most of the studies done to see what effects cancer treatment has on the offspring of survivors, has involved radiation. This is because radiation is known to cause mutations in cells. ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jan 31, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Mutation

In biology, mutations are changes to the nucleotide sequence of the genetic material of an organism. Mutations can be caused by copying errors in the genetic material during cell division, by exposure to ultraviolet or ionizing radiation, chemical mutagens, or viruses, or can be induced by the organism itself, by cellular processes such as hypermutation. In multicellular organisms with dedicated reproductive cells, mutations can be subdivided into germ line mutations, which can be passed on to descendants through the reproductive cells, and somatic mutations, which involve cells outside the dedicated reproductive group and which are not usually transmitted to descendants. If the organism can reproduce asexually through mechanisms such as cuttings or budding the distinction can become blurred. For example, plants can sometimes transmit somatic mutations to their descendants asexually or sexually where flower buds develop in somatically mutated parts of plants. A new mutation that was not inherited from either parent is called a de novo mutation. The source of the mutation is unrelated to the consequence, although the consequences are related to which cells were mutated.

Mutations create variation within the gene pool. Less favorable (or deleterious) mutations can be reduced in frequency in the gene pool by natural selection, while more favorable (beneficial or advantageous) mutations may accumulate and result in adaptive evolutionary changes. For example, a butterfly may produce offspring with new mutations. The majority of these mutations will have no effect; but one might change the color of one of the butterfly's offspring, making it harder (or easier) for predators to see. If this color change is advantageous, the chance of this butterfly surviving and producing its own offspring are a little better, and over time the number of butterflies with this mutation may form a larger percentage of the population.

Neutral mutations are defined as mutations whose effects do not influence the fitness of an individual. These can accumulate over time due to genetic drift. It is believed that the overwhelming majority of mutations have no significant effect on an organism's fitness. Also, DNA repair mechanisms are able to mend most changes before they become permanent mutations, and many organisms have mechanisms for eliminating otherwise permanently mutated somatic cells.

Mutation is generally accepted by the scientific community as the mechanism upon which natural selection acts, providing the advantageous new traits that survive and multiply in offspring or disadvantageous traits that die out with weaker organisms.

For more information about Mutation, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: cancer , genes , protein , genetic mutations , evolution