Genetics & Molecular Biology

Epigenetics: Metabolic Disease Due To Your Grandmother

Low birth weight is indicative of various problems and fortunately modern science has made it possible for more low-birth weight babies than ever to thrive, survival is over 94 percent for children born in the third trimester of pregnancy. But low birth we ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 2 2015 - 10:13am

Mitochondrial 'Shield' That Helps Cancer Cells Survive Identified

Why can cancer cells be so resilient, even when faced with the onslaught of nearly toxic drug cocktails, radiation, and even our own immune system? A new research report appearing in the March 2015 issue of The FASEB Journal, shows that intermediate filam ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 7 2015 - 9:00am

Enzyme Modification Boosts Crop Yields

Enzymes are the workhorses of our bodies, they make biochemical reactions happen faster than they otherwise would and sometimes essential reactions would not happen at all without them.  The Rubisco enzyme, the most abundant protein on the planet, has one ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 3 2015 - 10:14am

New Hormone Mimics Effects Of Exercise, Protects Against Obesity

Scientists have discovered a new hormone that fights the weight gain caused by a high-fat Western diet and normalizes the metabolism- effects commonly associated with exercising. Hormones are molecules that act as the body's signals, triggering variou ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 3 2015 - 6:44pm

Regenerative Medicine: Cas9 Approach And Activating Genes On Demand

Gene expression, the process by which our DNA provides the recipe used to direct the synthesis of proteins and other molecules, is how we develop and survive. To-date, science has made breathtaking progress, studying one single gene at a time, but a new ap ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 4 2015 - 6:12pm

Tree Leaf Molecule Prevents Weight Gain In Female Mice

A new study finds that female mice treated with a small molecule that binds to a receptor found on muscle cells speeds up energy metabolism. Sorry males, this does nothing for you. The molecule is found in tree leaves and the female mice could indulge in h ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 5 2015 - 12:38pm

Oct4 Gene Copies Pair Up In Mammalian Cells

Imagine a pair of twins that everyone believed to be estranged who end up closer to each other than anyone knew. It may be just like that at the cellular level. We have two copies of each gene, one from each parent, and each copy, called an "allele,&q ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 9 2015 - 9:00am

Are You Related To Genghis Khan?

It was good to be a rampaging Mongol warlord circa 1200 A.D.- at least when it came to having a lot of sex and killing off your genetic rivals. But he was not the only one. A new study finds that millions of Asian men share a common ancestral heritage wit ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 9 2015 - 9:52am

High LDL Cholesterol Linked To Lower Diabetes- A Gene Mutation Reason Why

Statins are associated with increased risk for diabetes, though it is unclear why. One hypothesis is that statins increase expression of LDL receptors and increase cholesterol uptake into cells including the pancreas, which could cause pancreatic dysfuncti ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 10 2015 - 10:53am

GWAS Pinpoints 2 Genetic Variants Associated With Rosacea

Rosacea is estimated to affect up to 16 million people in the United States alone, with symptoms typically including redness, visible blood vessels, and pimple-like sores on the skin of the central face. Because rosacea affects facial appearance, it can al ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 10 2015 - 3:42pm