Genetics & Molecular Biology

Fasting Might Make Cells More Resilient To Stress

Intermittent fasting (also called alternate day fasting) has become a popular diet. In most versions of intermittent fasting, people fast or eat very little a few days each week and then eat normal amounts during the remaining days. Fasting is something t ...

Article - The Conversation - Mar 30 2015 - 10:45am

Wine Science: Your Pinot Noir Is Actually A Pinot Blanc- Or A Pinot Gris

The diversity within grapevine varieties is incredibly rich. This is good news for viticulturists – grape cultivators – and wine makers because it allows them to adapt their wine production according to the conditions in their vineyards and to the wines t ...

Article - The Conversation - Apr 3 2015 - 8:07pm

Gene Modification For Aflatoxin And Drought Resistance Could Increase Corn Yields

Gene variations that could mean yield increases, drought tolerance and aflatoxin resistance will boost productivity in the years to come. A study included the growing years of 2011, a drought year, and 2012, on dryland and irrigated corn in College Statio ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 10 2015 - 2:00am

In Up To 30 Percent Of Cancers, Tumor Cells Hijack Mitochondria To Assist In Their Work

A new study has found that nearly all pancreatic cancers enslave and deform mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells, and force them to divide unnaturally, to lose their normal shape and collapse around the cell's nucleus.  This creates an environment e ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 7 2015 - 2:30am

Genetically Modified Broccoli With 3X Glucoraphanin Lowers Cholesterol

A broccoli variety modified to have two to three times more of the naturally occurring compound glucoraphanin, which is linked to antioxidants and other health benefits, also reduces blood LDL-cholesterol levels by around 6%, according to results of human ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 8 2015 - 10:48am

RNA Is New Target For Anticancer Drugs

Most of today's anticancer drugs target the DNA or proteins in tumor cells, but a new discovery unveils a whole new set of potential targets: the RNA intermediaries between DNA and proteins. This RNA, called messenger RNA, is a blueprint for making p ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 19 2015 - 6:00pm

Heart Cells Regenerated By Going Backward To Make Progress

When a heart attack strikes, the effects are lingering: heart muscle cells die and scar tissue forms, which makes future heart failure more likely. ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 13 2015 - 10:15am

CRISPR Shows How A Bacterial Cell Can Recognize Its Own DNA

Bacteria have an immune system to fight off invasive viruses called phages, and like any immune system, from single-celled to human, the first challenge of the bacterial immune system is to detect the difference between “foreign” and “self.” Since all livi ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 13 2015 - 2:40pm

4 Mechanisms That Make Our Skin So Resistant To Tearing

Skin is remarkably resistant to tearing and a team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory now have shown why. Using powerful X-ray beams and electron microscopy, researchers made the first ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 13 2015 - 4:00pm

Recurrent Miscarriages Could Be Linked To Body Clock Genes

It is estimated that 5% of women experience two clinical miscarriages and approximately 1% suffer three or more losses.  Researchers at the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust have found that body cloc ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 16 2015 - 3:00pm