Genetics & Molecular Biology

The political fray has entered into the world of genetics, and as usual, our politicians have no real idea what they are talking about. In an October 24 th speech about children with special needs, Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for Vice-President, ma ...

Blog Post - Michael Windelspecht - Oct 25 2008 - 10:16pm

It's been called a fruit fly for a long time, even if it's not technically right

In the aftermath of the Palin fruit fly comment, some bloggers are knocking people for not knowing that the model organism D. melanogaster is technically not a fruit fly. But the fact is that the confusing nomenclature isn't some recent mix-up- as we ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Oct 27 2008 - 11:06am

Genetic Dead End- 5300 Year-Old Oetzi Has No Modern Relatives

The 5,300 year old human mummy dubbed Öetzi (or ‘the Tyrolean Iceman’) is highly unlikely to have modern day relatives, according to new research published today by a team of scientists from Italy and the UK. They have sequenced Öetzi’s entire mitochondri ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 30 2008 - 11:30am

Oblivion, Mutant Mice And Hearing Loss

Researchers have defined a mutation in the mouse genome that mimics progressive hearing loss in humans. A team from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, working with colleagues in Munich and Padua, found that mice carrying a mutation calle ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 30 2008 - 10:33pm

Tissue Engineering ' Patch' Could Literally Mend A Broken Heart

A group of researchers have created a biodegradable 'scaffold' and living heart cells or stem cells seeded onto such a scaffold could develop into a patch of cardiac tissue to treat congenital heart defects, or aid the recovery of tissue damage ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 2 2008 - 2:13pm

Molecular Identity Crisis- A Ribozyme Without RNA

Not all enzymes that are assumed to require an RNA component in order to function do actually contain RNA, according to a study that focused on the enzyme RNase P. Contrary to accepted scientific theory, the project team from Vienna has long believed th ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 3 2008 - 1:27pm

Have Acid Reflux? Slc26a9 Gene May Be The Problem

University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have discovered a gene that helps control the secretion of acid in the stomach—information that could one day aid scientists in creating more efficient treatment options for conditions such as acid reflux or peptic ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 3 2008 - 6:07pm

Nutrigenomics- Are You Ready For Genetically Customized Nutrition?

In the near future it will be possible to customize the food we eat based on the genetic profile of the individual. Dutch researcher Amber Ronteltap suggests that the consumer market is not yet ready for this so-called nutrigenomics. Ronteltap concludes t ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 4 2008 - 10:32am

Those Dang Transcription Factors

Transcription factors do a lot of things for us, like make arms and legs in the right places. It turns out they may also make us go bald. ...

Article - Justin Gerke - Nov 5 2008 - 3:12pm

Junk DNA? Anything But

Any time science terms become colloquial, it leads to problems. How often does someone make a speculation and call it a 'theory'? Cars supposedly 'evolve' if their advertising is true. And 'junk DNA' means 'usele ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 4 2008 - 7:17pm