Genetics & Molecular Biology

Favorite Holiday Foods Activate Fat Storing Genes, Study Shows

Before you eat that next slice of pecan pie or second serving of mashed potatoes at Christmas dinner this year, you may want to think twice; those extra helpings could be even worse for your waistline than previously thought. A new research report appeari ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 30 2009 - 2:27pm

Scientists Uncover Hormonal On-Off Switch For Male Fertility

Men could soon have the same control over their fertility that women have had since the 1960s, according to a new paper published in the December 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal. The authors of the paper say they have found how and where androgenic hormone ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 30 2009 - 7:53pm

Unlocked Key Mechanism Behind Breast Cancer Metastases

Abnormally high levels of P-cadherin – an adhesion molecule that enables cells to bind together – occur in about a third of all breast cancers and are associated with poor prognosis. Portuguese researchers, writing in the journal Oncogene1, found that the ...

Article - Catarina Amorim - Dec 1 2009 - 10:27am

Mice And Men Miles Apart In Fertility, Mickey

Dear Mickey- How is life? Life is tough, says my friend. Do you agree? I wanted to write to you for a number of reasons. Believe it or not, people still remember that you turned 80 last year: Happy Eighties to you, M-I-C-K-E-Y! ...

Article - Hatice Cullingford - Dec 8 2009 - 11:19am

Biologists Going Quantitative

Molecular biologists and mathematical models frequently don't mix well, especially when the molecular biologists in question were trained before the rise of genomics, back when most labs only needed a computer for designing new vector sequences, writ ...

Article - Michael White - Dec 11 2009 - 12:30pm

Genetic engineering has potential for biotechnological developments

Q.1 (i) A yeast artificial chromosome (short YAC) is a vector used to clone large DNA fragments (larger than 100 kb and up to 3000 kb). It is an artificially constructed chromosome and contains the telomeric, centromeric, and replication origin sequences n ...

Blog Post - Ashwani Kumar - Dec 9 2009 - 7:59am

Molecular Cell on Molecular Signal Detection

Today's issue of Molecular Cell has two complementary papers on biological signal processing that look interesting (subscription required): "The Incoherent Feedforward Loop Can Provide Fold-Change Detection in Gene Regulation": ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Dec 14 2009 - 4:29pm

Does Junk DNA Protect Against Mutation?

One of the most common hypotheses that I hear with regard to possible non-coding DNA function is that it serves to protect genes against mutation. Junk DNA, according to this proposal, is there to provide a defensive shield against mutagens (usually this i ...

Article - T. Ryan Gregory - Dec 19 2009 - 11:17am

When Genetics Deals A Bad Hand: Understanding The Rules Of The Game

“You gotta know when to hold ‘em. Know when to fold ‘em.” It’s an old adage that every experienced poker player knows. The main goal is to play the game successfully and maximize your profits. But what if that game is life, and cruel, impersona ...

Article - Aubrey Chen - Dec 22 2009 - 12:58pm

Genes, proteins, and you: Molecular biology for the weekend enthusiast