Genetics & Molecular Biology

Can somatic cells be reprogrammed to become pluripotent stem cells? Well, the answer is yes or no, depending on your perspective, and perhaps your definition of what pluripotent stem cells should be. ...

Article - Jennifer Wong - Jun 4 2012 - 6:57pm

Boule: Human Sperm Gene Existed For 600 Million Years, Says Study

Genes specific to sex change rapidly but there is one sex-specific gene so vital its function has remained unaltered throughout evolution and is found in almost all animals, according to new research from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2010 - 2:04pm

Mattick On Transposable Element Function

John Mattick, University of Queensland, is one of the leading proponents of the idea that much-- perhaps most-- of the human genome is functional. He has been making claims along these lines for at least 15 years, but seems to always present it as a new id ...

Article - T. Ryan Gregory - Jul 26 2010 - 11:00pm

Discovery: New PNPASE Role In Shuttling RNA Into Mitochondria

In a new Cell study, researchers say they have uncovered a new role for an essential cell protein polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPASE) in shuttling RNA into the mitochondria, the energy-producing 'power plant' of the cell. The import of nucleus- ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 6 2010 - 8:56am

ROCK And The Death Dance Of Isolated Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology say they have unraveled the mystery of why human embryonic stem (ES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells undergo apoptosis (programmed cell death) when cultured in isolation, a discovery ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 8 2010 - 4:03am

Jagged2 Gene Brings Teeth Into Shape

Thimios Mitsiadis, Professor for Oral Biology at the University of Zurich, says he has shown that during tooth formation (odontogenesis) if the Jagged2 gene is inactivated, and thus the Notch signaling pathway is interrupted, tooth crowns will be malforme ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 7 2010 - 5:11pm

Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Treat Parkinson's In Rodents

Researchers at the Buck Institute for Age Research writing in the journal Stem Cells say they have successfully used human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to treat rodents afflicted with Parkinson's Disease (PD). They say the research validates ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 16 2010 - 8:09pm

Pseudogenes- Surprising Microregulators Of Protein Synthesis

The human genome is the home of over 3 billion nucleotide base pairs packaged into 23 chromosome pairs. But despite the tremendous size of the human genome, only 1-2% of genome actually encodes for proteins. ...

Article - Jennifer Wong - Aug 21 2010 - 11:57am

Cheating In Sports: Transgenic DNA Gene Doping Now Detectable

Scientists at the universities in Tübingen and Mainz say they have developed a blood test that can provide conclusive proof of gene doping- even after 56 days. To date, it has been impossible to prove that an athlete had undergone gene doping but they say ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 4 2010 - 3:00am

PRDM9- Genetic Catalyst For Human Diversity

A research team says they have discovered one of the key drivers of human evolution and diversity, accounting for changes that occur between different generations of people. Professor Alec Jeffreys, who discovered DNA fingerprinting at the University of Le ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 6 2010 - 11:01am