Genetics & Molecular Biology

Elf1 Cell Line May Help Embryonic Stem Cell Research

When President Bush signed an executive order becoming the first to fund human embryonic stem cell research, he had made a compromise that navigated Federal law- his predecessor President Clinton's Dickey-Wicker Amendment- the ethical concerns about ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 15 2014 - 7:22pm

7X Humans: Loblolly Pine Genome Is Largest Ever Sequenced

The genome of the loblolly pine is truly massive, aound seven times bigger than the human genome, making it the largest genome sequenced to date and the most complete conifer genome sequence ever published. The achievement, described in GENETICS and Genom ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 20 2014 - 5:06pm

Athena Project: Homo Minutus- A 'Laboratory Human'- Is A Little Closer

Significant progress toward creating "homo minutus"- a benchtop human- has gotten a little closer, thanks to successful development and analysis of a liver human organ construct that responds to exposure to a toxic chemical much like a real live ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 26 2014 - 4:27pm

Synthetic Biology: First Functional 'Designer' Chromosome In Yeast Synthesized

An international team of scientists has synthesized the first functional chromosome in yeast, an important step in the emerging field of synthetic biology, designing microorganisms to produce novel medicines, raw materials for food, and biofuels.  Over th ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 27 2014 - 2:11pm

Improve Biodiversity And Cost By Increasing The Longevity Of Seeds Using Genetic Engineering

Researchers have discovered a new way of improving the longevity of plant seeds using genetic engineering.  The key is over-expression of the ATHB25 gene. This gene encodes a protein that regulates gene expression, producing a new mutant that gives the see ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 28 2014 - 12:56pm

'Junk' DNA- Now With Even More Functions!

DNA is the molecule that encodes the genetic instructions enabling a cell to produce the thousands of proteins it typically needs. The linear sequence of the A, T, C, and G bases in what is called coding DNA determines the particular protein that a short ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 31 2014 - 2:48pm

You're Not Bald, You Simply Have A Hairless Gene Others Lack

A new research report explains why people with a rare balding condition called "atrichia with papular lesions" lose their hair and it identifies a strategy for reversing this hair loss. Specifically the report shows for the first time that the & ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 1 2014 - 11:47am

Peanut Genome Initiative Sequence Success

The International Peanut Genome Initiative, a multinational group crop geneticists who have been working in tandem for the last several years, have successfully sequenced the genome of  Arachis hypogaea  - the peanut.  Arachis hypogaea and also called gro ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 2 2014 - 9:57am

Every Hour Someone In The UK Is Told They Have Parkinson’s

“The gift that keeps on taking” someone called it. It starts with a little twitching that you think it will go away, but instead grows and soon your limbs shake, your balance and coordination lost. Parkinson’s disease (PD) affects almost 10 million people ...

Article - Catarina Amorim - Apr 3 2014 - 8:16pm

Long Non-Coding RNAs More Conventional Than Previously Thought

Some long non-coding RNAs can give rise to small proteins that have biological functions, according to a recent study that describes how researchers have used ribosome profiling to identify several hundred long non-coding RNAs that may give rise to small p ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 5 2014 - 9:43am