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Chloroplasts, the plant cell's green solar power generators, were once living beings in their own right.

This changed about one billion years ago, when they were swallowed up but not digested by larger cells.

either direct transport in the form of DNA fragments from the chloroplasts to the nucleus or transport in the form of mRNA, which is then transcribed back into DNA.

Physically fit frogs have faster-changing genomes

Stretches of DNA accumulate changes over time

A recent study examined the interaction between a specific microRNA (miRNA) and the activity of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin 13 (IL-13).

In the current study, investigators at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Ohio, USA) examined the effect that stimulation of IL-13 activity has on microRNAs, particularly miR-375

They reported in the March 28, 2012, online edition of the journal Mucosal Immunology that IL-13 induced changes in epithelial gene and protein expression including the consistent downregulation of miR-375 in IL-13 stimulated human esophageal squamous and bronchial epithelial cells.

DNA damage could be caused by many things including toxins, radiation, or a failure in molecular chemistry. If it happens in one cell, the damage may do nothing, or at worse cause the cell to die. If damage occurs in a reproductive cell (a zygote) it can be an inherited mutation; the consequences of which can go on for generations

The DNA repair workers are (so far as we know) protein molecules.

Under microscopic observations it was seen that the UvrA protein randomly jumps from one DNA molecule to the next, staying about 7 seconds before moving on. However, when UvrA formed a complex with two UvrB molecules (UvrAB), the search became more sophisticated and slower. The complex would slide along the DNA strand for as long as 40 seconds before moving to another molecule. Sometimes it was observed that the UvrAB motion would ‘pause,’ apparently checking for structural abnormalities that might indicate DNA damage.

The genetic code in DNA provides the template to manufacture protein into all the cells of an organism.

Proteins are made by stringing together amino acids. For general purposes there are twenty amino acids in protein and they can be put together in endless combinations, some in short chains (yeast averages 466 amino acids), some long chains (titins have nearly 27,000 amino acids) and everything in-between. The pattern of amino acids determines much of the functionality of the protein.

Proteins are three-dimensional puzzle pieces. They are generally very complicated in shape. Even a small protein of only 100 amino acids can theoretically have 10^100 (ten to the hundredth power) different configurations.

isolation of the gene that controls drought tolerance in plants

enable a plant's leaves to stay green long after the last watering

plant hormone abscisic acid triggers the closure of the plant's stomata

BEING a nice person could come down to having a good set of genes

"kind" behaviour of more than 700 individuals was partly linked to receptor genes for oxytocin and vasopressin.

uch of the hormone you have, it's how responsive your brain is to the hormo

babies of mothers who diet around the time of conception and in early pregnancy, may have an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes throughout their lives. This study provides exciting insights into how behavior can lead to epigenetic changes in offspring related to obesity and disease.

dieting around the time a baby is conceived may increase the chance of the child becoming obese later in life

changes in the genes that control food intake and glucose levels that may lead to obesity and diabetes.

human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells

surrogate model

CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes -- the "killer" T cells that help fight infection -- from an HIV-infected individual and identified the molecule known as the T cell receptor, which guides the T cell in recognizing and killing HIV-infected cells.

DNA sequencing technology to reveal the animal and plant composition

of traditional Chinese medicines

These plants contain chemicals that can be toxic if the wrong dosage is taken, but none of them actually listed concentrations on the packaging.”

It is developing therapeutics to prove the validity of ddRNAi in treating cancer, infectious diseases, and disorders of the central nervous system.

The ddRNAi platform focuses on the long-term downregulation of genes, making it suitable for targeting chronic life-threatening diseases. “We are silencing genes instead of introducing new genes, which separates us from traditional gene therapy companies,” Dr. French asserts.

“This targeted treatment markedly enhanced the benefits of radiation therapy in both cellular and tumor models,” the researchers concluded. Other radiotherapy-resistant tumors may benefit from the shRNAs created for the prostate cancer study.

"This is the first synthetic cell that's been made," said Venter. "We call it synthetic because the cell is totally derived from a synthetic chromosome, made with four bottles of chemicals on a chemical synthesizer, starting with information in a computer."

Venter and his colleagues created a special code, similar to Morse code, to "write" within the DNA itself. Instead of dots and dashes, they used the sequence of four DNA nucleotides, thymine (T), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and adenine (A), as a code for any letter, number or punctuation mark. Using the code, the team included the names of the study co-authors, a website, and even several philosophical quotes, complete with punctuation.

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have revealed how a mutation in a single gene is responsible for the inability of neurons to effectively pass along appetite suppressing signals from the body to the right place in the brain.

The research team specifically found that a mutation in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) gene in mice does not allow brain neurons to effectively pass leptin and insulin chemical signals through the brain. In humans, these hormones, which are released in the body after a person eats, are designed to "tell" the body to stop eating. But if the signals fail to reach correct locations in the hypothalamus, the area in the brain that signals satiety, eating continues.

He has found that the gene produces a growth factor that controls communication between neurons.

creating a new type of biological "wire," using proteins that interact with DNA and behave like wires in electronic circuitry

it can be re-engineered over and over again

fundamental DNA components, called "promoters," which are needed for re-programming yeast

microbes in bee colonies that have previously been associated with fermentation in humans and other animals

communities of active bacteria harbored by honey bee colonies

research suggests honey bees may take advantage of these beneficial symbiotic bacteria to convert indigestible material into nutritious food and to enhance protection from pathogens

The discovery could lead to genetically engineered plants that store commercially useful substances in an enlarged root

The pickle mutation mimics what happens in seeds, which typically are the major structures accumulating and storing proteins and oil

In this mutation the cells destined to become primary root cells retain the character of embryonic cells