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Paige Prescott

Old Cancer Drugs Offer New Tricks - Science News - 0 views

www.sciencenews.org/..._cancer_drugs_offer_new_tricks

cancer epigenetics

shared by Paige Prescott on 14 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • Drugs that alter some chemical tags on DNA make cancer cells behave more like normal cells
  • And the drugs seem to make cancer cells more susceptible to chemotherapy and attacks from the immune system.
  • drugs called azacitidine and decitabine, when used in low doses, change gene activity in leukemia and breast cancer cells in the lab. If DNA is a cell’s hard drive, then chemical tags attached to the DNA or DNA-packaging proteins called histones serve as software packages to tell the hard drive how to function. This type of chemical programming is called epigenetics.
Mickey Tsai

Microbial Mules: Engineering Bacteria to Transport Nanoparticles and Drugs: Scientific ... - 1 views

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm

engineering bacteria transport drugs

shared by Mickey Tsai on 01 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • Mickey Tsai on 01 Apr 12
     
    Scientists are trying to use bacteria in order to deliver nanoparticles and drugs into living human cells. David Gracias of John Hopkins University had success when gluing the nanoparticles to the bacteria by soaking it in a solution of nanoparticles and heating the mixture.
Sasicha Manupipatpong

Identical DNA codes discovered in different plant species - 2 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120409164426.htm

plant species identical DNA sequences medicine

shared by Sasicha Manupipatpong on 16 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • found identical sequences of DNA located at completely different places on multiple plant genomes
  • Although the scientists found identical sequences between plant species, just as they did between animals, they suggested the sequences evolved differently.
  • find identical sequences in plant DNAs
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  • identical sections weren't found at the same points
  • genomes of six animals (dog, chicken, human, mouse, macaque and rat)
  • six plant species (Arabidopsis, soybean, rice, cottonwood, sorghum and grape)
  • found long strings of identical code in different species of animals' DNA
  • expect to see convergent evolution, but we don't
  • Plants and animals are both complex multi-cellular organisms that have to deal with many of the same environmental conditions, like taking in air and water and dealing with weather variations, but their genomes code for solutions to these challenges in different ways
  • could help in the development of new medicines
  • used to find identical sequential patterns in an organism's entire set of proteins
  • lead to finding new targets for existing drugs or studying these drugs' side effects
  • Sasicha Manupipatpong on 16 Apr 12
     
    A computer algorithm found identical sequences of DNA in different places of various plant species' genomes. The same has been found in animals. This could prove to be beneficial in the development of new medicines (for testing drug side effects).
Mickey Tsai

Parkinson's disease sufferer Sheila Roy can write for the first time in 15 years thanks... - 0 views

www.dailymail.co.uk/...s-thanks-new-gene-therapy.html

gene therapy disease

shared by Mickey Tsai on 15 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • one of only 15 people worldwide to undergo the radical treatment, which involves inserting corrective genes into the brain
  • The genes provide the coded instructions for proteins needed to make dopamine, a brain chemical essential for proper control of movement.
  • Lack of dopamine leads to the symptoms of tremor, stiffness and poor balance associated with Parkinson’s.
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  • Mrs Roy is taking part in an early-stage study of the ProSavin therapy
  • Following her treatment Sheila Roy has been able to carry out tasks like writing, something she has been unable to do for 15 years
  • Gene therapies hold great promise for people with Parkinson’s in the future, as they could mean an end to the daily regime of drugs that most people with the condition currently face.
  • Mickey Tsai on 15 Apr 12
     
    A woman with Parkinson's was able to write for the first time in 15 years because of gene therapy. Parkinson's includes symptoms such as tremors, loss of balance which makes it impossible to do even simple tasks. Doctors injected a modified virus carrying the genes to the motor centre of her brain which provide coded instructions for proteins needed to make dopamine. Lack of dopamine leads of the symptoms associated with Parkinson's. This is part of the ProSavin therapy developed by Oxford BioMedica. Gene therapies hold a lot of hope for people with Parkinson's that could end the daily routine of drugs that most of them go through.
avikan

New Hope Of a Cure For H.I.V. - NYTimes.com - 0 views

query.nytimes.com/...fullpage.html

shared by avikan on 11 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • So people with H.I.V. now must take drugs every day for life, which some researchers say is not a sustainable solution for tens of millions of infected people.
  • CCR5,
  • This is what was done with the Trenton patient. Some of the man's white blood cells were removed from his body and treated with a gene therapy developed by Sangamo BioSciences. The therapy induced the cells to produce proteins called zinc-finger nucleases that can disrupt the CCR5 gene.
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    • avikan
      avikan on 11 Apr 12
       
      Millions of people worldwide are currently affected by HIV and many have died from AIDS. Scientists have been trying for many years to find a cure for the epidemic, but now many are trying to find a way to prevent the passing on of the virus for future generations. Although no definite treatment has been discovered yet, recent findings have shown promising results for the future. 
    • avikan
      avikan on 11 Apr 12
       
      With the fast developing biological technologies we are seeing today, scientists hope's are growing stronger.  Maybe one of us one day will be a part of the phenomenon, in search of a way to help the millions affected by the epidemic  
    • avikan
      avikan on 11 Apr 12
       
      CD4 cells initiate the body's response to infections.
    • avikan
      avikan on 11 Apr 12
       
      Many forms of HIV, initially use CCR5 to enter and infect host cells. A few individuals carry a mutation known as CCR5 delta 32 in the CCR5 gene, protecting them against these strains of HIV.
    • avikan
      avikan on 11 Apr 12
       
      For over 30 years scientists have been trying to find a cure for the HIV/AIDs epidemic and so far have been unsuccessful 
    • avikan
      avikan on 11 Apr 12
       
      Incase some of us forgot, AIDs stands for Acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a disease in which there is a severe loss of the body's cellular immunity. And HIV stands for Human immunodeficiency virus, a virus that causes AIDs
nidthamsirisup

Epigenetics Seeks Clues to Mental Illness in Genes' Life Story - Science in 2011 - NYTi... - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...09brain.html

epigenetics DNA Genes disease

shared by nidthamsirisup on 15 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • epigenetics, the study of how people’s experience and environment affect the function of their genes.
  • Studies suggest that such add-on, or epigenetic, markers develop as an animal adapts to its environment, whether in the womb or out in the world — and the markers can profoundly affect behavior.
  • In studies of rats, researchers have shown that affectionate mothering alters the expression of genes, allowing them to dampen their physiological response to stress. These biological buffers are then passed on to the next generation: rodents and nonhuman primates biologically primed to handle stress tend to be more nurturing to their own offspring, and the system is thought to work similarly in humans.
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  • the offspring of parents who experience famine are at heightened risk for developing schizophrenia, some research suggests — perhaps because of the chemical signatures on the genes that parents pass on.
  • in some people with autism, epigenetic markers had silenced the gene which makes the receptor for the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin oils the brain’s social circuits, and is critical in cementing relationships; a brain short on receptors for it would most likely struggle in social situations.
  • In one large study of people with schizophrenia, researchers at Johns Hopkins are analyzing blood and other data to see whether the degree of epigenetic variation is related to the inherited risk of developing the disorder. In another, researchers at Tufts are studying the genes of animals dependent on opiates to see how epigenetic alterations caused by drug exposure affect the opiate sensitivity of the animals’ offspring.
Nitchakan Chaiprukmalakan

Hoogsteen base pairs: An alternate structure in DNA - 0 views

scitechstory.com/...-an-alternate-structure-in-dna

shared by Nitchakan Chaiprukmalakan on 13 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • This discovery, made by a team of researchers from the University of Michigan (USA) and the University of California, Irvine (USA) and published in the journal Nature January 26, 2011 [Transient Hoogsteen base pairs in canonical duplex DNA] involves a new capability of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) machines and something most people have never heard of (including me): Hoogsteen base pairs.
  • It was discovered by the biologist Karst Hoogsteen in 1963. In effect, the Hoogsteen base pair is a ‘normal’ Watson-Crick base pair (usually A-T) flipped-over like an upside-down step on a ladder.
  • It changes the geometry and allows for truly exotic formations such as a triple helix or even quadruplex structures.
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  • Hoogsteen base pairs were known to exist primarily in RNA and had been observed in DNA only when there was damage to the DNA structure, or something else like a protein or drug was bound to it.
  • In RNA the Hoogsteen base pairs have been studied fairly extensively. They are considered an “excited state” and are useful to observe unusual protein binding. In DNA the Hoogsteen base pairing, which by the way has two forms, normal and reverse, was considered an anomaly.
  • It was discovered that normal DNA undergoes these shifts about 1% of the time and they last only milliseconds.
  • “Together, these data suggest that there are multiple layers of information stored in the genetic code.” Because critical interactions between DNA and proteins are thought to be directed by both the sequence of bases and the flexing of the DNA molecule, these excited states represent a whole new level of information contained in the genetic code.
Sasicha Manupipatpong

New genes linked to brain size, intelligence - 2 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120415150123.htm

genes linked brain size intelligence

shared by Sasicha Manupipatpong on 16 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • genes that increase your risk for a single disease that your children can inherit
  • factors that cause tissue atrophy and reduce brain size, which is a biological marker for hereditary disorders
  • schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
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  • sample large enough to reveal clear patterns in genetic variation and show how these changes physically alter the brain
  • smaller brains
  • gene variants that deplete brain tissue beyond normal in a healthy person
  • unearth new genetic variants in people who have bigger brains as well as differences in regions critical to learning and memory
  • screened the genomes of people suffering from a specific brain disease and combed their DNA to uncover a common variant.
  • consistent relationship between subtle shifts in the genetic code and diminished memory centers
  • variations in their DNA that help boost or lower their brains’ susceptibility to a vast range of diseases
  • People also can take preventive steps through exercise, diet and mental stimulation to erase the effects of a bad gene
  • Once we identify the gene, we can target it with a drug to reduce the risk of disease
  • genes that explain individual differences in intelligence
  • gene called HMGA2 affected brain size as well as a person’s intelligence
  • People whose HMGA2 gene held a letter “C” instead of “T” on that location of the gene possessed larger brains and scored more highly on standardized IQ tests
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  • Sasicha Manupipatpong on 16 Apr 12
     
    Specific genes have been identified which affect brain size and intelligence--a difference of one nucleotide in the DNA sequence could determine how well you score on a standardized IQ test.
Nickyz P.

We Need More Research On Genetically Altered Salmon Says FDA Advisory Panel - 1 views

www.medicalnewstoday.com/...201862.php

shared by Nickyz P. on 16 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • A panel of experts that advises the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided on Monday more research was needed before it could vote on whether to recommend approval to allow genetically modified salmon to be bred for human consumption in the US.
  • To make the genetically modified Atlantic salmon, they take the growth gene from the Pacific chinook salmon and insert it into the DNA of newly fertilized Atlantic salmon eggs. However, this of itself is not enough to keep the salmon growing all year round: to keep the growth gene permanently "switched on", the AquaBounty scientists also add a small piece of DNA from another fish called the ocean pout.
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