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Katelyn Madigan

'Quadruple helix' DNA discovered in human cells - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...130120150033.htm

DNA quadruple helix

shared by Katelyn Madigan on 07 Feb 13 - No Cached
  • our-stranded 'quadruple helix' DNA structures -- known as G-quadruplexes
  • rich in the building block guanine
  • over 10 years investigation by scientists to show these complex structures in vivo -- in living human cells
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • quadruplexes are more likely to occur in genes of cells that are rapidly dividing, such as cancer cells.
  • quadruplex DNA is found fairly consistently throughout the genome of human cells and their division cycles
  • Katelyn Madigan on 07 Feb 13
     
    A better understanding of DNA structure, as well as other factors at the molecular level, have tremendous clinical implications. A personalized inhibitory mechanism for proliferating cancer cells looks like a promising approach for cancer treatments.
Casey Finnerty

A DNA Lesson, From the Expert's Pen - NYTimes.com - 1 views

www.nytimes.com/...-the-pen-of-francis-crick.html

microbiology molecular biology dna

shared by Casey Finnerty on 27 Feb 13 - No Cached
  • The final piece in solving the puzzle of DNA was achieved on the morning of Feb. 28, 60 years ago this week, when Dr. Watson saw how the bases of DNA paired up.
Alletia DeMartino

Genes show one big European family - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...130507195642.htm

shared by Alletia DeMartino on 09 May 13 - No Cached
  • to a new study of the DNA of people from across the continent.
  • This was predicted in theory over a decade ago, and we now have concrete evidence from DNA data,
  • But even a pair of individuals who live as far apart as the United Kingdom and Turkey -- a distance of some 2,000 miles -- likely are related to all of one another's ancestors from a thousand years ago.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Ralph and Coop used ideas about the expected amount of genome shared between relatives of varying degrees of relatedness
  • Ralph and Coop looked for shorter blocks of DNA that were shared between cousins separated by many more generations
  • But in large samples, rare cases of distant sharing could be detected. With their analysis, Coop and Ralph were able to detect these shared blocks of DNA in individuals spread across Europe, and calculate how long ago they shared an ancestor.
  • Alletia DeMartino on 09 May 13
     
    kind of creepy to think about....
Casey Finnerty

The Virus That Learns - Phenomena: The Loom - 0 views

phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/...the-virus-that-learns

microbiology CRISPR

shared by Casey Finnerty on 07 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • Likewise, restriction enzymes are a dangerous defense, because they can chop up the distinctive stretches of DNA in a bacterium’s own genes. It avoids attacking itself by capping those sequences in its own DNA, so that the restriction enzymes can’t reach them.
  • Some species can muck up the production of new viruses, stealing their proteins before they can form shells. Others commit suicide upon infection, so as to avoid becoming an incubator for new viruses that would then kill their nearby relatives.
  • CRISPR genes can produce RNA molecules with a matching sequence. They grab onto the virus’s RNA and prevent them from being turned into proteins. The virus factory grinds to a halt.
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  • The bacteria hold onto an invading virus’s DNA, so that they are now prepared for a fresh attack. And over time, bacteria can build up little libraries of these virus barcodes. 
  • Last year, scientists at Indiana University surveyed the bacteria in people’s mouths and discovered 8,000 different viral barcodes–many of them corresponding to viruses scientists have yet to discover.
  • But if you build up a healthy store of antibodies to various strains of flu, smallpox, and other diseases, all that knowledge dies with you.
  • Not so for bacteria. When a microbe reproduces, it passes down its CRISPR genes and all of their viral barcodes to its descendants–including the ones it acquired in its own lifetime.
  • Last fall, for example, University of Cambridge scientists discovered viruses that carry an antidote for the suicide toxin made by their hosts. When the bacteria want to die, the virus forces them to live on. And just last month, University of Toronto scientists even discovered anti-CRISPR genes in viruses, which the viruses use to shut down the production of virus-killing molecules.
  • the scientists demonstrated that the ICP1 virus uses its CRISPR immune system to attack its host’s virus-attacking genes.
Tiffany Arcand

Russia finds 'new bacteria' in Antarctic lake - 2 views

phys.org/...a-bacteria-antarctic-lake.html

shared by Tiffany Arcand on 09 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • interest surrounded one particular form of bacteria whose DNA was less than 86 percent similar to previously existing forms
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 09 Mar 13
       
      That's crazy. It's difficult for me to fathom the implications of that big of a difference in DNA because even the DNA of humans and apes is 95-98% similar.
  • Lake Vostok, which is believed to have been covered by ice for more than a million years but has kept its liquid state
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 09 Mar 13
       
      I wonder how that works, that the lake can remain liquid yet all the surrounding water is frozen as ice?
  • Exploring environments such as Lake Vostok allows scientists to discover what life forms can exist in the most extreme conditions
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 09 Mar 13
       
      Maybe this new bacteria could be similar to the domain Archaea since it can survive in such extreme conditions.
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  • The possibility that the lake existed had first been suggested by a Soviet scientist in 1957
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 09 Mar 13
       
      The intelligence of scientists always astounds me. Even back in 1957 when technology was not as advanced as it is now they were able to make amazing discoveries such as this.
Richard Herron

Braconidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 1 views

en.wikipedia.org/...Braconidae

parasites virus immunosupression dna virology

shared by Richard Herron on 19 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Endoparasitoid species often display elaborate physiological adaptations to enhance larval survival within the host, such as the co-option of endosymbiotic viruses for compromising host immune defenses.
  • he DNA of the wasp actually contains portions that are the templates for the components of the viral particles and they are assembled in an organ in the female's abdomen known as the calyx.
  • Because of this highly modified system of host immunosuppression it is not surprising that there is a high level of parasitoid-host specificity. It is this specificity that makes Braconids a very powerful and important biological control agent.
  • anonymous on 20 Jan 13
     
    My husband was telling me about this yesterday. He heard about it on reddit but he couldn't remember which kind of bug it was.
  • Richard Herron on 20 Jan 13
     
    That's actually where I found it the other night. It was a very interesting read to say the least.
Tyrell Varner

New device can extract human DNA with full genetic data in minutes - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...130506132100.htm

genome sequencing

shared by Tyrell Varner on 06 May 13 - No Cached
  • The device will give hospitals and research labs a much easier way to separate DNA from human fluid samples, which will help with genome sequencing, disease diagnosis and forensic investigations.
Casey Finnerty

Disappearing Seagrass Protects Against Pathogens, Even Climate Change, Scientists Find ... - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...-pathogens-global-warming.html

climate change microbiology

shared by Casey Finnerty on 17 Feb 17 - No Cached
  • Seagrass meadows, among the most endangered ecosystems on Earth, play an outsize role in the health of the oceans.
  • The plants also fight disease, it turns out. A team of scientists reported on Thursday that seagrasses can purge pathogens from the ocean that threaten humans and coral reefs alike.
  • But the meadows are vanishing at a rate of a football field every 30 minutes.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • In one survey, they collected seawater and put it in petri dishes to see if colonies of disease-causing bacteria known as Enterococcus grew from the samples.
  • In a second search, the scientists grabbed fragments of DNA floating in seawater.
  • Water from the seagrass meadows had only half the level of this DNA, compared with water collected at other sites.
  • Reefs next to seagrass meadows, they found, were half as diseased as those without meadows.
  • Seagrass meadows can release so much oxygen that the surrounding water fizzes like champagne. That oxygen might be able to kill pathogens, Dr. Lamb realized. The plants also host fungi, which are known to producing bacteria-killing compounds.
  • Their research points to two main culprits. Eroded dirt washes into the Chesapeake, making the water cloudy. Seagrass get so little sunlight that the resulting dimming can be deadly.
  • Seagrass is also being pummeled by climate change. Warmer summer temperatures in Chesapeake Bay cause the plants to lose much of their oxygen through their leaves. With less oxygen to pump into their roots, they are poisoned by toxic sediments.
Casey Finnerty

In a First, Test of DNA Finds Root of Illness - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...-diagnoses-a-boys-illness.html

genomics molecular diagnostics

shared by Casey Finnerty on 10 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • But in the first procedure of its kind, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, managed to pinpoint the cause of Joshua’s problem — within 48 hours. He had been infected with an obscure species of bacteria. Once identified, it was eradicated within days.
Casey Finnerty

In a First, Test of DNA Finds Root of Illness - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...-diagnoses-a-boys-illness.html

leptospirosis genomics

shared by Casey Finnerty on 28 Aug 14 - No Cached
  • There are still many obstacles that scientists will have to overcome before these tests can be a part of standard practice.
Elijah Velasquez

New insights into how genes turn on and off - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...2013-03-insights-genes.html

shared by Elijah Velasquez on 27 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • Elijah Velasquez on 27 Mar 13
     
    Genetics Researchers at UC Davis and the University of British Columbia have shed new light on methylation, a critical process that helps control how genes are expressed. Working with placentas, the team discovered that 37 percent of the placental genome has regions of lower methylation, called partially methylated domains (PMDs), in which gene expression is turned off. Studying of the placenta is particularly interesting because the placenta has invasive characteristics associated with cancer. Increasing our knowledge about PMDs can help determine which genes are silenced and where specific DNA originated.
Tiffany Arcand

Scientists Find Bacteria Where It Isn't Supposed to Be: The Brain - The Daily Beast - 0 views

www.thedailybeast.com/...-supposed-to-be-the-brain.html

shared by Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • The researchers found these bacterial molecules in brain samples from people with HIV, as well as people with no known infectious disease but who had undergone brain surgery
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      So in immunocompromised individuals, as well as those whose brains have been exposed to the operating room - which as we learned in class, can still house bacteria despite all precautions taken.
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      Sneaky, sneaky viruses!
  • If living bacteria help to maintain brain health in some way, disruptions to them, for example from antibiotics, could contribute to disease
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      It will be interesting to see what they discover as they research this more. My guess it that the bacteria in the brain are both beneficial and harmful.
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  • Dyes injected into the brain, meanwhile, tended not to appear in the body
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      Wouldn't a shot into the brain kill you, or at least be very painful?
  • Last fall, for instance, researchers found male genetic material in the brains of women (who almost certainly were not born with it). Perhaps during pregnancy, the scientists suggested, cells from male fetuses had crossed the placenta and entered the women’s bodie
  • Scientists have discovered, for instance, that HIV hides inside white blood cells that enter the brain in order to look for pathogens; they call this the Trojan horse strategy
  • a mind-bending concept
  • Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
     
    Bacteria Can Bypass Blood-Brain Barrier? It's a surprise to researchers who believed the brain-blood barrier created an impenetrable fortress. How are molecules from dirt getting into white matter-and what are they doing up there? 
Casey Finnerty

You're Probably Not Mostly Microbes - The Atlantic - 0 views

www.theatlantic.com/...423228

shared by Casey Finnerty on 08 Jan 16 - No Cached
  • As Carl Zimmer notes, “The very fact that scientists are still so unsure of how many cells and bacteria are in each of us is pretty remarkable.”
  • 90 percent of human cells are red blood cells, which don't contain DNA and aren’t capable of dividing. They’re rather poor excuses for cells—remove them from the equation and the 10:1 ratio reinstates itself.
  • And it’s probably wrong.
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  • it’s frequently said that these teeming cells outnumber our own by ten to one.
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