Genetics & Molecular Biology

Whole genome sequencing of a family- predicting the future?

Although genetic sequencing sounded exciting- I'll send you a tube full of spit, you tell me what diseases I'm going to get- the reality was less thrilling, and less useful. There are diseases with very specific and even single mutations, but the ...

Blog Post - Becky Jungbauer - Sep 15 2011 - 9:02pm

Epigenetic Code Evolves Rapidly

Recently, a lot of attention has gone to epigenetics, or heritable changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in DNA sequence. An example of such a mechanism is DNA methylation, where a methyl group (CH 3) binds to cytosine or aden ...

Article - Gunnar De Winter - Sep 18 2011 - 5:07am

Gamers Help Scientists Solve Enzyme Structure

Retroviral proteases are a class of enzymes that play an important role in the maturation and proliferation of the AIDS virus. As such, this class of enzymes is a subject of intense research. The efforts, however, were hindered by a fundamental problem: n ...

Article - Gunnar De Winter - Sep 20 2011 - 8:47am

Glow-In-The-Dark Kittens (and Monkeys! And Ovaries!)

I don't want to sound alarmist, but glow-in-the-dark animals are real-- and it's not just cute kitty-cats.  As reported earlier here at Science 2.0, scientists did this and that to genetics to make AIDS-resistant cats.  Part of the process includ ...

Article - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - Feb 24 2012 - 12:13am

External Gene Pool Evolution

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." — attributed to Charles Darwin. There is general agreement that the arrangement of species, both extant and extinct conforms ...

Blog Post - Dave Finn - Sep 28 2011 - 4:13pm

Orexin And Weight Loss: Fight Fat With Fat

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 33.8 percent of American adults are obese. placing them at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.  That's a lot of fat, but not all fat is ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 4 2011 - 6:00pm

Scientists Edge A Little Closer To Human Cloning

I'll lay out something a lot of people won't like to hear; science is about understanding the world according to natural laws and that means sometimes breaking the laws of nature.  How far that goes is a policy matter and it's for civilian l ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Oct 7 2011 - 4:15pm

BDNF: A Genetic Link To Suicidal Behavior

A new review has found evidence that a specific gene is linked to suicidal behavior, which may be one of the many complex causes of suicide.  In the past, studies have implicated the gene for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in suicidal behavior. ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 7 2011 - 12:00pm

The Genetics Of Suicide

A meta-analysis has provided support to the previously suggested idea that a certain gene's variation is linked to suicidal behavior. The gene in question is the one that codes for BDNF (or brain-derived neurotrophic factor), a protein that performs ...

Article - Gunnar De Winter - Oct 16 2011 - 4:33pm

The fate of your stem cells is only as robust as your cellular repair system

Stem cells by virtue of their potential for self renewal and capacity to differentiate into diverse cell types have remained a primordial force in ensuring evolution of the species and sustenance of organs.While stem cells derived from embryos are totipote ...

Blog Post - Eashwar Subramanian - Oct 12 2011 - 9:20am