The Scientist
New job for RNA: Hold tight to proteins to turn genes on and off
The small RNA RsmZ is known to sequester proteins that repress translation in bacteria. A study published in Nature this ...
Sequencing cancer genomes, rather than testing specific genes is future of treatment
In the march toward personalized medicine, genotyping cancers has become more and more complex. Panels that pick up variations in ...
Chemicals affect sperm health, now we know how
Additives known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) compromise male fertility by interfering with a membrane-bound calcium channel that normally controls ...
Further evidence stem cells injected into heart don’t grow new cardiac muscle
C-kit cells, which are found in the heart and supposedly act as cardiac stem cells, are the basis of a ...
Gene threapy postdoc guilty of misconduct, has six papers retracted
A former postdoc who studied gene therapy at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York is guilty of ...
Not the end of men: Set of Y chromosome conserved through evolution
A core set of genes on the Y chromosome has been retained through much of animal evolution, not just for ...
Genes for enjoying speed protective against ADHD and schizophrenia
A euphoric response to amphetamine could signal the presence of gene variants associated with protection against attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) ...
Neanderthal link to fat metabolism in the brain
Modern humans of European descent have a lot in common with their Neanderthal ancestors when it comes to genes related ...
RNA-based nanomedicines arrive at cancer clinics
Researchers recently reported multidrug delivery using nanoparticles to mediate resistance in relapsing cancers and to improve triple-negative breast cancer treatment ...
New technique creates stem cells that grow faster
Stem cell therapy is often hailed as the treatment of the future for several diseases. And mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)—which ...
Gene regulator plays role in Alzheimer’s
Along with symptoms of cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease patients often have an accumulation of plaques and tangles of proteins in ...
Whole genome sequencing not ready for prime time
Once prohibitively expensive and laborious, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is now edging its way into the clinic. The cost of the ...
Single gene controls butterfly wing pattern
Female Common Mormon butterflies (Papilio polytes) are a varied lot. Some look like the black-and-white males, but others mimic the ...
Mature cells are flexible, able to change type
In 1998, University of Bath biologist David Tosh had a eureka moment. He noticed that some of the rat pancreatic ...
Sequencing the DNA in bird’s guts to see what draws them to airports
Usually they leave no more than blood smears; sometimes, busted engines and pulpy, feathery messes. Bird strikes, which occur when ...
50,000 generation experiment proves ‘adaptive evolution’ is relentless
In 1988, when evolutionary biologist Richard Lenski was an assistant professor at the University of California, Irvine, he started a ...
Scientists find skin-to-liver cell transformation shortcut
Scientists have differentiated human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into hepatocytes in a dish, but faced challenges using these cells ...
Stress-induced stem cell method questioned
When a team led by investigators at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, reported a new method ...
Biopolitics: Science denialism transcends party differences
The public's views on embryonic stem cell research has less to do with political party identification, ideology, religious identify, self-rated ...
Many stem cell lines aren’t good enough for commercial use
Many of the stem cell lines used by academics and registered with the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) would ...
Judges reaffirm that stem cells fall under aegis of FDA
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week (February 4) that culturing a patient’s stem cells for therapeutic use ...
Epigenetic changes needed to regenerate nerves
To regenerate after injury, a nerve cell must turn on gene programs that have been silenced since development. Epigenetic modifications, ...
Common lab mouse, though inbred, has significant genetic variation
The Black 6 mouse strain is the most commonly used lab mouse in the United States, and its highly inbred ...
Advances in rewriting DNA
These days, it often seems like science is catching up with fiction. Three years ago an entire genome was transplanted ...
Plant DNA reveals secrets of human genome
What do cells, genes, mutations, transposons, RNA silencing, and DNA recombination have in common? All were discovered first in plants ...
DNA techniques show how HIV takes down the immune system
HIV leads to AIDS primarily because the virus destroys essential immune cells called CD4 T cells, but precisely how these ...
Extreme diets change your gut bacteria
Ten volunteers who agreed to eat a diet entirely provided by microbiologist Harvard Peter Turnbaugh and his colleagues are living ...
Genome editing paying off: Knockout human gene libraries help correct disease-causing genetic defects
CRISPR technology is an approach to genome editing that has skyrocketed to stardom because of its speed, ease of use, ...
