Viral DNA sequence a possible trigger for breast cancer
A small sequence of DNA in the envelope (Env) protein of a mouse breast tumor virus (called MMTV) can transform breast cells into cancer cells, according to a study by Katz et al. in the February 7 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine. The ability of this motif to transform cells single-handedly suggests that viral infection may be an important and previously unrecognized trigger for br...Research in yeast yields missing link in DNA maintenance machinery
HOUSTON - In a finding akin to discovering pages missing from an antique car repair manual, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have linked for the first time two biological processes crucial to cell survival....... , provides the first link between a cell's DNA repair machinery and its DNA storage and retrieval machinery. The two processes have been studied inde...British scientists have developed a tabletop DNA test laboratory that can cut the diagnosis of disease and infection from hours to 30 minutes. This new test laboratory will soon begin trials in UK hospitals.... ...Scientists at the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) developed the DNA test lab as a fast, accurate, battlefield detection system for biological warfare agents such as an...The American Psychological Society's 2004 Annual Convention program is online and searchable at .... ...Psychological scientists conduct cutting-edge research on issues we confront in our everyday lives. What is the role of behavior in health? How do people think, learn, and remember? What's really behind the things we think of as personality, courage, motivation, emotion, deception? How do we...DNA test shows promise for identifying patients with colorectal cancer
Testing for DNA changes in stools might provide a new, accurate, and less invasive way to screen patients for colorectal cancer, conclude the authors of a research letter in this week's issue of THE LANCET....... Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the industrialised world, and early detection might help to reduce the risk of death from the disease. However, although several me...Student builds micro biosensor chip to move DNA molecules
A Johns Hopkins undergraduate has constructed a new type of microchip that can move and isolate DNA and protein molecules. He believes that by linking the chip with analysis equipment, a user could identify medical ailments, monitor a patient's health or detect viruses and other biohazards before they spread....... Eric Simone, a senior biomedical engineering major from the Cincinnati, Ohio, subu...Study reports improved method to identify fetal DNA in maternal blood samples
A new method to increase the recovery of DNA from unborn babies in a blood sample from their mothers may be helpful for future development of non-invasive prenatal genetic tests to identify fetal abnormalities, according to an article in the March 3 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). ...... "Prenatal diagnosis is useful in managing a pregnancy with an identified fe...A common cleanser is cheaper and faster way to separate DNA for genetic analysis
By identifying a 30-year-old mistaken assumption, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have found that substituting a simple bleach solution for more complex tools makes a DNA separation technique called electrophoresis five times faster and less costly. ... ...Reported in the February issue of , the scientists say that using the compound sodium boric acid in DNA electrophoresis may spe...Bacterial DNA reduces inflammation in mice
DNA from inactivated "probiotic" bacteria triggers a specific anti-inflammation immune response in mice with experimental colitis, researchers supported by the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have discovered. Led by Eyal Raz, M.D., of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), the investigators provide a possible explanation for the observed benefits of co...DuPont-led scientists unveil key nanotechnology discovery with use of DNA
WILMINGTON, Del. -- A collaborative group of DuPont-led scientists have discovered an innovative way to advance electronics applications through the use of DNA that sorts carbon nanotubes. ... This research in the emerging field of nanotechnology appears in the current issue of the journal Science, which is published by the AAAS the world's largest general scientific organization. The researc...Have the police hijacked our DNA?
Creating a DNA database of all UK men to assist in criminal investigations may sound extreme; however this week's editorial proposes that there has been no more rational option to date in an attempt to use DNA profiling to assist in the identification of violent offenders in the UK, 80% of whom are men.... ...The over-reliance by police and governments on DNA fingerprinting is discussed: 'the use...DNA repair activity may be associated with risk of lung cancer
People with reduced DNA repair activity, as determined by a blood test, appear to be at a higher risk of developing lung cancer than people with average DNA repair activity, according to a study in the September 3 issue of the . The findings suggest a genetic predisposition to lung cancer in some individuals and may explain why only a fraction of smokers develop the disease. ...... Tobacco smok...Stanford research shows targeted DNA vaccine may reverse autoimmune disease
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford University Medical Center researchers have developed a way to tailor therapies to combat the specific inappropriate responses of autoimmune diseases in mice. The researchers also have shown that their technique can provide information needed to predict a disease's progression. Eventually, their work may provide a way to reverse the course of such autoimmune diseases in...Scripps Research Institute group designs DNA vaccine that inhibits growth of cancerous tumors
A group of researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a novel DNA vaccine that helps the body resist the growth of cancerous tumors by choking off the tumors' blood supply. ... ..."We stimulate the immune system to recognize proliferating blood vessels in the tumor vasculature and to recruit killer T cells to destroy these vessels," explains TSRI Immunology Professor Ral...Writing nanopatterns with DNA inks
EVANSTON, Ill. Using an atomic force microscope tip as a pen and different single-stranded DNA as inks, scientists at Northwestern University have demonstrated a technique that could lead to the ultimate high-density gene chip because it takes gene chips to the limit of miniaturization down to the scale of the DNA molecules themselves....... This development, which uses the same tool to write p...Researchers show beneficial role of bacterial DNA in fighting inflammatory bowel disease
... ... ......A synthetic form of bacterial DNA, when administered to mice bred to model Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), reduces the harmful effects of this serious intestinal disorder while enhancing the immune system. And, because its a man-made version of bacterial DNA, the synthetic compound inhibits the experimental colitis in mice without imposing a bacterial infection.... ...The findi...Applied Biosystems introduces next generation production level DNA analysis systems
FOSTER CITY, CA - April 23, 2002 - Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, today announced the introduction of the Applied Biosystems 3730 DNA Analyzer and the Applied Biosystems 3730xl DNA Analyzer. These next generation production scale systems are expected to improve data quality and increase productivity by a factor of two or more compared to current technology...Reversing DNA damage caused by the sun before it becomes skin cancer may be possible
. . SAN DIEGO, April 5 -Scientists have synthesized an artificial enzyme they believe can repair sun-damaged DNA, the cause of many skin cancers. Although promising, they emphasize that much more research needs to be done before it's known if the enzyme can be used to protect people. Each year, more than a million new cases of skin cancer are reported in the United States, many from overexp...Chemist uses DNA to trigger an alternative chemotherapy method
.Imagine a day when a cancer patient can have a blood or biopsy sample fed into a DNA diagnostics machine that takes the disease-state DNA results and within hours comes up with a tailored drug/catalyst therapy. This treatment will kill the cancerous cells in the body and leave the others unharmed, and it is capable of beating the cancer even as it mutates.. . John-Stephen Taylor, Ph.D., profe...Dietary bioflavonoids induce DNA breaks, may contribute to infant leukemia
. Scientists from the University of Chicago Medical Center have found molecular evidence that bioflavonoids, which are ordinarily considered quite beneficial, can cause breaks in DNA that could trigger the development of infant leukemias. Bioflavonoids are found at high levels in many foods, including soybeans, fruits, root vegetables and herbs, and are often ingested in high concentrations as...Scientists identify gene that detects DNA damage
. MADISON, WIS. - Researchers at the UW Medical School have found that mutations in a gene they've . been studying for several years can cause ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). The affected gene appears to . play a crucial role in controlling the way cells respond to DNA damage that can lead to cancer.. . The report, issued with Malcolm Taylor, a researcher from the United. Kingdom, appears in the...New DNA chip method could improve cancer diagnosis
.One of the biggest challenges in cancer treatment is choosing the right regimen.for a given patient. Treatment strategies work differently for different.tumors. In choosing effective treatments with minimal side effects, oncologists.rely heavily on biopsy reports that diagnose the tumor type involved. However,.even today, cancer diagnosis is done the old-fashioned way: by observing.morpholog...UI findings indicate DNA methylation process may lead to oral cancer
.IOWA CITY, Iowa--Just like a light switch, a process known as cytosine.methylation can turn off expression of tumor suppressor genes and lead to oral.cancer, according to University of Iowa Health Care research findings. . ."During cancer development, the normal control of cytosine methylation is lost,.and DNA can become aberrantly methylated," explained Frederick Domann, Ph.D., UI.associate pr....BERKELEY, CA (December 15, 1998): Injections of proprietary immunostimulatory.DNA sequences (ISS-DNA), under development by Dynavax Technologies Corporation,.can alter the nature of the immune response in allergic asthma, while also.inhibiting the symptoms of that disease, the company announced. Dynavax.scientists and their collaborators published research in the December 15 issue.of the Journa...DNA-Based Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise To Successfully Treat Melanoma In Mice
... ...New York, September 15, 1998 -- Over the past decade, knowledge about how the...immune system can be used to fight cancer has greatly increased. Not only have...scientists learned that the immune system can recognize certain proteins on...cancer cells, but they have used this knowledge to develop vaccines that may...help to prevent cancer recurrence. ... ...Now, scientists at Memorial...Designing drugs and knowing exactly how they work may have just.gotten easier, thanks to researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology.. Using a scanning force microscope, two chemistry graduate students.and their research advisors have developed a new way to examine and.quickly map how nucleic acid ligands, in some cases anti-cancer drugs,.bind to and alter DNA at the molecular level.. This...