Life Sciences and Chemistry

Mayo Clinic researchers have identified a genetic syndrome — an inherited birth disorder characterized by learning disabilities, facial malformations, impaired organs and mental retardation. It has been previously misdiagnosed or undiagnosed.

Researchers also discovered the syndrome’s genetic basis: a rearrangement of DNA called “microduplication.” When microduplication occurs, DNA segments are repeated and this causes a surplus of genes. Microduplication is a little-studied mec

Variants of BMP2 gene as genetic risk factors for osteoporosis

Linking specific genes with common, complex diseases like osteoporosis is a tricky business. There are likely to be many genetic as well as environmental and lifestyle causes, and to find them researchers need large populations, abundant genetic markers, and extensive patient data. In addition to powerful genotyping resources, researchers at deCODE in Iceland can take advantage of a nationwide genealogical database of Icel

University of Leicester astronomers and biologists have patented a new way of analysing DNA from gene-chips, which may be used in laboratories and hospitals to diagnose diseases from a single drop of blood and compare gene expression in different samples.

The pioneering technique uses an instrument developed at the European Space Agency’s laboratories in Holland for the study of light from distant galaxies to overcome a problem that has previously dogged gene-chip research.

The genes that influence the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease may vary over the course of an individual’s lifetime, a new study by Duke University Medical Center researchers finds. The team’s results revealed two chromosomal regions not previously known to influence Alzheimer’s disease: one linked to the disorder in families that first show symptoms early in life and another in families with very late onset of the disorder’s symptoms.

While earlier studies hav

Amino acids have been found in interstellar clouds and in meteorites – but with some enigmatic omissions and tantalizing similarities to life on Earth. Just why some amino acids are present in meteorites and others are absent, and why they seem to prefer the same “left-handed” molecular structure as Earth’s living amino acids are questions that could unravel one of the most fundamental questions of science: Where and how did life begin?

“The bottom line is that you have these materials

Research aimed at understanding how lice feed off humans may lead to new methods to control the blood-sucking pest that can transmit fatal diseases.

In the November issue of the journal Insect Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Purdue and Harvard university researchers report finding lice genes that control the breakdown of their human blood meal into energy and waste. They also identified the first gene in lice that may impact the insects’ ability to fight off bacterial infections. The