PURAC and Greenomics™ (Plant Research International B.V.) announced the completion of the whole-genome sequencing of a production strain of PURAC that produces high amounts of lactic acid. Greenomics™ conducted the shotgun cloning and high quality sequencing of the genome up to a zero-gap situation. The closed genome is accompanied by an automated annotation and a functional classification of all the genes by bioinformatics tools.

The positive results obtained so far has encouraged PURAC to

Physicians have long marveled at the body’s ability to heal itself. Over time, breaks, tears, burns and bruises can often disappear sans medical intervention. Less well-understood are the similarly extraordinary repairs that take place on the molecular level, in DNA. To that end, findings announced today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may prove insightful. According to the report, researchers have found that a protein known as ATR appears to sense damage to DNA and touch off

New research published in BMC Molecular Biology explains how a new technique for introducing genes into mammalian cells using the virus responsible for warts could be a major step forward in developing gene therapy treatments for people with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a genetic disease that affects around 12 million people worldwide.

People with FH have a genetic defect that prevents their liver cells from absorbing chlolesterol in the form of low density lipoprotein (LDL). This lea

Researchers in the University of Warwick’s Molecular Medicine Research Centre have found the “Bin Laden” of cancer causing faulty proteins. They have undermined the old complex model of how many cancers start and identified a single protein known as c-Myc as a “mission-critical target for effective cancer therapies.”

Fighting cancer is similar to the war against terrorism. Current cancer models suggest that a network of several cell mutations is needed to begin a cancer. Both terrorism and c

Researchers at the Universities of Warwick and Keele are being supported by the Economic and Social Research Council to watch the popular game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The globally broadcast show is a treasure trove of data on how all sorts of people of different ages and genders and nationalities perceive and act on risk.
One of the researchers, economist Professor Ian Walker from the University of Warwick said:

“Many decisions involve weighing up potential gains and losses w

Wound healing appears generally a banal event, but in a certain proportion of cases it evolves inappropriately in hypertrophic scars resulting in skin and organ deformations. This is due to an excess of wound contraction, a phenomenon that generally helps to close the wound. Hypertrophic scarring is observed frequently in burned patients.

For the past 30 years, Professor Giulio Gabbiani and his team are interested in the role of myofibroblasts in wound contraction. Myofibroblasts, specializ