http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London have found a relationship between molecular tags on our DNA and the weight of a particular region of the human brain called the cerebellum. The findings may provide important clues for understanding the causes of schizophrenia and autism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-dna-tags-key-brain-mental.html Genetics Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:55:22 EST news249544473 Mice genetically engineered to be susceptible to autism-like behaviors that were exposed to a common flame retardant were less fertile and their offspring were smaller, less sociable and demonstrated marked deficits in learning and long-term memory when compared with the offspring of normal unexposed mice, a study by researchers at UC Davis has found. The researchers said the study is the first to link genetics and epigenetics with exposure to a flame retardant chemical. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-common-flame-retardant-linked-social.html Genetics Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:01:17 EST news248619630 For the first time, scientists have tracked the activity, across the lifespan, of an environmentally responsive regulatory mechanism that turns genes on and off in the brain's executive hub. Among key findings of the study by National Institutes of Health scientists: genes implicated in schizophrenia and autism turn out to be members of a select club of genes in which regulatory activity peaks during an environmentally-sensitive critical period in development. The mechanism, called DNA methylation, abruptly switches from off to on within the human brain's prefrontal cortex during this pivotal transition from fetal to postnatal life. As methylation increases, gene expression slows down after birth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-gene-brain-hub-tracked-lifespan.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:00:12 EST news247402987 (Medical Xpress) -- New research from the University of Glasgow shows that the health of the city’s most deprived residents could be impaired before they are even born. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-health-inequalities-imprinted-dna.html Medical research Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:14:14 EST news246608019 Chronic inflammation combines with DNA methylation, a process that shuts down cancer-fighting genes, to promote development of colorectal cancer, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report today in the advance online publication of the journal Nature Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-inflammatory-colorectal-cancer-stifling-genes.html Inflammatory disorders Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:00:26 EST news246455346 Children who experience the stress of separation at birth from biological parents and are brought up in orphanages undergo biological consequences such as changes in their genome functioning, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-orphaned-children-genetic-require-nurturing.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:15:38 EST news242313328 A University of Cambridge study, which set out to investigate DNA methylation in the human heart and the 'missing link' between our lifestyle and our health, has now mapped the link in detail across the entire human genome. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-environment-diet-heart.html Medical research Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:01 EST news241715168 A study performed by scientists in Dirk Schübeler's team at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel identifies DNA sequences that autonomously determine DNA methylation patterns. Genomic patterns of cytosine methylation are important for the proper functioning of cells during self renewal and development, and are often disrupted in disease. In a study published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature Genetics, Schübeler and his team show that the binding of transcription factors to specific DNA sequences determines DNA methylation levels at gene regulatory regions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-patterns-dna-methylation.html Genetics Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:56:51 EST news239014600 A compound isolated from a wild, poisonous mushroom growing in a Southwest China forest appears to help a cancer killing drug fulfill its promise, researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-mushroom-compound-effectiveness-cancer-drugs.html Cancer Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:57:54 EST news237556666 Stem cell researchers at UCLA have generated the first genome-wide mapping of a DNA modification called 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in embryonic stem cells, and discovered that it is predominantly found in genes that are turned on, or active. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-scientists-molecule-human-embryonic-stem.html Genetics Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:36:41 EST news230484987 One of the beneficial compounds found in green tea has a powerful ability to increase the number of "regulatory T cells" that play a key role in immune function and suppression of autoimmune disease, according to new research in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-mechanism-health-benefit-green-tea.html Medical research Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:00:49 EST news226242011 Until a decade, it was believed that differences between people were due solely to the existence of genetic changes, which are alterations in the sequence of our genes. The discoveries made during these last ten years show that beings with the same genetics like the twins and cloned animals may have different characteristics and disease due to epigenetic changes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-characterize-epigenetic-fingerprint-people.html Genetics Thu, 02 Jun 2011 06:45:38 EST news226215920 Children whose mothers or grandmothers smoked during pregnancy are at increased risk of asthma in childhood, but the underlying causes of this are not well understood. Now a new study indicates changes in a process called DNA methylation that occurs before birth may be a root cause. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-maternal-fetal-dna.html Medical research Wed, 18 May 2011 11:06:22 EST news224935565 Exposure to air pollution early in life and when a woman gives birth to her first child may alter her DNA and may be associated with premenopausal breast cancer later in life, researchers at the University at Buffalo have shown. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-air-pollution-exposure-affects-chances.html Cancer Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:34:14 EST news222521641 Using human kidney cells and brain tissue from adult mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have uncovered the sequence of steps that makes normally stable DNA undergo the crucial chemical changes implicated in cancers, psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. The process may also be involved in learning and memory, the researchers say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-hopkins-team-dna.html Medical research Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:36:29 EST news222006975