http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Scientists at The University of Nottingham have found that a genetic rogue element produced by sequences until recently considered 'junk DNA' could promote cancer progression. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-junk-dna-role-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 29 May 2013 12:42:05 EST news289049925 (Medical Xpress)—Specific DNA once dismissed as junk plays an important role in brain development and might be involved in several devastating neurological diseases, UC San Francisco scientists have found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-brain-junk-dna-isnt.html Genetics Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:51:56 EST news285263506 A decade after completion of the Human Genome Project on April 14, 2003, a top official of the National Institutes of Health surveyed the rarefied view from that mountaintop: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-science-genome-sequencing-years.html Genetics Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:50:01 EST news285261709 A controversy at last: most of our DNA is junk, no it isn't, yes it is. Actually, I think it is – up to 90% really is junk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-dead-junk-dna-isback.html Genetics Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:00:36 EST news282556742 Whitehead Institute researchers have identified a previously unrecognized layer of genetic regulation that is necessary for the generation of undesirable white fat cells. When this regulation is disrupted, white fat cells are unable to accumulate lipid droplets or mature from their precursors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-noncoding-rnas-fat-cells.html Overweight and Obesity Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:09:35 EST news279979761 In September 2012, the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project Consortium, a multi-institution collaboration that included the Broad Institute, capped off nine years of research with a flurry of papers that characterized proteins, enzymes, and other functional elements of the human genome. These elements, which were once dismissed as "junk DNA" because they were not among the protein-coding genes, are now thought to fulfill key functions, often regulating how and when genes are activated. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-chromatin-disease-pathways.html Genetics Mon, 07 Jan 2013 06:36:57 EST news276763005 Once considered unimportant "junk DNA," scientists have learned that non-coding RNA (ncRNA) — RNA molecules that do not translate into proteins — play a crucial role in cellular function. Mutations in ncRNA are associated with a number of conditions, such as cancer, autism, and Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-junk-dna-viral-infection.html Medical research Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:47:18 EST news254486817 A team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a new mechanism by which colon cancer develops. By focusing on segments of DNA located between genes, or so-called "junk DNA," the team has discovered a set of master switches, i.e., gene enhancer elements, that turn "on and off" key genes whose altered expression is defining for colon cancers. They have coined the term Variant Enhancer Loci or "VELs," to describe these master switches. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-breakthrough-master-colon-cancer.html Genetics Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:00:01 EST news253445292 An international research team led by Weill Cornell Medical College investigators have discovered two inherited-genetic deletions in the human genome linked to development of aggressive prostate cancer. The findings, published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), indicate a man's risk of developing prostate cancer either triples or quadruples, depending on the genetic variant they inherit. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-genetic-deletions-human-genome-linked.html Cancer Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:01:08 EST news253186976