News tagged with dna
Key mechanism for a common form of Alzheimer's disease discovered
Scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in collaboration with researchers from Icelandic Heart Association, Sage Bionetworks, and other institutions, have discovered that a network of genes involved in ...
Alzheimer's disease & dementia
Apr 25, 2013 |
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Large-scale genetic study defines relationship between primary sclerosing cholangitis and other autoimmune diseases
For the first time, scientists show that a leading cause of liver transplant, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), is a distinct disease from inflammatory bowel disease, opening up new avenues for specific PSC treatments.
Genetics
Apr 21, 2013 |
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Are human genes patentable?
(Medical Xpress)—On April 15, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, a case that could answer the question, "Under what conditions, if any, ...
Genetics
Apr 11, 2013 |
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Neuroscientists show 'jumping genes' may contribute to aging-related brain defects
As the body ages, the physical effects are notable; wrinkles in the skin appear, physical exertion becomes harder. But there are also less visible processes going on. Inside aging brains there is another phenomenon at work, ...
Neuroscience
Apr 08, 2013 |
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Final chapter to 60-year-old blood group mystery
Researchers have solved a 60-year-old mystery by identifying a gene that can cause rejection, kidney failure and even death in some blood transfusion patients. In this study, published in Nature Genetics online ...
Genetics
Apr 07, 2013 |
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Measuring enzyme levels in cancer patients may reveal healthy cells' ability to survive chemotherapy
New research from MIT may allow scientists to develop a test that can predict the severity of side effects of some common chemotherapy agents in individual patients, allowing doctors to tailor treatments ...
Genetics
Apr 05, 2013 |
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Scientists discover that DNA damage occurs as part of normal brain activity
Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have discovered that a certain type of DNA damage long thought to be particularly detrimental to brain cells can actually be part of a regular, non-harmful process. The team further ...
Alzheimer's disease & dementia
Mar 24, 2013 |
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Researchers find controlling element of Huntington's disease
A three molecule complex may be a target for treating Huntington's disease, a genetic disorder affecting the brain. This finding by an international research team including scientists from the German Center for Neurodegenerative ...
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Feb 26, 2013 |
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How chromosomes keep their loose ends loose
We take it for granted that our chromosomes won't stick together, yet this kind of cellular disaster would happen constantly were it not for a protein called TRF2. Now, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) ...
Medical research
Feb 06, 2013 |
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Researchers discover enzyme behind breast cancer mutations
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have uncovered a human enzyme responsible for causing DNA mutations found in the majority of breast cancers. The discovery of this enzyme – called APOBEC3B – may change the way ...
Cancer
Feb 06, 2013 |
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New mutations driving malignant melanoma discovered
Two new mutations that collectively occur in 71 percent of malignant melanoma tumors have been discovered in what scientists call the "dark matter" of the cancer genome, where cancer-related mutations haven't ...
Cancer
Jan 24, 2013 |
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Epigenetic reprogramming: Research discovers how epigenetic information could be inherited
New research reveals a potential way for how parents' experiences could be passed to their offspring's genes. The research was published today, 25 January, in the journal Science.
Genetics
Jan 24, 2013 |
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Researchers show how cells' DNA repair machinery can destroy viruses
A team of researchers based at Johns Hopkins has decoded a system that makes certain types of immune cells impervious to HIV infection. The system's two vital components are high levels of a molecule that ...
Medical research
Jan 21, 2013 |
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Genes and their regulatory 'tags' conspire to promote rheumatoid arthritis, study finds
In one of the first genome-wide studies to hunt for both genes and their regulatory "tags" in patients suffering from a common disease, researchers have found a clear role for the tags in mediating genetic ...
Genetics
Jan 20, 2013 |
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Possible role for Huntington's gene discovered
About 20 years ago, scientists discovered the gene that causes Huntington's disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects about 30,000 Americans. The mutant form of the gene has many extra DNA ...
Genetics
Jan 16, 2013 |
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DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information. DNA is often compared to a set of blueprints or a recipe, or a code, since it contains the instructions needed to construct other components of cells, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic information.
Chemically, DNA consists of two long polymers of simple units called nucleotides, with backbones made of sugars and phosphate groups joined by ester bonds. These two strands run in opposite directions to each other and are therefore anti-parallel. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called bases. It is the sequence of these four bases along the backbone that encodes information. This information is read using the genetic code, which specifies the sequence of the amino acids within proteins. The code is read by copying stretches of DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA, in a process called transcription.
Within cells, DNA is organized into X-shaped structures called chromosomes. These chromosomes are duplicated before cells divide, in a process called DNA replication. Eukaryotic organisms (animals, plants, fungi, and protists) store most of their DNA inside the cell nucleus and some of their DNA in the mitochondria (animals and plants) and chloroplasts (plants only). Prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) however, store their DNA in the cell's cytoplasm. Within the chromosomes, chromatin proteins such as histones compact and organize DNA. These compact structures guide the interactions between DNA and other proteins, helping control which parts of the DNA are transcribed.
For more information about DNA, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
