News tagged with nucleic acids

Cancerous tumors deliver pro-metastatic information in secreted vesicles

Cancer researchers have known for well over a century that different tumor types spread only to specific, preferred organs. But no one has been able to determine the mechanisms of organ specific metastasis, the so-called ...

Cancer created May 29, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New anti-inflammatory agents silence overactive immune response

A new way to fight inflammation uses molecules called polymers to mop up the debris of damaged cells before the immune system becomes abnormally active, researchers at Duke University Medical Center report.

Inflammatory disorders created Aug 15, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Scientists find mechanism that triggers immune responses to DNA

(Medical Xpress)—Free-floating pieces of DNA in a cell's watery interior can mean bad things: invading viruses, bacteria, or parasites, ruptured cellular membranes, or disease. Genetic material is meant to be contained ...

Medical research created Dec 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Georgia Tech develops computational algorithm to assist in cancer treatments

High-throughput DNA sequencing technologies are leading to a revolution in how clinicians diagnose and treat cancer. The molecular profiles of individual tumors are beginning to be used in the design of chemotherapeutic ...

Cancer created Feb 13, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Cancer epigenetics: Breakthrough in ID'ing target genes

Cancer is usually attributed to faulty genes, but growing evidence from the field of cancer epigenetics indicates a key role for the gene "silencing" proteins that stably turn genes off inside the cell nucleus. ...

Cancer created Mar 13, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Does presence of oxidants early in life help determine life span?

Why do we age, and what makes some of us live longer than others? For decades, researchers have been trying to answer these questions by elucidating the molecular causes of aging.

Medical research created Jul 19, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Novel technique reveals dynamics of telomere DNA structure

Biomedical researchers studying aging and cancer are intensely interested in telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes. In a new study, scientists at UC Santa Cruz used a novel technique to reveal structural ...

Medical research created Jan 17, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Scientists find key element of lupus, suggesting better drug targets

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified specific cellular events that appear key to lupus, a debilitating autoimmune disease that afflicts tens of millions of people worldwide. The ...

Medical research created Feb 04, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

A new form of DNA

(Medical Xpress) -- Northwestern University chemists have synthesized a new form of DNA, one that can begin to be used to create new gene regulation therapies, for the prevention or treatment of diseases such as cancer.

Cancer created Jun 03, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Cholesterol rafts deliver drugs inside cancer cells

DNA, siRNA and miRNA can reprogram cancer cells – that is, if these nucleic acids could cross through the cell membrane. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published today in the journal Therapeutic Delivery shows ...

Cancer created Apr 02, 2013 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers identify HIV-inhibiting mechanism

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered a long-sought cellular factor that works to inhibit HIV infection of myeloid cells, a subset of white blood cells that display antigens and ...

HIV & AIDS created Jun 29, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study offers comprehensive look at chemical, genetic changes that occur as inflammation progresses to cancer

One of the biggest risk factors for liver, colon or stomach cancer is chronic inflammation of those organs, often caused by viral or bacterial infections. A new study from MIT offers the most comprehensive look yet at how ...

Inflammatory disorders created Jun 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Prions and cancer: A story unfolding

Prions, the causal agents of Mad Cow and other diseases, are very unique infectious particles. They are proteins in which the complex molecular three-dimensional folding process just went astray. For reasons not yet understood, ...

Cancer created Jun 25, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Drugs are first to topically deliver gene therapy via commercial moisturizers for skin disease treatment

"Getting under your skin" takes on a brave new meaning thanks to Northwestern University research that could transform gene regulation.

Medical research created Jul 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Bloodstream scavenger inhibits clotting without increased bleeding

A compound that mops up debris of damaged cells from the bloodstream may be the first in a new class of drugs designed to address one of medicine's most difficult challenges -- stopping the formation of blood clots without ...

Medical research created Jul 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Nucleic acid

A nucleic acid is a macromolecule composed of chains of monomeric nucleotides. In biochemistry these molecules carry genetic information or form structures within cells. The most common nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). Nucleic acids are universal in living things, as they are found in all cells and viruses. Nucleic acids were first discovered by Friedrich Miescher in 1871.

Artificial nucleic acids include peptide nucleic acid (PNA), Morpholino and locked nucleic acid (LNA), as well as glycol nucleic acid (GNA) and threose nucleic acid (TNA). Each of these is distinguished from naturally-occurring DNA or RNA by changes to the backbone of the molecule.

For more information about Nucleic acid, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: rna