Body

"They will help us understand the precise mechanisms by which prions cause illnesses like Mad Cow or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease." SISSA, in collaboration with the Carlo Besta Neurological Institute in Milan, established ideal lab conditions to create synthetic prions which act like biological ones, in a repetitive manner. "It is the first time that something like this has been done, and the consequences for research are significant."

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Chameleons are known for sticking their tongues out at the world fast and far, but until a new study by Brown University biologist Christopher Anderson, the true extent of this awesome capability had been largely overlooked. That's because the smallest species hadn't been measured.

"Smaller species have higher performance than larger species," said Anderson, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

THE world's largest database for cancer drug discovery has been revolutionised by adding 3D structures of faulty proteins and maps of cancer's communication networks, according to Cancer Research UK-funded research published in Nucleic Acid Research* today (Monday).

The updated canSAR database, developed at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, will allow scientists working in the UK and across the globe to design new cancer treatments more effectively.

(PHILADELPHA) - Although the most common type of lung cancer - non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) - has recently seen major treatment advances in some genetic subtypes, other subtypes continue to evade effective treatment. (New therapies exist for NCCLC patients whose cancers harbor mutations in the ALK or EGFR genes, for example.) Now, a new study in mice has shown that cancers with KRAS-related gene mutations might benefit from a triple therapy with two experimental drugs plus radiation therapy. The results were published [TKTK date] in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

The high amounts of dietary sugar in the typical Western diet may increase the risk of breast cancer and metastasis to the lungs, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The findings, published in the Jan. 1, 2016 online issue of Cancer Research, demonstrated dietary sugar's effect on an enzymatic signaling pathway known as 12-LOX (12-lipoxygenase).

While the goal of polio virus eradication is in sight, there are concerns about post-eradication manufacturing and stockpiling vaccine stores containing live virus that could escape and repopulate the environment. A study published on December 31st in PLOS Pathogens reports the generation of new vaccine strains that appear both effective and unable to cause disease after accidental or intended release.

PHILADELPHIA - In Florida carpenter ant colonies, distinct worker castes called minors and majors exhibit pronounced differences in social behavior throughout their lives. In a new study published today in Science, a multi-institution team anchored at University of Pennsylvania found that these caste-specific behaviors are not set in stone. Rather, this pioneering study shows that social behavior can be reprogrammed, indicating that an individual's epigenetic, not genetic, makeup determines behavior in ant colonies.

By applying compounds that cause epigenetic changes to ants, researchers were able to change the insects' behavior. Epigenetics is a process whereby environmental factors can affect DNA and the mechanism by which DNA is transcribed and translated into proteins, and now, results by Daniel Simola et al. demonstrate how epigenetic changes can have lasting effects on behavior. Colonies of ants have a structured workforce where individuals have specialized responsibilities, though how this caste-based system is regulated at the molecular level has not been fully understood.

Two new studies in mice demonstrate how a father's diet affects levels of specific small RNAs in his sperm, which in turn can affect gene regulation in offspring. These results add to the growing list of ways in which a male's lifestyle can influence his offspring, including through the sperm epigenome, microbiome transfer and seminal fluid signaling. In the first study, Qi Chen and colleagues fertilized mouse eggs using sperm from a group of male mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD), as well as a group of male mice on a normal diet (ND).

Three independent groups of researchers provide preliminary evidence that CRISPR can treat genetic disorders by editing a gene involved in muscle functioning, restoring some muscle function in mice with a specific type of muscular dystrophy. While much controversy surrounds the editing of germline (reproductive) cells to correct genetic disorders, these results demonstrate the potential to correct some genetic disorders post-birth.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers have used CRISPR to treat an adult mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This marks the first time that CRISPR has successfully treated a genetic disease inside a fully developed living mammal with a strategy that has the potential to be translated to human therapy.

Novel genes are continuously emerging during evolution, but what drives this process? A new study, published in PLOS Genetics, has found that the fortuitous appearance of certain combinations of elements in the genome can lead to the generation of new genes. This work was led by Jorge Ruiz-Orera and Mar Albà from Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute in Barcelona (IMIM-ICREA).

DALLAS - Dec. 31, 2015 - Using a new gene-editing technique, a team of scientists from UT Southwestern Medical Center stopped progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in young mice.

If efficiently and safely scaled up in DMD patients, this technique could lead to one of the first successful genome editing-based treatments for this fatal disease, researchers said.

Chestnut Hill, Mass. (Jan. 1, 2016) - By employing a third reactant, researchers at Boston College have developed a new type of 'cross coupling' chemical reaction, building on a Nobel Prize-winning technique that is one of the most sophisticated tools available to research chemists, the team reports in the journal Science.

Our bodies are made up of many different types of cells, with each of their identities determined by different gene expression. Cancer and genetic diseases occur when this gene expression goes wrong. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an important regulator in gene expression, and they play crucial roles in almost all biological contexts including development, differentiation, inflammation, aging, and cancer.