GATA: a graphic alignment tool for comparative sequence analysis
Sometimes apotential target for a drug seems very promising on paper; things areoften very different in reality. Its the case of telomerase inhibitorsto treat cancer; they are supposed to strip the "immortal" (able todivide indefinitely) aspect of cancer cells. Yet, something in the cellseems to block their function, preventing them to inhibit completelythe...Global analysis of membrane proteins
All cells are encased within a protective lipid membrane. The membrane is studded with many hundreds of different proteins that transport nutrients, ions, and water into and out of the cell. Such membrane proteins also help cells recognize each other in the body, and make the nervous system work. Scientists at Stockholm University have now mapped out nearly all of the membrane proteins in the ent...Doctors closer to using gene analysis to help trauma patients
A genetic tool with the potential to identify which trauma and burn patients are most likely to become seriously ill has worked consistently in a wide range of experimental clinical settings ?an important hurdle to overcome before the method is routinely used in emergency rooms and intensive care units. In a report published today (March 7) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sc...Eliminate Data Analysis Bottlenecks in Drug Discovery
In the March 3 issue of Nature, Johns Hopkins researchers report that two proteins best known for very different activities actually come together to turn the liver into a sugar-producing factory when food is scarce. Because the liver's production of sugar is a damaging problem in people with diabetes, the proteins' interaction might be a target for future drugs to fight the disease, the research...Analysis Of Human Genome To Predict The Development Of Illnesses
The GARBAN project, drawn up by Navarre University, will enable the identification of therapeutic targets for cancer, depression and hepatitis. The School of Engineering at Navarre University and its Centre for Technical Studies and Research in Gipuzkoa (CEIT) have launched an advanced biochemical analysis tool that will help in predicting the evolution of diseases, accelerate their diagno...New miniaturised chip dramatically reduces time taken for DNA analysis
A team of researchers at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona has developed new miniature sensors for analysing DNA. The sensors have the same size and thickness as a fingernail and reduce the time needed to identify DNA chains to several minutes or a few hours, depending on each chain. These sensors can be applied to many different tasks, ranging from paternity tests and identifying people to d...Researchers develop promising new gene network analysis method
Compared with a long-used linear model, a correlation-based statistical method is a more reliable way to map complex gene interactions and pinpoint genes that may be potential cancer treatment targets, according to new Brown University research. The research is important because it describes a promising new tool for tracing human gene connections, a task critical for understanding and tre...Microreactor efficiently regenerates cofactors for biocatalysis
One of the longstanding challenges in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and food additives is the continuous regeneration of molecules called cofactors that permit the synthesis through inexpensive and environmentally friendly biocatalytic processes. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Universite Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France...Analysis of flower genes reveals the fate of an ancient gene duplication
In a step that advances our ability to discern the ancient evolutionary relationships between different genes and their biological functions, researchers have provided insight into the present-day outcome of a single gene duplication that occurred over a hundred million years ago in an ancestor of modern plants. The work is reported in Current Biology by a team led by Brendan Davies of the Univer...New technique may speed DNA analysis
Just as the printing press revolutionized the creation of reading matter, a "nano-printing" technique developed at MIT could enable the mass production of nano-devices currently built one at a time. The most immediate candidate for this innovation is the DNA microarray, a nano-device used to diagnose and understand genetic illnesses such as Alzheimer's, viral illnesses such as AIDS, and c...Locusts' built-in 'surface analysis' ability directs them to fly overland
Swarms of millions of locusts have, since Biblical times and until our very own day, been considered a "plague" of major proportions, with the creatures destroying every growing thing in their path. Until now, it was thought that the directions of these swarms were predominantly directed by prevailing winds. Now, Hebrew University of Jerusalem scientists have shown that a physiological tra...NASA satellite data provides rapid analysis of Amazon deforestation
The Amazon, a vast tropical forest stretching across South America, is so large that if you were to take pictures of the region with optical photographs, it would take about ten years to...NCAR analysis shows widespread pollution from 2004 wildfires
Wildfires in Alaska and Canada in 2004 emitted about as much carbon monoxide as did human-related activities in the continental United States during the same time period, according to new research by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The fires also increased atmospheric concentrations of ground-level ozone across much of the Northern Hemisphere. The NCAR study, which ind...Genomatix Microarray Analysis Pipeline achieves Affymetrix GeneChip compatible?status
Genomatix Software GmbH today announced that it has achieved GeneChip-compatible GeneChip® microarray platform and that it has joined Affymetrix GeneChip-compatible Applications Program, which provides customers with a broad spectrum of software solutions for biomedical research and development. As a GeneChip-compatible...Genetic analysis of cavefish reveals more about evolution
A multi-institutional study offers additional insight into the evolutionary process by examining how albinism evolves in cavefish. Researchers, including New York University Biology Professor Richard Borowsky, examined two populations of Mexican cavefish and found that albinism in both populations was linked to Oca2--a pigmentation gene also responsible for the most common form of albinism in hu...Genetic analysis of Asian elephants in India reveals some surprises
Researchers in India and from The Earth Institute at Columbia University have discovered that one of the few remaining populations of Asian elephants in India is actually two genetically distinct groups. The results of the study, which appear in the current issue of the journal Animal Conservation, could have far-reaching implications in conservation plans for the endangered elephants as well as...Scientists develop protein-sequence analysis tool
With more and more protein sequence data available, scientists are increasingly looking for ways to extract the small subset of information that determines a protein's function. In addition to sorting out what makes related proteins differ, such information can also help scientists engineer proteins to do new jobs. Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Labor...New analysis shows three human migrations out of Africa
A new, more robust analysis of recently derived human gene trees by Alan R. Templeton, Ph.D, of Washington University in St Louis, shows three distinct major waves of human migration out of Africa instead of just two, and statistically refutes –strongly ?the 'Out of Africa' replacement theory. That theory holds that populations of Homo sapiens left Africa 100,000 years ago and wiped out e...Computational analysis shows that plant hormones often go it alone
Unlike the Three Musketeers who lived by the motto "All for one, one for all," plant hormones prefer to do their own thing. For years, debate swirled around whether pathways activated by growth-regulating plant hormones converge on a central growth regulatory module. Now, the cooperation model is challenged by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. They show that each hormone a...Analysis of breast-cancer gene role offers promising target
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have for the first time described how multiple copies of a gene are responsible for metastases in early-stage breast cancer and poor prognosis for patients. , the gene, called uPAR, offers a promising target for therapeutic drugs to stop o...New genetic analysis forces re-draw of insect family tree
The family tree covering almost half the animal species on the planet has been re-drawn following a genetic analysis which has revealed new relationships between four major groups of insects. The findings are published in the...First-time analysis reveals millions of Europeans left at risk from influenza
A powerful analysis from this month's Vaccine 1 highlights the huge gap between current vaccination coverage across Europe and the recommendations endorsed by the European Union. Currently, only one third (35%) of all high risk populations are receiving seasonal influenza vaccine in Europe, resulting in avoidable morbidity, hospitalisations and mortality. For the first time, researchers...Chromosomal microarray analysis proves accurate
Two years and more than 2,000 samples after researchers at Baylor College of Medicine started to use a new gene-chip technology called chromosomal microarray analysis to look for potential genetic abnormalities in children, they find that it is remarkably sensitive in detecting abnormalities in individual chromosomes, according to a report that appears online today in the journal Public Library o...Pacific Rim researchers to collaborate on distributed bioinformatics analysis of avian flu
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Hawaii will use bioinformatics, grid computing and networking infrastructure, as well as collaborative ties to Asian institutions to learn more about avian flu, in hopes of helping to head off a much-feared pandemic in the region of the world where the disease has already cost human lives. "We will use modern h...DNA analysis reveals rapid population shift among Pleistocene cave bears
Studying DNA obtained from teeth of ancient cave bears, researchers have been able to identify a shift in a particular population of the bears inhabiting a European valley in the late Pleistocene era. The findings illustrate the ability of DNA sequence analysis to reveal aspects of animal population dynamics in the distant past and potentially illuminate the influence of human migrations in anima...Re-analysis of cigarettes confirms tobacco companies increased addictive nicotine 11 percent
A reanalysis of nicotine yield from major brand name cigarettes sold in Massachusetts from 1997 to 2005 has confirmed that manufacturers have steadily increased the levels of this agent in cigarettes. This independent analysis, based on data submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) by the manufacturers, found that increases in smoke nicotine yield per cigarette averaged 1...Analysis of rhesus monkey genome uncovers genetic differences with humans, chimps
An international consortium of researchers has published the genome sequence of the rhesus macaque monkey and aligned it with the chimpanzee and human genomes. Published April 13 in a special section of the journal Science, the analysis reveals that the three primate species share about 93 percent of their DNA, yet have some significant differences among their genes. In its paper, the Rhes...LIAI completes world's most comprehensive analysis on influenza virus data
Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI) announced today the results of a first of its kind study analyzing all published data worldwide on influenza A virus antibody and T cell epitopes. Antibody and T cell epitopes are small sites on a virus that are the targets of the immune response, and they are critical for developing therapies and vaccines to combat infe...DNA analysis suggests under-reported kills of threatened whales
A new study analyzing whale meat sold in Korean markets suggests the number of whales being sold for human consumption in the Asian country is much higher than that being reported to the International Whaling Commission ?putting threatened populations of coastal minke whales further at risk. The study, involving numerous researchers led by Scott Baker of Oregon State University, was just p...DOE JGI sets 'gold standard' for metagenomic data analysis
With the advent of more powerful and economical DNA sequencing technologies, gene discovery and characterization is transitioning from single-organism studies to revealing the potential biotechnology applications embedded in communities of microbial genomes, or metagenomes. The field of metagenomics is still in its infancy -- the equivalent of the early days of the California Gold Rush, with lab...Genomic Analysis Uncovers New Targets for HIV Vaccine
DURHAM, N.C. – An international team of researchers has identified three gene variants in the DNA of 486 people infected with HIV that appear to have helped some of the patients fight off the virus and delay the onset of full-blown AIDS. The researchers expect the new findings to aid the search for an HIV vaccine that would work by boosting the protective effects of one or more of these g...