All Articles Tagged As: disease

Evolutionary History of SARS Supports Bats As Virus Source (2/20/2008)

Scientists who have studied the genome of the virus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) say their comparisons to related viruses offer new evidence that the virus infecting humans originated in bats. ...> Full Article

Globetrotting Black Rat Genes Reveal Spread Of Humans And Diseases (2/2/2008)

DNA of the common Black Rat has shed light on the ancient spread of rats, people and diseases around the globe. Studying the mitochondrial DNA of 165 Black Rat specimens from 32 countries around the world, an international team of scientists has identified six distinct lineages in the Black Rat's family tree, each originating from a different part of Asia. ...> Full Article

Evolution Of Human Genome's 'Guardian' Gives People Unique Protections From DNA Damage (1/21/2008)

Human evolution has created enhancements in key genes connected to the p53 regulatory network -- the so-called guardian of the genome -- by creating additional safeguards in human genes to boost the network's ability to guard against DNA damage that could cause cancer or a variety of genetic diseases, an international team of scientists led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center writes in the Jan. 22 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Because genetically engineered mouse models are increasingly powerful tools in understanding the risks and mechanisms of human diseases -- and rodents do not have the same evolution-based safeguards in p53 function as humans -- the study also underscores the need for additional considerations in the interpretation of research using rodent models. ...> Full Article

Geneticist Uses New Computational Methods to Search for a Neanderthal Legacy and for Disease Genes (1/20/2008)

Each year, Jurassic Park seems less like science fiction. Scientists are decoding woolly mammoth DNA. They also are decoding DNA from an extinct species much closer to us in genetic makeup - the Neanderthal. ...> Full Article

Columbus May Have Brought Syphilis To Europe From New World (1/16/2008)

Did Columbus and his men introduce the syphilis pathogen into Renaissance Europe after contracting it during their voyage to the New World? Or does syphilis have a much longer history in the Old World? The most comprehensive comparative genetic analysis conducted on the family of bacteria (the treponemes) that cause syphilis and related diseases such as yaws supports the so-called "Columbian theory" of syphilis's origins. ...> Full Article

Similarities between genetic diseases create hope for treatment (12/29/2007)

Two rare neurodegenerative diseases -- Huntington's disease and spinocerebellar ataxia 1 - share genetic modifiers in the cellular pathways that cause nerve cell damage, a fact that may make studying them and developing treatments more attractive to biotech companies, said a Baylor College of Medicine researcher. ...> Full Article

International Research Collaboration Narrows Focus on Genetic Cause of Kawasaki Disease (12/21/2007)

Investigators Say Findings May Impact Treatment of Additional Diseases ...> Full Article

Discovery Points to Treatment Approach for Fragile X Syndrome (12/20/2007)

New research has found that many of the symptoms of fragile X syndrome, the most common cause of inherited mental retardation, can be eliminated in mice by reducing the expression of a single gene in the brain. The study suggests that the gene is a prime target for drugs to alleviate symptoms of the disorder, for which there is currently no specific treatment. ...> Full Article

Team discovers bacterial surprise (12/7/2007)

A DNA shift never before seen in nature ...> Full Article

Mutant sperm guide clinicians to new diseases (12/3/2007)

Research published today in Nature Genetics shows that some rearrangements of the human genome occur more frequently than previously thought. The work is likely to lead to new identification of genes involved in disease and to improve diagnosis of genomic disease. ...> Full Article

Get in Touch First (11/5/2007)

When the genetic material inside a cell's nucleus starts to fall apart, a protein called ATM takes charge and orchestrates the rescue mission. Surprisingly, for ATM to kick into full gear, the stretches of DNA flanking a chromosomal break are just as important as the damaged site itself, report scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. ...> Full Article

In dogs, a shortcut to mapping disease genes (10/2/2007)

Genomic tool may accelerate studies of dog diseases, many of which also affect humans ...> Full Article

Selection on genes underlying schizophrenia during human evolution (9/6/2007)

Several genes with strong associations to schizophrenia have evolved rapidly due to selection during human evolution, according to new research in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. ...> Full Article

Original Human 'Stone Age' Diet Is Good For People With Diabetes (7/3/2007)

Foods of the kind that were consumed during human evolution may be the best choice to control diabetes type 2. A study from Lund University, Sweden, found markedly improved capacity to handle carbohydrate after eating such foods for three months. ...> Full Article

Research To Protect Kangaroos (5/17/2007)

A PhD student from James Cook University hopes her research will help defend Australian shores from an exotic wasting disease which, in the event of an outbreak, could have devastating implications for the iconic kangaroo. ...> Full Article

Cataloging the Structural Variations in Human Genetics (5/14/2007)

A major new effort to uncover the medium- and large-scale genetic differences between humans may soon reveal DNA sequences that contribute to a wide range of diseases, according to a paper by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Evan Eichler and 17 colleagues published in the May 10, 2007, Nature. The undertaking will help researchers identify structural variations in DNA sequences, which Eichler says amount to as much as five to ten percent of the human genome. ...> Full Article

Researchers Learn How Cells Keep Their Chromosomes Intact To Avoid Range Of Genetic Diseases (5/9/2007)

For more than a century, scientists have studied the process of meiosis, the type of cell division that produces egg and sperm cells. But a full understanding of the process, which is known to play a key role in causing birth defects such as Down syndrome, has remained elusive. ...> Full Article

Simulated populations used to probe gene mapping (3/28/2007)

Forward-time simulation proves practical for studying complex diseases ...> Full Article

First Comprehensive Genetic Analysis of Invasive Marine Animal and its Parasites Sheds Light on Spread of Disease (3/26/2007)

A paper that authors are calling a "home run" study on the spread of disease is published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). ...> Full Article

Scientist Develops New Mathematical Model To Study Disease Genetics And Evolution (3/25/2007)

USC College computational biologist Peter Calabrese has developed a new model to simulate the evolution of so-called recombination hotspots in the genome. ...> Full Article

Ebola may have killed the Aztecs (2/23/2007)

Was it a foreign sickness that devastated the Aztecs or something a little closer to home? ...> Full Article