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Public Release: 20-Nov-2009
 GeneticsIt's a gas: New discovery may lead to heartier, high-yielding plants In a research report in the November 2009 journal Genetics, scientists show how a family of genes (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase, or ACS genes), in the weed Arabidopsis thaliana, are responsible for production of ethylene. This gas affects many aspects of plant development, and this information, which will be applicable to other plants, lays the foundation for future genetic manipulation that could make plants disease resistant, able to survive and thrive in difficult terrain, and increase yields. Contact: Tracey DePellegrin Connelly
Public Release: 20-Nov-2009
PLoS GeneticsGenetic analysis helps dissect molecular basis of cardiovascular disease Using highly precise measurements of plasma lipoprotein concentrations determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, researchers performed genetic association analysis across the whole genome among 17,296 women of European ancestry. This large scale analysis of the effects of common genetic variation on plasma lipoprotein profile, a critical component of cardiovascular risk, identified 43 genetic loci contributing to lipoprotein metabolism. The findings are published on Nov. 20 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. Contact: Tamsin Milewicz
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
Nature GeneticsCausative gene of a rare disorder discovered by sequencing only protein-coding regions of genome More that 7,000 rare disorders in aggregate affect millions of people. Researchers have now shown that it may be possible to more quickly identify the causative gene for many of these disorders by sequencing only the protein-coding regions of the genome. This can be done on unrelated individuals, thereby avoiding the need for large families for such studies. 
NIH/Eunice Kennedy Shriver Nationa Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH/National Heart Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH/National Human Genome Institute, National Institutes of Health, Washington Life Sciences Discovery Fund, others
Contact: Leila Gray
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
Developmental CellTechnique finds gene regulatory sites without knowledge of regulators A new statistical technique developed by researchers at the University of Illinois allows scientists to scan a genome for specific gene-regulatory regions without requiring prior knowledge of the relevant transcription factors. The technique has been experimentally validated in both the mouse genome and the fruit fly genome.
National Institutes of Health, Illinois Sociogenomics Initiative, Leukemia Research Fund, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Contact: James E. Kloeppel
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
Eukaryotic CellWPI researchers take aim at hard-to-treat fungal infections Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have developed a new model system to study fungal infections. The system can be a powerful tool for screening potential drug targets for conditions like thrush, athlete's foot and vaginal yeast infections, which affect millions of people each year but are difficult to treat with existing medications. Using the new model, the researchers also identified a gene that may be a promising target for a new anti-fungal drug. Contact: Michael Cohen
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
Genome BiologyAncestry attracts, but love is blind People preferentially marry those with similar ancestry, but their decisions are not necessarily based on hair, eye or skin color. Research, published in BioMed Central's open-access journal Genome Biology, shows that Mexicans mate according to proportions of Native-American to European ancestry, while Puerto Ricans are more likely to settle down with someone carrying a similar mix of African and European genes. Contact: Graeme Baldwin
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
PLoS GeneticsPLoS Genetics 2009 maize genome collection Maize is an important crop in many countries of the world. It is widely used for human consumption, animal feed and industrial materials. It also is considered an exemplar plant species for studying domestication, molecular evolution and genome architecture. The authors of the research presented in this special collection used the first description of the B73 maize genome to probe some of the most intriguing questions in genetics and plant biology. Contact: Tamsin Milewicz
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
ScienceAmaizing: Corn genome decoded In recent years, scientists have decoded the DNA of humans and a menagerie of creatures but none with genes as complex as a stalk of corn, the latest genome to be unraveled. A team of scientists led by the Genome Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis published the completed corn genome in the Nov. 20 journal Science, an accomplishment that will speed efforts to develop better crop varieties to meet the world's growing demands for food, livestock feed and fuel.
National Science Foundation, US Department of Agriculture, US Department of Energy
Contact: Caroline Arbanas
Public Release: 17-Nov-2009
Archives of Internal MedicineNutrigenomics researchers replicate gene interaction with saturated fat Tufts University researchers have identified a gene-diet interaction that appears to influence body weight and have replicated their findings in three independent studies. Men and women carrying the CC genotype demonstrated higher body mass index scores and a higher incidence of obesity, but only if they consumed a diet high in saturated fat. These associations were seen in the apolipoprotein A-II gene promoter.
National Institutes of Health, US Department of Agriculture, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición
Contact: Andrea Grossman
Public Release: 16-Nov-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesUT Southwestern scientist begins to unravel what makes pandemic H1N1 tick As the number of deaths related to the pandemic H1N1 virus, commonly known as "swine flu," continues to rise, researchers have been scrambling to decipher its inner workings and explain why the incidence is lower than expected in older adults.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Kristen Holland Shear
Public Release: 16-Nov-2009
CladisticsScientists put interactive flu tracking at public's fingertips New methods of studying avian influenza strains and visually mapping their movement around the world will help scientists more quickly learn the behavior of the pandemic H1N1 flu virus, Ohio State University researchers say. The researchers linked many powerful computer systems together to analyze enormous amounts of genetic data collected from all publicly available isolated strains of the H5N1 virus -- the cause of avian flu.
US Army Research Laboratory and Office, Ohio State University
Contact: Daniel Janies
Public Release: 15-Nov-2009
Nature GeneticsLargest gene study of childhood IBD identifies 5 new genes In the largest, most comprehensive genetic analysis of childhood-onset inflammatory bowel disease, an international research team has identified five new gene regions, including one involved in a biological pathway that helps drive the painful inflammation of the digestive tract that characterizes the disease. Although much research remains to be done, the study may provide a basis for developing drugs that target a protein on the pathway, for patients with the implicated gene variant.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: John Ascenzi
Public Release: 12-Nov-2009
BMC NeuroscienceGene knockout may cheer up mice Removing the PKCI/HINT1 gene from mice has an antidepressant-like and anxiolytic-like effect. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience applied a battery of behavioral tests to the PKCI/HINT1 knockout animals, concluding that the deleted gene may have an important role in mood regulation. Contact: Graeme Baldwin
Public Release: 11-Nov-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesLongevity tied to genes that preserve tips of chromosomes A team led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has found a clear link between living to 100 and inheriting a hyperactive version of an enzyme that rebuilds telomeres -- the tip ends of chromosomes. The findings appear in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Contact: Deirdre Branley
Public Release: 11-Nov-2009
BMC PsychiatryFaulty body clock may make kids bipolar Malfunctioning circadian clock genes may be responsible for bipolar disorder in children. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry found four versions of the regulatory gene RORB that were associated with pediatric bipolar disorder. Contact: Graeme Baldwin
Public Release: 11-Nov-2009
NatureResearchers 'notch' a victory toward new kind of cancer drug Scientists have devised an innovative way to disarm a key protein considered to be "undruggable," meaning that all previous efforts to develop a drug against it have failed. Their discovery lays the foundation for a new kind of therapy aimed directly at a critical human protein -- one of a few thousand so-called transcription factors -- that could someday be used to treat a variety of diseases, especially multiple types of cancer.
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Hematology, Harvard & Dana-Farber Program in Cancer Chemical Biology, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Nicole Davis
Public Release: 11-Nov-2009
NatureWhy can't chimps speak? If humans are genetically related to chimps, why did our brains develop the innate ability for language and speech while theirs did not? Scientists suspect that part of the answer to the mystery lies in a gene called FOXP2. When mutated, FOXP2 can disrupt speech and language in humans. Now, a UCLA/Emory study reveals major differences between how the human and chimp versions of FOXP2 work, perhaps explaining why language is unique to humans.
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, A.P. Giannini Foundation, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
Contact: Elaine Schmidt
Public Release: 9-Nov-2009
Nature Cell BiologyCSHL study shows that some malignant tumors can be shut down after all More than half of all human cancers have mutations that disable a protein called p53. When cells lose p53, tumors grow aggressively and often cannot be treated. But a new study by Alea Mills and colleagues from CSHL may offer a way to counteract the problem. The scientists have succeeded in shutting off the growth of p53-deficient tumors by turning up the production of TAp63 proteins, a class of proteins produced by the p63 gene.
American Cancer Society
Contact: Hema Bashyam
Public Release: 9-Nov-2009
BMC BiologyThe bizarre lives of bone-eating worms Female Osedax marine worms feast on submerged bones via a complex relationship with symbiotic bacteria, and they are turning out to be far more diverse and widespread than scientists expected. Californian researchers have found that up to twelve further distinct evolutionary lineages exist beyond the five species already described. The new findings about these beautiful sea creatures with unusual sexual and digestive habits are published today in the online open access journal BMC Biology. Contact: Graeme Baldwin
Public Release: 6-Nov-2009
PLoS PathogensPathogen protection and virulence: Dark side of fungal membrane protein revealed Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech and Montana State University have discovered a fungal protein that plays a key role in causing disease in plants and animals and which also shields the pathogen from oxidative stress.
National Science Foundation, US Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Barry Whyte
Public Release: 5-Nov-2009
NatureDeciphering the regulatory code Thanks to scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, it is now possible to accurately predict when and where different CRMs will be active. The study, published today in Nature, is a first step towards forecasting the expression of all genes in a given organism, and demonstrates that the genetic regulation that is crucial for correct embryonic development is more flexible than previously thought. Contact: Sonia Furtado
Public Release: 5-Nov-2009
ScienceGenome sequence for the domestic horse to be unveiled The whole genome sequence of the domestic horse has been completed by the genome-sequencing center of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in collaboration with an international team of researchers that includes scientists at the University of California, Davis. The findings, which have important implications for improved breeding of horses and for studies of human health, will be reported in the Nov. 6 issue of the journal Science.
NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute, Dorothy Russell Havemeyer Foundation, Volkswagen Foundation, Morris Animal Foundation, Italy's Programmi di Ricerca Scientifica di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale
Contact: Patricia Bailey
Public Release: 5-Nov-2009
ScienceStudy reveals how plants and bacteria 'talk' to thwart disease Unwrapping some of the mystery from how plants and bacteria communicate to trigger an innate immune response, scientists at the University of California, Davis, have identified the bacterial signaling molecule that matches up with a specific receptor in rice plants to ward off a devastating disease known as bacterial blight of rice.
US Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Patricia Bailey
Public Release: 5-Nov-2009
ScienceHorse genome sequence and analysis published in Science An international team of researchers has decoded the genome of the domestic horse Equus caballus, revealing a genome structure with remarkable similarities to humans and more than one million genetic differences across a variety of horse breeds. In addition to shedding light on a key part of the mammalian branch of the evolutionary tree, the work also provides a critical starting point for mapping disease genes in horses.
NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute, Dorothy Russell Havemeyer Foundation, Volkswagen Foundation, Morris Animal Foundation, Programmi di Ricerca Scientifica di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale
Contact: Nicole Davis
Public Release: 4-Nov-2009
Journal of HeredityScientists launch effort to sequence the DNA of 10,000 vertebrates HHMI scientists have an ambitious new strategy for untangling the evolutionary history of humans and their biological relatives: Create a genetic menagerie made of the DNA of more than 10,000 vertebrate species. The plan, proposed by an international consortium of scientists, is to obtain, preserve, and sequence the DNA of approximately one species for each genus of living mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Contact: Jim Keeley
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