Latest Cytogenetics Stories
Declining bumblebee populations are at greater risk of inbreeding, which can trigger a downward spiral of further decline. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have provided the first proof that inbreeding reduces colony fitness under natural conditions by increasing the production of reproductively inefficient 'diploid' males.The sex of bumblebees is normally determined by the number of chromosome sets an individual receives. Males, born from unfertilised...
 Because females carry two copies of the X chromosome to males' one X and one Y, they harbor a potentially toxic double dose of the over 1000 genes that reside on the X chromosome. To compensate for this imbalance, mammals such as mice and humans shut down one entire X-chromosome through a phenomenon known as X-inactivation. For almost two decades, researchers have believed that one particular gene, called Xist, provides the molecular trigger of X-inactivation. Now, a new UNC study...
Oncology Test Further Highlights Broad Market Applicability of GeneXpert System SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD) today announced the release of its improved Xpert(R) BCR-ABL Monitor test to be marketed as a CE IVD product under the European Directive on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices. With improved time-to-results, the test now detects the BCR-ABL chromosomal translocation in about 2 hours as compared to 2.5 hours for the original...
It is a misinterpretation of the application of the bedrock of scientific naming with regard to the number of moose species that Kris Hundertmark, a University of Alaska Fairbanks wildlife geneticist at the Institute of Arctic Biology, seeks to correct.The adoption of Carl Linnaeus' two-part, genus-species system of naming, called taxonomy, has been used for centuries on all described organisms on Earth and is considered one of the greatest triumphs in science.Hundertmark will be presenting...
In a new study, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists disprove a century-old theory about why cancer cells often have too many or too few chromosomes, and show that the actual reason may hold the key to a novel approach to cancer therapy.Since the late 19th century, scientists have attributed the surplus or shortage of intact chromosomes in cancer cells to a kind of fragmentation in cell division: instead of dividing neatly into two identical daughter cells, as normal cells do, cancer cells...
In a new study, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists disprove a century-old theory about why cancer cells often have too many or too few chromosomes, and show that the actual reason may hold the key to a novel approach to cancer therapy.Since the late 19th century, scientists have attributed the surplus or shortage of intact chromosomes in cancer cells to a kind of fragmentation in cell division: instead of dividing neatly into two identical daughter cells, as normal cells do, cancer cells...
By using ultrafast laser pulses to slice off pieces of chromosomes and observe how the chromosomes behave, biomedical engineers at the University of Michigan have gained pivotal insights into mitosis, the process of cell division.Their findings could help scientists better understand genetic diseases, aging and cancer.Cells in plants, fungi, and animals"”including those in the human body"”divide through mitosis, during which the DNA-containing chromosomes separate between the resulting...
OMAHA, Neb., May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Creighton Medical Laboratories, based at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, announced today that it has become the first clinical laboratory worldwide to offer a new and more effective testing method for cancer. The method, called SNP array karyotyping, has been successfully used in research laboratories to study cancer for several years. However, Creighton Medical Laboratories, using AffymetrixTM SNP arrays, is the first laboratory to...
ALISO VIEJO, Calif., May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Ambry Genetics Corp. announces the implementation of Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) using oligonucleotide arrays through a partnership with Baylor College of Medicine. Large chromosomal abnormalities that are associated with over 270 genetic syndromes can be easily identified via analysis of each 105K whole genome and mitochondrial array. The partnership with Baylor College of Medicine equips Ambry with an extensive library as a reference,...
A researcher at Ohio State University says he is working on producing larger bluegill by breeding super males with two Y chromosomes.The male bluegill are about twice as big as females and thus more profitable for fish farmers, The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday.Han-Pin Wang, a researcher in the Ohio State aquaculture lab, uses a method based on the genetic difference between males and females. Like humans, male bluegill normally have an XY chromosome pair while females have XX.Wang gives...
