Latest DNA Stories

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online On the 60th anniversary of the publication of the paper describing the double-helix structure of DNA, researchers from Cambridge University reportedly have proven the existence of four-stranded “quadruple helix” DNA structures within the human genome. It was in 1953 that James D. Watson and Francis Crick, also of Cambridge University, published a paper which described the interweaving structure of the double-stranded molecules...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Surrogacy, the act of a woman carrying a child for another person or couple, is a fairly standard and accepted practice in this day and age – unless, of course, you’re being recruited to give birth to the first Neanderthal baby in more than 30,000 years. Then it gets a little unorthodox. Yet, according to a series of reports published over the weekend, that’s exactly what Harvard Medical School geneticist George Church is...

DDC (DNA Diagnostics Center), one of the largest DNA paternity testing companies in the world, worked in tandem with NBCUniversal’s “Trisha Goddard” to prove that Michael Lohan is the biological father of 17-year-old Montana teen Ashley Kaufman. Fairfield, OH (PRWEB) January 18, 2013 DDC (DNA Diagnostics Center), one of the largest DNA testing companies in the world, worked in tandem with NBCUniversal’s “Trisha Goddard” to prove that Michael Lohan is the biological father of...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Armed with nothing but a laptop and an Internet connection, researchers from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT say they were able to uncover the identities of almost 50 people who donated DNA to genetic research studies. Their work raises series questions about the privacy practices used to safeguard personal data for volunteers in genomic research. The results of their so-called “vulnerability research”...

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online As DNA analysis technology improves, scientists are able to bring more and more of Earth’s history back to life in greater detail. In a new report in the journal Investigative Genetics, researchers have revealed the ability to flesh out the features of long-dead individuals based on a newly developed analytic technique. By examining variations in the DNA code on teeth and bone artifacts, the geneticists’ new HIrisPlex DNA...

Degree of abnormal DNA methylation predicts outcomes Think of the epigenome like a giant musical mixing board, turning up or down the expression of various genes. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published today in the journal PLOS Genetics shows that in cancer, not only can genes themselves go bad, but abnormal changes in the epigenetic mixing board can unfortunately change the expression of these genes. Researchers hope to play the role of sound engineers, controlling these...

When Charles Darwin first sketched how species evolved by natural selection, he drew what looked like a tree. The diagram started at a central point with a common ancestor, then the lines spread apart as organisms evolved and separated into distinct species. In the 175 years since, scientists have come to agree that Darwin’s original drawing is a bit simplistic, given that multiple species mix and interbreed in ways he didn’t consider possible (though you can’t fault the guy for not...

University of North Carolina Health Care Research findings from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine are shining a light on an important regulatory role performed by the so-called dark matter, or "junk DNA," within each of our genes. The new study reveals snippets of information contained in dark matter that can alter the way a gene is assembled. "These small sequences of genetic information tell the gene how to splice, either by enhancing the splicing process or...

[ Watch the Video: Mutation Hotspots in Autism Genes ] Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online A group of international researchers led by a team of investigators from the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), recently revealed a new study that provides signals as to the causes of autism and other related disorders. With the findings, it is possible that there are elevated mutation rates in specific parts of the genome that adds to the...

Anesthesia is quite safe these days. But sometimes putting a patient under to fix one problem, such as heart damage, can harm a different organ, such as a kidney. Now a group of researchers led by Holger Eltzschig, MD, PhD, a professor of anesthesiology at the University Colorado School of Medicine, has found a group of molecules that fend off damage during anesthesia. "This is a promising discovery," says Eltzschig, who practices at University of Colorado Hospital. "It suggests a new...