Latest Mobile genetic elements Stories
For more than a decade, Dr. Susan Rosenberg, professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, has solidified her premise that when cells are under stress, the rate of gene changes called mutations goes up, a finding that has implications for a wide variety of biological phenomena "“ from evolution to antibiotic resistance and cancer.In a report that appears online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, she and her colleagues not only show that...
New method for studying gene regulationScientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have developed a new method for studying gene regulation, by employing a jumping gene as an informant. Published online today in Nature Genetics, the new method is called GROMIT. It enables researchers to systematically explore the very large part of our genome that does not code for proteins, and which likely plays a large role in making each of us unique, by...
Presence of 'jumping genes,' amplified oncogenes may be key to tumor progressionThe Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team that first discovered tumor-associated RNA in tiny membrane-enclosed sacs released into the bloodstream by cancer cells has now found that these microvesicles also contain segments of tumor DNA, including retrotransposons "“ also called "jumping genes" "“ that copy and insert themselves into other areas of the genome. The investigators' report,...
RIPs are alive and well -- and moving -- in the human genomeAn ambitious hunt by Johns Hopkins scientists for actively "jumping genes" in humans has yielded compelling new evidence that the genome, anything but static, contains numerous pesky mobile elements that may help to explain why people have such a variety of physical traits and disease risks.Using bioinformatics to compare the standard assembly of genetic elements as outlined in the reference human genome to raw whole-genome...
A long-standing barrier to successful gene therapy in humans has been the lack of a non-toxic and effective tool or vector to carry the gene into the cell.Now a Baylor College of Medicine researcher and her colleagues think they may have a solution "“ at least in the quest for a way to silence cancer genes. Their invention consists of tiny wound-up circular bits of DNA that carry a short "hairpin" of RNA.The researchers from BCM and The Methodist Hospital Research Institute called...
Tiny wound-up circular bits of DNA that carry a short "hairpin" of RNA could prove a solution to the quest for a non-toxic, long-lived gene therapy vector designed to silence cancer genes in tumor cells, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital Research Institute in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Gene Therapy.At a minimum, this Minivectorâ„¢ DNA will prove a valuable laboratory tool, said Dr. Lynn Zechiedrich,...
Powerful mutation tool identifies new cancer genesResearchers have developed a genetic tool in mice to speed the discovery of novel genes involved in cancer. The system "“ called PiggyBac "“ has already been used by the team to identify novel candidate cancer-causing genes.This new development of the PiggyBac system makes it a powerful addition to the armoury of genetic methods available to researchers for picking apart the genetic causes of cancer. It will complement advances in genomics...
Building on a tool that they developed in yeast four years ago, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine scanned the human genome and discovered what they believe is the reason people have such a variety of physical traits and disease risks.In a report published in the June 25 issue of Cell, the team identified a near complete catalog of the DNA segments that copy themselves, move around in, and insert themselves here and there in our genome. The insertion locations of...
Under the microscope, the bacteria start dividing normally, two cells become four and then eight and so on. But then individual cells begin "popping," like circus balloons being struck by darts.This phenomenon, which surprised the Duke University bioengineers who captured it on video, turns out to be an example of a more generalized occurrence that must be considered by scientists creating living, synthetic circuits out of bacteria. Even when given the same orders, no two cells will...
Finding has new implications for understanding genetic diseasesResearchers at the University of Leicester have demonstrated that movable sequences of DNA, which give rise to genetic variability and sometimes cause specific diseases, are far more common than previously thought.In a paper published in the leading journal Cell, Dr Richard Badge and his collaborators examined L1 (or LINE-1) retrotransposons: DNA sequences which can 'copy and paste' their genetic code around the genome. By...
