http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Using yeast as a model, a team of Spanish researchers has made predictions about how individuals differ from one another by analysing genome sequences. http://phys.org/news240740746.html Biology Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:50:01 EST news240740746 An international team of researchers led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has deciphered the genome of a tropical marine organism known to produce substances potentially useful against human diseases. http://phys.org/news224179703.html Biology Mon, 09 May 2011 17:09:07 EST news224179703 Scientists at the Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have used "personalized genome" sequencing on an individual with a hereditary form of pancreatic cancer to locate a mutation in a gene called PALB2 that is responsible for initiating the disease. The discovery marks their first use of a genome scanning system to uncover suspect mutations in normal inherited genes. http://phys.org/news155484949.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:16:20 EST news155484949 Scientists across the world are building an extensive repository of genetically modified rice plants in the hope of understanding the function of the approximately 57,000 genes that make up the genome of Oryza sativa. The International Rice Functional Genomics Consortium recently announced the public availability of more than 200,000 rice mutant lines, which represent mutations in about half of the known functional genes mapped for rice to date. http://phys.org/news155404515.html Biology Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:55:55 EST news155404515 Biologists analyzing DNA in search of the molecular underpinnings of life have consistently favored species with small genomes, which are cheaper to sequence and lack the repetitive "junk" that clutters bigger genomes. But a new study by Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists suggests that when it comes to figuring out how genes are controlled, bigger genomes are much more useful. http://phys.org/news155371512.html Biology Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:46:08 EST news155371512 (PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Arizona research team recently completed a study looking at the DNA blueprint of almost 1,000 individuals and comparing that to detailed measurements of their hair, skin and eye color. http://phys.org/news155239299.html Chemistry Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:03:01 EST news155239299 Researchers Antonio G. Pisabarro (Professor of Microbiology) as well as José Luis Lavín and José Antonio Oguiza, from the Genetic and Microbiology Group at the Public University of Navarre, have taken part in the international project for the sequencing of the genome of the Postia placenta fungus. The results, published recently in the American National Academy of Sciences' scientific journal (PNAS), has enabled the determination of the mechanisms with which this fungus attacks wood in order to use the cellulose contained within. These results are important for designing processes using wood to produce bioethanol. http://phys.org/news154958548.html Biology Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:02:55 EST news154958548 Cutting edge science has finally put to rest a 90-year-old mystery that involved nobility, revolution, murder and the long-romanticized story of a child's escape from the firing squad. Genomic analysis performed at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in cooperation with Institutions of Russian Academy of Science (VIGG) and Academy of Medical Sciences (MHRC) have confirmed that human remains found in the Ural Mountains in July 2007 are indeed those of the two "missing" children of Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia, whose family was murdered in 1918 during the Bolshevik Revolution. http://phys.org/news154788736.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:52:50 EST news154788736 It's not just the climate that is struggling with what humans have done to the modern world, our genes are feeling the pressure as well, according to Professor Greg Gibson's recently published book. http://phys.org/news154780255.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:31:24 EST news154780255 Since the sequencing of the human genome eight years ago, enormous progress has been made in analyzing and understanding it. Nevertheless, the function of most human genes is still barely understood. An important first step in determining the function of a gene or protein is to compare its sequence with the sequences of hundreds of other organisms that are experimentally easier to investigate. From the functions of related genes or proteins identified in these database searches, the researchers can often infer the unknown functions of human or animal genes. http://phys.org/news154617817.html Biology Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:24:42 EST news154617817 A new website has been launched which allows scientists everywhere to collaborate on the identification of bacterial strains. This new resource, described in the open access journal BMC Biology, provides a portal for electronic bacterial taxonomy. http://phys.org/news154265533.html Biology Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:32:49 EST news154265533 Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of California, San Diego have developed a set of molecular tools that provide important insight into the complex genomes of multicellular organisms. The strategy promises to clarify the longstanding mystery of the role played by vast stretches of DNA sequence that do not code for the functional units—genes—that nevertheless may have a powerful regulatory influence. The research is described in the 12 February edition of the journal Nature. http://phys.org/news153684408.html Biology Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:07:13 EST news153684408 (PhysOrg.com) -- It lives all around us and is probably one of the earliest domesticated organisms. Humans have been using it for tens of thousands of years. There is evidence that the Ancient Egyptians used it for baking and brewing and today yeast is regarded by geneticists, because of its genetic similarities to humans and the powerful tools available, as the 'model' model organism. http://phys.org/news153680112.html Biology Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:55:45 EST news153680112 Diet - and how it has shaped our genome - occupies much of an evolutionary scientist's time. Anne Stone, associate professor of anthropology in Arizona State University's School of Human Evolution and Social Change, will discuss how diet holds keys to understanding who we are, how we live and form societies, and how we evolved from hunter-gatherers to agriculturists, all the way to modern urban dwellers, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in her seminar - "Genetic Perspectives on the Evolution of Human Diets". http://phys.org/news153675034.html Biology Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:31:31 EST news153675034 (PhysOrg.com) -- In an effort to confront our most familiar malady, scientists have deciphered the instruction manual for the common cold. http://phys.org/news153670564.html Biology Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:16:42 EST news153670564 In a development which could reveal the links between modern humans and their prehistoric cousins, scientists said Thursday they have mapped a first draft of the Neanderthal genome. Researchers used DNA fragments extracted from three Croatian fossils to map out more than 60 percent of the entire Neanderthal genome by sequencing three billion bases of DNA. http://phys.org/news153656986.html Biology Thu, 12 Feb 2009 10:30:13 EST news153656986 Scientists at the University of Liverpool have been awarded £1.7 million to decode the genome of wheat, in order to help farmers increase the yield of British wheat varieties. http://phys.org/news153574404.html Biology Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:34:23 EST news153574404 A new study shows that schizophrenia is caused, at least in part, by large, rare structural changes in DNA referred to as copy number variants (CNVs) - not the tiny, single letter alterations (single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that scientists have pursued for years. The findings are published February 6 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. http://phys.org/news153129357.html Medicine & Health Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:59:16 EST news153129357 (PhysOrg.com) -- Taking a hint from the text comparison methods used to detect plagiarism in books, college papers and computer programs, University of California, Berkeley, researchers have developed an improved method for comparing whole genome sequences. http://phys.org/news152377707.html Chemistry Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:08:50 EST news152377707 Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and several partner institutions have published the sequence and analysis of the complete genome of sorghum, a major food and fodder plant with high potential as a bioenergy crop. The genome data will aid scientists in optimizing sorghum and other crops not only for food and fodder use, but also for biofuels production. The comparative analysis of the sorghum genome appears in the January 29 edition of the journal Nature. http://phys.org/news152370854.html Biology Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:14:41 EST news152370854 Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) announced today the discovery of a new class of small RNAs. At the same time, they reported that their discovery suggests the presence of a strikingly novel biochemical pathway for RNA processing in which these and possibly other small RNAs are produced. The research, which is part of a multinational project called ENCODE, also provided information concerning the biological function of the new short RNA class. http://phys.org/news152211180.html Biology Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:04:05 EST news152211180 (PhysOrg.com) -- MicroRNAs — one of the tiniest entities in the human genome — are great escape artists. Despite scientists’ best efforts to detect and capture them in different tissues, they often manage to make a getaway, sneaking through the tissues’ tiny holes before anyone can detect them. But now, by adapting a time-tested histological technique, Rockefeller University researchers have scored big: They have developed a new method to capture microRNAs before they disappear. The work will help researchers better understand microRNAs’ increasingly indisputable role in the onset of disease. http://phys.org/news152205350.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:16:25 EST news152205350 Genes that contain instructions for making proteins make up less than 2% of the human genome. Yet, for unknown reasons, most of our genome is transcribed into RNA. The same is true for many other organisms that are easier to study than humans. http://phys.org/news152112434.html Biology Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:27:47 EST news152112434 For years researchers have puzzled over whether adaptation plays a major role in human evolution or whether most changes are due to neutral, random selection of genes and traits. http://phys.org/news151319378.html Biology Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:09:38 EST news151319378 (PhysOrg.com) -- Even though scientists have successfully sequenced the human genome, they still lack a clear picture of exactly how coding and non-coding DNA sequences function together, or how genomes evolve over time. This has been particularly problematic for scientists who use genetic similarities to characterize evolutionary divergence. Historically, the processes of genetic evolution and genome degradation have been difficult to study due to technological limitations and lack of accurate historical records for species. http://phys.org/news151260626.html Biology Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:50:26 EST news151260626 (PhysOrg.com) -- As every parent discovers, human babies are bubbling, burping processing plants that take in milk, extract compounds useful for rapid growth and development, and unceremoniously excrete the byproducts. Those babies’ guts are full of helpful bacteria, and a new study shows how humans and bacteria evolved together. http://phys.org/news151172950.html Biology Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:29:10 EST news151172950 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists from CSIRO are part of an international team that today launched a new genomic tool which is set to transform the future selection and breeding of sheep around the world. http://phys.org/news151165536.html Biology Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:25:36 EST news151165536 The international GIANT (Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Parameters) consortium works on the discovery of obesity genes. So far, the scientists have analyzed two million DNA variations in 15 genome-wide association studies with a total of more than 32,000 participants. The hereby identified candidate genes were validated in 14 further studies including 59,000 participants. In addition to the FTO and MC4R genes already known, it was now possible for six more obesity genes to be identified: TMEM18, KCTD15, GNPDA2, SH2B1, MTCH2, and NEGR1. http://phys.org/news150636788.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:33:08 EST news150636788 Influenza's ability to resist the effects of cheap and popular antiviral agents in Asia and Russia should serve as a cautionary tale about U.S. plans to use the antiviral Tamiflu in the event of widespread avian flu infection in humans, scientists say. http://phys.org/news150558036.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:40:36 EST news150558036 The study of ancient microbes may not seem consequential, but such pioneering research at the University of Oklahoma has implications for the state of modern human health. Cecil Lewis, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, says results of this research raise questions about the microbes living on and within people. http://phys.org/news150397619.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:06:59 EST news150397619