Body

What secrets about your risk for diseases are written in your own personal "Book of Life" — the 30,000 or so genes that make you you? Advances in DNA-sequencing technology are bringing closer the day when it will be more economical for consumers to get an answer to that question, and others, by ordering up the deciphering of their entire genetic endowment — their "personal genome." That's the possibility that Chemical & Engineering News, ACS' weekly newsmagazine, raises in a compelling new cover story.

Due to the steep mountain terrain, tracking gorillas in Kagwene is time-consuming and sometimes treacherous. Through the years, WCS researchers have developed an effective non-invasive monitoring system aimed at keeping track of the gorillas without disturbing them or getting them used to human presence. After weeks with WCS's assistance, the crew finally filmed several minutes of two gorillas feeding on figs some 30-40 feet above the forest floor.

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Dec. 16, 2009 — Researchers using a DNA analysis tool developed by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and UCLA have identified genetic markers that could help treat chronic kidney disease among diabetics.

Study results, published in the December edition of Diabetic Medicine, show it is possible to identify biomarkers associated with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) from the pooled DNA of more than 1,000 diabetics. Specifically, TGen researchers identified genes that could potentially contribute to ESRD among those with Type 1 Diabetes.

Scientists in Sweden are reporting for the first time that a group of drugs used to treat heart failure shows promise for fighting colon cancer. The study is in ACS' Journal of Natural Products, a monthly publication. Colon cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States, with more than 150,000 cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year.

ARGONNE, Ill. (Dec. 16, 2009) — Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University, Evanston, have discovered that common bacteria can turn microgears when suspended in a solution, providing insights for design of bio-inspired dynamically adaptive materials for energy.

Bacteria inhabited our planet for more than 4 billion years before humans showed up, and they'll probably outlive us by as many eons more. That suggests they may have something to teach us.

New research from Tel Aviv University bacteria expert Prof. Eshel Ben-Jacob of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy, grounded in the study of bacteria, presents compelling evidence to suggest there may be good reasons why most people should not automatically opt for the swine flu H1N1 shot.

Our cells' molecules form an intricate network of interactions. Today's techniques, however, can only be used to measure individual molecular reactions outside the cells. Since molecular concentrations are much higher in cells than in the laboratory, scientists suspect that the kinetics of molecular reactions in living cells differ substantially from external probes. „We expected the cellular reaction speed to be higher," confirms LMU biophysicist Professor Dieter Braun.

Tissue-specific genes, thought to be dormant or not marked for activation in embryonic stem cells, are indeed marked by transcription factors, with proper marking potentially crucial for the function of tissues derived from stem cells.

The DNA of a 1st century shrouded man found in a tomb on the edge of the Old City of Jerusalem has revealed the earliest proven case of leprosy. Details of the research will be published December 16 in the PloS ONE Journal.

Austrian researchers have successfully developed a new electrophoretic method for detecting MIRCERA® and other erythropoietins (EPO) in the blood. The technique, using SARCOSYL-PAGE, has specifically enhanced sensitivity for MIRCERA, but does not alter the performance characteristics of SDS-PAGE for detecting other EPOs. Details of this study, funded by a grant from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), appear in the latest issue of Drug Testing and Analysis published by Wiley-Blackwell.

Scientists at Georgia Tech have developed a nanolithographic technique that can produce high-resolution patterns of at least three different chemicals on a single chip at writing speeds of up to one millimeter per second. The chemical nanopatterns can be tailor-designed with any desired shape and have been shown to be sufficiently stable so that they can be stored for weeks and then used elsewhere. The technique, known as Thermochemical Nanolithography is detailed in the December 2009 edition of the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- A University of Florida researcher has co-authored a study tracing the evolution of the modern opossum back to the extinction of the dinosaurs and finding evidence to support North America as the center of origin for all living marsupials.

Washington, DC — People who have smaller fingers have a finer sense of touch, according to new research in the Dec. 16 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. This finding explains why women tend to have better tactile acuity than men, because women on average have smaller fingers.

Palo Alto, CA—Scientists at the Carnegie Institution, with colleagues,* have found that a plant steroid prompts two genes to battle each other—one suppresses the other to ensure that leaves grow normally in rice and the experimental plant Arabidopsis thaliana, a relative of mustard. The results, published in the December 15, 2009, issue of The Plant Cell, have important implications for understanding how to manipulate crop growth and yield.

DURHAM, N.C. – Post-surgical infections significantly increase the chance of hospital readmission and death and cost as much as $60,000 per patient, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers who conducted the largest study of its kind to date.