The Human Dynasty

In recent years, stem cell researchers have become very adept at manipulating the fate of adult stem cells cultured in the lab. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies achieved the same feat with adult neural stem cells still in place in the brain. They successfully coaxed mouse brain stem cells bound to join the neuronal network to differentiate into support cells instead.

(University of Montreal) Twenty-one new genetic risk factors associated with Crohn’s disease have been discovered, more than doubling the amount of genetic information about the disease. An international consortium of Crohn’s disease researchers combined efforts, including major contributions from Canadian researchers — Dr. John D. Rioux from Montreal Heart Institute and Université de Montréal and Drs. Mark Silverberg and Hillary Steinhart from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto — to publish this breakthrough study in Nature Genetics.

(Burnham Institute) In a breakthrough scientific study published today in the PNAS, scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have shown that neural stem cell development may be linked to Autism. The study demonstrated that mice lacking the myocyte enhancer factor 2C protein in neural stem cells had smaller brains, fewer nerve cells and showed behaviors similar to those seen in humans with a form of autism known as Rett syndrome.

(DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Berkeley Lab researchers have invented a technique in which DNA assays — the key to personalized medicine — canbe read and evaluated with no need of elaborate chemical labeling or sophisticated instrumentation. Based on electrostatic repulsion that yields images visible to the naked eye, the technique could revolutionize the use of DNA microarrays for both research and diagnostics.

Using game theory, scientists show single gene knockouts miss some gene functions

In Serbia, a jaw holding three teeth is thought to be 250,000 years old, and the earliest evidence of humans in the area. “We were looking for Neanderthals, but this is much better,” said Mirjana Roksandic of Winnipeg University.
Several painted wooden coffins and statues of their owners have been discovered near Saqqara, Egypt. “These coffins [...]

A new study helps bring scientists closer to a safe and efficient gene delivery method that doesn’t involve viruses. Researchers have created a novel synthetic gene vector that packages DNA into well-defined nanostructures that allow it to efficiently deliver genes without triggering immune responses.

Now, in addition to more traditional macrobotanical and archeological remains, scientists are using new genetic and microbotanical techniques to distinguish domesticated maize from its wild relatives as well as to identify ancient sites of maize agriculture. Paleobotanical evidence pushes back the time of domestication.

(American Society of Plant Biologists) Now, in addition to more traditional macrobotanical and archeological remains, scientists are using new genetic and microbotanical techniques to distinguish domesticated maize from its wild relatives as well as to identify ancient sites of maize agriculture.

(American Society of Plant Biologists) The exact mechanisms of how genes talk to other genes and change their behavior are being investigated, and recent results suggest that these processes could be important in engineering plants responsive to a variety of environmental conditions. Dr. Vicki Chandler and her colleagues have studied paramutations in maize and other plants and have identified some of the genes and mechanisms that operate in this epigenetic process.