The Human Dynasty

(Wiley-Blackwell) Taking 1000 mg of a specific olive leaf extract (EFLA 943) can lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure in patients with mild hypertension (high blood pressure). These findings came from a “Twins” trial, in which different treatments were given to identical twins. By doing this, researchers could increase the power of their data by eliminating some of the uncertainties caused by genetic variations between individual people.

Researchers have described the medical and psychological characteristics of a rare genetic disorder in which males have two “X” and two “Y” chromosomes, rather than the normal one of each.

Yale University scientists today reported evidence suggesting that the tiny cilia found on brain cells of mammals, thought to be vestiges of a primeval past, actually play a critical role in relaying molecular signals that spur creation of neurons in an area of the brain involved in mood, learning and memory.

Embryome Sciences, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BioTime, Inc. (OTCBB:BTIM), announced today the license of a portfolio of patents and patent applications from Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (“ACT”) relating to induced pluripotent stem cells (“iPS”) and embryonic stem cell differentiation technology. The license is for the commercialization of products in human therapeutic and diagnostic product markets. (PRWeb Aug 21, 2008)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/technology/embryome/prweb1235564.htm

Using computer simulations and lab experiments, physical biochemists have discovered how a small genetic mutation that’s known to cause Wilson disease subtly changes the structure of a large, complex protein the body uses to keep copper from building up to toxic levels. The new study is available online from the Journal of Molecular Biology. Wilson disease, which affects about 150,000 people worldwide, is a genetic disorder that alters the copper-regulating protein.

A security system wired within every cell to detect the presence of rogue viral DNA can sometimes go awry, triggering an autoimmune response to single-stranded bits of the cell’s own DNA.

(New York Stem Cell Foundation) The New York Stem Cell Foundation will hold its third annual Translational Stem Cell Research Conference Oct. 14-15 in New York City.

(DOE/Joint Genome Institute) The genome of the simple and primitive animal, Trichoplax adhaerens, appears to harbor a far more complex suite of capabilities than meets the eye. The findings, published August 21 online in the journal Nature, by the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, establish a group of organisms as a branching point of animal evolution and identify sets of genes, or a “parts list,” employed by organisms that have evolved along particular branches.

For Charles Darwin, the problem of the peacock’s tail, in light of his theory of natural selection, was vexing in the extreme. A team of Wisconsin scientists has turned from the question of why such male traits exist to precisely how they evolved. They have worked out the molecular details of how a simple genetic switch controls decorative traits in male fruit flies and how that switch evolved.

Research into single-celled, aquatic algae called dinoflagellates is showing that these and related organisms may have evolved more than one way to tightly back their DNA into chromsomes. Even so, the evolution of chromosomes in dinoflagellates, humans and other mammals seem to share a common biochemical basis.