The Human Dynasty

Study is largest DNA comparison yet among continent’s populations

The largest-ever study of the genomes of people from across Africa provides “spectacular insight into the history of African populations”

Researchers have released the largest-ever study of African genetic data — more than four million genotypes — providing a library of new information on the continent which is thought to be the source of the oldest settlements of modern humans. The study demonstrates startling diversity on the continent, shared ancestry among geographically diverse groups and traces the origins of Africans and African-Americans.

Researchers are now able to reprogram human adult skin cells into other cell types in order to decipher the elusive mechanisms underlying reprogramming. To demonstrate their point, they transformed human skin cells into mouse muscle cells and vice versa.

For some time now it has been known that certain hereditary factors enhance the risk of schizophrenia or a manic-depressive disorder. However, just how this occurs had remained obscure. Researchers are now able to answer this question, at least for one common genetic variant: this impairs the interoperation of certain regions of the brain.

(European Molecular Biology Laboratory) Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and Heidelberg University, Germany, have now uncovered the first step in the recycling of a crucial molecular tag which ensures the instructions encoded in our genes are correctly carried out. The study, published this week in the journal Cell, sheds new light on a proof-reading process that helps protect us from genetic diseases.

(University of Toronto) A team of scientists from Canada, Spain and the United States has identified a key gene that allows plants to defend themselves against environmental stresses like drought, freezing and heat.

(Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) Genetic differences can explain why some patients undergoing heart surgery later experience shock and kidney complications, according to a study by researchers at the Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, the Max-Delbruck-Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch in Germany and the Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. The results indicate that performing a genetic test on patients before they have surgery can help guide treatment after they leave the operating room.

(University of California – Santa Barbara) Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have made a significant discovery in understanding the way human embryonic stem cells function.

Some DNA repair enzymes can become double-edged swords — If they work too slowly, they can block necessary cell maintenance and contribute to cell death. This could explain the success of the cancer drug 5-Fluorouracil (5FU) and help clinicians to predict patient’s response to chemotherapy. The work reports that 5FU keeps the DNA-repair enzyme TDG too busy to perform properly in cancer cells, thereby promoting tumor death.