Using anew method called Net-CAGE, researchers identified as many as 20,000 new enhancers in humans. They found that while promoters are activated in a variety of cell types, enhancers tend to function in just 1 cell type, thus showing an important difference between the 2 types of region.
Read moreBiomedical engineers have used a previously unexplored CRISPR technology to accurately regulate and edit target genes in human cells. With this new approach, the researchers hope to dramatically expand the CRISPR-based tools available to biomedical engineers, opening up a new and diverse frontier of genome engineering technologies.
Read morePeople — or more specifically just Swedes — are more like chimpanzees than previously known. This is indicated in a genetic mapping of one thousand Swedish individuals, where new DNA sequences that should be included in the reference genome have been identified.
Read moreEveryone is a mutant but some are prone to diverge more than others, report scientists. A new study shows the number of mutations a child has compared to her parents varies dramatically with some people being born with twice as many as others, and that characteristic runs in families.
Read moreThe cells of our immune system constantly communicate with one another by exchanging complex protein molecules. A team has now revealed how dedicated cellular control proteins, referred to as chaperones, detect immature immune signaling proteins and prevent them from leaving the cell.
Read moreA new study uses the topography of human skin as a model not for preventing cracks but for directing them in the best way possible to avoid critical components and make repairs easy.
Read moreScientists have succeeded in designing a compound to hook onto the pocket of the enzyme FTase and GGTase I, thereby inhibiting K-Ras. Scientists have worked to concoct an effective drug to target K-Ras proteins which cause cancer when they mutate. It is difficult to infiltrate K-Ras due to a lack of interactive pockets, so a strategy was devised to attack the necessary enzyme in the lipid modification of K-Ras.
Read moreSome of the genes that predict the risk of high cholesterol don't apply to people from Uganda the same as they do in European populations, finds a new study.
Read moreReleasing drugs that are packaged into microcapsules requires a significant amount of force, and the resulting burst can cause damage to human tissues or cause blood clots. A new technique creates lopsided microcapsule 'shells' that can burst and release their cargo at much lower pressure, making them safer for use in the body.
Read moreResearchers have disproved the prevailing theory of how DNA binds itself. It is not, as is generally believed, hydrogen bonds which bind together the 2 sides of the DNA structure. Instead, water is the key. The discovery opens doors for new understanding in research in medicine and life sciences.
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