ScienceDaily: Biotechnology News

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• Blocking common gateway to inflammation suppresses cancer
• New clues about aging: Genetic splicing mechanism triggers both premature aging syndrome and normal cellular aging
• Life-history traits of extinct species may be discoverable, large-scale DNA sequencing data suggest
• Single GFP-expressing cell is basis of living laser device
• We are all mutants: First direct whole-genome measure of human mutation predicts 60 new mutations in each of us
• Family genetic research reveals the speed of human mutation

Blocking common gateway to inflammation suppresses cancer Posted: 13 Jun 2011 09:25 AM PDT There is an intimate and complex relationship between inflammation and cancer; and it is well established that tumors secrete many different chemicals that attract host cells which drive inflammation and help to support tumor growth. Now, a new study identifies a single protein that is required for trafficking of immune cells involved in inflammation. The research opens up new avenues for therapeutics that can indirectly suppress malignancy by disrupting the inflammatory response.

New clues about aging: Genetic splicing mechanism triggers both premature aging syndrome and normal cellular aging Posted: 13 Jun 2011 09:19 AM PDT Researchers have identified a new pathway that sets the clock for programmed aging in normal cells. The study provides insights about the interaction between a toxic protein called progerin and telomeres, which cap the ends of chromosomes like aglets, the plastic tips that bind the ends of shoelaces.

Life-history traits of extinct species may be discoverable, large-scale DNA sequencing data suggest Posted: 12 Jun 2011 10:44 PM PDT Large-scale DNA sequencing data have been used to investigate a long-standing evolutionary assumption -- that DNA mutation rates are influenced by such life-history traits as the time between an individual's birth and the birth of its offspring. One of the implications of this research is that life-history traits of extinct species now could be discoverable.

Single GFP-expressing cell is basis of living laser device Posted: 12 Jun 2011 10:28 PM PDT Researchers have developed a device in which a single cell genetically engineered to express green fluorescent protein is used to amplify the light particles called photons into nanosecond-long pulses of laser light.

We are all mutants: First direct whole-genome measure of human mutation predicts 60 new mutations in each of us Posted: 12 Jun 2011 10:27 PM PDT How many new mutations does a child have and did most of them come from mum or dad? The first answer is that each of us typically receives 60 new mutations from our parents. Remarkably, the number of mutations passed on from a parent to a child varies between parents by as much as tenfold. These striking answers come from the first-ever direct measure of new mutations using whole human genomes.

Family genetic research reveals the speed of human mutation Posted: 12 Jun 2011 10:27 PM PDT A team of researchers has discovered that, on average, thirty mutations are transmitted from each parent to their child, revising previous estimations and revolutionizing the timescale we use to calculate the number of generations separating us from other species.

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