Category Archives: DNA

Judge releases capital murder suspects Tanya Eiserer, WFAA 3:48 PM. CDT July 05, 2017 A Dallas County district judge has ordered the release of two capital murder suspects after prosecutors failed for more than a year to send the DNA of one of the defendants to the lab to be tested. On Monday the judge ordered that Leonte Stone, 24, and Konkun Tarpeh, 25, be released on electronic monitoring and house arrest. The only thing keeping the two men in jail currently are holds from other counties. Tarpeh is being held on a Tarrant County violation on a protective order charge from Tarrant County. Stone is being held from Hunt County for evading arrest and child endangerment charges. By state law, prosecutors have 90 days to announce that they're ready for trial from the day that a person is arrested. That's to keep indigent defendants from just being held in jail in perpetuity. In this case, prosecutors had failed to send Stones DNA to the lab to be tested against evidence collected in the case. District Judge Brandon Birmingham ordered their release on a personal recognizance bond. The DNA testing also cant be done quickly because of a recent issue … Continue reading →

By Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, June 27, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- When people work the night shift, their bodies might have less capacity to repair everyday damage to cells' DNA, a small study hints. The research found that people excreted lower levels of a chemical called 8-OH-dG when they worked at night. That might be a sign that the body's ability to repair DNA damage is diminished. While this is all theoretical, a number of studies have tied shift work to higher risks of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers. The new findings might point to one reason for those risks, said lead researcher Parveen Bhatti, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle. He explained that 8-OH-dG is excreted in the urine when the body repairs DNA damage that occurs during normal body processes. "So we think lower clearance [of 8-OH-dG] likely reflects a reduced ability to repair DNA damage," Bhatti said. "Over time, such DNA damage might contribute to cancer or other diseases," Bhatti added. And, he said, the whole process might be due to insufficient levels of melatonin -- a hormone that helps regulate the body's internal "clock." The brain churns out melatonin in … Continue reading →

Anew technology can clone thousands of genes at once and compile libraries of proteins from DNA samples, potentially speeding up the search for new drugs. Discovering the function of a gene requires cloning a DNA sequence and expressing it. Until now, this was performed on a one-gene-at-a-time basis, causing a bottleneck. We think that the rapid, affordable, and high-throughput cloning of proteins and other genetic elements will greatly accelerate biological research to discover functions of molecules encoded by genomes and match the pace at which new genome sequencing data is coming out, says Biju Parekkadan, an associate professor in the biomedical engineering Department at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. In a study published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, the researchers show that their technologyLASSO (long-adapter single-strand oligonucleotide) probescan capture and clone thousands of long DNA fragments at once. As a proof-of-concept, the researchers cloned more than 3,000 DNA fragments from E. coli bacteria, commonly used as a model organism with a catalogued genome sequence available. We captured about 95 percent of the gene targets we set out to capture, many of which were very large in DNA length, which has been challenging in the past, Parekkadan says. I think there will … Continue reading →

1. My suspicion was correct. Genetically, I do have a slower metabolism. Dr. Dan described this in scientific terms as an "efficient metabolism," meaning that I store energy more than someone with a fast or "inefficient metabolism." 2. I also have a gene variation for the FTO gene that is linked to a hormone called ghrelin, which controls hunger. My gene variation implies that I am someone who becomes hungry very easily, therefore creating a higher risk of overeating. Dan said that eating small frequent meals throughout the day to control hunger would be important. 3. I also have a gene variation in the APOA2 gene, indicating that I am sensitive to saturated fats, meaning that it sticks to me more easily! I asked Dr. Dan what foods have saturated fats and he said things like animal products, butter, dairy products, palm oil and coconut oil. Coconut oil?! I ate so much coconut oil because of how often it's promoted as a healthy oil. No wonder I was having trouble. 4. I am someone who would benefit from working out later in the day because my CLOCK gene variations imply that I am a night owl. This made perfect sense … Continue reading →

If youve heard about octopuses cleverly escaping their tanks, stealing cameras, and opening jars from the inside then youve also probably had nightmares about a cephalopod takeover. And as if the tentacled creatures werent unnerving enough, now it appears they can manipulate their own genetic information. A study published inCell this past April showed octopuses and their cephalopod cousins have the unique ability to alter their RNA, a key element of DNA, to better adapt to their environments. To briefly catch you up on Biology 101, DNA is the nucleic acid carrying all the information needed to build every aspect of your body. Though also a type of nucleic acid, RNA is more of a paperboy, carrying all the information in the DNA to the rest of the cytoplasm, allowing the genetic instructions to become reality. However, according to Popular Science, certain bases (which bind and form certain proteins) can be swapped out with different bases to create different proteins. Eli Eisenberg, a co-author of the study and biophysicist at Tel Aviv University in Israel, told the outlet, About 25 years ago, people identified the first example of RNA editing in mammals. There were a few cases where you'd see … Continue reading →

June 12, 2017 Naturally occurring DNA is in constant motion, researchers hypothesize, and transports large transcription factors (depicted in green) through its tangles until they reach sites where they bind and carry out their activity. Here a still image from a very large, unique simulation. Credit: Georgia Tech / Edmond Chow / Jeff Skolnick Imagine if a dense thicket didn't obstruct your path but instead picked you up and shuttled you through the forest. That's what tightly packed DNA might be doing with important life molecules to get them where they're needed on time. New simulations of DNA as a transport conduit could shatter the way scientists have thought about how large molecules called transcription factors diffuse on their way to carry out genetic missions, according to a study by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The simulations add important brush strokes to our picture of elusive inner mechanics of cells. The simulations strongly support the hypothesis that, in a live cell, DNA is in constant motion, making it the dominant mover of transcription factors, to their target sites on DNA. There, the factors regulate the transcription of genetic code into life-sustaining action. DNA gorilla cage How transcription factors … Continue reading →

You've probably heard how companies like Ancestry.com or 23-and-me can use your DNA to tell you where you came from. Now for the first time in our area, police are using similar technology to tell us what a suspect might look like. Scott Broom, WUSA 5:57 PM. EDT June 12, 2017 GAITHERSBURG, MD (WUSA9) - For the first time, police in the D.C. area are turning to a new DNA analytic system that helps them predict who a suspect may be. "DNA was considered to be just a fingerprint for a very long time," said EllenGraytakofParabonNanolabs, the Northern Virginia-based company that is offering DNA analytics to investigators nationwide. "What this can do is actually tell those investigators something they couldn't have known." Montgomery County Police are hoping the technology will help them solve the 1992 murder ofJamesEssel, who was the operator of the Sugarloaf Mountain Market in Comas before he was stabbed to death in the store. PREVIOUS:PhotoDNAmay have tracked alleged child pornographer For years detectives have had the description of a possible suspect vehicle, but had no idea what the person driving might have looked like. Scientists used DNA collected from the scene to create a composite of who … Continue reading →

The Rev. Canon Cindy Voorhees, left, leads a St. James the Great Episcopal Church service inside a community room at the Newport Beach City Hall on Sunday morning, June 4, 2017. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer) The Rev. Canon Cindy Voorhees leads a St. James the Great Episcopal Church service inside a community room at the Newport Beach City Hall on Sunday morning, June 4, 2017. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer) Lissa Schairer, right, asks a question during a Q and A regarding DNA testing to determine racial background at the Newport Beach City Hall on Sunday morning, June 4, 2017. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer) Genealogist Colleen Greene answers questions regarding DNA testing to determine racial background at the Newport Beach City Hall on Sunday morning, June 4, 2017. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer) The Rev. Canon Cindy Voorhees greets parishioners at the end of church service at the Newport Beach City Hall on Sunday morning, June 4, 2017. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer) Genealogist Colleen Greene answers questions regarding DNA testing to determine racial background at the Newport Beach City Hall on Sunday morning, June 4, 2017. (Photo … Continue reading →

BBC News Mum Danielle Morris who faked DNA paternity test jailed - BBC News BBC News The would-be father paid maintenance and had the girl's name tattooed on his arm before the truth came out. Woman who faked DNA paternity test to trick ex-lover into believing ...Mirror.co.uk all 2 news articles » Read more: Mum Danielle Morris who faked DNA paternity test jailed - BBC News - BBC News … Continue reading →

Pacific Standard Can the Law Enforcement's DNA Database Tell Police Your Medical Information? Pacific Standard Despite what procedural dramas might lead you to believe, the DNA that police collect at crime scenes can't tell you anything about the characteristics of the person who left it behind. If police have a database of suspects' DNA, then they can match a ... Surprise at how few garda give DNA for eliminationThe Times (subscription) all 2 news articles » See original here: Can the Law Enforcement's DNA Database Tell Police Your Medical Information? - Pacific Standard … Continue reading →