gene expression

Our DNA determines a lot about who we are and how we play with others, but recent studies of social animals (birds and bees, among others) show that the interaction between genes and behavior is more of a two-way street than most of us realize.

(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Our DNA determines a lot about who we are and how we play with others, but recent studies of social animals (birds and bees, among others) show that the interaction between genes and behavior is more of a two-way street than most of us realize.

(European Science Foundation) Europe's position as a major player in genome research has been boosted by the European Science Foundation's three-year EUROCORES program EuroDYNA.

As it draws to a close, EuroDYNA (Dynamic Nuclear Architecture and Chromatin Function) is leaving behind a healthy European ecosystem of interacting multidisciplinary research projects focused on the structure of the cellular nucleus and mechanisms governing gene expression.

(Washington University in St. Louis) Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have gained the first detailed insight into the way circadian rhythms govern global gene expression in Cyanothece, a type of cyanobacterium (blue-green alga) known to cycle between photosynthesis during the day and nitrogen fixation at night.

Genes that scientist believe are turned off are actually functioning at a low level that has previously been undetected, a discovery that could help answer questions about chronic disease and aging.

Of the about 25,000 human genes science has identified, half are believed to be silent at any particular time and activated only when needed.

But a biomedical and computer expert has discovered that current tools cannot measure extraordinarily low levels of gene expression signals.

SATB1 is a nuclear protein well known for its crucial role in regulating gene expression during the differentiation and activation of T cells, making it a key player in the immune system.

But scientists have discovered that SATB1 has a darker side: it is an essential contributing factor in the most aggressive forms of breast cancer.

Smoking plays a role in lung cancer development and now scientists have shown that smoking also affects the way genes are expressed, leading to alterations in cell division and regulation of immune response.

Notably, some of the changes in gene expression persisted in people who had quit smoking many years earlier.

Scientists demonstrate the tremendous importance of dietary fat as a regulator of gene expression. Via a combination of several nutrigenomic tools they reveal that dietary unsaturated fatty acids govern a huge number of genes and do so almost entirely via a special receptor called PPARa.