Protein Discovery today announced that they have extended their protein extraction kit product line by launching the YPX Yeast Protein Extraction Kit.

An international consortium today published a third-generation map of human genetic variation, called the HapMap, which includes data from an additional seven global populations, increasing the total number to 11 populations. The improved resolution will help researchers interpret current genome studies aimed at finding common and rarer genetic variants associated with complex diseases.

For the first time, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have identified and isolated adult mammary stem cells in mice. Long-term implications of this research may include the use of such cells to regenerate breast tissue, provide a better understanding of the role of adult stem cells in breast cancer development, and develop potential new targets for anti-cancer drugs.

An Iowa State University team of researchers has developed a type of hybrid proteins that can make double-strand DNA breaks at specific sites in living cells, possibly leading to better gene replacement and gene editing therapies.

For the first time, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have identified and isolated adult mammary stem cells in mice. Long-term implications of this research may include the use of such cells to regenerate breast tissue, provide a better understanding of the role of adult stem cells in breast cancer development, and develop potential new targets for anti-cancer drugs.

A new study of the genetic basis of circadian rhythms – the biological responses related to daily light exposure – has found that a few minutes of light exposure in a fungus directly affects a huge range of its biological functions, everything from reproduction to coloring and DNA repair.

In a landmark study to be published in the journal Nature, scientists have been able to create the first picture of genetic processes that happen inside every cell of our bodies. Using a 3-D visualization method called X-ray crystallography, Song Tan, an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State University, has built the first-ever image of a protein interacting with the nucleosome -- DNA packed tightly into space-saving bundles organized around a protein core. The research is expected to aid future investigations into diseases such as cancer.

Scientists at Georgetown University, the National Aquarium and the University of Queensland are the first to extract DNA from dolphin blow (breath exhalations). The researchers found that blow-sampling, which involves collecting exhalations from the blowholes of whales, dolphins and porpoises, could be developed as a less invasive method for DNA collection.

Achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism, is caused by a genetic mutation: A single incorrect building block in a strand of DNA produces a defective protein that disrupts normal growth. If a scientist could figure out precisely how this errant protein causes trouble, then a way to avert this chain of events might be found.

For their look into the nanoworld, the Jülich researchers used a scanning tunneling microscope. Its thin metal tip scans the specimen surface like the needle of a record player and registers the atomic irregularies and differences of approximately one nanometre (a billionth of a millimetre) with minuscule electric currents. However, even though the tip of the microscope only has the width of an atom, it has not been able so far to take a look inside molecules.