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Category: biotech/medical – Page 3,316

Researchers outline game-theory approach to better understand genetics

Principles of game theory offer new ways of understanding genetic behavior, a pair of researchers has concluded in a new analysis appearing in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Its work opens the possibility of comprehending biological processes, and specifically biochemistry, through a new scientific lens.

The exploration considers signaling , which involves sender and receiver interactions with both seeking payoffs.

“The view of as players in a signaling game effectively animates genes and bestows simple utilities and strategies—thus, unique personalities—on them,” explains Bhubaneswar “Bud” Mishra, a professor at NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, who co-authored the analysis with Steven Massey, an associate professor at the University of Puerto Rico. “In this view, the genome possesses characteristics of a molecular society, complete with deception, imitation, cooperation, and competition—not unlike human society. This adds a grandeur to a traditional view of life and the interactions it is made up of.”

Superbug discovery renews hope for antibiotic treatment

Bacteria that were thought to be resistant to a powerful antibiotic may be susceptible to treatment after all, research has found.

The food-poisoning bug Listeria was shown to respond to an antibiotic even though the carry that should make it highly resistant.

Scientists say the antibiotic—called fosfomycin—should be reconsidered as a treatment for life-threatening Listeria infections.

DNA Replication Can Happen Without ORC1

The ORC1 gene might not be as indispensable as previously thought in DNA replication.

According to a study conducted by Hollings Cancer Center scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina, DNA replication in murine cells is possible even in the absence of origin recognition complex 1 (ORC1), a protein encoded by the homonymous gene that was previously thought to be indispensable [1].

Study abstract

The largest subunit of the origin recognition complex (ORC1) is essential for assembly of the prereplicative complex, firing of DNA replication origins, and faithful duplication of the genome. Here, we generated knock-in mice with LoxP sites flanking exons encoding the critical ATPase domain of ORC1. Global or tissue-specific ablation of ORC1 function in mouse embryo fibroblasts and fetal and adult diploid tissues blocked DNA replication, cell lineage expansion, and organ development. Remarkably, ORC1 ablation in extraembryonic trophoblasts and hepatocytes, two polyploid cell types in mice, failed to impede genome endoreduplication and organ development and function. Thus, ORC1 in mice is essential for mitotic cell divisions but dispensable for endoreduplication. We propose that DNA replication of mammalian polyploid genomes uses a distinct ORC1-independent mechanism.

IVF children at far greater risk of dangerous high blood pressure, study suggests

Children born through IVF are six times more likely to suffer high blood pressure than naturally conceived children, putting them at greater risk of heart attacks and strokes, new research suggests.

In a study of 96 youngsters, researchers in the Switzerland found one in seven teenagers who were born through assisted reproduction had clinically high blood pressure by the age of 16, compared with just 2.3 per cent of those born naturally.

Around 20,000 babies are born through IVF in Britain each year. But the oldest test-tube baby — Louise Brown — is only 40 years old, so the long term impact of fertility treatment is still unknown.

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