All Non-Africans Part Neanderthal, Genetics Confirm. If your heritage is non-African, you are part Neanderthal, according to a new study in the July issue of Molecular Biology and Evolution. Discovery News has been reporting on human/Neanderthal interbreeding for some time now, so this latest research confirms earlier findings. Damian Labuda of the University of Montreal's Department of Pediatrics and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center conducted the study with his colleagues. They determined some of the human X chromosome originates from Neanderthals, but only in people of non-African heritage. "This confirms recent findings suggesting that the two populations interbred," Labuda was quoted as saying in a press release.
His team believes most, if not all, of the interbreeding took place in the Middle East, while modern humans were migrating out of Africa and spreading to other regions. The ancestors of Neanderthals left Africa about 400,000 to 800,000 years ago. Fast forward to 2010, when the Neanderthal genome was sequenced. New study identifies a "Happiness Gene" People tend to be happier if they possess a more efficient version of a gene which regulates the transport of serotonin in the brain, a new study has shown.
The findings, published today in the Journal of Human Genetics, are the first to show a direct link between a specific genetic condition and a person's happiness, as measured by their satisfaction with life. This research led by behavioural economist Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), examined genetic data from more than 2,500 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (a representative population sample in the US). In particular, it looked at which functional variant of the 5-HTT gene they possess. The 5-HTT gene, which provides the operating code for serotonin transporters in our neuron cell walls, has a variation (or allele) which can be either long or short.
Asteroids make life's raw materials - environment - 04 May 2011. By Michael Marshall WERE asteroids the factories that created life’s building blocks? For the first time, rocks from an asteroid have been shown to power the synthesis of life’s essential chemicals. The asteroid in question fell to Earth on 28 September 1969, landing on the outskirts of the village of Murchison in Victoria, Australia.
Tests showed it was laced with amino acids and some of the chemicals found in our genetic material. The discovery suggested that space was not the chemically sterile place it was once thought to be, and that organic chemistry was widespread. “Rather than space being chemically sterile, organic chemistry is widespread and rich” But how did those molecules form? They obtained 1 gram of the Murchison meteorite, ground it to powder and removed all the organic molecules, leaving just the mineral.
The ability to produce a range of essential molecules sets the meteorite mineral apart from Earth minerals, says Mark Sephton of Imperial College London. How Water Shapes DNA. Water molecules surround the genetic material DNA in a very specific way. Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have discovered that, on the one hand, the texture of this hydration shell depends on the water content and, on the other hand, actually influences the structure of the genetic substance itself.
These findings are not only important in understanding the biological function of DNA; they could also be used for the construction of new DNA-based materials. The DNA's double helix never occurs in isolation; instead, its entire surface is always covered by water molecules which attach themselves with the help of hydrogen bonds. But the DNA does not bind all molecules the same way. "We've been able to verify that some of the water is bound stronger whereas other molecules are less so," notes Dr. Karim Fahmy, Head of the Biophysics Division at the Institute of Radiochemistry.
"DNA is, thus, a responsive material," explains Karim Fahmy. Mutant mouse reveals new wrinkle in genetic code. Mutant mouse reveals new wrinkle in genetic code Call it a mystery with a stubby tail: an odd-looking mouse discovered through a U.S. government breeding program in the 1940s that had a short, kinky tail and an extra set of ribs in its neck – and nobody knew why. A team of scientists led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco has now spilled the genetic secrets of this mutant rodent. In doing so, they may have uncovered a new wrinkle in the genetic code – an entirely unrecognized way our bodies regulate how genes are expressed in different tissues throughout life.
This discovery has broad implications for how we think about developmental biology, and it may explain the origins of numerous developmental diseases. It also may help suggest new ways of treating certain types of cancer, many of which may be linked, at least in part, to problems in how the body regulates gene expression. Doctors recognized the uniqueness and potential importance of the mouse immediately. Scientists observe single gene activity in living cells. Public release date: 21-Apr-2011 [ Print | E-mail Share ] [ Close Window ] Contact: Kim Newmansciencenews@einstein.yu.edu 718-430-3101Albert Einstein College of Medicine April 21, 2011 − (BRONX, NY) − Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have for the first time observed the activity of a single gene in living cells. In an unprecedented study, published in the April 22 online edition of Science, Einstein scientists were able to follow, in real time, the process of gene transcription, which occurs when a gene converts its DNA information into molecules of messenger RNA (mRNA) that go on to make the protein coded by the gene.
Robert Singer, Ph.D., co-director of the Gruss Lipper Biophotonics Center at Einstein and professor and co-chair of anatomy and structural biology, is senior author of the paper. Using florescent proteins, the researchers were able to follow mRNA activity by inserting DNA sequences into a gene in live yeast cells. . [ Print | E-mail.