New technology could sequence a person''s genome in minutes

Washington, Dec 21 : Researchers at the Imperial College London scientists are developing technology that could lead to ultrafast DNA sequencing tool within ten years.The new technology could ultimately sequence a person''s genome in mere minutes, at a fraction of the cost of current commercial techniques.The research has suggested that scientists could...

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Jumping genes may tell why people have varied looks, disease risks

Washington, Feb 5: A Johns Hopkins study has identified ''jumping genes'' in humans that may one day explain why people have such varied physical traits and disease risks.Using bioinformatics to compare the standard assembly of genetic elements, the team revealed 1,016 new insertions of RIPs, or retrotransposon insertion polymorphisms, thereby expanding the catalog of insertions...

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Scientists sequence two new strains from E. coli outbreak in Germany

Washington, June 12 : Two isolates from the current E. coli (Escherichia coli) outbreak in Germany have been sequenced and analyzed in laboratories.Both strains are now available from Virginia Bioinformatics Institute''s (VBI''s) Pathosystems Resource Integration Center (PATRIC).In the rush to save lives, many laboratories are analyzing these genomes and providing data to...

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Greediness gene dooms dieting

London, Nov 15 - Your dieting resolve can be doomed if you are carrying a 'greediness' gene, a study shows.Researchers have shown that a rogue gene linked to obesity makes us fat by boosting appetite.This deep-seated drive to eat could also explain why so many of us succumb to temptation, no matter how strong our initial resolve to lose weight, according to...

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Targeting malaria’s ‘sticky’ proteins could put an end to the disease

Washington, July 10 : A team of Australian researchers have identified a key mechanism that enables malaria-infected red blood cells to stick to the walls of blood vessels and avoid being destroyed by the body''''s immune system.The discovery highlights an important potential new target for anti-malarial drugs.Malaria is caused by the malaria...

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Rare genetic disease mutation protects against malaria

London, Apr 17: The mutation that causes the raregenetic disease pyruvate kinase deficiency protects against malaria, states a new study.Approximately 1 in 20,000 people have two copies of a genetic mutation that prevents red blood cells from producing energy and causes anaemia.And patients with the condition often die young.But, according to Philippe...

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The Potential of Bioinformatics

The potential of Bioinformatics in the identification of useful genes leading to the development of new gene products, drug discovery and drug development has led to a paradigm shift in biology and biotechnology-these fields are becoming more & more computationally intensive. The new paradigm, now emerging, is that all the genes will be known "in the sense of being resident in database available electronically", and the starting point of biological investigation will be theoretical and a scientist will begin with a theoretical conjecture...

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Bioinformatics and its scope

Bioinformatics uses advances in the area of computer science, information science, computer and information technology, communication technology to solve complex problems in life sciences and particularly in biotechnology. Data capture, data warehousing and data mining have become major issues for biotechnologists and biological scientists due to sudden growth in quantitative data in biology such as complete genomes of biological species including human genome, protein sequences, protein 3-D structures, metabolic...

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Genome Map

What is Genome? The word genome refers to all DNA present in an organism. The DNA is the “Genetic Blueprint” that determines the genotypic make-up of each organism. DNA consists of two strings of nucleotides, or bases (abbreviated A, C, G, and T), wound around each other. The bases composing DNA have specific binding capabilities: A always binds to T, and C always binds to...

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Meet my genome: 10 people release their DNA on the Web

Ten people today allowed their genetic maps to be publicly displayed on the Web in the name of research. The effort is part of Harvard Medical School's Personal Genome Project (PGP), which aims to create a large public database of human DNA to aid researchers in their quest to find the causes and cures for genetic maladies.    The first 10 volunteers, dubbed the PGP-10, include project director and Harvard Medical School geneticist George Church; Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker; technology writer Esther...

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