(PhysOrg.com) — Supercomputer simulations at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are helping scientists unravel how nucleic acids could have contributed to the origins of life.

via Powerful supercomputer peers into the origin of life.

There is no known cure for food allergies with sufferers forced to constantly check the ingredients on food packaging and make enquiries at restaurants before digging into a meal. Even taking such precautions it is almost impossible to avoid all food allergen exposure, especially with children. With even minor exposure having the potential to cause severe or even life threatening reactions in some people, the discovery of a way to turn off the immune system’s allergic reaction to certain proteins in mice, could have implications for the millions of food allergy sufferers worldwide.

via Researchers discover way to turn off severe allergic reaction to food in mice.

On the eve of planting, Paul Taylor, a corn-and-soybean farmer in north central Illinois, made a quick decision.

The signs were auspicious: The sun was shining, the air was warm, the fields were dry. So he returned the 50-pound bags of expensive, genetically modified seed corn that were waiting in his shed and planted instead ordinary hybrid seeds, the kind his grandfather might have sown. An early start and lower seed costs could pay off at harvesttime.

"I’m going to roll the dice on it," he said after planting.

via Signs of a biotech backlash? – CSMonitor.com.

Acetylation—the addition of a small clump of atoms called an acetyl group—may be the most important body process you have never heard of: It activates and deactivates proteins, thereby regulating access to our DNA and helping control gene expression. The latest research suggests that this protein tagging is even more influential than scientists had previously believed. If so, learning to manipulate it could yield powerful new approaches to treating disease.

via A Master Switch in the Body
| Genes & Health
| DISCOVER Magazine.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2010) — Researchers in England say they have discovered a set of biomarkers that can distinguish prostate cancer from benign prostate disease and healthy tissue with 90 percent accuracy. This preliminary data, if validated in larger ongoing studies, could be developed into a serum protein test that reduces the number of unnecessary biopsies and identifies men who need treatment before symptoms begin.

via Biomarker panel identifies prostate cancer with 90 percent accuracy.

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Cereal plants retain a ‘molecular memory’ of the cold, which helps them know when winter is over, say researchers (Source: iStockphoto)

Dani Cooper
ABC

Plants use a genetic memory to recognise when it is spring and can even count the number of cold days, Australian plant scientists have revealed.

In a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, researchers show how winter cereal crops recognise when it is time to start flowering.

Co-author Dr Jim Peacock of CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra says the findings could, in the future, help scientists genetically adapt wheat to remain productive under changing environments.

Peacock says winter cereal crops need exposure to an extended period of cold weather to begin flowering, a process known as vernalisation.

Click here for Science Daily’s annual list of the year’s top ten scientific breakthroughs.

Published: 19 November 2008 on a CBS INTERACTIVE UK BUSINESS SITE.

Silicon.com reporter Natasha Lomas recently caught up with Kurzweil to discuss his vision of a man-plus-machine future, what intelligent computers will mean for human society and jobs, and what dangers we might encounter in a world awash with advanced technology.

Click here for the article titled “Kurzweil: ‘Technology is a double-edged sword’”.

John Roach
for National Geographic News
January 25, 2008

Scientists yesterday announced that they have successfully created an entire synthetic genome in the lab by stitching together the DNA of the smallest known free-living bacterium, Mycoplasma genitalium.

Experts are hailing the research as an important breakthrough in genetic manipulation that will one day lead to the “routine” creation of synthetic genomes—possibly including those of mammals. more>>>

You may think that what you eat is your own choice. But a new research made at Kings College London proves that this choice depends on your genes. This was found after comparing the eating habits of thousands of pairs of twins. Identical twins presented a significantly higher share of food preference patterns, like a weakness for coffee and garlic, pointing towards the importance of a common taste
genetics.

Identical twins have in common 100 % of the genes (non-identical twins share genes just like any ordinary siblings), and by comparing them to non-identical twins, the researchers could determine the likelihood that their traits are caused by genetics or social and cultural diet. more>>>