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2007-06-15

• new findings challenge established views on human genome -- Biology News Net

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• Identification of numerous previously unrecognized start sites for DNA transcription.
• Evidence that, contrary to traditional views, regulatory sequences are just as likely to be located downstream of a transcription start site on a DNA strand as upstream.
• Identification of specific signatures of change in histones, which are the proteins that organize DNA, and correlation of these signatures with different genomic functions.
• Deeper understanding of how DNA replication is coordinated by modifications in histones.

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• : ENCODE project에서 humane genome project의 대부분이 완료된 2003년부터 4년동안 1% human genome을 연구하는데 소모를 했고, 그 결과를 발표하였다. 일반적으로 Genome은 단백질을 만들기 위한 template로 생각하고 있지만, 실제로 Protein을 coding하고 있는 gene은 전체 유전체의 1.5 ~ 2% 정도로 알려져 있다. 다른 gene들은 gene이 mRNA로 전사되는 과정을 조절하는데 관여하거나, chromosome의 구조를 유지하거나 chromosome의 replication을 유도하는 역할을 수행하거나, 그냥 protein-noncoding region인 곳도 있다. 위의 내용에서도 알 수 있듯이, 지금까지 많은 연구가 진행되어 왔지만 아직까지 알고 있는 사실보다 모르는 부분이 훨씬 더 많고, 어쩌면 인간의 유전자를 연구하는 시작 단계라 볼 수 있다.

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2007-06-13

• australian wins prestigious prize in biodiversity informatics -- Biology News Net

{{| Further, the Committee said, "As a software developer, Flemons is particularly attuned to user needs. His work includes innovations that similar developments lack, and he has a rare mix of skill sets." The Prize winner also works on making desktop software tools into web-based tools that can be shared across the Internet. Sharing analytical software in this way promotes collaboration and cooperation among scientists and between scientists and policy-making agencies.

Flemons understands the importance of the interplay between natural history collections data, visualization and analysis tools, and conservation decision-making. He has published in top-tier scientific journals, but at the same time he builds software applications that are intuitive and maximize the user experience for both scientists and non-scientists. |}}

• : [Biodiversity Informatics]란 학문이 있는지 처음 들었다. =_=

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2007-06-12

• um researchers discover gene switched off in cancer can be turned on -- Biology News Net

{{| U-M researchers found that a gene called Brahma, or BRM, is silent – but not missing – in some cancer cells. By exposing the BRM protein to an inhibitor drug, the researchers were able to turn the gene back on, allowing BRM to be expressed. The researchers found this gene is turned off in about 15 percent of tumors studied, including cells from lung, esophageal, ovarian, bladder, colon and breast cancers. |}}

• : 항암 치료에 관한 방법 중에서 [Cell] growth를 조절하는 [Gene]이 silence되어있는 상태를 다시 switch on 상태로 돌려놓게 되면, [Cancer]를 치료할 수 있다는 내용. 본 내용보다 마지막 문장이 마음에 와닿는다. 앞으로 항암치료가 발전하는 방향이라고 해야겠다.

{{| “Targeted therapies are now opening the door, because they are essentially given only to those patients who have a high likelihood of response. Their low toxicity means the patient can be treated for long periods of time, which is unlike older and more traditional chemotherapy agents. Even if these new targeted therapies don’t cure the cancer, we can at least have long-term survival,” he adds. |}}

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2007-06-11

• 일상적 질병발생과 연관된 유전자 발견과 그 의의 -- Bric

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2007-06-07

• how to lose weight and not go hungry hu researcher develops drug that mimics feeling of fullness -- Biology News Net

{{| Linde and his associates have developed a compound that mimics the activity of the naturally occurring hormone called aMSH. This hormone is naturally excreted during eating and binds to a receptor in the brain called MC4R. When this “communication” occurs on a substantial level, the brain sends out a signal that one feels “full.”

The young Hebrew university researchers developed a novel method for synthesizing a peptide (a peptide is a compound linking two or more amino acids) which can serve as an analog to the naturally occurring aMSH hormone. They were able to demonstrate that their peptide, which they call BL-3020, displayed good metabolic stability to intestinal enzymes when swallowed, and that it was able to cross the intestinal wall and gain access into the blood stream. Once in the blood, it could make its way to the MC4R receptor and “close the circuit” to send out the “full” signal.|}} : 본 내용은 음식을 먹게되면 분비되는 호르몬이 뇌에 포만감을 느끼게 해주는데, 그 호르몬과 비슷한 단백질을 합성하여, 그 단백질을 투여하면 포만감을 느끼게 하므로써, 음식물의 섭취량을 줄일 수 있게되고, 이로 인해 체중을 줄이는 방법이다.

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2007-06-05

• 이래저래 지난 달은 안좋은 일이 많았다. 이번 달부터는 좀 좋아지길....

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