Posts tagged: Biology

John Rinn and Jernej Ule: Guest Editors for Genome Biology RBPome issue

Naomi Attar on May 8, 2013 at 5:10 pm - 1 Comment

Genome Biology is very pleased to announce the Guest Editors of our special issue on the RBPome as John Rinn and Jernej Ule. The issue will be published in late 2013.

RNA binding proteins and their recognition elements within the transcriptome
The issue will focus on RNA binding proteins (RBPs), and the RNA molecules and motifs to which they bind: it is this RNA landscape, sculpted by RBPs, that we believe to be a particularly exciting and fast-moving area of research at the present time.

Or, as John puts it: "Almost all RNA genes function through protein interactions - with the ongoing explosion of RNA genes …

Acta Neuropathologica Communications launches today

jennifershutt on May 8, 2013 at 10:51 am - 0 Comments

Acta Neuropathologica Communications (ANC), a new open access journal focusing on the pathology and mechanisms of neurological disease has launched today with BioMed Central. Led by Editor-in-Chief Werner Paulus, a Professor of Neuropathology at University Hospital Münster, the journal hopes to emulate the success of its older, sister journal, Acta Neuropathalogica published by Springer.

Like Acta Neuropathalogica, ANC will publish high quality research and aims to get a decision on manuscripts to authors within 11 days, however it differs in the fact that it will only publish manuscripts which require no or only minor revisions. Werner Paulus explains the rational for this policy in his launch Editorial “One of the chief complaints from …

Early pregnancy alters gene signature of mammary stem cells

Kathryn Smith on May 3, 2013 at 12:05 pm - 0 Comments

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the United Kingdom and constitutes the leading cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide. One in eight women can expect to develop breast cancer at some point in their lifetime.

Progress has been made in early detection and treatment of breast cancer but little is understood about how women can reduce their risk of developing the disease. Child-bearing is one factor identified to reduce this risk. If a full-term pregnancy occurs before the age of 20, the risk of developing breast cancer is halved. Yet the mechanism through which this works remains unexplained.

A new publication in Breast Cancer Research uses a novel approach to answer this …

Complex consensus: PRDM9 binding to DNA is unusually complicated

Rafal Marszalek on April 29, 2013 at 10:40 am - 0 Comments

Taking into account the importance of the role that genetic recombination plays in evolution, adaptation, survival, and – perhaps most importantly – sex, we know surprisingly little about the molecular foundations of this phenomenon. What we do know is that genetic recombination is not a completely random process; that it follows a pattern. Some chromosomal regions are more, and some less, likely to be affected by double-stranded breaks – and the recombination events that follow. Areas with a high frequency of recombination have been appropriately dubbed ‘recombination hotspots’.

Now, recombination hotspots are a bit of an enigma themselves: for a long time no one could put their finger on how these hotspots are defined – or chosen. But, as it …

Diamonds in the rough: DNA60 in Genome Biology

Naomi Attar on April 25, 2013 at 1:09 pm - 0 Comments

One of the most wonderful things about science, to my mind, is the way its fundamental principles are simultaneously both universal and personal. Quantum physics helps to explain the nature of grandiose concepts such as time and space, but it also applies to the insignificant particles that make up my own cells. Equally, within these very cells, at any moment, biological processes newly reported in the literature are taking place, as are those that have yet to be discovered.

Life's secret
For this reason, when I look at one of the beautiful X-ray diffraction photos taken by Rosalind Franklin and her PhD student Ray Gosling in the early 1950s, from painstaking work performed on calf thymus samples in gloomy …

Genome Biology at Non-coding RNA, epigenetics and transgenerational inheritance 2013

Laura Fulford on April 23, 2013 at 5:01 pm - 0 Comments

This year's Abcam conference on 'non-coding RNAs, epigenetics and transgenerational inheritance' had a distinct Lamarckian flavor with conference Chair and 2013 Hooke medal recipient, Eric Miska, recommending Arthur Koestler's 'The case of the midwife toad' as extracurricular reading. In addition to his literary recommendations Miska discussed his recently published observations on the ability of piRNA phenotypes to be inherited through generations in C. elegans. The nematode and RNAi theme was continued in Scott Kennedy's talk, which focused on his recently published work on identifying genes required for RNAi inheritance in C. elegans. He identified such genes through screening for mutants defective in transmitting RNAi phenotypes to the next generation, but which are still able …

Celebrating Agriculture & Food Security’s first birthday

Rhiannon Meaden on April 23, 2013 at 1:50 pm - 0 Comments

Last Friday marked the first anniversary of the launch of Agriculture & Food Security. To celebrate this important milestone in the journal’s history, an anniversary editorial has been published, describing the achievements of the last year, and reiterating the importance of research on this significant global issue.

Following a highly successful launch event at BioVision Alexandria – of which a highlights video is now available online – Agriculture & Food Security has had a rewarding first year of publishing. Over the last year, a number of highly accessed articles by eminent scientists in the field have been published. Topping this list is Albert Sasson’s review on tackling the food insecurity crisis …

The Genome Biology special DNA60 Bioinformatics Challenge is nearly upon us: starts Monday!

Naomi Attar on April 18, 2013 at 4:18 pm - 1 Comment

Stand by for an important update on Genome Biology's highly anticipated, ultra-tricky, ultra-cool, *supreme* DNA60 Bioinformatics Challenge with a truly amazing prize…

Recently, we excited informatics enthusiasts with the prospect of a special Genome Biology Bioinformatics Challenge in honor of DNA60, but we were lamentably low on the detail. Here, we are putting that right.

So what is this Challenge all about then?
DNA60 celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of the publication of Watson and Crick's Double Helix, and Genome Biology will be marking the occasion, April 25th, with some special content. But we also wanted to have some fun, and to give away some prizes, so we decided to …

Camus enters the clinic: Genome Biology at Genomic Disorders 2013

Naomi Attar on April 17, 2013 at 11:19 am - 1 Comment

It is not unusual per se for Nobel laureates to be quoted at genomics conferences, but it is perhaps a little out of the ordinary when the Nobel Prize in question is for Literature. But, then again, the Wellcome Trust's 'Genomic Disorders 2013: From 60 years of DNA to human genomes in the clinic' was not your run-of-the-mill conference; instead, a mesh of current research and historical (and futuristic) perspective paid tribute to the 60th anniversary of Watson and Crick's discovery of the double helix.

So it was not entirely out of keeping with expectations when philosopher (and former candidate for Slovene of the year) Renata Salecl stepped onto the podium and asked:

'Should I kill myself, or have …

Highlighting need for climate smart agricultural policies

Rhiannon Meaden on April 12, 2013 at 3:53 pm - 0 Comments

Agriculture & Food Security publishes a new thematic series on ‘Climate Smart Agriculture’.

Global warming represents one of the greatest threats to society worldwide. The dual burden of climate change coupled with exponentially increasing populations means that our agricultural systems are under increasing pressure to produce food in unstable environmental conditions. The struggle to reach required productivity means that food security is fast becoming a significant threat to lives worldwide. Furthermore, in recent years it has become clear that not only is agricultural productivity threatened by climate change, current agricultural practices may in fact be accelerating atmospheric changes; agriculture is the leading cause of methane and nitrous oxide emissions, as well as a significant cause of deforestation and …