Category Archives: DNA

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

18-Nov-2014

Contact: Marguerite Beck marbeck@wakehealth.edu 336-716-2415 Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center @wakehealth

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Nov. 18, 2014 - Although every person's DNA remains the same throughout their lives, scientists know that it functions differently at different ages.

As people age, drastic changes occur in their DNA methylation patterns, which are thought to act as a "second code" on top of the DNA that can lock genes in the on or off position. However, what the consequences of these changes are remains a mystery.

To begin deciphering this process, scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center studied methylation patterns in the blood cells of 1,264 persons ages 55 to 94 who participated in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

In a study published in the current issue of Nature Communications, the researchers found age-related differences in DNA methylation in 8 percent of the 450,000 sites tested across the genome. Most of these changes did not seem to affect which cellular genes were turned on or off.

However, the Wake Forest Baptist team did find a small subset of age-linked DNA methylation changes -- 1,794 of the 450,000 sites tested -- that were associated with altered gene expression. Out of this subset, 42 sites were associated with pulse pressure, a measure of vascular health that is known to change with age.

"Our work suggests that most of the age-associated changes in DNA methylation do not have an obvious effect on cellular function, in this case altering gene expression, and some of them may just amount to noise," said Yongmei Liu, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest Baptist and corresponding author of the study.

"The methylation sites that are linked to altered gene expression are good candidates as potential drivers of the negative effects of aging, especially the small subset linked to pulse pressure. Our findings provide new insights into the aging process."

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The role DNA methylation plays in aging cells

DNA is often referred to as a blueprint for life, or the instruction set for living organisms. We know that DNA is passed down through generations from one individual to their offspring. But did you know that DNA doesnt always follow this linear path, but instead jumps around between organisms? Professor David Adelson and his team in the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science at the University of Adelaide work on mapping the location of these genes, known as transposons, which jump between organisms to find out when and how this happens, and to determine their impact on the genome. In this post, Professor Adelson explains.

By Professor David Adelson, adapted from Jumping Genes, e-Science, October 2013

Jumping DNA For decades it was believed that all the genes that encoded an organism could only be transmitted vertically from ancestors to descendants. But the discovery of Avery, MacLeod and McCarty in 1944 showed that DNA could transfer the gene for virulence from one strain of bacteria to another, indicating that it could also be transmitted horizontally between unrelated organisms. While this research was the origin of modern molecular biology, its full significance was not understood until many years later.

And until the 1990s, horizontal transfer of genes was believed to be restricted to simple organisms such as bacteria. The first evidence that DNA could be horizontally transferred in animals came from studies of mobile genes called transposons that could move between fruit flies and even between different species of fruit flies. Transposons are perhaps uniquely suited to horizontal transfer, as they are stretches of DNA that encode a single protein whose only function is to cut them out of the region of DNA they occupy and paste them back in at a completely different position.

In the intervening years since this horizontal transfer between animals was first described transposons have been shown to jump not only between locations within a single genome, but between the genomes of a number of animals, including between insects, reptiles and mammals, even Tasmanian devils.

Retro genes While this has changed our understanding of the nature of horizontal transfer, transposons make up only a very small percentage of any species genome, so the impact of this type of transfer has not been viewed as very significant. However, genomes contain more than just genes and transposons; they also contain many repetitive sequences from retrotransposons. Retrotransposons are similar to transposons in that they can jump from location to location in a genome, but they differ in that they use a copy and paste mechanism rather than a cut and paste mechanism, so they can amplify their numbers significantly. In fact, while genes occupy about 2% of a typical mammalian genome, and transposons might occupy about 3%, retrotransposons can occupy about 40% of a genome.

Weve carried out an analysis of a particular retrotransposon called BovB in all available animal and insect genome sequence data to detect evidence of horizontal transfer for BovB. We found that BovB was only present in a number of unrelated species or groups of species, including reptiles (snakes and lizards), ruminants (cow and sheep), elephants, horses, platypus and wallaby, with no BovB in primates (humans, apes), carnivores (dogs, cats) or rodents (mice and rats), thus ruling out a common ancestor and vertical inheritance as an explanation for BovB distribution.

BovB was not just found in the species above, but was also found in two species of ticks known to feed on reptiles or mammals depending on the opportunity. The BovB sequences of cow, reptiles, marsupials and ticks are quite similar, indicating a likely horizontal transfer of BovB from reptiles to ticks to ruminants (cows). Using computational analyses we were able to determine that at least 9 horizontal transfers must have occurred to generate the current known patchy species distribution of BovB.

When is a cow not a cow? While this on its own is striking, BovB and derived sequences account for about 25% of the cow genome, implying that a horizontally transferred DNA sequence from reptiles (transferred through ticks) accounts for a quarter of the cow genome. BovB sequences are not without functions, they have been adapted to become part of genes and can regulate gene function, so the abundant BovB sequences in the cow genome are not just passive, but are integral, dynamic components that turn genes on or off and ultimately regulate what makes a cow, a cow.

Our perspective on horizontal transfer in animals has been revised by these results and it now appears that horizontal transfer is much more common that we previously expected and can have very significant effects on genome sequences.

Read more here:
Blueprint for life not so clear cut

MILWAUKEE (WITI) Milwaukee police sayDNA from a relative led to the identification and arrest of a suspect wanted for a sexual assault. This is just the second time in Wisconsin history DNA has been used in this way.

24-year-old Antoine Pettis of Milwaukee was charged on Tuesday, November 18th after he was identified by familial DNA and later confessed to the sexual assault of a 101-year-old Milwaukee woman. The charges he now faces include: burglary, aggravated battery and second-degree sexual assault.

In an interview with investigators, Pettis admitted to entering the womans home near 35th and Florist around 2:00 a.m. on September 1st. Pettis said he went into the home with another suspect with the intention of burglarizing it. When he found nothing that he wanted to steal, Pettis admitted to sexually assaulting the victim and fleeing the scene.

Pettis left behind DNA evidence at the scene. The State Crime Lab used that DNA to narrow down the list of possible suspects. On November 13th, detectives from MPDs Sensitive Crimes Division identified Pettis after his DNA revealed familial traits with those of a male relative of his, which was already in a DNA database. Police say they had Pettis DNA on file from a paternity case last year.

Michael Dixon

Investigators brought Pettis in for questioning at which time he confessed to the crime.

Pettis appeared in court on Tuesday, November 18th, and he addressed the cameras saying yall wanna make me a celebrity?

Pettis bond was set at $100,000 a bond amount he was shocked by refusing to sign the bond agreement.

If convicted, Pettisfaces more than 58 years in prison.

Earlier in 2014, Milwaukee Police became the first in the state to use familial DNA to identify a serial rapist, Michael Dixon, who is awaiting trial.

Excerpt from:
101-year-old woman sexually assaulted, DNA leads to suspects arrest

"Jurassic Park" is still fiction, for now. But scientists hope they will soon be able to clone a 40,000-year-old woolly mammoth, using a specimen uncovered last year.

A South Korean company called SOOAM has taken liquid blood samples from the well-preserved specimen, and will test it for a complete strand of DNA. If the right biological data is found, it could be used to clone the long-extinct animal, which was an eight-foot-tall female. The woolly mammoth, called "Buttercup," was discovered last year in Siberia. It's in remarkably good shape for its age, thanks to being preserved in ice after being killed and partially consumed by predators.

If scientists can collect a full strand of DNA from Buttercup's blood, they could map its specific traits onto existing elephant DNA, much like a frog's genome is used as the backbone for dinosaur DNA in the Steven Spielberg film "Jurassic Park," based on a novel by Michael Crichton.

The process would require that a female elephant be implanted with the fertilized egg, to act as a surrogate for the cloned woolly mammoth. This could kill the elephant, according to a report from Quartz, and scientists might have to make several attempts until one successfully gave birth.

"Jurassic World" is due in theaters next June, and the notion of cloning a long-extinct animal will remain science fiction for quite a while, the scientists say.

"'Bringing back the mammoth either through cloning or genetic engineering would be an extremely long process," Dr. Insung Hwang, a geneticist atSOOAM, told theDaily News. "We're trying hard to make this possible within our generation."

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Scientists Collect DNA To Clone Woolly Mammoth, Like A Real-Life 'Jurassic Park'

The Porsche Design DNA
At the Porsche Design Studio in Weissach, we create the Porsche of the future. Every Porsche follows a specific design DNA. It makes a Porsche unique and unmistakable. See the following video...

By: Porsche

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The Porsche Design DNA - Video

DNA: Analysis of Justice Mudgal IPL probe committee report
The Justice Mudgal IPL probe committe report on the allegations of betting and spot/match fixing in the Indian Premier League has been released.

By: Zee News

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DNA: Analysis of Justice Mudgal IPL probe committee report - Video

DNA: Narendra Modi emerges as the ultimate showman in politics
PM Narendra Modi #39;s recent popularity in USA and Australia have earned him the title of the the ultimate showman in politics.The huge turnout and craze that awaits Modi on his foreign visits...

By: Zee News

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DNA: Narendra Modi emerges as the ultimate showman in politics - Video

Mutsanna Baqi plays drums of Hysteria (Muse) D.N.A band
Follow us on twitter Drummer @mutsanna Guitarist: Ihsan Rahardi Bassist: Elan Vocalist: Ahim D.N.A band.

By: Mutsanna Abdul Baqi

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Mutsanna Baqi plays drums of Hysteria (Muse) D.N.A band - Video

Working Towards A DNA Bomb
I hope you guys enjoyed! Please leave a like and subscribe if you did! Tell me in the comments your highest killstreak.

By: ViNO HD

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Working Towards A DNA Bomb - Video

COD: AW - *SOLO* #39;DNA BOMB #39; on recovery without Scavenger! (Advanced Warfare Multiplayer Gameplay)
My First DNA BOMB!! Want a partnership? Apply here: http://www.freedom.tm/via/TheBazaBrown Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheBazaBrown Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBazaBrownYT Clan:.

By: TheBazaBrown | Daily Advanced Warfare

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COD: AW - *SOLO* 'DNA BOMB' on recovery without Scavenger! (Advanced Warfare Multiplayer Gameplay) - Video