Category Archives: DNA

DNA was first isolated in the mid 1800s, but its true significance was not discovered until much later. As the field of molecular biology developed, science slowly discovered the incredible importance of DNA DNA carries all our genetic information across the generations. It took decades to figure out what DNA looks like, but when even when Watson, Crick, and Franklin posited the double-helix, it was an indirect observation. We have never been able to actually see DNA until now.

The 1953 breakthrough describing the double-helix was confirmed using x-ray crystallography. This is a process in which a molecule is bombarded with x-rays which bounce off the atoms. By observing the patterns of the reflected x-rays, scientists can calculate the location of atoms in the molecule. The new research from Enzo di Fabrizio at the University of Genoa is different because to visualizes DNA directly with an electron microscope.

The team created a water repellent surface that caused liquid in samples to dry out very quickly and deposit suspended strands of DNA. The surface is made up of tiny micro pillars that catch the DNA, holding it up where images can be taken. The results are pretty amazing you can actually see the repeating spiral pattern of DNA.

This first round of images cannot capture individual double-helices. The electron microscope needs to output so much energy to take the pictures, that it blows single strands apart. What youre seeing here are so-called DNA cords, bundles of six single strands wrapped around a central one.

The hope is that a more sensitive detector capable of capturing images at lower electron energies will allow the researchers to see single strands of DNA. The work could eventually allow scientists to closely study the way proteins and chemical agents interact with your DNA.

via New Scientist

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Electron microscope reveals what DNA really looks like

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 04, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --OncoSec Medical Inc. (ONCS), a company developing its advanced-stage ImmunoPulse DNA-based immunotherapy and NeoPulse therapy to treat solid tumor cancers, announced it will be presenting at the DNA Vaccines 2012 Conference at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego, California. OncoSec is a Silver Sponsor of the conference.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110314/MM64943LOGO)

The Company will conduct two presentations within the Cancer Immune Therapy Track on Thursday, December 6:

From 11:30 AM-12:00 PM PT, Richard Heller, Ph.D., director of the Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics at Old Dominion University, will speak on "Gene Electrotransfer for the Enhanced Delivery of Immunomodulating Agents." In this presentation, Dr. Heller will present data on electroporation and delivery of plasmids for cancer immunotherapy, a technology used in OncoSec's ImmunoPulse therapy.

From 12:00 PM-12:30 PM PT, Adil Daud, M.D., clinical professor of medicine and dermatology and director of the melanoma program at the University of California, San Francisco, will speak on "Clinical Studies of Melanoma Therapy." In this presentation, Dr. Daud will be reviewing previously presented interim data from OncoSec's ongoing Phase II trial for metastatic melanoma for which he is principal investigator.

The DNA Vaccines Conference brings in an array of researchers from all corners of the world to present new cutting-edge discoveries in DNA vaccines that have never before been presented or published at any other meeting. For more information about the conference, please visit: http://www.bioconferences.com/conferences/dna/index.aspx

About OncoSec Medical Inc.

OncoSec Medical Inc. isa biopharmaceutical companydeveloping its advanced-stage ImmunoPulse DNA-based immunotherapy and NeoPulse therapy to treat solid tumor cancers.ImmunoPulse and NeoPulse therapiesaddress an unmet medical needandrepresenta potential solution, for less invasive and less expensive therapies that are able to minimize detrimental effects resulting from currently available cancer treatments such as surgery, systemic chemotherapy or immunotherapy and other treatment alternatives. OncoSec Medical's core technology is based upon its proprietaryuse of anelectroporation platform todramatically enhancethedelivery and uptake of a locally delivered DNA-based immunocytokine (ImmunoPulse) or chemotherapeutic agent(NeoPulse). Treatment ofvarious solid cancersusing these powerfuland targetedanti-cancer agentshas demonstratedselective destruction of cancerous cellswhile sparing healthy normal tissues during early and late stage clinical trials. OncoSec's clinical programs include three Phase II clinical trials for ImmunoPulse targeting lethal skin cancers. More information is available athttp://www.oncosec.com/.

This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements in this release that are not historical facts may be considered such "forward looking statements." Forward looking statements are based on management's current preliminary expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause our results to differ materially and adversely from the statements contained herein. Some of the potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those predicted include our ability to raise additional funding, our ability to acquire, develop or commercialize new products, uncertainties inherent in pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, unexpected new data, safety and technical issues, competition and market conditions. These and additional risks and uncertainties are more fully described in OncoSec Medical's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward looking statements which speak only as of the date they are made. OncoSec Medical disclaims any obligation to update any forward looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date they are made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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OncoSec Medical to Present Data at DNA Vaccines 2012 Conference

Fifty-nine years after James Watson and Francis Crick deduced the double-helix structure of DNA, a scientist has captured the first direct photograph of the twisted ladder that props up life.

Enzo Di Fabrizio, a physics professor at the Magna Graecia University in Catanzaro, Italy, snapped the picture using an electron microscope.

Previously, scientists had only seen DNA's structure indirectly. The double-corkscrew form was first discovered using a technique called X-ray crystallography, in which a material's shape is reconstructed based on how X-rays bounce after they collide with it.

But Di Fabrizio and his colleagues developed a plan to bring DNA out of hiding. They built a nanoscopic landscape of extremely water-repellant silicon pillars. When they added a solution that contained strands of DNA into this scene, the water quickly evaporated and left behind cords of bare DNA that stretched like tightropes between the tiny mesas.

They then shone beams of electrons through holes in the silicon bed, and captured high-resolution images of the illuminated molecules.

Di Fabrizio's images actually show a thread of several interwoven DNA molecules, as opposed to just two coupled strands. This is because the energy of the electrons used would be enough to destroy an isolated double helix, or a single strand from a double helix.

But with the use of more sensitive equipment and lower energy electrons, Di Fabrizio thinks that snapshots of individual double helices will soon be possible, reports New Scientist.

Molecules of DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, store the genetic instructions that govern all living organisms' growth and function.

Di Fabrizio's innovation will allow scientists to vividly observe interactions between DNA and some of life's other essential ingredients, such as RNA (ribonucleic acid). The results of Di Fabrizio's work were published in the journal NanoLetters.

Copyright 2012 Life's Little Mysteries, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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First Photo of DNA

That wonder molecule of life on Earth, DNA, is now being enlisted in the search for an exotic species zooming through the cosmos: dark matter.

As far back as the 1930s, astronomers watching distant galaxies saw that something was missing: There were not enough stars to account for the heavy gravity needed to whirl galaxies so quickly or smash them together so swiftly.

Graphic

Scientists cant see dark matter particles, but they think they may be able to capture evidence of them when they ping into other tiny things, like balls on a pool table. Previous ideas for capturing these interactions required huge spaces, but a group of scientists has come up with the idea for a detector that would fit on a large coffee table.

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DNA may help scientists find ‘dark matter,’ the glue that binds galaxies

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