Climate hazards, including extreme heat, are associated with increased risks of developing complications that lead to adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. These may include multiple causes of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality such as gestational diabetes, hyper tensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm birth, low birth weight and stillbirth. In …
True, prevention is better than cure, but what about inherited diseases? To tackle the problem of a particular disease going on in families, the National Institute of Health and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, will set up a centre for inherited disease research. The project which will analyse the …
Crippled Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) could be useful in gene therapy, says Inder Verma, a gene therapy specialist at the Salk Institute in California, USA. Retroviruses, the family to which HIV belongs, are good vehicles for delivering therapeutic genes into cells of patients with genetic disorders. But while retroviruses cannot …
A NEW find by a team of researchers from the Duke University Medical Center, us, may hold a lot of promise in finding a suitable antidote to Huntington's disease. This genetic neurodegenerative condition that strikes in the middle age causes involuntary muscular movements and, at an advanced stage, dementia. Three …
THE ideal way of curing an inherited disorder would be to adopt gene therapy (correct the genetic defect). Failing that, it would be worth exploring whether the severity of the disorder might be ameliorated by substituting a functional gene product - protein - in place of the dysfunctional product (or …
THE entire DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) content in a cell can be compared to a book containing instructions for making the plant or animal of which that cell is a part. The four bases that make up the DNA code - A, T, G and c - are like the letters …
Evolution depends on mutations - changes in the sequence or organisation of DNA (the hereditar material). Mutation is the ultimate source of genetic variability. One of the cardinal tenets of the theory of evolution by natural selection - Darwinism - states that mutations occur at random., Here, 'random' stands for …
The loss of a single gene turns a normal mouse into a sexual offender and murderer! Solomon Snyder and his team at the John Hopkins University and Massachusetts General Hospital in the US witnessed this in mice whose gene, responsible for the production of nitric oxide (NO), had been blocked …
FIVE years after the first human being received gene therapy to correct an inherited disease, the results are in. The Washington Post (October 21, 1995) reports that two seriously ill children who were given immune-system genes that they lacked from birth, are "healthy and thriving" now. Gene therapy is a …
In the animal kingdom, males ofte try to mate with more females an produce more offspring. In man insects, however, the testes weaken by the time the male reaches sexuamaturity resulting in a low sperm count. But, in ant species such a Cardiocondyla nuda, there are two kinds of males …
Researchers at the National Cancer Centre Research Institute, Tokyo, and the Chiba University School of Medicine in Japan, have made a significant discovery which may help correct genetic disorders in the womb. Scientists implanted an easily detectable gene into mouse embryos by injecting it into the tail veins of pregnant …
AFTER 4 years of hot pursuit, a us biotech company has won the race to isolate the much sought-after breast cancer gene called BRCA I. Close on the heels of this discovery, an international group has reported mapping of another breast cancer gene called BRCA2. Together, the pair probably accounts …
ONCE scientists learnt that the complexity of life is determined by a single molecule-the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule-they have been striving to unravel its structure and molecule carries the code of life in the from of millions of genes. A lot of scientific effort worldwide is focused on genes. Genetic …
IN SHAKESPEARE'S The Tempest, Prospero describes Caliban as "a devil, a born devil, on whose nature nurture can never stick". In modern terms, what Prospero means is that Caliban is a knave and that he can't help being one -- his genes determine his character. This thesis, strengthened by Nazi …
LONG perplexed by the causes of more than a thousand brain disorders, neuroscientists are now increasingly finding that genes are often the culprits. Delving deep into the brain's molecular structure, scientists have identified the genetic defects that are responsible for 40 disorders of the nervous system and have a good …
SINCE ancient times, we have been aware of several basic ideas of heredity. Plants and animals with superior characteristics were isolated and multiplied. Human mating practices were restricted to exclude incest, as well as matings outside specific defined groups. In the 1970s, genetics received a real fillip with the advent …
PEOPLE who suffer wild swings of moods -- from ecstatic highs to melancholic lows -- have their mother to blame. At least this is what researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital, USA, suggest: Every woman on a sprawling family tree they have drawn up passes this disorder, called the manic-depressive psychosis, …
VIOLENT aggression in humans may be because of a genetic defect, a recent Dutch study suggests. Han G Brunner and his colleagues at the University Hospital in Nijmegen report that a change in the gene coding for an enzyme called monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) may be responsible for unprovoked, aggressive …
PEOPLE with strong body odour may probably be carrying a faulty gene, according to researchers from London's St Mary's Hospital Medical School. The researchers say they are close to nailing the gene defect because of which the carriers cannot process a chemical called trimethylamine, a product of digestion that smells …
SCIENTISTS have discovered a gene that could make a person more prone to developing Alzheimer's disease -- a brain disorder that induces premature senility -- after the age of 65. The suspected gene codes for a protein that transports cholesterol through the bloodstream and researchers have found abnormally high levels …
Paralysing geneUS SCIENTISTS have homed in on a gene defect linked to a debilitating nerve disorder known as Lou Gehrig's disease (Cambridge University Alumni Magazine). The disease, a celebrated victim of which is physicist Stephen Hawking, the author of A Brief History of Time, gradually paralyses its victims by killing …
