February 4, 2013
A study published recently in Science by Susanne Horn and colleagues is a noteworthy example of hypothesis-driven science done right. It exemplifies how seemingly obscure findings can lead to new hypotheses and provide insight into human health and disease. Horn and her colleagues studied a family prone to [...]
August 6, 2012
Changes in DNA Underlie Cancer Cancer develops when normal cells in the body grow and reproduce uncontrollably because of “mistakes” in the DNA code. DNA (a copy of which is contained in each cell) contains finely tuned instructions for cell growth and production, but as cells copy and pass on this DNA [...]
August 25, 2009
A new genetic screening process has helped researchers understand the genetic causes of cancer, such as how mutations accumulated in a person's life can cause leukemia. The study shows that by comparing a person's own DNA to that of their cancerous cells, researchers can find DNA mutations that may have [...]
March 19, 2009
PET scans showing dopamine activity in a normal brain and a Parkinson's patient's before and after treatment with a therapeutic implant. More than a million Americans have Parkinson's disease, and another 50,000 are diagnosed each year. Scientists know that many of the characteristic symptoms of [...]
February 6, 2008
If you think mutations are just sinister events that create human flies and gigantic man-eating ants, you're living in a '50s B-movie. Though they sometimes cause big problems for the organisms who acquire or inherit them, mutations are actually the engine of evolution. Without them, life as we know it could [...]
