A novel technique has been developed and demonstrated at Penn State to map the proteins that read and regulate chromosomes -- the string-like structures inside cells that carry genes. The specific order in which these proteins attach DNA-containing nucleosomes along the chromosome determines whether a brain cell, a liver cell, or a cancer cell is formed. Until now, it has been exceedingly difficult to determine exactly where such proteins bind to the chromosome, and therefore how they work. The new technique precisely pinpoints their location, and has the potential to take high-resolution snapshots of proteins as they regulate or miss-regulate an entire genome. The research will be published today as an Advance Online Publication in the journal Nature. Related research by the Penn State scientists recently was published in the journal Cell. (more)
Galaxy -- an open-source, Web-based platform for data-intensive biomedical and genetic research -- is now available as a cloud computing resource. A team of researchers has developed the new technology, which will help scientists and biomedical researchers to harness such tools as DNA-sequencing and analysis software, as well as storage capacity for large quantities of scientific data. (more)
In the war between drugs and drug-resistant diseases, is the current strategy for medicating patients giving many drug-resistant diseases a big competitive advantage? A research paper that will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences argues for new research efforts to discover effective ways for managing the evolution and slowing the spread of drug-resistant disease organisms. The research is led by Andrew Read, professor of biology and entomology and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Penn State University.
The ultimate goal is to develop a new science-based model for drug-resistance management that will inform treatment guidelines for a wide variety of diseases that affect people, including malaria and other diseases caused by parasites, MRSA and other diseases caused by bacterial infections, AIDS and other diseases caused by viruses, and cancer. (more)
Last week, Penn State, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, and Penn State College of Medicine received a prestigious $27 million, five-year, Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This competitive award will fuel the ongoing work of the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), a collaboration of many Penn State colleges and institutes, along with community and industry partners, devoted to using their research and outreach expertise to improve the health of Pennsylvanians.
Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, a professor of chemistry and the Eberly Professor of Biotechnology at Penn State University, has been awarded a prestigious National Institutes of Health "Method to Extend Research in Time" (MERIT) award, a 10-year research grant to support her work. Hammes-Schiffer is an acknowledged world leader in biophysics whose research spans the fields of chemistry, physics, biology, and computer science. (more)
Scientists at Penn State have used large-scale DNA sequencing data to investigate, for the first time, a longstanding evolutionary assumption: that DNA mutation rates are influenced by life-history traits, including metabolic rate and the length of time between generations. The research team found, for example, a higher rate of DNA mutations in the male sperm versus the female egg. One of the many implications of this research is that life-history traits of extinct species now could be discoverable. (more)
Michael Chorney and Judith Bond received National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to create a model system designed to promote K-12 science education supported through the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) Program. The initiative, termed the Mid-Atlantic Regional Science Education Partnership Award (MAR-SEPA) Alliance, seeks to bring together the leadership from 19 of the regional NIH SEPA projects. The goal is to promote collaboration, sustainability and the generation of novel approaches in promoting science education and student interest in health careers, especially among minority students. (more)
Adults with dementia and delirium may soon have a way to combat their delirium, thanks to a five-year, $2.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Delirium, defined as a state of mental confusion, occurs in more than half of all hospitalized older adults with dementia. If delirium continues, it can interfere with patient rehabilitation and there is a very high risk of permanent institutionalization. (more)
Using a new technique in which models of primitive cells are constructed from the bottom up, Penn State scientists have demonstrated that the structure of a cell's membrane and cytoplasm may be as important to cell division as the specialized machinery -- such as enzymes, DNA or RNA -- that are found within living cells. The study, which will be published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, may provide important clues to how life originated from nonlife and how modern cells came to exhibit complex behaviors. (more)
