Creative Biomart Blog

Mon, 2015/08/10

Month-end Check: Biotech study topics in Nature-July (Part TWO)

First robust genetic links to depression emerge Jonathan Flint and his team have found the first two genetic makers reproducibly linked to major depressive disorder, one of which is the leading causes of disability worldwide. This study yield two genetic sequences that seemed to have relation with depression: one in a stretch of DNA that codes for an enzyme whose function is not understood thoroughly until now and the other is next to the gene SIRT1, this however, is important for energy-producing structures called mitochondria. Those findings could give scientists guide for new drugs develop

Thu, 2015/07/30

Month-end Check: Biotech study topics in Nature-July (Part One)

At the end of this month, I’d like to make a summary about the biotechnology studies published in Nature, aiming to provide a clear view of the monthly studies’ topics. And the studies were listed chronologically. Moncef Slaoui This is a review. Based on an event that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) surprised the industry with its decision to trade its oncology business for Novartis' vaccine business last year. This article mainly discussed 7 questions which include: “Why did you trade your oncology business for Novartis' vaccine business?”, “But whereas the oncology market is booming, the vaccine mark

Tue, 2015/07/28

Do you regard GMO-labels as negative warnings?

In the last two posts we have talked about bioengineering. I still want to lay my today’s topic on GMO. First a question, do you regard GMO-labels as negative warnings? A recent new study reveals that most of the people don’t regard GMO labeling as warning meanings and will not be scared away just by the labels. This study was released right after the U.S. House passed a bill that would prevent states from requiring labels on genetically modified foods. This study was presented at the annual conference of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association which was held in San Francisco on Jul

Thu, 2015/07/23

Novel Approach for Identifying Protein Interaction Was Found

Protein interaction refers to intentional physical contacts established between tow or more proteins as a result of biochemical events or electrostatic forces. There are a multitude of methods to detect protein interaction. And the most widely used methods are yeast two-hybrid screening and affinity purification. Each of the approaches has its own strengths and weakness with regard to the sensitivity and specificity of the method, reliably validating these techniques presents a formidable challenge. For instance, the likelihood of non-specific artifacts be observed will be increased while appl

Thu, 2015/07/16

How do you think about bioengineering?

Bioengineering has always been discussed in the community. But for the esoteric knowledge of biology is poorly understood, it is often difficult to understand genetically modified products. According to a survey, only about 37% of Americans believe genetically modified foods are safe, and the scientific community in the United States scientists that believe GM foods are safe accounted for 88%. Recently, a company has developed a kind of flower that can change color, aiming to help people to better understand bioengineering as well as bringing beauty to the public. Nikolai Braun, one of the fo

Thu, 2015/07/16

β2 microglobulin was found to be related to memory loss

The next time you forget where you have left your keys, you can blame an immune protein called β2 microglobulin (B2M) that builds up in your blood as you age. B2M impairs the formation of new brain cells and contributed to age-related loss--study found in mice. If we block this protein, we might be able to prevent the memory decline or cognitive disorders, according to the researchers. Not only this group of scientists has found the role of B2M, multiple groups of scientists have shown that after adding the blood of older mice to younger mice’s bodies, the younger ones became sluggish and weak

Thu, 2015/07/16

How far away is transgenic animal food from us?

According to the US "WIRED" magazine’s report, for a long time our human beings have almost transformed all of the plants and animals that provide us with food with traditional breeding methods. While the practice by using genetic engineering to make gene migration between different living organisms mutual implant makes people doubt about the future. This, however, is what happened in France two weeks ago: the offspring of lamb that were genetically modified in the aim of expression green fluorescent proteins was pushed into the market. This caused a panic among French people. Actually, in Eur

Thu, 2015/07/16

Vitamin C can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and early death, new study shows

Maybe we have long been acknowledged that Vitamin C (VC) is really important for our bodies. And have been encouraged to eat more food and vegetables that are full of VC. A recent study added a new traits to VC, enlarged the advantages of it. Scientists in this study have found that high VC in the blood from the intake of fruit and vegetables are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and early death. 100,000 Danes have been tested in the study. Scientists tested the people’s intake of fruit and vegetables as well as their DNA. As a result, it has been shown that those with t