News

Indian researchers are tracking a genetic material with the potential to stop the dreaded virus, writes G.S. Mudur

Vinod Scaria is a doctor and Manoj Hariharan studied biology in university. The two researchers, however, have spent the past several months discovering high-speed computers and software in a laboratory in New Delhi. And they have pitted their newly-acquired skills to unravel the mysterious “peace pacts” between some people and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes the dreaded and incurable AIDS.

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[More details about Magic Johnson's case, here]

MicroRNAs hit the big time

Sophie Petit-Zeman

Excitement growing about small RNA's role in several diseases

Antivirals are also being looked at with a keen eye. Viral miRNAs have been found in virally infected cells, notably those containing Epstein–Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. Human miRNAs have also been identified that can target crucial HIV-1 genes. (Hariharan , M.et al. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 337, 1214–1218; 2005). How such miRNAs act within, or interact with, virus and host, is still unclear.

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New year, New Science

Richard Van Noorden

Nature looks ahead to the key findings and events that may emerge in 2012.

Biologists know that much of what was once termed ‘junk’ DNA actually has a role. But which sequences are functional — and what do they do? The best answer so far will come with a major update from the US National Institutes of Health’s ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) project, which aims to identify all the functional elements in the human genome.

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Examining His Own Body, Stanford Geneticist Stops Diabetes in Its Tracks

Jon Cohen

Michael Snyder has taken "know thyself" to the next level—and helped heal thyself.

Over a 14-month period, the molecular geneticist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, analyzed his blood 20 different times to pluck out a wide variety of biochemical data depicting the status of his body's immune system, metabolism, and gene activity. In today's issue of Cell, Snyder and a team of 40 other researchers present the results of this extraordinarily detailed look at his body, which they call an integrative personal omics profile (iPOP) because it combines cutting-edge scientific fields such as genomics (study of one's DNA), metabolomics (study of metabolism), and proteomics (study of proteins). Instead of seeing a snapshot of the body taken during the typical visit to a doctor's office, iPOP effectively offers an IMAX movie, which in Snyder's case had the added drama of charting his response to two viral infections and the emergence of type 2 diabetes.

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The Snyderome project got a lot of attention. Click on the logos on the right to read them.