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NEW DNA FOUND! Possibly The End Of Cancer?
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NEW DNA FOUND! Possibly The End Of Cancer?Posted:
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Sixty years after scientists described the chemical code of life an interweaving double helix called DNA researchers have found four-stranded DNA is also lurking in human cells.
The odd structures are called G-quadruplexes because they form in regions of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that are full of guanine, one of the DNA molecule's four building blocks, with the others being adenine, cytosine, thymine. The structure comprises four guanines held together by a type of hydrogen bonding to form a sort of squarelike shape. (The DNA molecule is itself a double strand held together by these building blocks and wrapped together like a helix.)
The new visualization of the G-quadruplex is detailed this week in the journal Nature Chemistry.
"I think this paper is important in showing directly the existence of this structure in vivo in the human genome, but it is not completely unexpected," said Hans-Joachim Lipps, of the University of Witten in Germany, who was not involved in the study. [See Images of the 4-Stranded DNA]
Scientists had shown in the past that such quadruplex DNA could form in test tubes and had even been found in the cells of ciliated protozoa, or single-celled organisms with hairlike appendages. Also there were hints of its existence in human cells, though no direct proof, Lipps said.
But scientists still didn't have concrete evidence for its existence in the human genome. In the new study, researchers, including chemist Shankar Balasubramanian, of the University of Cambridge and Cambridge Research Institute, crafted antibody proteins specifically for this type of DNA. The proteins were marked with a fluorescent chemical, so when they hooked up to areas in the human genome packed with G-quadruplexes, they lit up.
Next, they incubated the antibodies with human cells in the lab, finding these structures tended to occur in genes of cells that were rapidly dividing, a telltale feature of cancer cells. They also found a spike in quadruplexes during the s-phase of the cell cycle, or the phase when DNA replicates just before the cell divides.
As such, the researchers think the four-stranded DNA could be a target for personalized medicine in the future. If they could block these odd ducks perhaps they could stop the rapid cell division of cancer cells.
"We are seeing links between trapping the quadruplexes with molecules and the ability to stop cells dividing, which is hugely exciting," Balasubramanian said in a statement.
The finding "is certainly a technical (not scientific) breakthrough in designing antibodies sensitive enough to demonstrate this structure in vivo in the human genome," Lipps wrote.
Lipps and his colleagues had suggested previously these structures regulate basic biological mechanisms, such as the replication of DNA.
"What makes me personally very happy about this work is that it again demonstrates that mechanisms first described in ciliated protozoa hold also true for other organisms up to human, demonstrating the strength of this model organism," wrote Lipps wrote.
The team still has several questions about quadruplexes, such as how the structures operate. "One thought is that these quadruplex structures might be a bit of a nuisance during DNA replication like knots or tangles that form," Balasubramanian said.
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Sixty years after scientists described the chemical code of life an interweaving double helix called DNA researchers have found four-stranded DNA is also lurking in human cells.
The odd structures are called G-quadruplexes because they form in regions of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that are full of guanine, one of the DNA molecule's four building blocks, with the others being adenine, cytosine, thymine. The structure comprises four guanines held together by a type of hydrogen bonding to form a sort of squarelike shape. (The DNA molecule is itself a double strand held together by these building blocks and wrapped together like a helix.)
The new visualization of the G-quadruplex is detailed this week in the journal Nature Chemistry.
"I think this paper is important in showing directly the existence of this structure in vivo in the human genome, but it is not completely unexpected," said Hans-Joachim Lipps, of the University of Witten in Germany, who was not involved in the study. [See Images of the 4-Stranded DNA]
Scientists had shown in the past that such quadruplex DNA could form in test tubes and had even been found in the cells of ciliated protozoa, or single-celled organisms with hairlike appendages. Also there were hints of its existence in human cells, though no direct proof, Lipps said.
But scientists still didn't have concrete evidence for its existence in the human genome. In the new study, researchers, including chemist Shankar Balasubramanian, of the University of Cambridge and Cambridge Research Institute, crafted antibody proteins specifically for this type of DNA. The proteins were marked with a fluorescent chemical, so when they hooked up to areas in the human genome packed with G-quadruplexes, they lit up.
Next, they incubated the antibodies with human cells in the lab, finding these structures tended to occur in genes of cells that were rapidly dividing, a telltale feature of cancer cells. They also found a spike in quadruplexes during the s-phase of the cell cycle, or the phase when DNA replicates just before the cell divides.
As such, the researchers think the four-stranded DNA could be a target for personalized medicine in the future. If they could block these odd ducks perhaps they could stop the rapid cell division of cancer cells.
"We are seeing links between trapping the quadruplexes with molecules and the ability to stop cells dividing, which is hugely exciting," Balasubramanian said in a statement.
The finding "is certainly a technical (not scientific) breakthrough in designing antibodies sensitive enough to demonstrate this structure in vivo in the human genome," Lipps wrote.
Lipps and his colleagues had suggested previously these structures regulate basic biological mechanisms, such as the replication of DNA.
"What makes me personally very happy about this work is that it again demonstrates that mechanisms first described in ciliated protozoa hold also true for other organisms up to human, demonstrating the strength of this model organism," wrote Lipps wrote.
The team still has several questions about quadruplexes, such as how the structures operate. "One thought is that these quadruplex structures might be a bit of a nuisance during DNA replication like knots or tangles that form," Balasubramanian said.
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#2. Posted:
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Pics Or it didn't happen.
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#3. Posted:
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Errorjack wroteMostDoope wrote Pics Or it didn't happen.
Rofl, you're a **** idiot.
They will never cure or stop cancer. If we can't even stop the common cold, we can't stop the most scariest thing we could get, cancer.
And are you aware of some of the deadliest viruses that have actually been cured??
Thought not
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#4. Posted:
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Errorjack wroteMostDoope wrote Pics Or it didn't happen.
Rofl, you're a **** idiot.
They will never cure or stop cancer. If we can't even stop the common cold, we can't stop the most scariest thing we could get, cancer.
You do realize that the common cold and flu change EVERY SINGLE YEAR so there is zero way of stopping it 100%, right? I was taught that in like 5th grade... Cancer doesnt change over its lifetime. Bet you 10 bucks by the time we are 30 (14 years) they will have found a cure/preventative.
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#5. Posted:
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Arf- wroteErrorjack wroteMostDoope wrote Pics Or it didn't happen.
Rofl, you're a **** idiot.
They will never cure or stop cancer. If we can't even stop the common cold, we can't stop the most scariest thing we could get, cancer.
And are you aware of some of the deadliest viruses that have actually been cured??
Thought not
Although I agree completely, Cancer is neither a virus or a bacterial infection, so it applies to neither his post or yours in the context of finding a cure.
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#6. Posted:
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tpayne174 wrote You do realize that the common cold and flu change EVERY SINGLE YEAR so there is zero way of stopping it 100%, right? I was taught that in like 5th grade... Cancer doesnt change over its lifetime. Bet you 10 bucks by the time we are 30 (14 years) they will have found a cure/preventative.
It changes every year because it mutates. Cancer is a mutation of cells in your body, how do you know it doesn't change? Doctors look for a look in the cells, what's to say it doesn't change how it acts in your body?
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#7. Posted:
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Errorjack wrotetpayne174 wrote You do realize that the common cold and flu change EVERY SINGLE YEAR so there is zero way of stopping it 100%, right? I was taught that in like 5th grade... Cancer doesnt change over its lifetime. Bet you 10 bucks by the time we are 30 (14 years) they will have found a cure/preventative.
It changes every year because it mutates. Cancer is a mutation of cells in your body, how do you know it doesn't change? Doctors look for a look in the cells, what's to say it doesn't change how it acts in your body?
Im not saying it doesnt... You said we cant stop the cold. So i said that it mutates and changes so that way we can. I said nothing about Cancer not mutating...
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Guys cancer is a mutation in DNA that causes cells to divide uncontrollably. That's how you get tumors, it's a mass of cancer cells. There could potentially be a cure if scientists ever found a way to kill the cells that are dividing rapidly then they could cure cancer. This is what chemotherapy is, but it isn't perfect as it doesn't always work and it also causes side-effects like destroying other rapidly-dividing cells (ie hair)
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#9. Posted:
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The cure to cancer is very difficult to find yet it can be something as simple as a vaccination at birth...
I'm happy to see all of you throwing these ideas and facts around and would love to hear some more from you all! I can use your support in my personal goal to help stop cancer and find the cure!
I'm happy to see all of you throwing these ideas and facts around and would love to hear some more from you all! I can use your support in my personal goal to help stop cancer and find the cure!
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#10. Posted:
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Errorjack wroteMostDoope wrote Pics Or it didn't happen.
Rofl, you're a **** idiot.
They will never cure or stop cancer. If we can't even stop the common cold, we can't stop the most scariest thing we could get, cancer.
Ohh the irony...
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