Life Sciences and Chemistry

Scientists at the Babraham Institute have discovered that conflict between genes inherited from our parents may affect our ability to adapt to life after birth, and have lasting effects on our weight. We inherit similar sets of genes from both our parents, but of a small number of genes only one of the copies is active, the copy from the other parent being ‘imprinted’ to be silent.

The research group, headed by Dr Gavin Kelsey has published a study in Nature Genetics which describes

Scientists at the Babraham Institute are developing new methods to aid research into the causes of diabetes, a condition suffered by around 2.5 million people in the UK. A new study, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, describes an effective model of a rare form of the disease called transient neonatal diabetes mellitus (TNDM), which affects approximately 1 in 600,000 newborn babies. Babies born with TNDM initially cannot produce insulin, but symptoms disappear after about 3 mon

Babraham Institute scientists have identified chromosome ‘loops’ which have implications for healthy growth of babies in the womb. Disruption of these loops can lead to Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome (BWS) – over-large babies with various tumours – which affects 1 in 13,000 births. The risk of developing the syndrome is increased four-fold in babies born following IVF treatment.

Confirmation of the existence of the loops, described in an article published in Nature Genetics, was made

A Mayo Clinic researcher is the first to develop a series of three-dimensional (3D) models of an enzyme responsible for the replication of the deadly SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome) virus. These instantaneous “structures-in-time” are central to designing an anti-SARS drug — and are therefore a welcome advance as the virus continues to threaten public health.

The structure and dynamics of the SARS viral enzyme, called chymotrypsin-like cysteine proteinase, is described in

May lead to treatment for severed spinal cords

University of Toronto researchers have designed a method to facilitate nerve cell repair that could ultimately lead to treating severed spinal cords.

The technique, outlined in the July 6 online version of Biomaterials, involves imbedding a series of fibrous rods into a gel substance and then dissolving the rods, leaving a series of longitudinal channels. These channels are then injected with peptides, molecules that stimulate

A team of researchers have developed a method that could vastly improve the ability of atomic force microscopes to “see” the chemical composition of a sample, follow variations of the sample, as well as map its topographic structure.

The advance could have significant implications for drug development by allowing scientists to monitor the effects of potential drugs on an ever-smaller scale, according to Stuart Lindsay, director of the Center for Single Molecule Biophysics at the Bi