Digesting evolution

Digesting GWAS

nce upon a time, medical genetics was a relaOtively straightforward business: one gene—one protein—one disease was sufficient to explain most inherited disease and was neatly in keeping with Gregor Mendel’s discovery of alleles with his famous peas. The concept remains a good starting point but the biology of life is somewhat more complex, and increasingly we have become impressed and perplexed...

Digesting dietary miRNA therapeutics

Hippocrates famously advised, " Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food. " Numerous plant-derived compounds are used as cancer therapeutics including antimitotics, topoisomerase inhibitors, and kinase inhibitors. Here we will review emerging evidence suggesting that diet derived small RNAs may be an inexpenisive, non-invasive and affordable way to deliver cancer treatments. RNA in...

Studies of Agar-digesting Bacteria.

Digesting New Elements in Peptide Transport.

In this issue of Structure, Beale et al. (2015) define structurally and functionally a large extracellular domain unique to mammalian peptide transporters and its implications for the transport of basic di- and tri-peptides (Beale et al., 2015).

Tissue-digesting Enzyme (histase) of Streptococci

1. An extracellular, proteolytic enzyme has been observed in more than 30 strains of beta type, aerobic and facultative hemolytic streptococci. 2. The enzyme is readily demonstrable in sterile filtrates of cooked meat cultures. 3. No gas or foul odor is produced. 4. It is partially inactivated by exposure to about 60 degrees C. for 45 minutes or longer. 5. The enzyme manifests itself in cooked ...