Daily Archives: September 11, 2013

Sep. 10, 2013 Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have made a basic science discovery that advances the understanding of how DNA repairs itself. When DNA becomes too damaged it ultimately leads to cancer.

Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Mark Glover and his colleagues published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal, Structure (Cell Press), earlier this summer. For years, scientists thought two key proteins involved in DNA repair operated in exactly the same way. Glover's team discovered how the proteins operate and communicate is vastly different -- information that could lead to improved cancer treatments.

Glover explains that a protein known as BRCA1 acts like a hallway monitor -- constantly scanning DNA for damage. At the first sign of problems, this protein figures out what kind of help is needed, and "radios" in a cleanup crew of other proteins.

A second protein, known as TopBP1, ensures that DNA can copy itself when needed. When this process stalls due to DNA damage, this protein also calls in a cleanup crew. But Glover likens its method of communication to tweets, rather than radio.

"The two proteins may be related and look very similar, but their roles and the way they communicate are in fact very different, which was surprising to us," Glover says. "Each protein plays a role in recognizing damaged regions of DNA, but the problem they each solve is different.

"The question now is how can we use this information to try to improve cancer therapies? Could we temporarily knock out cancer DNA's ability to repair itself from radiation damage? Could we administer radiation at a point that prevents cancer DNA from copying itself? Could we inhibit the activity of proteins that are normally trying to run around and fix the damage?

"Maybe some of these ideas could ultimately translate into less radiation or chemotherapy needed for patients, if the treatment can be more targeted," says Glover, who works in the Department of Biochemistry.

His team is continuing its research in this area, and wants to learn more about the role of the TopBP1 protein and why it favours communicating with a specific protein. They also want to conduct tests in their lab to see if the use of certain medications could alter the way these proteins work in a way that could result in new or improved cancer treatments.

Glover's lab members make 3-D images of proteins, making it easier to understand and see how proteins work.

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DNA repair could lead to improved cancer treatments

DNA can disclose complex information about a persons family relationships, ethnic group and medical conditions, and continuous advances in science make it impossible to determine the full capabilities of DNA information.

The idea for a national DNA database has been circulating for a decade. Michael McDowell, then minister for justice, proposed it in 2003. The Law Reform Commission called for it in 2005. Garda, the Director of Public Prosecutions and victim support groups, which see it as a vital tool in fighting crime, are long-time advocates. The proposal came closest to fruition three years ago, when the Fianna Fil-Green Party government published a Bill on the topic but with that coalition consumed by the economic collapse and itself rapidly disintegrating, the legislation fell by the wayside. New safeguardsThe Bill published yesterday by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is a substantial reworking of the 2010 Bill. It takes account of what Shatter acknowledged were genuine concerns about the previous version, introducing new safeguards on the destruction of samples, the deletion of DNA profiles from the database and the methods by which garda will take samples. DNA databases involve striking a delicate balance between their undoubted advantages to the criminal justice system and, on the other hand, the privacy rights of the individual. DNA can disclose complex information about a persons family relationships, ethnic group and medical conditions, and continuous advances in science make it impossible to determine the full capabilities of DNA information.

The human rights benchmark on DNA databases are clearly set down in the case of S and Marper v United Kingdom, decided in 2009 by the European Court of Human Rights. In that case, in which the court found that the UKs database was in breach of article 8 (right to private life) of the convention, the crux was whether the retention of DNA of people who were suspected but had not been convicted of a crime was justified. The court held that the indefinite retention of the applicants DNA did not strike a fair balance between the competing public and private interest. It found that indefinite retention of DNA was not justifiable under article 8 and struck down the blanket and indiscriminate nature of the power of retention in England and Wales as a disproportionate interference with the applicants right to private life.

In the new Bill, the default position shifts towards the destruction of samples and profiles of people who are not convicted. Although the authorities will be empowered to take DNA samples from most categories of suspects in connection with serious offences, the bias will be towards the prompt destruction of samples where an individual is not convicted. The Garda Commissioner will have the power to authorise retention for 12 months (which will be renewable) but he will have to meet a statutory test to do so and his decision will be appealable. The same goes for profiles generated from the DNA samples of suspects who are not convicted, although for profiles the retention period that can be granted by the commissioner will be six years for adults and three years for children. Substantial concernsThese changes take account of some of the substantial concerns raised by the Irish Human Rights Commission in 2010. In its response, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties acknowledged Shatter had gone to some lengths to take on board the criticism of the previous legislation.

Some questions have not gone away, however. Chief among these is how extensively DNA profiles will be shared with other countries, and how much control the State will retain over this highly sensitive information if it is accessible outside the State. The new Bill formally implements the DNA aspects of the Prm EU convention, named after the German town in which it was signed in 2005, which provides for co-operation between states in relation to automated searching of DNA data and the exchange of such data between police forces.

The director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Mark Kelly, in his initial response yesterday, said the organisation had reservations about the extent to which DNA samples or profiles may be transmitted to other states.

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Reworked DNA Bill seeks balance between privacy and better crime detection

11 September 2013 Last updated at 07:21 ET

The Irish justice minister has published legislation to introduce a national DNA database in the Republic of Ireland.

Work to prepare the legislation has been under way for two years and Justice Minister Alan Shatter said he expects the database to be operational in 2014.

He said the key aim of the bill was to assist police in tackling crime.

Mr Shatter said it would help link crimes and identify suspects.

"The intelligence generated will be invaluable to the Garda in relation to identifying prolific offenders involved in volume crime such as burglary, but also in relation to serious offences against the person, such as homicide and sexual offences," he said.

"It will contribute to the move towards more effective, targeted and smarter policing and will also facilitate co-operation with other police forces in relation to mobile criminals."

The minister insisted the database would also be of benefit in establishing the innocence of persons suspected or wrongly convicted of offences.

Mr Shatter said "substantial changes" had been made to the bill put forward by the previous government in 2010.

"The bill published today is substantially amended in many respects to address issues that gave rise to genuine concerns, including in relation to the sensitive area of the retention of samples and DNA profiles of persons who are not subsequently convicted in order to ensure that any interference with their privacy rights is justified by the public interest in the investigation of crime and is proportionate," he said.

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Irish DNA database to be introduced

Fiserv Inc (FISV) recently signed a contract with Texas-based Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union (:RBFCU) to implement the DNA account processing system. The RBFCU, which manages assets worth $5.5 billion, selected Fiservs DNA platform to upgrade its enterprise infrastructure to better serve more than 430K members.

Fiservs DNA account processing solution has gained significant momentum in recent times. The solution won 5 new contracts in the second quarter, making it a total of 10 in the first half of 2013. The DNA banking platform was the primary reason behind Fiservs acquisition of Open Solutions early this year.

DNA was Open Solutions flagship product and had more than 800 customers at the time of acquisition. The acquisition of the DNA platform is expected to expand Fiservs customer base, going forward. Most of the DNA contracts are long term in nature, which is significant. These will be a recurring revenue source for Fiserv, going forward.

Fiserv expects the synergies from the Open Solutions acquisition to exceed the original revenue and expense target of $75.0 million and $50.0 million, respectively. The acquisition is expected to be significantly accretive to earnings per share, going forward.

Accretive acquisitions have been a key growth factor for Fiserv over the years. They have helped Fiserv expand its foothold in the financial and payment solutions business through its diversified product portfolio and continued technology upgrades. The companys advanced products are likely to further enhance its revenue streams.

This is evident from the fact that the company signed 98 new clients, which helped it to expand its total number of clients for the Mobiliti solution to 1,600 at the end of the second quarter.

Client demand for the Popmoney solution continues to remain strong as Fiserv signed 64 new institutions in the quarter. During the quarter, Fiserv signed 71 electronic bill payment clients and 38 debit processing clients.

We believe that various contract wins and accretive acquisitions will help Fiserv to fight stiff competition from Fidelity (FIS), Mastercard (MA) and Global Payments (GPN) in the near term.

However, a volatile macroeconomic environment, banking and financial service consolidation, poor cash flow, higher amount of debt and increasing industry regulations are the primary near-term concerns.

Currently, Fiserv has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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Fiserv Wins DNA Contract from RBFCU

Scientists have found a potential solution for one of the main difficulties in tissue engineering -- creating structures that go beyond two dimensions. "This technology may prove to be critical for the next advance in tissue engineering," said Robert Van Buskirk, professor in biological sciences at SUNY-Binghamton. The method has not yet been tested in the sometimes unpredictable human body.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University have found a way to trigger the self-assembly of tiny water-filled gel-like cubes into larger structures, a discovery that could lead to practical applications in tissue engineering.

DNA makes glue programmable because one strand of DNA will stick tightly to a matching partner strand, but only if the two strands have chemical "letters," or nucleotides, that are complementary (A to T, C to G). Gel bricks coated with matching strands of DNA adhere specifically to each other.

The scientists developed the self-assembling system by programming DNA to act as a glue that guides the hydrogels into the larger structures. Their results are published in the Sept. 9 issue of Nature Communications.

Researchers have attempted to program hydrogels in the past, but ran into trouble trying to bind them to other biological components, prompting the team at Wyss to devise a new strategy.

Enter DNA. It is made up of four bases -- adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine, or A, G, C and T. In order to form the coiled, double-helix structure of DNA, those bases have to be linked in a specific order: A with T and C with G. If one side of a strand of DNA should begin with AC, for example, then the corresponding rung would have to begin with TG.

Because snippets of DNA can be synthesized with any sequence of those letters, it is more programmable than other biomaterials, the Wyss researchers found. DNA can be, in effect, a glue. To test their theory, the researchers covered hydrogel cubes with a coat of a specific DNA base molecule.

When those small cubes were placed in a solution with larger cubes, the smaller ones attached only to cubes that were made up of their corresponding DNA base. Therefore, the scientists were able to program the hydrogels to mold into specific shapes, including a square and a T-shaped structure.

Eventually, the same method could potentially be used to create or repair more complex structures, including human tissue.

"This paper is a fundamental study of this capability, and it's not quite ready for application yet, but we think this is a very promising direction for developing applications that could assemble these gel-like bricks into functional tissues," Peng Yin, assistant professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School and senior co-author of the study, told TechNewsWorld. "My colleagues and I hope to move forward together in this direction."

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DNA 'Glue' May Someday Repair Damaged Organs