U.S researchers have identified an enzyme that is being considered a key factor in neurons death in Alzheimer’s and some other neurodegenerative diseases’ patients.

The finding may help to develop some new drugs in treating these incapacitating diseases.z

In their study, the researchers thoroughly examined an enzyme that is known as HDACI and arranges chromatin, which is chromosomes’ structural component. Testing mice, the researchers found when HDAC1 was blocked in them; some of their neurons began to imitate their DNA very similar to when they were at the time of dividing. It wasn’t a usual cycle for neurons cell that caused their death. However, higher levels of HDACI avoided that process and guarded neurons.

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According to a new study, women have a greater variety of bugs on their hands than on men.

Professor Rob knight, who co-authored the study, says: “The thing that is quite astonishing is the variability between individuals and hands on the same individuals.

The lead author of the study, Noah Fierer says: “The number of bacteria species found on the study participants hands was a big surprise and similarly the greater diversity of bacteria was found on women hands.”

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A new study suggests that older fathers may have children with bipolar disorder. This risk begin to increase when men are older than 29 and they get married. And it reaches at its peak when men are over 55.

Some other diseases like schizophrenia and autism are also linked with increasing parental age, but it’s a first study that suggests bipolar disorder or manic depression also has link with increasing parental age.

This Swedish study has been published in Archives of Psychiatry and it tells that ageing sperm may be a factor behind that increasing risk.

The Karolinska Institute researchers say in this connection, it involves copying DNA in the process of making sperm in men and this process is considered prone to error as men get older.

Emma Frans, who led the study, said: “Women come in this world with their full supply of eggs and that’s why DNA copy errors do not increase as women get older.”

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TOKYO – Matusushita Electrical Industrial Co. claims to have developed technology that can determine a person’s response to medication as well as their risk of developing diseases.

Matsushita, better known through its well-established brand, Panasonic, collaborated with researchers at Konan University for this project. The company claims the technology is the first of its kind in the world. The technology uses artificial DNA that is dissolved in a solution rather than being attached to an electrode.

The technology electronically identifies sequence variations in a specific DNA strand, called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNP’s. An SNP refers to one base pair and its position in the DNA sequence that is different from the other base pair. It is these differences in base pairs which are said to generate individual differences in each person’s reaction to drugs, development diseases and other health related factors.

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