The objective review is to inspect the involvement of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to highlight the role of IL-6 and its variants in the pathogenesis of RA and response to anti-IL-6 agents. Several genetic and environmental risk factors and infectious agents contributed to the development of RA. Interleukin-6 is engaged in self-targeted immunity by modifying the equilibrium between T regulatory (T-reg) and T helper-17 (Th-17) cells. The evidences reported that IL-6 parti

Introduction and Aim: Beta-thalassemia is a serious inherited genetic disorder and an increasing health burden globally. Beta -thalassemia is caused by genetic globin abnormalities within the hemoglobin beta (HBB) gene. This study aimed to characterize the HBB gene mutations in beta -thalassemia among southern Iraqi patients. Materials and Methods: The study included 30 beta -thalassemia patients referred to the Thi-Qar Center for Genetic Diseases, Iraq and 15 control samples from a random group of apparently healthy individuals. Genomic DNA was isolated from blood sample collected from each individual. The DNA was amplified for specific regions of the HBB gene and the amplified products sequenced. The sequences generated were analysed for

Salinity of soil or irrigation water is one of the most important obstacle towards crop production and productivity, especially with the increasing scarcity of fresh water in Iraq and the Arab countries. The impact of salinity will be alleviated with the increasing temperature due to global warming. The objectives of this article was to shed some light on traits more related to salinity stress tolerance in oats, and to identify genetic variation of these traits. A split-plot arrangement experiment with RCBD was applied through 2011-2013 on the farm of Dept. of Field Crops/Coll. of Agric./Univ. of Baghdad. The oats cultivars; Hamel, Pimula and Genzania were set in sub-plots, whereas water quality was set in main-plots. Water quality had two