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Epigenetics: A New Tool for Forensic Detectives

Developing analytical methods can help the triers of fact, judges and juries, better understand the events surrounding the circumstances of a crime. In forensic analysis, we are talking about determining the identity of unknown individuals through DNA and using DNA and other chemical signatures to determine and clarify the circumstances of the crime.

From Pittcon 20 Dec 2017

New enzyme may one day enable genome surgery that erases harmful mutations

DNA editing just got a sharp, new pencil. Researchers have built an enzyme that can perform a previously impossible DNA swap, directly changing the DNA base pair from an A•T to a G•C.

26 Oct 2017

CRISPR - a genetic editor - used to edit DNA and RNA in two parallel studies

Two different studies have shown that CRISPR - a gene editing tool, could be the next big thing in manipulating and modifying the DNA to suit the needs.

26 Oct 2017

Space radiation causes long-term health consequences for astronauts

While people protect their eyes from the sun's radiation during a solar eclipse, NASA's Human Research Program is working to protect the whole human body from radiation in space. Space radiation is dangerous and one of the primary health risks for astronauts.

21 Sep 2017

Scientists create method for mapping genome-wide DNA damage caused by chemical carcinogen

Scientists have known for decades that smoking cigarettes causes DNA damage, which leads to lung cancer. Now, for the first time, UNC School of Medicine scientists created a method for effectively mapping that DNA damage at high resolution across the genome.

13 Jun 2017

Study reveals role of good-guy protein in initiating and maintaining cancer

Under normal conditions, the CHD4 protein is one of the good guys: it stops cells from transcribing faulty DNA, thereby eliminating potential mutation. But in colon cancer and perhaps other kinds of cancer as well, it appears that this protein becomes a kind of double agent, working for the enemy.

9 May 2017

New research explores how genetic factors may be linked to low cervical cancer rates in Western Asia

New research provides an insight into why cervical cancer is less common in certain regions of the world even though they may have limited screening and fewer or no prevention programs.

10 Apr 2017

MIT researchers develop new technique for early liver cancer diagnosis

In many parts of the world, including Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, exposure to a fungal product called aflatoxin is believed to cause up to 80 percent of liver cancer cases. This fungus is often found in corn, peanuts, and other crops that are dietary staples in those regions.

28 Mar 2017

TSRI scientists develop new methods to design precision medicines against disease-causing RNAs

Scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have developed broad methods to design precision medicines against currently incurable diseases caused by RNA.

20 Dec 2016

New four-stranded version of DNA may hold key to development of targeted cancer therapies

Scientists have identified where a four-stranded version of DNA exists within the genome of human cells, and suggest that it may hold a key to developing new, targeted therapies for cancer.

13 Sep 2016

NIBIB researchers develop nanovaccine to enhance cancer immunotherapy

NIBIB researchers have created a nanovaccine that could make a current approach to cancer immunotherapy more effective while also reducing side effects.

25 Aug 2016

Mathematicians developing new statistical methods to predict bacterial epidemics

Mathematicians are now developing completely new statistical calculations on the world's fastest computers in order to be able to predict how epidemics of dangerous hospital bacteria spread.

16 Aug 2016

Overcoming gene silencing barriers to target neurological conditions: an interview with Dr Errol de Souza

Many gene mutations that cause neurological disorders have been identified. For example, in a rare neurological disorder such as Huntington’s disease, an autosomal dominant mutation through expansion of CAG (cytosine-adenine-guanine) triplet repeats in the gene coding for the Huntingtin protein results in abnormal protein production.

1 Aug 2016

Fructose common in western diet can damage brain genes

A range of diseases -- from diabetes to cardiovascular disease, and from Alzheimer's disease to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- are linked to changes to genes in the brain. A new study by UCLA life scientists has found that hundreds of those genes can be damaged by fructose, a sugar that's common in the Western diet, in a way that could lead to those diseases.

25 Apr 2016

Researchers elucidate mechanisms underlying impaired ciliogenesis in PKD

In an article published online ahead of print on Feb. 19, 2015 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center report findings from in vitro and in vivo studies that elucidate the mechanisms underlying the impaired ciliogenesis and abnormal kidney development characteristic of polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

21 Mar 2016

Elevated levels of particular proteins in cancer cells fuel growth and spread of different cancers

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center, with colleagues in Spain and Germany, have unraveled how elevated levels of particular proteins in cancer cells trigger hyperactivity in other proteins, fueling the growth and spread of a variety of cancers.

27 Feb 2016

Penn researchers develop new mathematical model to estimate mutation rates in the human genome

It turns out that the type, how frequent, and where new mutations occur in the human genome depends on which DNA building blocks are nearby, found researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in an advanced online study published this week in Nature Genetics.

22 Feb 2016

Researchers find new mutation signature in cancer cells

Mutations are the replacement of DNA bases known as Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G) and Thymine (T) with other bases. When mutations such as C to T or G to A are found within a specific DNA sequence, this is known as a mutation signature.

10 Feb 2016

NIST researchers simulate new method for fast, precise DNA sequencing

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have simulated a new concept for rapid, accurate gene sequencing by pulling a DNA molecule through a tiny, chemically activated hole in graphene--an ultrathin sheet of carbon atoms--and detecting changes in electrical current.

19 Jan 2016

Crucial change in single DNA base predisposes children to aggressive form of cancer

Pediatric oncology researchers have pinpointed a crucial change in a single DNA base that both predisposes children to an aggressive form of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma and makes the disease progress once tumors form.

12 Nov 2015