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DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

New enzyme targets hold promise for cancer therapies

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and collaborating institutions have uncovered new potential therapeutic targets for cancer and new insights into existing cancer drug targets, expanding the breadth of possibilities for treating this disease. Using a comprehensive approach that included integrating proteomics, genomics and epigenomics data from 10 cancer types, the team identified protein and small protein or peptide targets in cancer tissues and validated many of them experimentally as promising candidates for therapeutic strategies. The study appeared in Cell.

25 Jun 2024

New study in rhesus macaques offers early intervention window for Alzheimer's

Research in nonhuman primates is opening the possibility of testing treatments for the early stages of Alzheimer's and similar diseases, before extensive brain cell death and dementia set in.

24 Jun 2024

Primitive endoderm in early embryos may be key to creating new effective fertility treatments

An unexpectedly versatile and regenerative stem cell in early embryos may be key to creating new effective fertility treatments, suggests a new study in mice from the University of Copenhagen.

24 Jun 2024

Antisense RNA acts as a cellular 'booster' for gene expression, study finds

The function of non-coding RNA in the cell has long been a mystery to researchers. Unlike coding RNA, non-coding RNA does not produce proteins – yet it exists in large quantities.

24 Jun 2024

Scientists identify potential driver of aggressive lung cancer in patients living in violent neighborhoods

Scientists have identified a potential driver of aggressive lung cancer tumors in patients who live in areas with high levels of violent crime.

24 Jun 2024

Innovative SRPFM technique enables ultra-sensitive force measurement at nanoscale in fluids

Groundbreaking research has revealed a new way to measure incredibly minute forces at the nanoscale in water, pushing the boundaries of what scientists know about the microscopic world.

24 Jun 2024

Will it soon be possible for doctors to use AI to detect and diagnose cancer?

Researchers developed binary and multiclass machine learning models to distinguish cancer from non-cancerous tissue samples.

24 Jun 2024

Supermarket pre-washed vegetables test positive for Cryptosporidium

The presence of the food- and waterborne parasite Cryptosporidium parvum in samples of ready-to-eat, pre-washed vegetables.

24 Jun 2024

UT Health San Antonio researcher wins NIH grant to investigate alcohol-associated liver disease

Liver transplants associated with alcohol-related disease are growing at a rapid pace, shifting research to address pathologies behind the ailments in light of a limited supply of organ donors.

21 Jun 2024

Pacific Northwest Research Institute uncovers hidden DNA mechanisms of rare genetic diseases

Researchers at the Pacific Northwest Research Institute (PNRI) and collaborating institutions have made a groundbreaking discovery that could significantly advance our understanding of genomic disorders.

21 Jun 2024

How random gene activity shapes lifespan in C. elegans

Why do some people live for longer than others? The genes in our DNA sequence are important, helping avoid disease or maintain general health, but differences in our genome sequence alone explain less than 30% of the natural variance of human life expectancy.

21 Jun 2024

Restoring youthful TERT levels reverses aging phenotypes in preclinical models

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have demonstrated that therapeutically restoring 'youthful' levels of a specific subunit of the telomerase enzyme can significantly reduce the signs and symptoms of aging in preclinical models.

21 Jun 2024

ALS: Newly discovered subtypes and sex differences create new approaches for drugs

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS for short, is a mysterious neurodegenerative disease that is almost always fatal.

21 Jun 2024

New challenges in cancer care: cardiovascular disease and environmental factors

Preclinical and epidemiologic evidence linking air pollution to cardio-oncology.

21 Jun 2024

Noninvasive urine test enhances early detection of bladder cancer in patients with hematuria

One of the first signs of bladder cancer can be blood in the urine (hematuria). Investigators developed and analyzed the results of a streamlined and simplified DNA-based urine test to improve the accuracy of early detection of bladder cancer in patients with hematuria.

20 Jun 2024

Modified form of chemotherapy before and after surgery enhances survival in pancreatic cancer patients

Patients with pancreatic cancer who received chemotherapy both before and after surgery experienced longer survival rates than would be expected from surgery followed by chemotherapy, according to a new study from researchers at Yale Cancer Center (YCC) and Yale School of Medicine.

20 Jun 2024

Unveiling the role of SOS genes in E. coli survival during antibiotic treatment

When E. coli detects damage to its genetic material, it sends out an SOS signal that alters activity inside the cells.

20 Jun 2024

Doctors may soon be able to use AI for cancer detection

A new paper in Biology Methods & Protocols, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that it may soon be possible for doctors to use artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and diagnose cancer in patients, allowing for earlier treatment.

20 Jun 2024

Harnessing post-translational modifications for a tuberculosis booster vaccine

Tuberculosis is still one of the deadliest infectious diseases, causing over one million deaths each year worldwide.

19 Jun 2024

Researchers propose a 'protein aggregation clock' to measure aging and health

Could measuring protein clumps in our cells be a new way to find out our risk of getting age-related diseases? Professor Dorothee Dormann and Professor Edward Lemke of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), who are also adjunct directors at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz, propose the concept of a "protein aggregation clock" to measure ageing and health in a new perspective article published in Nature Cell Biology.

19 Jun 2024