Gene Expression News and Research

RSS

Gene Expression is the process by which a gene gets turned on in a cell to make RNA and proteins. Gene expression may be measured by looking at the RNA, or the protein made from the RNA, or what the protein does in a cell.

Study shows how mouse X and Y chromosomes compete with each other to control sex of offspring

The molecular function of genes in mice has a major influence on the sex of their offspring, according to a new discovery that reveals more about the impact of genes on animal fertility.

21 Oct 2019

Creatine powers fight against cancer, improves efficacy of immunotherapies

The immune system functions as the body’s defense against pathogens and harmful substances, including cancer cells. They protect the body against potential harm. In cases of cancer, though the body tries to fight the tumor cells, they may become too aggressive for the immune system to eradicate.

21 Oct 2019

Researchers use mouse model to better understand mechanism involved in atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart arrhythmia in humans. This condition increases the risk of heart failure, stroke, dementia and death, and current treatments have suboptimal efficacy and carry side effects.

21 Oct 2019

Patterns unique to the striatum observed in people with Huntington's disease

The part of the brain that selectively degenerates in people with Huntington's disease (HD), called the striatum, is almost entirely destroyed in the late stages of the disease. Brain samples from mutant HD gene positive individuals who had not yet developed symptoms by time of death are extremely rare. As a consequence, very little is known about the active disease process that causes the devastating symptoms of HD.

21 Oct 2019

Rare sex-specific brain cells found in male and female mice

Caltech researchers have discovered rare brain cell types that are unique to male mice and other types that are unique to female mice. These sex-specific cells were found in a region of the brain that governs both aggression and mating behaviors.

17 Oct 2019

Newly introduced BARseq technology can be used to expand the brain map

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Professor Anthony Zador has taken the next step in his quest to solve exactly how the brain is wired.

17 Oct 2019

Scientists successfully create age-resistant mice with hyper-long telomeres

Researchers have shown that it is possible to extend the life of mice by generating hyper-long telomeres, without using any gene modifying technologies.

17 Oct 2019

Genes remember having low social status in the past

A new study in monkeys, published on October 14, 2019, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that organisms at the bottom of the social hierarchy live shorter lives. Moreover, they experience more sickness, and may continue to experience health problems despite moving up later. Adverse experiences of social life continue to reflect in their genes much longer than the actual experience, in the form of changes in gene expression via altered gene regulation.

16 Oct 2019

Improved antibody validation

Antibodies are used in a variety of clinical and research situations to examine the structure and function, and distribution of proteins. However, many researchers have found a lack of specificity in the functioning of these antibodies. This means that any work conducted using these antibodies will not yield reliable results.

16 Oct 2019

New blood self-collection device quickly estimates a person's exposure to radiation

A University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix research team has developed a blood self-collection device to quickly estimate a person's exposure to radiation in the event of a nuclear accident or attack.

16 Oct 2019

Brain's neural activity plays a role in human aging, life span

The brain's neural activity - long implicated in disorders ranging from dementia to epilepsy - also plays a role in human aging and life span, according to research led by scientists in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School.

16 Oct 2019

Subtle changes in mitochondrial DNA can have profound consequences for patient's health

Subtle changes in the DNA of mitochondria, the tiny power plants within cells, can have profound consequences for a patient's health.

16 Oct 2019

Non-invasive tape strips can be used in children to assess atopic dermatitis on the molecular level

In a study using non-invasive tape strips in young children with eczema (or atopic dermatitis), researchers found many molecular signs of immune dysfunction and skin changes that relate to disease activity.

16 Oct 2019

Engineered communities of cells make long-distance calls

The search for effective biological tools is a marathon, not a sprint, even when the distances are on the microscale. A discovery at Rice University on how engineered communities of cells communicate is a long step in the right direction.

15 Oct 2019

Researchers reveal mechanism involved in altering DNA methylation in cancer

Understanding the mechanisms that mediate widespread DNA damage in the cancer genome is of great interest to cancer physicians and scientists because it may lead to improved treatments and diagnosis. In this study, a multi-institutional team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine has brought attention to genomic structural variation as a previously unappreciated mechanism involved in altering DNA methylation, a form of gene control, in human cancers.

15 Oct 2019

Combination of two drugs disrupts cancer cells' ability to survive DNA damage, study finds

In continuing efforts to find novel ways to kill cancer cells, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified a new pathway that leads to the destruction of cancer cells.

14 Oct 2019

SOX9 broadly modifies the severity of Alagille syndrome liver disease in mice

Alagille syndrome is a rare pediatric genetic disorder that can affect the liver, heart, kidneys, blood vessels, skeleton and other tissues.

11 Oct 2019

Genetic oscillator captures changes in gut microbiome growth patterns

For all the attention the human microbiome has been getting over the last few years, one aspect of such research rarely makes headlines: the difficulty of observing how it changes over time in response to various stimuli.

11 Oct 2019

Genetic mechanisms could serve as a road map for screening new drugs to prolong healthy lifespan

The discovery in the 1990s that a mutation in a single gene of an experimental worm could double its lifespan set off a stampede of research on the molecular biology of aging and triggered hopes that drug therapies or other interventions could be developed to extend healthy human lifespan. But as is often the case in science, the genetic regulation of aging is more complicated than it first appeared.

10 Oct 2019

Biology and computers meld to help understand how breast cancer develops

Among the most deadly killers in the area of cancer, breast cancer is also extremely difficult to treat, once it has spread to the bones. Not only does it metastasize rapidly, but it comprises a variety of cell types and also depends on the input from many other non-breast cells during the initiation, growth and spread of the cancer. This complexity makes it more difficult to develop targeted therapies in this condition.

8 Oct 2019