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Patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease may actually have NIID, shows study

A joint study by the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) revealed that patients who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease might actually have NIID instead.

9 Nov 2020

COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths skew towards older males of non-European ancestry

A team of researchers recently investigated the genetic determinants of COVID-19 risk and severity in humans.

6 Nov 2020

Study shows how mutations in VAV1 gene may promote T-cell tumors in experimental mice

Life is an exquisite orchestration of growth and change, with checks and balances that fine-tune complex entwined interactions, both intrinsic and external.

12 Oct 2020

Plasma ABO protein is a causal risk factor for severe COVID-19

Researchers used an integrative genomics approach to find the genes responsible for COVID-19 and its severity.

7 Oct 2020

Researchers create p16-Cre ERT2 -tdTomato mouse model to characterize in vivo senescent cells

Cell senescence is a state of permanent cell cycle arrest that was initially defined for cells grown in cell culture. It plays a key role in age-associated organ dysfunction and age-related diseases such as cancer, but the in vivo pathogenesis is largely unclear.

7 Oct 2020

Life-threatening COVID-19 associated with specific genetic variants

Results of a genome-wide association study on 2,244 critically-ill patients due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from 208 intensive care units across the United Kingdom revealed significant host-specific genetic determinants that can predispose people to the severe form of the disease. The report is currently available on the medRxiv preprint server.

28 Sep 2020

Study sheds new light on the role of Y chromosome genes

New light is being shed on a little-known role of Y chromosome genes, specific to males, that could explain why men suffer differently than women from various diseases, including Covid-19.

25 Sep 2020

Shedding light on altered blood cell traits involved in severe COVID-19

Researchers at the University of Georgia in the United States have shed light on the pathological mechanisms underlying the association between the genetic locus 3p21.31 and severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

13 Sep 2020

Study uncovers the locus of male sexual desire in the brain

The locus of male sexual desire has been uncovered in specific regions of brain tissue where a key gene named aromatase is present, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study in mice.

12 Sep 2020

Scientists identify genetic risk factors underlying penicillin allergy

Penicillin, a life-saving medicine, is the most common cause of drug allergy, with clinical manifestations ranging from temporary skin reactions to life-threatening systemic syndromes.

3 Sep 2020

Exercise confers stress resilience by increasing brain protein levels

Exercise fights off stress by increasing levels of the brain protein galanin, according to research in mice recently published in JNeurosci.

27 Aug 2020

Identifying COVID-19 host genes using symptom-based predictions

A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in August 2020 shows that symptom-based prediction of the diagnosis can help identify host genes that are responsible for part of this variability.

26 Aug 2020

Researchers identify new mechanism that causes leukemia

Every year, 1.1 million new cases of blood cancers are diagnosed worldwide. Presently, chemotherapy remains the most common and effective course of treatment.

13 Aug 2020

Genetic variant in Japanese population increases risk of interstitial lung disease among RA patients

In many cases, a complex interplay between our genes and the environment governs whether or not we will develop a certain disease. Interestingly though, researchers are discovering that the genetic component of disease predisposition may depend on our ethnic background.

10 Aug 2020

Eosinophils contribute to antiviral host defense mechanisms during influenza

Eosinophils residing in the airways of mice respond to influenza A virus infection through alterations in surface expression of various markers necessary for migration and cellular immunity responses, according to research published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology by researchers from Le Bonheur Children's Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

5 Aug 2020

CNIO and HKUST researchers identify how some gliomas acquire chemoresistance

A team led by Massimo Squatrito, Head of the Seve Ballesteros Foundation Brain Tumour Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, have made important findings of how some gliomas can acquire chemoresistance.

4 Aug 2020

Nix gene can help develop future mosquito control techniques

Virginia Tech researchers have proven that a single gene can convert female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes into fertile male mosquitoes and identified a gene needed for male mosquito flight.

15 Jul 2020

COVID-19 complications may be associated with von Willebrand factor in the blood

Anna Aksenova, a senior research associate at the Laboratory of Amyloid Biology at St Petersburg University, has advanced a hypothesis that the severe course of COVID-19 may be associated with von Willebrand factor.

6 Jul 2020

Packed bars serve up new rounds of COVID contagion

As states ease their lockdowns, bars are emerging as fertile breeding grounds for the coronavirus. They create a risky cocktail of tight quarters, young adults unbowed by the fear of illness and, in some instances, proprietors who don't enforce crowd limits and social distancing rules.

25 Jun 2020

Evidence of link between ACE2 genotype and COVID-19 disease severity

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in June 2020 shows that variants in the ACE2 gene which encodes the enzyme receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, are linked to the risk of severe disease.

24 Jun 2020