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New gene therapy restores dystrophin protein in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

UT Southwestern scientists successfully employed a new type of gene therapy to treat mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), uniquely utilizing CRISPR-Cas9-based tools to restore a large section of the dystrophin protein that is missing in many DMD patients.

3 May 2021

Comprehensive "cell atlas" shows how COVID-19 can lead to organ failure and death

Scientists from several hospitals and research centers have shown what happens in individual cells of patients who died of COVID-19. In a study published in Nature, the researchers describe how infected cells from multiple organs exhibited a range of molecular and genomic changes.

3 May 2021

Researchers identify novel SARS-CoV-2 variant with mutations in membrane protein-encoding gene

A recent study published in the Journal Emerging Microbes and Infections has highlighted the emergence of a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant with mutations in the membrane protein-encoding gene. Two potential mutations, M:I82T and M:V70L, have been identified within the transmembrane helices, which are expected to improve viral fitness by modulating glucose uptake during replication.

3 May 2021

Could CRISPR be used as a SARS-CoV-2 antiviral?

The potential of using this gene manipulation technology as a SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor or prophylactic is investigated in a review recently uploaded to the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine (April 25th, 2021) by Arnab Banerjee and colleagues.

2 May 2021

Study implies a likely rise of future SARS-CoV-2 recombinants

A recent astonishing feat by US researchers revealed that recombination is not only widespread in the evolutionary history of SARS-like coronaviruses, but it can also increase fitness traits of seasonal coronaviruses. Their paper is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server and sets the stage for phylogenetic tracking of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

2 May 2021

Correcting mutations in muscle stem cells using new gene-editing technology

A new gene-editing technique can be used to correct mutations in muscle stem cells, paving the way for the first potential cell therapy for genetic muscle disorders.

30 Apr 2021

New technology enables faster and more accurate tracing of COVID-19 and other viruses

Jeremy Edwards, director of the Computational Genomics and Technology (CGaT) Laboratory at The University of New Mexico, and his colleagues at Centrillion Technologies in Palo Alto, Calif. and West Virginia University, have developed a chip that provides a simpler and more rapid method of genome sequencing for viruses like COVID-19.

30 Apr 2021

Applications of nanoparticles in combating COVID-19

Researchers review the various properties and use of nanoparticles in targeting SARS-CoV-2 and how they could be used to develop new therapeutics and diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2.

30 Apr 2021

Novel integrative genetic screening platform offers insights into role of DNA accessibility in cancer

In a new resource for the scientific community, published today in Nature Biotechnology, researchers in the lab of Neville Sanjana, PhD, at the New York Genome Center (NYGC) and New York University (NYU) developed CRISPR-sciATAC, a novel integrative genetic screening platform that jointly captures CRISPR gene perturbations and single-cell chromatin accessibility genome-wide.

30 Apr 2021

Fasting can reduce hypertension by reshaping the composition of gut microbiota

Nearly half of adults in the United States have hypertension, a condition that raises the risk for heart disease and stroke, which are leading causes of death in the U. S.

29 Apr 2021

Geisinger wins $3.6 million contract to study the role of genetic variation in cancer

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a 5-year, $3.6 million contract to Geisinger to study the role of genetic variation in cancer.

29 Apr 2021

Is Hong Kong’s fourth wave of COVID-19 due to the Q57H SARS-CoV-2 variant?

A recent article in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Emerging Infectious Diseases reveals that the last of these was probably due to the introduction of a new variant from Nepal. This novel variant had been circulating in the community for about a month before the last outbreak was reported.

29 Apr 2021

Researchers discover how SARS-CoV-2 hijacks human cell machinery to blunt immune response

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered one way in which SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, hijacks human cell machinery to blunt the immune response, allowing it to establish infection, replicate and cause disease.

29 Apr 2021

Texas A&M AgriLife receives grant to support research on bacteriophage therapy

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health, NIH, has awarded $2.5 million in grants to support research on bacteriophage therapy, and Texas A&M AgriLife Research is among the grant recipients.

29 Apr 2021

Researchers apply 'kitchen sink approach' to produce 16 high-quality reference genomes

The flightless kakapo of New Zealand is in trouble. The world's heaviest parrot--representing one of the most ancestral branches of the parrot family tree--is nearly extinct, with barely 200 adults plodding the underbrush of four small islands.

29 Apr 2021

Researchers try to simplify gene nomenclature across various organisms

Constantina Theofanopoulou wanted to study oxytocin. Her graduate work had focused on how the hormone influences human speech development, and now she was preparing to use those findings to investigate how songbirds learn to sing. The problem was that birds do not have oxytocin. Or so she was told.

29 Apr 2021

New collaboration to study early detection of developmental differences in children

The University of Washington's School of Medicine Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine is collaborating with Illumina, Inc. and GeneDx, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BioReference Laboratories, Inc., an OPKO Health company, to study early detection of developmental differences in children.

29 Apr 2021

Algorithm interprets data from electronic medical records to diagnose kidney disease

Diagnosing chronic kidney disease, which is often undetected until it causes irreversible damage, may soon become automated with a new algorithm that interprets data from electronic medical records.

29 Apr 2021

Researchers propose a new universal nomenclature for vasotocin and oxytocin genes

Oxytocin and arginine vasopressin are two hormones in the endocrine system that can act as neurotransmitters and regulate -in vertebrates and invertebrates- a wide range of biological functions, such as bonding formation, breastfeeding, birth or arterial pressure.

29 Apr 2021

Marmoset study establishes standards for the new era of biodiversity genomics

The international consortium today announces a series of publications in a special collection of Nature that resulted from the first phase of the Vertebrate Genome Project (VGP) to release 16 high quality reference genomes.

29 Apr 2021

Genome News and Research

New gene therapy restores dystrophin protein in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Comprehensive "cell atlas" shows how COVID-19 can lead to organ failure and death

Researchers identify novel SARS-CoV-2 variant with mutations in membrane protein-encoding gene

Could CRISPR be used as a SARS-CoV-2 antiviral?

Study implies a likely rise of future SARS-CoV-2 recombinants

Correcting mutations in muscle stem cells using new gene-editing technology

New technology enables faster and more accurate tracing of COVID-19 and other viruses

Applications of nanoparticles in combating COVID-19

Novel integrative genetic screening platform offers insights into role of DNA accessibility in cancer

Fasting can reduce hypertension by reshaping the composition of gut microbiota

Geisinger wins $3.6 million contract to study the role of genetic variation in cancer

Is Hong Kong’s fourth wave of COVID-19 due to the Q57H SARS-CoV-2 variant?

Researchers discover how SARS-CoV-2 hijacks human cell machinery to blunt immune response

Texas A&M AgriLife receives grant to support research on bacteriophage therapy

Researchers apply 'kitchen sink approach' to produce 16 high-quality reference genomes

Researchers try to simplify gene nomenclature across various organisms

New collaboration to study early detection of developmental differences in children

Algorithm interprets data from electronic medical records to diagnose kidney disease

Researchers propose a new universal nomenclature for vasotocin and oxytocin genes

Marmoset study establishes standards for the new era of biodiversity genomics

The art of CRISPR: The power and promise of gene editing eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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