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Study identifies key gene associated with age-related brain deterioration

A new study led by the University of Portsmouth has identified that one of the major factors of age-related brain deterioration is the loss of a substance called myelin.

10 Mar 2021

Researchers discover new COVID-19 variants in three South African provinces

Variants of the coronavirus are appearing in different parts of the world, many of them spreading with alarming speed.

10 Mar 2021

Analysis shows moderate evidence for SARS-CoV-2 recombination

Recently, a team of researchers from the US performed a comprehensive recombination analysis across all medically relevant human coronaviruses, including 158,118 public seasonal hCoV, SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV genome sequences with the help of the RDP4 software. They aimed at identifying the current and future risks of the emergence of recombinants of SARS-CoV-2

10 Mar 2021

SARS-CoV-2 variants rapidly arise in non-human hosts, potential risk for human reinfection

The study, published on the preprint server bioRxiv*, highlights the need to study viral evolution and pathogenesis in human and animal hosts. This could help prevent future outbreaks that may mimic the magnitude of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

9 Mar 2021

First complete atlas of how mutations affect the formation of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease

A study published in the journal eLife made all the possible mutations in the amyloid beta peptide and tested how they influence its aggregation into plaques, a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

9 Mar 2021

New analysis shows SARS-CoV-2 mutations rarely persist in subsequent transmissions

An analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genome diversity in more than 1,000 people in the United Kingdom suggests that if viral mutations do arise, they can be transmitted in some cases but they rarely persist in subsequent transmissions.

9 Mar 2021

Project Helios launched to unlock new approaches in small molecule drug discovery

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's Therapeutics Discovery division and Orionis Biosciences today announced the launch of Project Helios, a research collaboration designed to unlock new drug development opportunities through genome-scale mapping of drug-target interactions.

9 Mar 2021

A genetic variant of TMPRSS2 may confer protection against severe COVID-19

Among a large sample of COVID-19 patients, researchers found that a genetic variant – caused by an amino acid substitution from valine to methionine – is associated with a reduced chance of severe disease.

9 Mar 2021

Researchers report zoonotic spillover of adapted SARS-CoV-2 from minks to humans

In a recent report made available on bioRxiv* preprint server, researchers from Poland and Finland reveal a spillover event of mink-adapted severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from farmed mink to humans after an extensive adaptation process.

9 Mar 2021

Proteomics shows SARS-CoV-2 NSP7 and NSP8 forms stable dimeric unit

A new preprint, released on the bioRxiv* preprint server, describes the structure of part of the dynamic protein-RNA complex known as the replication-transcription complex (RTC), which is crucial in the replication of the large ribonucleic acid (RNA) genome of this virus.

9 Mar 2021

Rapid increase of UK SARS-CoV-2 variant found in sewage in England between October 2020 to January 2021

A new study confirms the utility of wastewater surveillance as an important new tool in this regard by showing the presence of the UK SARS-CoV-2 variant in wastewater samples from London early in November, with increasing frequency thereafter.

9 Mar 2021

Worse problems with SARS-CoV-2 variants may be on the way

Researchers at the Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa, found evidence of a significant change in the selective forces acting on immunologically important SARS-CoV-2 genes, such as N and S. These likely coincided with the emergence of the 501Y lineages.

8 Mar 2021

How do viruses evolve in bats?

Bats have played a crucial epidemiological role in the evolution of many viruses and house many coronaviruses. Until 2002, coronaviruses had been known to cause mild respiratory ailments in human beings. However, this notion changed in the same year when a bat-borne virus caused the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic.

8 Mar 2021

Researchers present fragment-based computational design of antibodies that target structured epitopes

A new study describes a novel fragment-based method to design antibody complementarity determining region (CDR) loops.

8 Mar 2021

Interaction between LDL cholesterol and PRS can predict risk of heart attack

Allelica, a leading genomics software company specializing in developing polygenic risk scores (PRS) for personalised medicine, today announced publication of a study in Circulation (Vol. 143, Issue 10) showing that the effect of LDL cholesterol on a person's risk of having a heart attack depends on their genes.

8 Mar 2021

Apoptosis is an important mediator of pathogenesis in animal coronavirus infection

A new paper in the journal Life presents an early review of the viral factors involved in initiating and effecting apoptosis within infected cells.

8 Mar 2021

Diphtheria is evolving to become antibiotic-resistant and could lead to vaccine escape

Diphtheria - a relatively easily-preventable infection - is evolving to become resistant to a number of classes of antibiotics and in future could lead to vaccine escape, warn an international team of researchers from the UK and India.

8 Mar 2021

Novel bioinformatics tool could help improve COVID-19 diagnosis

An interesting new study by researchers at the University of Liverpool, University of Bristol and Public Health England in the UK describes a novel bioinformatics tool used to detect subgenomic messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) sequences from the virus. This may help develop new diagnostic tools and model the transmission of the virus.

8 Mar 2021

How can physicians distinguish between COVID-19 persistence and SARS-CoV-2 reinfection?

One of the most challenging tasks of physicians has been differentiating between persistent COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. Recently, a team of researchers analyzed SARS-CoV-2 sequences from the publicly available reports on reinfection and persistence. They further characterized the markers of reinfecting sequences and studied the mutation rate in newly evolved persistent variants.

8 Mar 2021

New method provides more control over gene drive releases

Powerful new genetic engineering methods have given scientists the potential to revolutionize several sectors of global urgency.

8 Mar 2021

Genome News and Research

Study identifies key gene associated with age-related brain deterioration

Researchers discover new COVID-19 variants in three South African provinces

Analysis shows moderate evidence for SARS-CoV-2 recombination

SARS-CoV-2 variants rapidly arise in non-human hosts, potential risk for human reinfection

First complete atlas of how mutations affect the formation of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease

New analysis shows SARS-CoV-2 mutations rarely persist in subsequent transmissions

Project Helios launched to unlock new approaches in small molecule drug discovery

A genetic variant of TMPRSS2 may confer protection against severe COVID-19

Researchers report zoonotic spillover of adapted SARS-CoV-2 from minks to humans

Proteomics shows SARS-CoV-2 NSP7 and NSP8 forms stable dimeric unit

Rapid increase of UK SARS-CoV-2 variant found in sewage in England between October 2020 to January 2021

Worse problems with SARS-CoV-2 variants may be on the way

How do viruses evolve in bats?

Researchers present fragment-based computational design of antibodies that target structured epitopes

Interaction between LDL cholesterol and PRS can predict risk of heart attack

Apoptosis is an important mediator of pathogenesis in animal coronavirus infection

Diphtheria is evolving to become antibiotic-resistant and could lead to vaccine escape

Novel bioinformatics tool could help improve COVID-19 diagnosis

How can physicians distinguish between COVID-19 persistence and SARS-CoV-2 reinfection?

New method provides more control over gene drive releases

Genetics & Genomics - Second Edition 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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