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Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biologically important type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate.

Penn researchers develop novel vaccine to protect against genital herpes

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a vaccine to protect against genital herpes.

20 Sep 2019

NIH grants totaling $2.8 million focus on pinpointing male fertility genes

Pinpointing the genes responsible for male fertility is the focus of two National Institutes for Health grants totaling $2.8 million.

20 Sep 2019

Sponge-like action of circular RNA aids tissue repair after heart attack

The human genetic blueprint is like a string of code. To follow it, the code, or DNA, is transcribed into shorter strings of RNA.

20 Sep 2019

Stem cells with 'dual identity' associated with loss of smell from inflammation in chronic sinusitis

In experiments with mice and human tissue samples, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report evidence that neuronal stem cells in the part of the nose responsible for the sense of smell transform themselves to perpetuate the long-term inflammation in chronic sinusitis.

19 Sep 2019

Research provides insight into unusual construction process in unicellular parasite

The complexity of molecular structures in the cell is amazing. Having achieved great success in elucidating these structures in recent years, biologists are now taking on the next challenge: to find out more about how they are constructed.

19 Sep 2019

Researchers join new project to eliminate animal testing

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, are part of an ambitious plan at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to eliminate animal testing by 2035.

19 Sep 2019

Researchers develop new anti-cancer nanomedicine for targeted chemotherapy

Researchers at the University of Helsinki in collaboration with researchers from Åbo Akademi University, Finland and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China have developed a new anti-cancer nanomedicine for targeted cancer chemotherapy.

17 Sep 2019

Stopping cold viruses dead by blocking replication

The common cold virus (and its more deadly cousins, the viruses that cause polio and acute flaccid myelitis) may just have met its nemesis. In a recent study published in the journal Nature Microbiology on September 16, 2019, scientists reported a potentially successful new approach to stop cold viruses from replicating inside human cells – by blocking the formation of a protein that is vital to this process.

17 Sep 2019

Nano-sized bubbles in our body could effectively fight cancer

Healthy cells in our body release nano-sized bubbles that transfer genetic material such as DNA and RNA to other cells. It's your DNA that stores the important information necessary for RNA to produce proteins and make sure they act accordingly.

15 Sep 2019

CRISPR may explain why so many experimental cancer drugs fail

Scientists have used CRISPR–Cas9 to investigate how ten cancer drugs interact with their protein target, revealing some intriguing findings.

13 Sep 2019

Discovery opens up new opportunities to understand the genetics of cancer

University of Delaware molecular biologist Mona Batish and collaborators at Harvard Medical School and University of California, Los Angeles, have identified a new circular ribonucleic acid (RNA) that increases tumor activity in soft tissue and connective tissue tumors.

13 Sep 2019

Promising new drug being developed for polycystic kidney disease

Researchers have developed a potential new drug for the treatment of Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) – a deadly genetic condition affecting the kidneys that leads to formation of swellings or cysts within the kidney that cause it to fail.

12 Sep 2019

New gene therapy helps stroke patients develop new neurons

Ischemic stroke is a condition in which parts of the brain lose their blood supply, causing nerve damage. Once brain tissue suffers irreparable harm, the patient will experience irreversible disability or death, depending on the extent of neuronal loss.

12 Sep 2019

Scientists discover major regulator of schizophrenia that is active during early development

Researchers have discovered a gene that acts as a master regulator of schizophrenia during the early stages of human brain development.

12 Sep 2019

CAR T-cell therapy may be viable treatment option for heart disease

CAR T-cell therapy, a rapidly emerging form of immunotherapy using patients' own cells to treat certain types of cancers, may be a viable treatment option for another life-threatening condition: heart disease.

12 Sep 2019

Gene coding error likely responsible for rare form of inherited 'short telomere' disease

By combing through the entire genetic sequences of a person with a lung scarring disease and 13 of the person’s relatives, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have found a coding error in a single gene that is likely responsible for a rare form of the disease and the abnormally short protective DNA caps on chromosomes long associated with it.

From Johns Hopkins Medicine 11 Sep 2019

Nanocapsules packed with gene-editing tools could be promising platform for many gene therapies

New tools for editing genetic code offer hope for new treatments for inherited diseases, some cancers, and even stubborn viral infections. But the typical method for delivering gene therapies to specific tissues in the body can be complicated and may cause troubling side effects.

10 Sep 2019