Genome News and Research

RSS

Pig stem cells offer a new way to grow human organs for transplantation

In a new paper published in Stem Cell Reports, Bhanu Telugu and co-inventor Chi-Hun Park of the University of Maryland (UMD) Department of Animal and Avian Sciences show for the first time that newly established stem cells from pigs, when injected into embryos, contributed to the development of only the organ of interest (the embryonic gut and liver), laying the groundwork for stem cell therapeutics and organ transplantation.

18 Dec 2020

Discovery of protein function could be important for future chemotherapy treatment

Chemotherapy attacks all cells in our body and not just cancer cells, which is why patients undergoing the treatment often experience side effects such as physical weakness, hair loss and nausea.

17 Dec 2020

Supercomputer simulations lead to an important viral inhibitor discovery

University of New Hampshire researchers recently used Comet at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego and Stampede2 at the Texas Advanced Computing Center to identify new inhibitor binding/unbinding pathways in an RNA-based virus.

17 Dec 2020

Researchers discover cells responsible for resistance to T-ALL treatment

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a cancer of the blood that affects mainly children, but also less frequently adults. In adults, although the response to treatment might be initially positive, relapses are common and have a poor prognosis.

17 Dec 2020

Gene surfing caused the SARS-CoV-2 D614G variant to rise to dominance in the US

A recent preprint that appeared on the bioRxiv* server applies a new approach to conventional birth-death lineage modeling.

17 Dec 2020

SARS-CoV-2 spike deletion ΔH69/ΔV70 shows repeated emergence and spread

Since the COVID 19 pandemic, it has been established that the causative virus, SARS-CoV-2 gains entry to the target host cell via its spike glycoprotein.

17 Dec 2020

Why are some groups more vulnerable to COVID-19?

News-Medical speaks to Dr. Jaswinder Singh about his research surrounding why some groups are more susceptible to severe cases of COVID-19.

17 Dec 2020

Specific genetic target could help explain the variation in COVID-19 effects

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, has identified a specific genetic target that could help explain the tremendous variation in how sick those infected with COVID-19 become.

17 Dec 2020

A new approach to identify genomic regions in our brain that contribute to make us human

With only 1% difference, the human and chimpanzee protein-coding genomes are remarkably similar.

16 Dec 2020

Scientists identify new Salmonella proteins

Salmonella are bacteria that can cause food poisoning with severe diarrhea. If they penetrate from the intestine into the blood system, this can lead to sepsis, life-threatening inflammatory reactions in the entire organism.

16 Dec 2020

Traditional herbal medicine Respiratory Detox Shot (RDS) inhibits SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A infection in vitro

As researchers continue to search for antivirals to counter COVID-19, a study presents the potential utility of a decoction called Respiratory Detox Shot (RDS).

16 Dec 2020

Copper gluconate supplementation could reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro

The second wave of COVID-19 has affected many countries, costing thousands of lives and dealing further heavy blows to already reeling economies.

16 Dec 2020

SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be reverse-transcribed to be part of chimeric viral-human genome

A new study reveals that the genome of SARS-CoV-2 is inserted into the human genome, accounting for the detection of viral RNAs.

16 Dec 2020

SARS-CoV-2 unique deletion variants found in clinical specimens

While participating in the SPHERES Consortium project, US researchers sequenced 2,726 clinical patient specimens gathered in March 2020 and identified eight unique ORF7a deletion variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Their results are currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

15 Dec 2020

Trump’s wrong. 15% ‘herd immunity’ is not on par with strength of a vaccine

During a Dec. 8 press conference about Operation Warp Speed, President Donald Trump likened the spread of the coronavirus throughout the population — which experts agree bestows some immunity on the people who became ill — to having a COVID-19 vaccine.

15 Dec 2020

Study provides valuable interaction about animal host and pathogen during pneumococcal infections

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine published one of the most comprehensive analyses of how genes get expressed during infection (known as a transcriptome). The analyses include three different strains of the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae, which causes pneumonia, meningitis, and middle-ear infections.

15 Dec 2020

COVID-19 vaccine shows the long-term value of curiosity-driven basic research

The most promising vaccine against the coronavirus to date is also an example of the long-term value of curiosity-driven basic research and its funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation).

15 Dec 2020

MIPT researchers use zebrafish to study chronic stress

A team of researchers led by MIPT's Allan Kalueff has studied chronic stress in zebrafish and determined that the animal can serve as a valuable model species for research into the associated brain diseases, complementing research currently done on rodents.

14 Dec 2020

Extensive genomic data can improve breast cancer risk assessment

Findings from the FinnGen study encompassing 120,000 women indicate that inherited breast cancer risk should be assessed in an increasingly comprehensive manner.

14 Dec 2020

Emergence of resistant SARS-CoV-2 variant in immunocompromised patient following therapeutic antibody use

The focus is increasingly moving towards vaccine roll-out as the world faces the real possibility of the second year of social and economic restrictions.

14 Dec 2020