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Certain gut bacteria linked to type 2 diabetes, reveal Russian scientists

A group of Russian scientists, including Dr Elena Kostryukova, the Head of the Laboratory of Postgenomic Research in Biology of the Scientific Research Institute of Physical-Chemical Medicine and a researcher at MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology), and Maria Vakhitova, an MIPT postgraduate student, has discovered that the presence of certain bacteria in the gut may be linked to the development of type 2 diabetes.

21 Dec 2015

Cancer drug can neutralize toxic RNA that causes myotonic dystrophy

A group of researchers has shown for the first time in cells and in a mouse model that a drug used to treat cancer can neutralize the toxic RNA that causes the prolonged muscle contractions and other symptoms of myotonic dystrophy type 1, the most common form of adult-onset muscular dystrophy.

11 Dec 2015

New sensor can detect estrogen levels in liquids

Estrogen is a tiny molecule, but it can have big effects on humans and other animals. Estrogen is one of the main hormones that regulates the female reproductive system - it can be monitored to track human fertility and is sometimes administered to livestock like cows and sheep to control the reproductive cycle.

25 Nov 2015

Role of genetic predisposition in pediatric cancer patients

The most detailed analysis yet of the role germline mutations in genes associated with cancer predisposition play in the development of childhood cancer suggests that comprehensive genomic screening may be warranted on all pediatric cancer patients, not just those with a family history of cancer.

19 Nov 2015

New technique improves accuracy of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system

A new CRISPR/Cas9 technology developed by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School is precise enough to surgically edit DNA at nearly any genomic location, while avoiding potentially harmful off-target changes typically seen in standard CRISPR gene editing techniques.

19 Nov 2015

Baylor Miraca Genetics Laboratories licenses SNP probe technology from OGT

Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), The Molecular Genetics Company, has entered into a deal with Baylor Miraca Genetics Laboratories (BMGL), licensing the use of OGT’s proprietary single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array probe technology.

From Oxford Gene Technology 12 Nov 2015

Crucial change in single DNA base predisposes children to aggressive form of cancer

Pediatric oncology researchers have pinpointed a crucial change in a single DNA base that both predisposes children to an aggressive form of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma and makes the disease progress once tumors form.

12 Nov 2015

Study shows rare HER2 missense mutations do not spread breast cancer on their own

Results of a new laboratory study by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers suggests that some rare “missense” mutations in the HER2 gene are apparently not — on their own — capable of causing breast cancer growth or spread.

12 Nov 2015

Drug compounds target multiple pathways associated with myotonic dystrophy type 1

Efforts to treat myotonic dystrophy type 1, the most common form of muscular dystrophy, are in their infancy. In a new study, researchers report they have added new capabilities to an experimental drug agent that previously defeated only one of DM1's many modes of action. Their retooled compounds interrupt the disease's pathology in three ways.

10 Nov 2015

Utah chemists devise new way to detect DNA damage

University of Utah chemists devised a new way to detect chemical damage to DNA that sometimes leads to genetic mutations responsible for many diseases, including various cancers and neurological disorders.

6 Nov 2015

Researchers identify seven genetic risk loci involved in atopic march

There's a typical "career" for some allergic people, and it starts very early on the skin: babies develop atopic dermatitis, food allergies may follow, then comes asthma and later on hay fever. A group of scientists led by Ingo Marenholz and Young-Ae Lee at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, working with colleagues from several institutions, has now identified seven genetic risk loci for this course of disease.

6 Nov 2015

Researchers use genomic techniques to show why different strains of Salmonella infect particular animal species

It's called bird flu for a reason. Particular characteristics about the influenza virus known as H5N1 allow it to primarily affect avifauna, though in some worrying cases the disease has been passed to humans.

3 Nov 2015

Study reports discovery of new class of DNA repair enzyme

This year's Nobel Prize in chemistry was given to three scientists who each focused on one piece of the DNA repair puzzle. Now a new study, reported online Oct. 28 in the journal Nature, reports the discovery of a new class of DNA repair enzyme.

30 Oct 2015

IDT’s innovative Alt-R CRISPR-Cas9 System improves genome editing potency, reduces cell toxicity

Integrated DNA Technologies, introduces a new approach to CRISPR—its innovative Alt-R CRISPR-Cas9 System, based on the naturally occurring S. pyogenes CRISPR RNA system.

From Integrated DNA Technologies 29 Oct 2015

Four microRNAs appear to play critical roles in controlling cholesterol, triglyceride metabolism

Four tiny segments of RNA appear to play critical roles in controlling cholesterol and triglyceride metabolism. In their report receiving advance online publication in Nature Medicine, a Massachusetts General Hospital-based research team describes finding how these microRNAs could reduce the expression of proteins playing key roles in the generation of beneficial HDL cholesterol, the disposal of artery-clogging LDL cholesterol, control of triglyceride levels and other risk factors of cardiovascular disease.

27 Oct 2015

Bioengineers develop continuously tunable method to find and quantify DNA, RNA biomarkers

A Rice University laboratory has developed a continuously tunable method to find and quantify DNA and RNA biomarkers.

20 Oct 2015

Genetic mutation linked to ALS, FTD prevents proteins from entering and exiting the cell's nucleus

Three teams of scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health showed that a genetic mutation linked to some forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) may destroy neurons by disrupting the movement of materials in and out of the cell's nucleus, or command center where most of its DNA is stored.

19 Oct 2015

ToMMo constructs Japanese population reference panel from genome information of 1,070 individuals

A research group at Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization (ToMMo) has successfully constructed a Japanese population reference panel (1KJPN), from the genome information of 1,070 individuals who had participated in the cohort studies of the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project.

19 Oct 2015

Brown University researchers describe new method to test HIV mutations

Tests that can distinguish whether HIV-positive people are infected with a drug-resistant strain or a non-resistant strain allow patients to get the most effective treatment as quickly as possible. In the November edition of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, a team of Brown University researchers describes a new method that works faster and more sensitively in lab testing than the current standard technologies.

16 Oct 2015

International consortium provides standard protocol for using Oxford Nanopore's DNA-sequencing device

The MinION, a handheld DNA-sequencing device developed by Oxford Nanopore, has been tested and evaluated by an independent, international consortium coordinated by EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI).