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Scientists discover cell protein crucial in preventing viral replication

A research team has discovered a protein without which cells infected by viruses cannot trigger an immune response, leading to 100% mortality with even non-disease-producing strains. The discovery of the new Z-DNA binding protein, or ZBP1, was reported in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology. It could help develop new treatment methods for viruses that target the nervous system such as the Zika or West Nile Encephalitis virus.

6 Nov 2019

Novel detection method for retinoblastoma

A retinoblastoma is a dangerous cancer often occurring in very young children, under 2, which can cause blindness or the loss of the eye. The tumor is a diffuse, gluey mass spread all over the eye. It also spreads easily. As a result of this, direct biopsy is impossible, unlike with most other tumors. Instead, eye examination by ophthalmologists (eye specialists) and ultrasound imaging are needed to make a diagnosis.

5 Nov 2019

Mosaicism of IVF embryos does not pose any health risks to future babies

Compared to the mother's body, the egg fertilized in a test tube has rather different conditions for growing.

5 Nov 2019

Study supports physical activity as a preventive measure for depression

A new study has found that physical activity may have a preventative effect against depression. Physical activity has long been linked with better mental health due to its ability to reduce the stress hormone cortisol and increase the feel-good hormone serotonin. However, there has been limited empirical evidence to support physical activity as a preventive measure for depression, making these findings very important.

5 Nov 2019

Researchers find genes from 'fossil' virus in human DNA to be active

Genes from a virus that was stitched into the human genome thousands of years ago are active, producing proteins in the human brain and other tissues, according to researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Laval University School of Medicine in Quebec, Canada.

5 Nov 2019

Researchers produce synthetic phages that attack broader range of bacterial strains

Bacteriophages ("phages" for short) are viruses that infect bacteria. Phages are highly host-specific and will typically only infect and kill an individual species or even subspecies of bacteria. Compared to conventional antibiotics, phages do not indiscriminately kill bacteria.

4 Nov 2019

Researchers develop new type of transposase protein with improved biochemical properties

The team, comprising researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, the Universitätsklinikum Würzburg and the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, managed to design a new variant of the Sleeping Beauty transposase with dramatically improved biochemical properties.

4 Nov 2019

New guide for genomic diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndromes and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia published

In Spain, a workgroup of more than 400 researchers, the Spanish Group of Myelodysplastic Syndromes, meets twice a year to present projects and undertake collaborations that improve their work in the fight against Myelodysplastic Syndromes and Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia, two types of blood cancers.

4 Nov 2019

A type of gut bacteria may increase risk of bowel cancer

People with a certain type of bacteria in their guts may be more likely to develop bowel cancer.

4 Nov 2019

New, open-source database improves genomics research collaboration

Sharing datasets that reveal the function of genomic variants in health and disease has become easier, with the launch of a new, open-source database developed by Australian and North American researchers.

3 Nov 2019

Certain gut bacteria can increase the risk of bowel cancer, shows study

People who have a certain type of bacteria in their guts may be at greater risk of developing bowel cancer.

3 Nov 2019

Chemotherapy can cause drug-resistant mutations in pediatric ALL patients who relapse

Chemotherapy has helped make the most common childhood cancer one of the most curable, but researchers have evidence that the treatment may also prime some patients for relapse.

2 Nov 2019

UI scientists are developing new delivery tools for gene editing

News of advances in gene-editing technology raises the prospect of actually using this approach to treat disease in patients. But one of the hurdles that remains is how to deliver these tools to the right cells in the patients safely and efficiently.

31 Oct 2019

Scientists visualize complex cellular machine to yield new insights in cancer

Cellular machines that control chromosome structure, such as the RSC complex, are mutated in about one-fifth of all human cancers.

31 Oct 2019

Researchers identify new kidney cancer subtypes and clues to better diagnosis, treatment

In what is believed to be the most comprehensive molecular characterization to date of the most common - and often treatment-resistant - form of kidney cancer, researchers at Johns Hopkins' departments of pathology and oncology, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine report evidence for at least three distinct subtypes of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), along with new revelations about the proteins that define them.

From Johns Hopkins Medicine 31 Oct 2019

Study shows how Chlamydia bacteria enter human cells

Chlamydia are bacteria that can infect human and animal cells. Human health is particularly affected by Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn) and Chlamydia trachomatis.

31 Oct 2019

Novel method for aggressive breast cancer detection

A new study in rats published in the journal Cell Reports shows that the pattern of RNA molecules produced within certain immune cells called macrophages, found within breast cancers (tumor-associated macrophages, TAMs), can tell whether the tumor is cancerous or not and indicate the type of outcome. The same pattern is present in humans as in mice. This makes it directly useful in predicting the nature of a breast tumor and its outcome.

30 Oct 2019

Scientists receive $1.6 million grant to study impact of phthalate exposure on male fertility

A cross-disciplinary team of scientists, led by University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental epigeneticist Richard Pilsner, will use a three-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to expand research into the impact of phthalate exposure on male fertility.

30 Oct 2019

Improved Cas9 enzyme reduces chance of off-target CRISPR mutations

Genomics experts have discovered that when guide RNAs (gRNA) are designed properly, the risk of off-target mutations induced by the cas9 enzyme is very rare.

30 Oct 2019