Gene Editing News and Research

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Research on genetic heart disease uncovers new mechanism for heart failure

Research on genetic heart disease has uncovered a new and unexpected mechanism for heart failure. This landmark discovery found a correlation between the clumping of RNA-binding proteins long linked to neurodegenerative disease and the aggregates of protein found in the heart tissue of patients with RBM20 dilated cardiomyopathy.

19 Nov 2020

Scientists reveal how genetically modified organisms can help mitigate climate change

Fighting the imminent climate change crisis has now become a global priority. In this regard, scientists in the US have discussed how gene editing technology can modify plants and organisms to reduce atmospheric CO2 and slow down climate change.

17 Nov 2020

Researchers discover a mechanism that cells use to degrade microRNAs

UT Southwestern researchers have discovered a mechanism that cells use to degrade microRNAs (miRNAs), genetic molecules that regulate the amounts of proteins in cells.

12 Nov 2020

Dietary induction of hepatocyte regeneration may be a viable strategy to enhance gene repair

Use of thyroid hormone to boost hepatocyte proliferation enhanced the efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene correction in the mouse liver.

11 Nov 2020

Two paralogous androgen receptor genes control social dominance

Rank in social hierarchy is a condition not solely claimed by humans. In the animal kingdom, male peacocks exhibit brightly colored plumes to illustrate dominance, and underwater, male fish show pops of bright colors to do the same.

11 Nov 2020

Researchers solve longstanding mystery about peculiar hybrid structures found in bacteria

Peculiar hybrid structures called retrons that are half RNA, half single-strand DNA are found in many species of bacteria.

5 Nov 2020

Machine-learning algorithm helps sort out huge amounts of data for protein research

Sorting huge amounts of data is a bottleneck in protein research, a field that is crucial to make use of the gene-editing technology CRISPR and fully understand diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

3 Nov 2020

Research projects receive BTCA grants to develop novel drugs for various diseases

Five research projects with exceptional promise to deliver new life-changing and health-altering therapies have received the inaugural Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Awards (BTCA) at Harvard Medical School.

30 Oct 2020

Tumor suppressor gene represses 'jumping genes'

About half of all tumors have mutations of the gene p53, normally responsible for warding off cancer. Now, UT Southwestern scientists have discovered a new role for p53 in its fight against tumors: preventing retrotransposons, or "jumping genes," from hopping around the human genome.

29 Oct 2020

Scientists identify new therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2

To identify new potential therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2, a team of scientists at the New York Genome Center, New York University, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, performed a genome-scale, loss-of-function CRISPR screen to systematically knockout all genes in the human genome.

27 Oct 2020

Congress should clarify limits of gene-editing technologies, says law professor

Genome editing of human embryos represents one of the most contentious potential scientific applications today. But what if geneticists could sidestep the controversy by editing sperm and eggs instead?

22 Oct 2020

New DNA-cutting tool could advance gene editing for novel treatments

Gene editing for the development of new treatments, and for studying disease as well as normal function in humans and other organisms, may advance more quickly with a new tool for cutting larger pieces of DNA out of a cell's genome, according to a new study by UC San Francisco scientists.

21 Oct 2020

G protein-coupled receptors help humans taste, smell, and regulate mood and immunity

Dr. Guangyu Wu is dissecting the molecular homing that enables a nascent protein to ultimately find its way to the surface of a cell as a mature receptor type that helps us taste, smell and even regulate our mood and immunity.

14 Oct 2020

Researchers apply CRISPR technology to eliminate fusion genes present in tumor cells

The CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing tool is one of the most promising approaches to advancing treatments of genetic diseases - including cancer -, an area of research where progress is constantly being made.

9 Oct 2020

Using mRNA therapies or CRISPR gene editing to treat cystic fibrosis

The potential for treating cystic fibrosis (CF) using mRNA therapies or CRISPR gene editing is possible regardless of the causative mutation. CF clinical trials showing that a genotype-agnostic gene therapy for CF is possible are reviewed in the peer-reviewed journal Human Gene Therapy.

8 Oct 2020

Biodegradable microneedle patch for local therapeutic gene delivery

There is great potential in gene therapy for treating certain types of cancer and genetic defects, immunological diseases, wounds and infections. The therapies work by delivering genes into the patients' cells, which then produce therapeutic proteins to treat the affliction.

7 Oct 2020

Researchers identify gene related to seed dispersal in green millet

For years, Elizabeth (Toby) Kellogg, PhD, member and Robert E. King Distinguished Investigator and other researchers at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (Danforth Center) drove up and down the highways of the continental United States, occasionally pulling over to the side of the road to collect small weedy plants and bring them back to the lab.

6 Oct 2020

Scientists map genetic networks that control the biology of regulatory T cells

Unlike most T cells, which launch immune responses against foreign molecules, regulatory T cells are the peacekeepers of the human immune system, damping down inflammatory reactions when they're not needed.

1 Oct 2020

Compounds repurposed from malaria treatment can kill diarrheal pathogen

A class of compounds used for malaria treatment also kill the intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium, a leading cause of diarrheal disease and death in children that has no cure, a multi-institution collaboration of researchers found in a new study.