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CRISPR enzyme can also cleave RNA, finds study

Researchers have discovered that the Cas-9 enzyme used in CRISPR gene editing can also cleave complimentary messenger RNA, in addition to DNA.

2 Mar 2018

TSRI scientists discover new target for treating major depressive disorder

Scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a new target for treating major depressive disorder, a disease that affects more than 16 million American adults.

1 Mar 2018

Study unlocks big puzzle in familial breast cancer

Mutations in known breast cancer genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 are identified in only approximately 20 per cent of women who are offered genetic testing for familial breast cancer.

1 Mar 2018

USC scientists use metal-detection technique to study cancer

Metal detection has helped mining companies strike gold and airport security identify passengers who are a potential threat. Now USC scientists have pushed its use into another realm: studying cancer.

28 Feb 2018

UNIGE researchers discover why premature cell division promotes tumor formation

The accumulation of mutations in the human genome is at the origin of cancers, as well as the development of resistance to treatments. The Cyclin E and Myc genes are active in the control of cell division.

28 Feb 2018

RNA-based method cures lung tumors in mice

By turning down the activity of a specific RNA molecule researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, Sweden, have cured lung tumors in mice by 40-50 percent.

28 Feb 2018

CRISPR-like gene editing could be potential way to treat patients with harmful blood lipid levels

Using a variation of CRISPR gene editing may be a potential strategy for mimicking the protective effects of a genetic mutation linked to lower cholesterol levels and heart disease risks, according to new mouse research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published this week in Circulation.

28 Feb 2018

Researchers discover 50 new gene regions that increase risk of schizophrenia

Researchers at the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics at Cardiff University have discovered 50 new gene regions that increase the risk of developing schizophrenia.

28 Feb 2018

Quiescent cells also acquire particular type of mutation, research shows

For almost a hundred years, geneticists have believed that the more a cell divides the more mutations it acquires. However, research by scientists at the Institut Pasteur shows that quiescent cells, which do not divide, also acquire a particular type of mutation - deletions (mutations through loss of nucleobases).

27 Feb 2018

ASU researchers uncover crucial step in telomerase enzyme catalytic cycle

Can we stay young forever, or even recapture lost youth? Research from the laboratory of Professor Julian Chen in the School of Molecular Sciences at Arizona State University recently uncovered a crucial step in the telomerase enzyme catalytic cycle.

27 Feb 2018

Artificial intelligence methods used for developing precision cancer medicine

A patient's own molecular data can be used to identify, with the use of artificial intelligence methods, the best combinatorial multi-drug therapy for that patient. Network modelling plays a major role in this line of work.

27 Feb 2018

Researchers develop new tool that provides 3D view of metabolic processes

An international team of researchers has developed a computational resource that provides a 3D view of genes, proteins and metabolites involved in human metabolism.

27 Feb 2018

Research reveals how mutant p53 enhances tumor metastasis

Scientists at The Wistar Institute have found a novel mechanism through which mutant p53 enhances metastasis by controlling tumor metabolism. The research, published online in Genes & Development, also revealed how this process is influenced by a naturally occurring p53 gene variant.

26 Feb 2018

Novel method to extract valuable psychiatric symptom information from doctors' notes

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School have developed a new method to extract valuable symptom information from doctors' notes, allowing them to capture the complexity of psychiatric disorders that is missed by traditional sources of clinical data.

26 Feb 2018

Combined analysis makes risk prediction for colorectal cancer more precise

If first-degree relatives are affected by colorectal cancer, this indicates a person's own elevated risk of developing bowel cancer. The same holds true for people who have large numbers of genetic risk markers in their genome.

26 Feb 2018

Scientists reveal new insights into mechanism of gene regulation by 'magic spot'

Using an innovative crystallization technique for studying three-dimensional structures of gene transcription machinery, an international team of researchers, led by scientists at Penn State, has revealed new insights into the long debated action of the "magic spot"--a molecule that controls gene expression in Eschericahia coli and many other bacteria when the bacteria are stressed.

24 Feb 2018

Discovery may result in new medication to build stronger muscles in old age

As we grow older, our muscular function declines. A new study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows how an unexpectedly high number of mutations in the stem cells of muscles impair cell regeneration.

23 Feb 2018

New low-cost microfluidic device brings single-cell technology to bedside

Single-cell analysis holds enormous potential to study how individual cells influence disease and respond to treatment, but the lack of cost-effective and user-friendly instrumentation remains challenging.

23 Feb 2018

Genetic variants make Asians and Europeans more prone to severe dengue

As globalization and climate change spread tropical infectious diseases around the globe, not all populations have the same degree of susceptibility.

23 Feb 2018

Researchers explore how evolutionary processes guide pathways of cells

Evolution describes how all living forms cope with challenges in their environment, as they struggle to persevere against formidable odds. Mutation and selective pressure--cornerstones of Darwin's theory--are the means by which organisms gain an advantageous foothold or pass into oblivion.

23 Feb 2018