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Mysterious DNA modification appears more in the brain under stress

With advances in genomics, scientists are discovering additional components of the DNA alphabet in animals. Do these unusual chemical modifications of DNA have a special meaning, or are they just signs that cellular machines are making mistakes?

24 Oct 2017

Study discovers new genetic risk loci linked to children's food allergies

What role do genes play in egg, milk, and nut allergies? A study published in Nature Communications, led by the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, has found five genetic risk loci that point to the importance of skin and mucous membrane barriers and the immune system in the development of food allergies.

24 Oct 2017

Research provides insight into how two stands of double helix separate during replication

Life would be impossible if the DNA in dividing cells were replicated with anything less than near-perfect precision. Every time a nucleated cell commits to becoming two cells, every "letter" of its genome must be replicated once and only once.

24 Oct 2017

Genomic roots of ovarian tumors may arise in fallopian tubes, study suggests

Some scientists have suspected that the most common form of ovarian cancer may originate in the fallopian tubes, the thin fibrous tunnels that connect the ovaries to the uterus.

24 Oct 2017

Study finds lung cancer driver ALK-fusion in mucosal melanoma

Melanomas caused by sun exposure have been matched with targeted treatments and immunotherapies, in many cases dramatically extending patients' lives. However, there are other kinds of melanoma not related to sun exposure and because they are caused by different genetic changes, they are not susceptible to the same targeted treatments.

23 Oct 2017

Penn researchers provide new insights into how Notch drives growth of B-cell cancers

Notch is one of the most frequently mutated genes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common leukemia in adults in the United States. It is also often mutated in other common B cell tumors, such as mantle cell lymphoma.

23 Oct 2017

Research provides insight on Y-shape in proteins associated with glaucoma

So unheard of was what researchers discovered in a protein associated with glaucoma that for over two years they ran it through a gauntlet of lab tests and published a new research paper on it. The tests validated what they initially saw.

23 Oct 2017

New study explores how herpes simplex virus may change during familial transmission

A new study explores how herpes simplex virus might change when passed from one individual to another, information that may prove useful in future development of therapeutics and vaccines.

20 Oct 2017

Study identifies predictors of poor outcomes in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients

A new study from UT Southwestern suggests that more people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy could live longer by identifying and more aggressively treating patients with certain risk factors.

20 Oct 2017

Better post-weaning diet can reverse potential consequences of early-life high-fat exposure

Research has shown that a mother's diet during pregnancy, particularly one that is high-fat, may program her baby for future risk of certain diseases such as diabetes. A new study from nutrition researchers at the University of Illinois shows that switching the offspring to a new diet--a low-fat diet, in this case--can reverse that programming.

20 Oct 2017

Study finds mitochondrial DNA damage in Veterans with Gulf War illness

Researchers say they have found the "first direct biological evidence" of damage in veterans with Gulf War illness to DNA within cellular structures that produce energy in the body.

19 Oct 2017

Small RNA molecules trigger cancer cells to commit suicide

Small RNA molecules originally developed as a tool to study gene function trigger a mechanism hidden in every cell that forces the cell to commit suicide, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study, the first to identify molecules to trigger a fail-safe mechanism that may protect us from cancer.

19 Oct 2017

Penn researchers functionally dissect gene variant linked to FTLD

Seven years ago, Penn Medicine researchers showed that mutations in the TMEM106B gene significantly increased a person's risk of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), the second most common cause of dementia in those under 65.

19 Oct 2017

UCSD researchers discover how mutant gene amplifies inflammation to fuel cancer

A human gene called p53, which is commonly known as the "guardian of the genome," is widely known to combat the formation and progression of tumors. Yet, mutant forms of p53 have been linked to more cases of human cancer than any other gene.

19 Oct 2017

Genetic diversity plays major role in evolution of drug resistance

Researchers have shown that genetic diversity plays a key role in enabling drug resistance to evolve. Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Institute for Research on Cancer and Ageing of Nice in France, show that high genetic diversity can prime new mutations that cause drug resistance.

17 Oct 2017

Scientists develop revolutionary blood screening test to diagnose breast cancer

In a potential major breakthrough in breast cancer research, scientists at the Center for Translational Cancer Research at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute of Christiana Care Health System have developed a revolutionary new blood test to diagnose breast cancer.

16 Oct 2017

Scientists discover new non-genetic cause of resistance to anti-cancer therapies

The targeted anti-cancer therapies cetuximab and panitumumab are mainstays of treatment for advanced colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.

16 Oct 2017

Einstein scientists share $9 million NIH grant for longevity research

Scientists now believe that the Fountain of Youth flows from our genes, or at least from the genes of people who live healthy lives to age 100 or later.

16 Oct 2017

Genes that determine skin color studied - new revelations

Human populations vary vastly in skin tones. European populations have been studied and some of the genes that determine skin color have been found. A latest study in a varied African population has found the specific and new genetic variants that could determine skin color and skin pigmentation. The study report is published in the journal Science.

16 Oct 2017

FDA advisory committee vote 16-0 for first even gene therapy for rare blindness

A panel of advisors to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has voted unanimously in favor of an experimental gene therapy to treat patients with a rare kind of hereditary blindness.

16 Oct 2017