Genetic News and Research

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Ethnic diversity in genetic study of glycemic traits yields better results

By including multi-ethnic participants, a largescale genetic study has identified more regions of the genome linked to type 2 diabetes-related traits than if the research had been conducted in Europeans alone.

31 May 2021

Researchers discover a new and unique form of ALS

In a study of 11 medical-mystery patients, an international team of researchers led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health and the Uniformed Services University discovered a new and unique form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

31 May 2021

Expanding genomic research into different ancestries yields more and better results

Today The Lundquist Institute announced that its investigators contributed data from several studies, including data on Hispanics, African-Americans and East Asians, to the international MAGIC collaboration, composed of more than 400 global academics, who conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis led by the University of Exeter.

31 May 2021

Could a mathematical application of information theory identify and predict SARS-CoV-2 mutations?

An interesting new study by researchers at the University of Portsmouth, UK, describes the use of a mathematical method to sequence genomes based on information theory. The method offers an alternative to clinical techniques, allowing mutations to be detected and possibly even predicted. In this way, it opens new research opportunities in bioinformatics and genetics.

31 May 2021

Plexin-A1 gene plays a more extensive role in brain development, study shows

Study by the University of Bonn shows that mutations of the investigated gene manifest in different patterns of inheritance.

31 May 2021

Study uncovers new mechanism of Alzheimer's that disorganizes blood vessels around amyloid plaques

Researchers at the Biomedicine Institute of Seville have discovered a new mechanism of Alzheimer's disease that disorganizes the blood vessels around amyloid plaques, one of the characteristic features of the disease.

31 May 2021

UVA researchers shed new light on brain development

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have shed new light on how our brains develop, revealing that the very last step in cell division is crucial for the brain to reach its proper size and function.

31 May 2021

Intra-host SARS-CoV-2 composition varies over time, hinting at viral evolution during infection

Researchers at the Southern University of Science and Technology in China revealed rapid and dramatic changes in quasispecies diversity upon evaluating the SARS-CoV-2 populations present in the upper and lower respiratory tracts of patients with varying COVID-19 severity.

31 May 2021

Different early antibody responses define COVID-19 disease trajectory

In a new study posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server, a prospective cohort of patients with COVID-19 exhibited distinct features of the IgG fragment antigen-binding (Fab) and fragment crystallizable (Fc) domains, predicting two distinct disease trajectory two days after a positive test.

31 May 2021

Study could help identify risk of secondary leukaemia in certain children

Scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge found that in children with neuroblastoma - a cancer of immature nerve cells - treatment with platinum chemotherapy caused changes to the genome that could then cause leukaemia in some children later on.

31 May 2021

Researchers review 50 years of progress in women's health

Debates over women's health have long been contentious, but have also resulted in significant improvements in areas like equitable access to health care and survivorship. But the overall picture remains far from perfect.

31 May 2021

B.1.617.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2 is partially resistant to antibody-mediated neutralization

A team of scientists from France has recently conducted a study to evaluate the sensitivity of the B.1.617 variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to antibody-mediated neutralization.

31 May 2021

Reusing old vaccines to boost innate immunity against COVID-19

The COVID-19 vaccine is currently the best form of protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its variants. But a new perspective article published in the journal PNAS suggests it’s not the panacea to stopping SARS-CoV-2.

31 May 2021

Waking up just one hour earlier can reduce risk of major depression, indicates study

Waking up just one hour earlier could reduce a person's risk of major depression by 23%, suggests a sweeping new genetic study published May 26 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

29 May 2021

New genetic editing tools could stop the spread of mosquito diseases

Since the onset of the CRISPR genetic editing revolution, scientists have been working to leverage the technology in the development of gene drives that target pathogen-spreading mosquitoes such as Anopheles and Aedes species, which spread malaria, dengue and other life-threatening diseases.

29 May 2021

FDA approves targeted therapy for tumors with KRAS mutations

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Lumakras (sotorasib) as the first treatment for adult patients with non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have a specific type of genetic mutation called KRAS G12C and who have received at least one prior systemic therapy.

29 May 2021