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Researchers release first Japanese reference genome

The Japanese now have their own reference genome thanks to researchers at Tohoku University who completed and released the first Japanese reference genome (JG1).

29 Jan 2021

Pharmacogenetic tests can benefit four million UK patients annually

Four million UK patients could benefit annually from genetic testing before being prescribed common medicines, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in collaboration with Boots UK and Leiden University (Netherlands).

29 Jan 2021

Researchers develop an easier way to deliver pancreatic cancer drugs

Researchers with the Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and North Dakota State University have designed a new way to deliver pancreatic cancer drugs that could make fighting the disease much easier.

29 Jan 2021

Researchers uncover traces of malarial adaptation in African people

Malaria is an ancient scourge, but it's still leaving its mark on the human genome. And now, researchers have uncovered recent traces of adaptation to malaria in the DNA of people from Cabo Verde, an island nation off the African coast.

29 Jan 2021

Scientists create new way to detect COVID-19 proteins and antibodies

Scientists have created a new way to detect the proteins that make up the pandemic coronavirus, as well as antibodies against it. They designed protein-based biosensors that glow when mixed with components of the virus or specific COVID-19 antibodies.

29 Jan 2021

NEI scientists develop and test a promising gene therapy strategy for rare eye disease

Scientists at the National Eye Institute have developed a promising gene therapy strategy for a rare disease that causes severe vision loss in childhood.

28 Jan 2021

Neonatal antibiotic treatment associated with reduced weight and height in boys

Exposure to antibiotics in the first days of life is thought to affect various physiological aspects of neonatal development.

28 Jan 2021

Study uncovers genetic similarities between PTSD and other mental health disorders

Attempts to identify the genetic causes of neuropsychiatric diseases such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through large-scale genome-wide analyses have yielded thousands of potential links.

28 Jan 2021

Researchers identify a gene variant linked to cerebral small vessel disease and stroke

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden believe they have identified a gene variant that can cause cerebral small vessel disease and stroke. The study is published in Neurology Genetics.

28 Jan 2021

Study uncovers rare genetic syndrome caused by mutations in gene SATB1

Advances in DNA sequencing have uncovered a rare syndrome which is caused by variations in the gene SATB1.

28 Jan 2021

Genomic studies give new insights into the biological basis of PTSD

After analyzing the genomes of more than one-quarter of a million military veterans, a team of scientists, led by researchers at University of California San Diego, Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS), Yale University and West Haven VA, have identified 18 specific, fixed positions on chromosomes (known as loci) that appear associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

28 Jan 2021

NUS researchers discover a mechanism controlling the replenishment of blood cells

Blood is vital to life, and a healthy body replenishes worn-out blood cells with new ones throughout one's lifetime. If something goes wrong with this process, serious illness will result.

28 Jan 2021

Viruses like SARS-CoV-2 may be more widespread than previously thought

Researchers in Cambodia, France, and the United States have conducted a study indicating that viruses related to SARS-CoV-2 – the agent that causes COVID-19 – are far more geographically widespread than previously thought.

28 Jan 2021

Scientist wins 2021 Pioneer in Basic Science Award for breakthrough research on the inner ear

When Andrew Griffith, MD, PhD, looks at the inner ear, he sees what he describes as "an engineering marvel."

28 Jan 2021

New results challenge the current understanding of medulloblastoma

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and their colleagues have published a detailed account of SJMB03, a clinical trial for pediatric patients with medulloblastoma.

28 Jan 2021

Plants depend on LEAFY protein that enables cells to change their fate

Cells don't express all the genes they contain all the time. The portion of our genome that encodes eye color, for example, doesn't need to be turned on in liver cells. In plants, genes encoding the structure of a flower can be turned off in cells that will form a leaf.

28 Jan 2021

Viral ExoN regulates the rate of recombination in SARS-CoV-2

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston have discovered what may be the Achilles' heel of the coronavirus, a finding that may help close the door on COVID-19 and possibly head off future pandemics.

28 Jan 2021

Genetic changes in tumors can help predict the efficacy of immunotherapy drugs

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, the UCL Cancer Institute, and the Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence have identified genetic changes in tumors which could be used to predict if immunotherapy drugs would be effective in individual patients.

28 Jan 2021

Innovative breakthrough promises to diagnose DNA rearrangement mutations

Doctors are increasingly using genetic signatures to diagnose diseases and determine the best course of care, but using DNA sequencing and other techniques to detect genomic rearrangements remains costly or limited in capabilities.

28 Jan 2021

American scientists receive the 2021 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize

FRANKFURT am MAIN. Two American scientists, Bonnie L. Bassler and Michael R. Silverman, receive the 2021 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, which is endowed with 120,000 €.

28 Jan 2021