Bioinformatics News and Research

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Bioinformatics is the application of information techniques for the storage, retrieval, and analysis of large quantities of biological data.

Gene discovery in fruit flies could lead to treatments for age-related hearing loss

Scientists at UCL have discovered sets of regulatory genes, which are responsible for maintaining healthy hearing. The finding, made in fruit flies, could potentially lead to treatments for age-related hearing loss (ARHL) in humans.

2 Jun 2020

International research consortium launched to improve obesity treatment

University College Dublin (UCD) is leading SOPHIA (Stratification of Obese Phenotypes to Optimize Future Obesity Therapy), a new €16 million EU and industry supported international research consortium launched today.

2 Jun 2020

Fraunhofer researchers investigate the mechanisms of metastasis formation

What makes tumor cells turn murderous? The Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine ITEM is investigating the mechanisms of metastasis formation - and searching for approaches for new treatments in the fight against cancer.

2 Jun 2020

Study shows mental toll of being a frontline healthcare worker during COVID-19

They worked in hospitals hundreds of miles from the epicenter of COVID-19. Their city of 24 million people locked down hard enough, and did enough testing, that it only had a few hundred cases of the disease.

1 Jun 2020

NIH funding supports research on first therapeutic drug to regenerate heart tissue

With funding from the National Institutes of Health, University of Arkansas researchers hope to develop the first therapeutic drug that can regenerate heart tissue.

29 May 2020

How comorbidities affect SARS-CoV-2 viral entry

Almost from the start of the current COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear that individuals suffering from other medical conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and lung disease are far more likely to contract the infection and to have a poorer outcome.

28 May 2020

A closer look at TMPRSS2: This could help treat COVID-19

The transmembrane protease serine-type 2 (TMPRSS2) protein plays a key role in COVID-19 infection since it primes the viral spike protein to allow viral entry into the target cell. A new study by researchers at Imperial College London and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in May 2020 describes the protein, which could be an attractive drug target to help manage COVID-19.

28 May 2020

Computational immunology paves the way for SARS-CoV-2 peptide cocktail vaccine candidate

By employing an immunoinformatics approach, a new study available on the preprint server bioRxiv* shows how the combination of peptides designed from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid phosphoprotein and spike glycoprotein may trigger an improved immunological response with respectable safety profile, informing, in turn, further vaccine development.

21 May 2020

Experts urge further improvements in COVID-19 testing to increase speed and availability

In an important, comprehensive, and timely review, an expert team from the University of California Berkeley details the methodologies used in nucleic acid-based tests for detecting the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

20 May 2020

Methodologies to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2

20 May 2020

MicroRNAs in maternal blood may predict development of preeclampsia

Small non-coding RNA molecules, called microRNAs (miRNAs), found and measured in the blood plasma of asymptomatic pregnant women may predict development of preeclampsia, a condition characterized by high blood pressure and abnormal kidney function that affects roughly 5 to 8 percent of all pregnancies.

20 May 2020

Phase IIB clinical trial initiated for treating hepatitis B-associated liver cancer

The first patients have been dosed in a multi-regional Phase IIB randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial for the treatment of hepatitis B-associated liver cancer.

19 May 2020

Roswell Park team proposes possible new strategy for treating pancreatic cancer

A possible new strategy for treating pancreatic cancer highlights the promise of collaboration between experts in both precision medicine and immunology.

18 May 2020

First cellular immunology data to help guide social distancing recommendations

Scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine to protect against COVID-19 infection, and epidemiologists are trying to predict how the coronavirus pandemic will unfold until such a vaccine is available.

15 May 2020

Study provides new insights on mechanisms that promote cancer

Like subway com muters on a crowded train, cells generally prefer not to be packed in too tightly. In fact, they have set up mechanisms to avoid this, a phenomenon called "contact inhibition." A hallmark of cancer cells is that they lack this contact inhibition, and instead become pushy, facilitating their spread.

14 May 2020

LCSB researchers are coordinating to build a COVID-19 Disease Map

In the fight against the current pandemic, researchers of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxembourg are coordinating an international collaboration to build a COVID-19 Disease Map: a comprehensive repository incorporating all current knowledge on the virus-host interaction mechanisms. This online tool will support research and improve our understanding of the disease.

14 May 2020

Visual Science designs a scientific model of SARS-Cov-2 virus

The biomedical visualization studio Visual Science has created the most detailed and scientifically accurate 3D model of the full SARS-CoV-2 virus at atomic resolution.

14 May 2020

Single-cell RNA-seq addresses key question in islet cell biology and diabetes research

The pancreas is an abdominal organ that produces digestive enzymes as well as hormones that regulate blood sugar levels. This hormone-producing function is localized to the islets of Langerhans, which constitute clusters of different endocrine cell types.

12 May 2020

UCLA researchers develop first roadmap of how human skeletal muscle develops

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA has developed a first-of-its-kind roadmap of how human skeletal muscle develops, including the formation of muscle stem cells.

11 May 2020