Genes News and Research

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Research team awarded $3.6 million to assess safety of genome editing

As genome editing technologies quickly advance toward clinical therapies, they are raising hopes of a completely new way to treat disease. They are also bringing to light a number of challenges that need to be addressed before potential treatments can be widely used in patients.

11 Oct 2018

UK Biobank provides wealth of information for further genetic studies

There are 3.2 billion positions on the human genome and it requires a study of huge number of genetic variations in the populations to estimate the associations between genetic disorders and mutations. Two new studies have been published in the journal Nature.

11 Oct 2018

Study sheds light on lupus's autoimmune origins in precursor cells

In the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE, the immune system produces antibodies against parts of the body itself. How cells that produce those antibodies escape the normal "checks and balances" has been unclear, but recent research from Emory University School of Medicine sheds light on a missing link.

11 Oct 2018

Molecular pathways underlying myopia open new ways for drug development

Myopia (nearsightedness) and hyperopia (farsightedness) develop through different molecular pathways, according to a new study publishing October 9 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Andrei Tkatchenko of Columbia University and colleagues.

10 Oct 2018

Researchers aim to create more authentic organoids for drug testing, transplantation

Human embryos start as a tiny mass of cells that are all the same. The first step in growing from a homogenous ball of cells into a complex individual with distinct organs and tissues is for the cells to divide into distinct populations.

10 Oct 2018

Drug treatment at a young age could help reverse autism-like behavior in tuberous sclerosis

New research on autism has found, in a mouse model, that drug treatment at a young age can reverse social impairments. But the same intervention was not effective at an older age.

10 Oct 2018

Bridge-like structure within estrogen receptor could serve as new drug target for breast cancer

Many breast cancer drugs block estrogen receptors inside cancer cells. Blocking the receptors early in disease progression staves off metastasis.

10 Oct 2018

Brown researchers uncover new clues about ALS progression

Brown University researchers have uncovered new clues about the progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a surprisingly common disease that causes the death of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles such as those involved in walking, talking, chewing or breathing.

10 Oct 2018

Scientists identify new biomarker for Alzheimer's disease of sporadic origin

The objective of the research, undertaken in the laboratories of the IBPM, is to develop a model for studying Alzheimer's disease of sporadic origin, in other words, not due to a hereditary genetic mutation.

10 Oct 2018

Scientists discover pheromone-sensing gene that predates land-dwelling vertebrates

Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology have discovered a gene that appears to play a vital role in pheromone sensing. The gene is conserved across fish and mammals and over 400 million years of vertebrate evolution, indicating that the pheromone sensing system is much more ancient than previously believed.

10 Oct 2018

New DNA test can predict adult heart attack risk much earlier in life

People at high risk of a heart attack in adulthood could be spotted much earlier in life with a one-off DNA test, according to new research part-funded by the British Heart Foundation and published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

9 Oct 2018

Study links poor manganese uptake to scoliosis

Some cases of severe scoliosis may arise as a result of the body being unable to fully utilize manganese, a dietary mineral used for bone and cartilage growth.

9 Oct 2018

Two related enzymes have opposing roles in heart failure

Two related enzymes have opposing roles in mouse heart muscle cells exposed to pressure overload, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.

9 Oct 2018

Study links scoliosis to essential dietary mineral

Nobody knows why some children's backs start to curve to one side just as they hit puberty. Most children diagnosed with scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, have no known risk factors.

9 Oct 2018

Massively parallel single-nucleus RNA sequencing reveals insights into heart disease

Scientists using a powerful new technology that sequences RNA in 20,000 individual cell nuclei have uncovered new insights into biological events in heart disease.

9 Oct 2018

Genetic link to erectile dysfunction discovered

According to a new study there may be a genetic link to erectile dysfunction. This is the first time that such as connection has been made and this could mean that newer avenues of treatment could be explored for erectile dysfunction, explain the researchers.

8 Oct 2018

Cutting-edge precision medicine spreading from specialist cancer units to community setting

Nearly 1 in 4 patients with advanced cancer, treated at Comprehensive Cancer Care Network centers in the US, are receiving innovative drugs matched to DNA mutations in their tumors.

8 Oct 2018

Researchers find specific place in the genome linked to increased risk of erectile dysfunction

For the first time, a team of researchers has found a specific place in the human genome that raises a person's risk of erectile dysfunction. The discovery is a significant advancement in the understanding of the genetics underlying erectile dysfunction.

8 Oct 2018

Researchers provide new knowledge about retrovirus-host coevolution

Retroviruses have colonized vertebrate hosts for millions of years by inserting their genes into host genomes, enabling their inheritance through generations as endogenous retroviruses.

8 Oct 2018

Researchers design new method to pinpoint genetic differences between species

Why do naked mole rats live up to 31 years, when distantly related lab mice are lucky to make it to four? How is the aquatic axolotl capable of regenerating limbs, jaws, spines and even brains when frogs can only regrow tails as tadpoles? How can these difference be exploited for the benefit of human health?

8 Oct 2018