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Researchers discover why exercise is good and high blood pressure is bad for the heart

When the heart is put under stress during exercise, it is considered healthy. Yet stress due to high blood pressure is bad for the heart. Why? And is this always the case? Researchers of the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research and of Heidelberg University Hospital have obtained new findings which indicate that a previously undetected signal pathway causes or protects from heart failure - depending on the type of stress.

9 Jan 2018

Regeneron forms consortium to accelerate largest widely-available human sequencing resource

By the end of 2019, Regeneron plans to sequence the exomes of all 500,000 people within the UK Biobank resource, all with associated health records, creating an unprecedented resource linking human genetic variations to human biology and disease.

9 Jan 2018

Identical twins share additional level of molecular similarity

An international group of researchers has discovered a new phenomenon that occurs in identical twins: independent of their identical genes, they share an additional level of molecular similarity that influences their biological characteristics.

9 Jan 2018

Variations in singular genes could have large impact on hereditary facial features

Do you have your grandmother's eyes? Or your father's nose? A new study by the Universities of Oxford and Surrey has uncovered variations in singular genes that have a large impact on human facial features, paving the way to understanding what determines the facial characteristics passed on from generation to generation.

9 Jan 2018

Researchers develop drug that supports cellular traffic jam theory in ALS/FTD

Neurodegeneration in ALS/FTD may be caused by TDP-43 aggregation in the cytoplasm, causing cellular traffic jams. The trial drug can sequester TDP-43.

9 Jan 2018

Common gene test to predict breast cancer recurrence may not be cost-effective

The most commonly used gene expression profile test used to help predict breast cancer recurrence may not be as cost-effective as once thought, say a team of researchers led by Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

9 Jan 2018

Oncologists discover cell type that gives rise to soft tissue cancer in children

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital oncologists have discovered the cell type that gives rise to rhabdomyosarcoma, the most prevalent soft tissue cancer in children.

8 Jan 2018

WPI professor receives Smith Family Foundation grant to explore biology of cancer cells

Amity Manning, assistant professor of biology and biotechnology, has received a three-year, $300,000 award from the Smith Family Awards Program for Excellence in Biomedical Research.

8 Jan 2018

Researchers discover mutations in a gene related to obesity

Researchers have discovered mutations in a gene related to obesity, offering new treatment possibilities in the fight against the global epidemic.

8 Jan 2018

Study finds a cellular mechanism that protects plant genes from impacts of mutation

According to a new study conducted at the University of Oxford, a cellular mechanism termed DNA mismatch repair (MMR), preferentially protects plant genes from the damaging impacts of mutation.

8 Jan 2018

University of Montana researchers make discovery on unusual gene evolution in bacteria

University of Montana researchers have made another discovery at the cellular level to help understand the basic processes of all life on our planet - this time within the unusual bacteria that has lived inside cicada insects since dinosaurs roamed Earth.

5 Jan 2018

Newly described super-silenced DNA reveals novel approach to reprogram cells

Newly described stretches of super-silenced DNA reveal a fresh approach to reprogram cell identity to use in regenerative medicine studies and one day in the clinic, according to a study in Molecular Cell last week by investigators from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

5 Jan 2018

Genetic differences can influence efficiency of medicines

Medicines do not follow the one size fits all principle, because genetic differences can influence their efficiency.

5 Jan 2018

Cellular mechanism protects genes from damaging effects of mutation

Researchers at the University of Oxford have discovered that a cellular mechanism preferentially protects plant genes from the damaging effects of mutation.

5 Jan 2018

Researchers discover genetic mechanism for resistance to immunotherapy drugs

An urgent question for cancer scientists is why immunotherapy achieves dramatic results in some cases but doesn't help most patients.

5 Jan 2018

Study finds link between dietary sugar and increasing bacterial epidemics

The rising frequency and severity of Clostridium difficile infections may be caused by the commonly used food additive, trehalose, according to Nature.

5 Jan 2018

Why Should We Weigh Every Protein in the Human Body?

Our mission is to advance the measurement of human proteins with greater precision, to bring to the world the benefits of absolute molecular specificity when it comes to interrogating proteins at the molecular level.

From Pittcon 5 Jan 2018

Sleeping sickness actually caused by acceleration of biological clocks

Sleeping sickness could use a more encompassing moniker. An international study from the O'Donnell Brain Institute shows one of Africa's most lethal diseases is actually a circadian rhythm disorder caused by the acceleration of biological clocks controlling a range of vital functions besides sleep.

4 Jan 2018

MGH study points toward potential strategy for treating X-linked disorders

A study from a team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators points toward a potential strategy for treating X-linked disorders - those caused by mutations in the X chromosome - in females.

4 Jan 2018

Researchers develop new compound that inhibits growth of melanoma cells

An international team of researchers has developed a novel compound that successfully inhibits growth of melanoma cells by targeting specific epigenetic modifying proteins in these cells.

4 Jan 2018