Genes News and Research

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Vanderbilt geneticists find new way to tap plant pharmacopeia to produce improved therapeutics

Cocaine, nicotine, capsaicin. These are just three familiar examples of the hundreds of thousands of small molecules (also called specialized or secondary metabolites) that plants use as chemical ammunition to protect themselves from predation.

17 Apr 2017

Scientists identify gene responsible for generating key lipid in skin barrier formation

Scientists have identified the gene responsible for generating acylceramide, the key lipid in forming the skin barrier that protects us from pathogens, allergens and other harmful substances. This finding could prove crucial in developing medicines for treating atopic dermatitis and ichthyosis.

17 Apr 2017

Seeing genes inside living cells

For Mazhar Adli, the little glowing dots dancing about on the computer screen are nothing less than the fulfillment of a dream. Those fluorescent dots, moving in real time, are set to illuminate our understanding of the human genome, cancer and other genetic diseases in a way never before possible.

14 Apr 2017

Researchers correct Duchenne muscular dystrophy using gene-editing alternative

Using the new gene-editing enzyme CRISPR-Cpf1, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have successfully corrected Duchenne muscular dystrophy in human cells and mice in the lab.

13 Apr 2017

Targeted treatment slows progression of two degenerative brain diseases in mice

Scientists report a significant step toward combatting two degenerative brain diseases that chip away at an individual's ability to move, and think.

12 Apr 2017

NIH study provides unprecedented detail on host response to Ebola virus disease

Analysis of daily gene activation in a patient with severe Ebola virus disease cared for at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2015 found changes in antiviral and immune response genes that pinpointed key transition points in the response to infection.

12 Apr 2017

NIH scientists identify protein complexes involved in promoting HSV infection and reactivation

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections last a lifetime. Once a person has been infected, the virus can remain dormant (latent) for years before periodically reactivating to cause recurrent disease. This poorly understood cycle has frustrated scientists for years.

12 Apr 2017

'Human knockouts': Genetics in families reveals basic biology and possible therapeutics for disorders

More than 1,800 individuals carrying loss-of-function mutations in both copies of their genes, so-called "human knockouts," are described in the first major study to be published in Nature this week by an international collaboration led by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues.

12 Apr 2017

Scientists discover how insulin-producing cells show differences in age

Diabetes researchers have puzzled for decades about why insulin-producing beta cells in one pancreatic islet often look and behave quite differently than their counterparts in the same islet or in nearby islets.

12 Apr 2017

Microparticles show potential to deliver DNA-based vaccines and gene therapies in pill form

A microscopic corn-and-shrimp cocktail could eventually make DNA-based vaccinations and cancer-treating gene therapies an easier pill to swallow, according to new research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

12 Apr 2017

Developmental Split-Brain syndrome discovery

Our group describes a new entity, which we refer to as “Developmental Split-Brain syndrome” which we discovered affected four individuals from three unrelated families. All affected individuals showed disruption of communicating tracts between the right and left side of the brain which meant that there is lack of coordination and communication between the two sides of the brain.

12 Apr 2017

Researchers identify three novel genetic mutations linked to Fuchs dystrophy

Researchers discovered three novel genetic mutations associated with Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy, the most common corneal disorder requiring transplantation.

12 Apr 2017

Prevention, not cure, may be key to stopping Alzheimer’s disease

It has been 111 years since Auguste D. became the first person described with what is now called Alzheimer's disease.

12 Apr 2017

Human Vaccines Project, VUMC and Illumina team up to decipher genetic underpinnings of immune system

The Human Vaccines Project and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) today announced that they joined forces with Illumina, Inc., to decipher the human immunome, the genetic underpinnings of the immune system.

12 Apr 2017

Researchers use genetic manipulation to regenerate auditory hair cells in adult mice

In an apparent first, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have used genetic manipulation to regenerate auditory hair cells in adult mice. The research marks a possible advance in treatment of hearing loss in humans. The study appears today in the journal Cell Reports.

11 Apr 2017

Researchers uncover mechanism that leads to disorders in pancreatic development, infant diabetes

Researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, have uncovered a mechanism through which a mutation in the STAT3 gene leads to a disorder in the development of the pancreas and to infant diabetes.

11 Apr 2017

Study identifies potential link between genes and treatment response in children with CAE

Consider two children who have childhood absence epilepsy (CAE), the most common form of pediatric epilepsy. They both take the same drug--one child sees an improvement in their seizures, but the other does not.

11 Apr 2017

Scientists discover promising target to treat highly aggressive brain tumor in infants

Using state-of-the-art gene editing technology, scientists from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago have discovered a promising target to treat atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT) – a highly aggressive and therapy resistant brain tumor that mostly occurs in infants.

11 Apr 2017

Researchers identify 26 novel genes linked to intellectual disability

Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Queen's University have identified 26 new genes linked to intellectual disability. Currently most patients with intellectual disability receive no molecular diagnosis, which significantly affects their health and shortens their lifespan.

11 Apr 2017

Scientists discover new role for autophagosomes in neurodegenerative diseases

Autophagosomes are at the center of attention, at least since the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded for research on autophagy in 2016. The much talked about autophagosomes are small membrane vesicles in charge of waste disposal to promote recycling of its components.

11 Apr 2017

Genes News and Research

Vanderbilt geneticists find new way to tap plant pharmacopeia to produce improved therapeutics

Scientists identify gene responsible for generating key lipid in skin barrier formation

Seeing genes inside living cells

Researchers correct Duchenne muscular dystrophy using gene-editing alternative

Targeted treatment slows progression of two degenerative brain diseases in mice

NIH study provides unprecedented detail on host response to Ebola virus disease

NIH scientists identify protein complexes involved in promoting HSV infection and reactivation

'Human knockouts': Genetics in families reveals basic biology and possible therapeutics for disorders

Scientists discover how insulin-producing cells show differences in age

Microparticles show potential to deliver DNA-based vaccines and gene therapies in pill form

Developmental Split-Brain syndrome discovery

Researchers identify three novel genetic mutations linked to Fuchs dystrophy

Prevention, not cure, may be key to stopping Alzheimer’s disease

Human Vaccines Project, VUMC and Illumina team up to decipher genetic underpinnings of immune system

Researchers use genetic manipulation to regenerate auditory hair cells in adult mice

Researchers uncover mechanism that leads to disorders in pancreatic development, infant diabetes

Study identifies potential link between genes and treatment response in children with CAE

Scientists discover promising target to treat highly aggressive brain tumor in infants

Researchers identify 26 novel genes linked to intellectual disability

Scientists discover new role for autophagosomes in neurodegenerative diseases

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