Humans normally have 46 chromosomes in each cell, divided into 23 pairs. Two copies of chromosome 18, one copy inherited from each parent, form one of the pairs. Chromosome 18 spans about 76 million base pairs (the building blocks of DNA) and represents approximately 2.7 percent of the total DNA in cells.
Identifying genes on each chromosome is an active area of genetic research. Because researchers use different approaches to predict the number of genes on each chromosome, the estimated number of genes varies. Chromosome 18 likely contains between 300 and 500 genes.
Genes on chromosome 18 are among the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 total genes in the human genome.
Now a new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv* server dismisses the possibility, raised by that study, that the virus inserts its genetic material into the host cell’s genome.
Chemotherapy and radiation treatments are known to cause harsh side effects that patients can see or feel throughout their bodies.
In Germany about 18 million people suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver. The causes of this disease are manifold and include environmental as well as genetic factors.
With more targeted therapies being approved each year for cancer, the development of drug resistance to these agents is a growing concern.
Researchers in the Hannes Lohi research group in the University of Helsinki focused on two forms of canine fearfulness: noise sensitivity and general fearfulness.
What role do genes play in egg, milk, and nut allergies? A study published in Nature Communications, led by the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, has found five genetic risk loci that point to the importance of skin and mucous membrane barriers and the immune system in the development of food allergies.
Prenatal blood screening for extra or missing chromosomes in the fetus might give false-positive results if the mother's genome contains more than the usual number of certain DNA segments.
Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are ancient workhorse molecules and part of the cellular process that creates the proteins, critical building blocks of life that keep a cell running smoothly.
RNA is one of the most primitive molecules associated with life that has awakened most interest over the last decade; a sister molecule to cellular DNA from which it originates via a process called transcription.
Selflessness, determination, courage and hope. These are among the qualities that describe the eighteen caregivers from around the world who have been selected as recipients of the 2013 Shire BRAVE Awards, an international program that honors the bravery and devotion of non-professional carers.
Using a noninvasive test on maternal blood that deploys a novel biochemical assay and a new algorithm for analysis, scientists can detect, with a high degree of accuracy, the risk that a fetus has the chromosomal abnormalities that cause Down syndrome and a genetic disorder known as Edwards syndrome.
A newly available DNA-based prenatal blood test that can identify a pregnancy with Down syndrome can also identify two additional chromosome abnormalities: trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome) and trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome). The test for all three defects can be offered as early as 10 weeks of pregnancy to women who have been identified as being at high risk for these abnormalities.
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have developed a new animal model for studying hemophilia A, with the goal of eventually treating people with the disorder.
Scientists have identified a genetic variant which increases susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) in African populations using a technique known as a genome-wide association (GWA) study. This is the first novel disease variant to be identified using this technique in Africans and demonstrates that such studies are viable in African populations, which have a high degree of genetic diversity.
A new gene that normally protects against ovarian cancer is switched-off in two-thirds of cases of the disease, reveals a study published in the journal Neoplasia today.
A team of investigators from Columbia, Rockefeller and Stanford Universities has identified a new gene involved in hair growth, as reported in a paper in the April 15 issue of Nature. This discovery may affect future research and treatments for male pattern baldness and other forms of hair loss.
Researchers at Signature Genomic Laboratories, which performs diagnostic genetic testing of chromosome abnormalities in individuals with unexplained physical and developmental disabilities, recently showed that microarray analysis can identify small DNA alterations in individuals with Pitt-Hopkins syndrome, a rare and poorly characterized genetic disorder.
Genetics plays a key role in determining risk for colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.
An unexpected finding turned out to be a clue leading researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to propose a new treatment approach for Niemann-Pick disease, a rare, deadly neurodegenerative disorder.
Researchers have localized two new genes that are associated with fever-related seizures that occur in infancy and childhood, according to a study published in the April 24, 2007, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.