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Research detects a more dangerous SARS-CoV-2 mutation

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in May 2020 reports the setting up of a system to help track new mutations in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is behind the current COVID-19 pandemic. This will help analyze mutations to find and track the spread of those that are most likely to increase the pathogenicity of the virus, either by making it easier to transmit or by enhancing its resistance to treatment.

4 May 2020

Mutations in novel coronavirus make it more dangerous

A new report published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 reveals that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 shows the presence of new mutations acquired within infected human cases, which significantly increase its ability to cause human disease.

20 Apr 2020

Start Codon and One Nucleus join hands to enable success of UK life science cluster

Start Codon, a new model of life science and healthcare business accelerator, today announced it has partnered with One Nucleus, a membership organisation for life science and healthcare companies.

13 Dec 2019

Innovative drug treatment developed for familial adenomatous polyposis

Researchers from Tel Aviv University and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital) have developed an innovative drug treatment for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), a rare, inherited condition that affects adolescents and young adults and often leads to colorectal cancer.

3 Oct 2019

Rice chemist explores how extra amino acid could be used to make life-saving substances

There are 20 amino acids in the standard genetic code. A Rice University professor wants to know what one can do with 21.

27 Sep 2019

Cancer disease incidence and severity influenced by gene mutation, tissue location

The KRAS gene is one of the commonly mutated genes in cancer. More than 40 percent of colorectal cancers have a mutated KRAS gene, or oncogene, that is at least partially responsible for cancer development.

12 Sep 2019

Researchers discover new function of ribosomes in human cells

Researchers from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered a new function of ribosomes in human cells that may show the protein-making particle's role in destroying healthy mRNAs, the messages that decode DNA into protein.

26 May 2019

Scientists create bacteria with man-made DNA

In a landmark research study, a living organism (E. coli) has been made using entirely human-made DNA.

21 May 2019

Designer organelles in living mammalian cells can build synthetic proteins

A research team led by biophysical chemist Professor Edward Lemke has engineered a designer organelle in a living mammalian cell in a new complex biological translation process. The created membraneless organelle can build proteins from natural and synthetic amino acids carrying new functionalities.

30 Mar 2019

UIC scientists identify hidden proteins in bacteria

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed a way to identify the beginning of every gene -- known as a translation start site or a start codon -- in bacterial cell DNA with a single experiment and, through this method, they have shown that an individual gene is capable of coding for more than one protein.

21 Mar 2019

Unique gene therapy approach paves new way to tackle rare, inherited diseases

Nonsense mutations are single-letter errors in the genetic code that prematurely halt the production of critical proteins. These unfinished proteins are unable to function normally, and nonsense mutations cause 10-15 percent of all inherited genetic diseases, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, cystic fibrosis and polycystic kidney disease.

19 Feb 2019

Research shows enlarged genotype-phenotype correlation for three-base pair deletion in NF1

International collaborative research led by Ludwine Messiaen, Ph.D., shows that while a three-base pair, in-frame deletion called p.Met992del in the NF1 gene has a mild phenotype for people with the genetic disorder neurofibromatosis type 1, or NF1, the mutation does cause complications.

18 Sep 2018

Novel tool predicts genes that cause disease due to production of truncated proteins

Predicting genes that can cause disease due to the production of truncated or altered proteins that take on a new or different function, rather than those that lose their function, is now possible thanks to an international team of researchers, including researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, that has developed a new analytical tool to effectively and efficiently predict such candidate genes.

20 Jul 2018

Simple DNA test can predict risk of bad side effects to thiopurine drugs

Screening a tiny section of DNA could help East Asian patients avoid severe reactions to some medications.

2 Jul 2018

Scripps Research professor wins 2018 RSC Bioorganic Chemistry Award

Floyd Romesberg, PhD, professor at The Scripps Research Institute, has won the 2018 Royal Society of Chemistry Bioorganic Chemistry Award for his ground-breaking contributions to the expansion of the genetic alphabet.

9 May 2018

Using human induced pluripotent stem cells for therapeutic drug testing

Researchers at Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of The University of Hong Kong have successfully demonstrated the use of human induced pluripotent stem cells from patients' skin cells for therapeutic drug testing.

8 May 2018

UAB study shows missense mutations as key risk factor for severe symptoms of neurofibromatosis type 1

Research led by Ludwine Messiaen, Ph.D., professor of genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, shows that missense mutations in a cluster of just five codons in the NF1 gene are an important risk factor for severe symptoms of the genetic disease neurofibromatosis type 1.

28 Dec 2017

Wayne State researchers win NIH grant to uncover new antibiotic targets

A research team from Wayne State University has received a $1.85 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health for the project "Mechanisms of Non-Shine-Dalgarno Translation Initiation."

26 Oct 2017

Researchers enhance safety, effectiveness of potential HIV vaccine using on/off genetic switch

By engineering an on/off switch into a weakened form of HIV, University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers have enhanced the safety and effectiveness of a potential vaccine for the virus that has killed approximately 35 million people during the past 35 years.

30 Mar 2017

Missing gene may cause kidney and urinary tract defects in people with DiGeorge syndrome

Loss of function of the CRKL gene causes kidney and urinary tract defects in people with DiGeorge syndrome, a multinational team of scientists led by Columbia University Medical Center has found.

25 Jan 2017