Inherit News and Research

RSS

New synthetic genetic tool measures and manipulates protein aggregation in live cells

A common thread ties seemingly unlinked disorders like Alzheimer's disease and type II diabetes together. This thread is known as protein aggregation and happens when proteins clump together. These complexes are a hallmark of many diseases but have recently been linked to beneficial functions as well.

20 Oct 2017

Better post-weaning diet can reverse potential consequences of early-life high-fat exposure

Research has shown that a mother's diet during pregnancy, particularly one that is high-fat, may program her baby for future risk of certain diseases such as diabetes. A new study from nutrition researchers at the University of Illinois shows that switching the offspring to a new diet--a low-fat diet, in this case--can reverse that programming.

20 Oct 2017

Physiology-driven genetic changes have positive influence on brain development

SCIENTISTS in the UK and India have discovered more evidence that positive stimuli in early childhood can benefit the infant brain.

31 Jul 2017

Researchers uncover new clues to why BRCA1 mutations cause breast and ovarian cancer

The human body holds many mysteries, and function of the BRCA1 gene is among them. Women who inherit a faulty copy of BRCA1 have up to a 65 percent chance to develop breast cancer by age 70. They also have up to a 39 percent chance to develop ovarian cancer.

19 Jul 2017

Study provides insights into intergenerational inheritance of epigenetic information

We are more than the sum of our genes. Epigenetic mechanisms modulated by environmental cues such as diet, disease or our lifestyle take a major role in regulating the DNA by switching genes on and off.

18 Jul 2017

Scientists show way to edit genome of disease-carrying mosquitoes

Scientists at UC Berkeley and UC Riverside have demonstrated a way to edit the genome of disease-carrying mosquitoes that brings us closer to suppressing them on a continental scale.

28 Jun 2017

Genetic factors play significant role in causing ALS, study reveals

Up to 90 percent of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) report that they have no family history of the disease.

22 Jun 2017

Study finds direct link between birth outcomes and placental oxygen transport

When a baby is born small, it's often attributed to genetic factors or maternal risk factors like poor nutrition or smoking.

16 Jun 2017

Early life stress encodes lifelong susceptibility to depression through alterations in brain reward region

Early life stress encodes lifelong susceptibility to stress through long-lasting transcriptional programming in a brain reward region implicated in mood and depression, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published June 15 in the journal Science.

15 Jun 2017

WHO calls for action to stamp out tobacco use

According to a first-ever WHO report on tobacco, stamping out its use could save millions of people’s lives, reduce levels of poverty and decrease damage to the environment.

31 May 2017

Scientists create a faster, less labor-intensive test to detect “hidden” HIV

The search to develop a HIV cure has long been overwhelmed by a seemingly simple question: How do physicians find out if somebody is cured? The virus has an ability to lie dormant in immune cells at levels that could not be detected to all, however, the most expensive and time-consuming tests can find the hidden virus.

30 May 2017

Study finds two genetic variants linked to bicuspid aortic valve development

Researchers are working to determine why the aortic valve doesn't form correctly in patients with the most common congenital heart defect: bicuspid aortic valve.

25 May 2017

Study finds wearable fitness trackers accurately measure heart rate but not energy expenditure

According to a study published online in the Journal of Personalized Medicine, fitness activity trackers measure heart rates precisely but not the number of calories burned.

25 May 2017

Mother cells pass on DNA damage to offspring, study shows

A new University of Colorado Boulder study has shown that some dividing human cells are "kicking the can down the road," passing on low-level DNA damage to offspring, causing daughter cells to pause in a quiescent, or dormant, state previously thought to be random in origin.

17 May 2017

Study underscores need for genetic screening to improve safety of experimental stem cell treatments

Regenerative medicine using human pluripotent stem cells to grow transplantable tissue outside the body carries the promise to treat a range of intractable disorders, such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease.

26 Apr 2017

Scientists use stem cells to identify underlying cellular defects that cause Angelman syndrome

Researchers at UConn Health used stem cells derived from patients with Angelman syndrome to identify the underlying cellular defects that cause the rare neurogenetic disorder, an important step in the ongoing search for potential treatments for Angelman and a possible cure.

25 Apr 2017

Genomic Analysis Technologies: Past, Present and Future

In this interview, Jay Flatley, Executive Chairman of Illumina, gives an introduction to Illumina and the next generation genomics tools they provide.

From Pittcon 10 Apr 2017

BPS shows potential for increasing aggressiveness of breast cancer, study finds

Bisphenol S (BPS), a substitute for the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in the plastic industry, shows the potential for increasing the aggressiveness of breast cancer through its behavior as an endocrine-disrupting chemical, a new study finds.

2 Apr 2017

Heroin use linked to epigenetic alterations in the brain

Heroin use is associated with excessive histone acetylation, an epigenetic process that regulates gene expression, and more years of drug use correlate with higher levels of hyperacetylation, according to research conducted at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

22 Mar 2017

Diagnosing Infections Through Molecules in Patient Breath

Over the past couple of decades, the analytical technology and the clinical microbiology insight needed to create a breath test for infections has seen a considerable number of advances and there are now numerous research teams focused on evaluating patient breath as a diagnostic fluid for infectious diseases. Significant challenges still need to be overcome.

From Pittcon 27 Feb 2017