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Organoids can help provide new level of accuracy in prescribing anti-cancer therapies

Precision medicine, using the power of the human genome to diagnose and treat patients, is about to get even more precise.

22 Jun 2020

Chimeric reference standards for validating controls in SARS-CoV-2 tests

A preliminary study by researchers from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the University of New South Wales and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the use of chimeric design to produced reference standards for diagnostic tests. This could allow a highly flexible approach to the development of different genetic features in the same test, even for organisms that are not directly related.

15 Jun 2020

MGH researchers identify key mechanism in X chromosome inactivation

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have identified a key mechanism in X chromosome inactivation, a phenomenon that may hold clues that lead to treatments for certain rare congenital disorders.

12 Jun 2020

Ashion Analytics is now part of NCI's MATCH cancer clinical trials

Ashion Analytics, a clinical laboratory of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, is now part of the National Cancer Institute's MATCH program, which provides patients who have rare or difficult-to-treat cancers with access to unique clinical trials nationwide that might give them the best therapeutic treatments and outcomes.

12 Jun 2020

Scientists aim to develop a gene-targeting, antiviral agent against COVID-19

A team of scientists from Stanford University is working with researchers at the Molecular Foundry, a nanoscience user facility located at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), to develop a gene-targeting, antiviral agent against COVID-19.

4 Jun 2020

Study reveals biochemical alterations in patients with Lesch-Nyhan disease

An international study by the Institute of Neuroscience of the UAB, Emory University and Hospital Universitario La Paz, published in the PNAS journal, shows that patients suffering from Lesch-Nyhan, a rare neurological disease, present biochemical alterations in skin cells (fibroblasts), urine and cerebrospinal fluid.

4 Jun 2020

Genetic variations linked to COVID-19 severity

A new report by researchers from Thailand's Mahidol University and published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 reports that the clinical severity of COVID-19 may be linked to the genetic makeup of the patient in addition to external factors.

3 Jun 2020

A vectored vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2

The current pandemic of COVID-19 is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a betacoronavirus similar to that which caused the SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV earlier. Scientists are pursuing therapeutic drugs and vaccines to counter the relentless spread of the virus, but so far, none has been established to be effective. However, several are in clinical trials in various parts of the world.

2 Jun 2020

Newly identified gene may have contributed to rapid evolution of COVID-19

An international team of researchers has identified a previously uncharacterized gene within the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genome that may be important in understanding the origins and evolution of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

25 May 2020

Researchers analyze data on RNA structure of tick-borne encephalitis virus

Researchers from Sechenov University together with colleagues from several Russian institutes analyzed data on the RNA structure of tick-borne encephalitis virus.

22 May 2020

COVID-19 in farmed Mink in the Netherlands

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in May 2020 reports the development of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in farmed mink in two locations in the Netherlands.

21 May 2020

Host-virus interaction drives adaptive mutation in bat CoV related to SARS-CoVs

Virus and receptor diversity is shaped by the need to evolve advanced weaponry to facilitate virus entry and infection, on the one hand, and host resistance, on the other. A new paper published on the preprint server bioRxiv* shows how this mechanism operates in a bat coronavirus, which is related to the earlier SARS coronavirus.

17 May 2020

Genome-wide pattern found in glioblastoma tumors predicts patients' life expectancy

For the past 70 years, the best indicator of life expectancy for a patient with glioblastoma (GBM) -- the most common and the most aggressive brain cancer -- has simply been age at diagnosis.

15 May 2020

Remdesivir shows powerful activity against SARS-CoV-2 in Vitro

Remdesivir is an antiviral first developed by Gilead in 2014 as a treatment for Ebola and Marburg viruses. However, scientists explored its possibilities as a broad-spectrum drug when it proved effective against SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, coronaviruses which were responsible for earlier outbreaks.

30 Apr 2020

Study reveals SARS-CoV-2 RNA cap structure

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in April 2020 reports the discovery of the structure of the cap created by the novel coronavirus on virally encoded mRNAs. The finding could help create new antiviral strategies.

29 Apr 2020

Breakthrough discovery in HIV research opens path to new, better therapies

New research on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) structure has revealed a promising novel drug target for treating it.

23 Apr 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

Rare structural genetic variants could play a role in schizophrenia

Most research about the genetics of schizophrenia has sought to understand the role that genes play in the development and heritability of schizophrenia. Many discoveries have been made, but there have been many missing pieces.

17 Apr 2020

Remdesivir drug stops novel coronavirus from replicating

Scientists from the University of Alberta have published findings that the antiviral drug remdesivir prevents replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by inhibiting RNA replication. The study, published in April 2020 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, follows on the heels of earlier reports from the same lab in February, showing the drug's effectiveness against the related Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus.

15 Apr 2020

First detailed map of transcriptome and epitranscriptome for novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)

A team of researchers has come out with the first detailed map of the transcriptome and epitranscriptome of the virulent SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 disease, the illness that has become a pandemic ravaging both developed and less developed countries of the world. The study, published in the journal Cell in April 2020, may assist in the development of new vaccines and therapeutics.

12 Apr 2020