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Brain’s structural and functional alignment can vary with sex, age and may be genetic, study suggests

The degree to which the brain's wiring aligns with its patterns of activity can vary with sex and age, and may be genetic, suggests a study published by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The study finds that this alignment may also have implications on cognition.

16 Aug 2021

Researchers solve century old mystery by identifying how sex cells get the right genetic mix

A new discovery explains what determines the number and position of genetic exchanges that occur in sex cells, such as pollen and eggs in plants, or sperm and eggs in humans.

3 Aug 2021

Higher net worth at midlife associated with longevity in US adults

One of the keys to a long life may lie in your net worth. In the first wealth and longevity study to incorporate siblings and twin pair data, researchers from Northwestern University analyzed the midlife net worth of adults (mean age 46.7 years) and their mortality rates 24 years later.

23 Jul 2021

Study offers a new model for examining genetic risk associated with nicotine dependence

Some people casually smoke cigarettes for a while and then stop without a problem, while others develop long-term, several packs-per-day habits. A complex mix of environmental, behavioral, and genetic factors appear to raise this risk for nicotine dependence.

1 Jul 2021

Heidelberg researchers replicate rare genetic defect in fish model

A rare genetic defect that affects the so-called ALG2 gene can cause serious metabolic diseases in humans. It does so through the defective formation of proteins and sugar molecules.

23 Jun 2021

Study shows how epigenetic factors modulate the risk of type 1 diabetes

Genetics plays a major role in determining a person’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes, but environmental and lifestyle factors are also important. In an article recently published in Chinese Medical Journal, a team of researchers explore the interplay of genetic and environmental factors by summarizing the literature on type 1 diabetes and epigenetics—the study of how gene expression patterns can be modified.

18 Jun 2021

Depression, anxiety and stress during pandemic linked with lower quality sleep

Many people likely lost sleep over COVID-19. A study of twins led by Washington State University researchers found that stress, anxiety and depression during the first few weeks of the pandemic were associated with less and lower quality sleep.

17 Jun 2021

Does the number of siblings you have affect your health?

News-Medical spoke to Professor Peter M Nilsson about cardiovascular disease risk and whether this is affected by the number of siblings you have.

15 Jun 2021

Researchers investigate immune molecule that helps protect transplanted kidneys

Looking to improve organ transplant success, researchers are working to learn more about how an immune molecule, which also protects a fetus, helps protect some transplanted kidneys, and to develop a synthetic version of that molecule that could help more patients.

18 May 2021

Covid fears keep many Latino kids out of classrooms

For the past year, 13-year-old twins Ariel Jr. and Abraham Osorio have logged on to their online classes from their parents' flower shop. Ariel nestles in a corner among flowers, bows and stuffed animals. Abraham sets up on a small table in the back, where his dad used to work trimming flowers and keeping the books.

12 May 2021

Gesture and speech go hand-in-hand in twins' early language development, show studies

Gestures--such as pointing or waving--go hand in hand with a child's first words, and twins lag behind single children in producing and using those gestures, two studies from Georgia State University psychology researchers show.

10 May 2021

Developmental abnormalities are controlled by genetics of the fetus and placenta

Yale researchers have shown that developmental abnormalities, including those that lead to pregnancy loss and autism, are controlled by the genetics of the fetus and placenta -- and not the mother's intrauterine environment.

4 May 2021

3D replicas of healthy adult hearts show how cardiac shape relates to function

Researchers from King's College London have created 3D replicas of full-sized healthy adult hearts from Computed Tomography (CT) images and analyzed how cardiac shape relates to function.

16 Apr 2021

Obesity reduces mitochondrial gene expression in fat tissue, finds study

A twin study recently completed at the University of Helsinki indicates that the machinery responsible for energy handling in fat tissue is working poorly in obesity.

9 Apr 2021

Study of twins reveals differences in adaptive immunity towards SARS-CoV-2

Twins may look alike on the outside, but not so much on the inside. That's one takeaway from a new preprint study posted to the medRxiv server where Brazilian researchers observed different T-cell responses in two pairs of identical twins exposed to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). One twin who was reinfected with SARS-CoV-2 four months after had low recognition of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitopes.

31 Mar 2021

Random cellular changes play vital role in longevity beyond genetics and environment

A new model of aging takes into account not only genetics and environmental exposures but also the tiny changes that randomly arise at the cellular level.

13 Mar 2021

Study suggests revisiting 14-day limit on human embryo in a dish

An international team of bioethicists and scientists, led by a researcher at Case Western Reserve University, contends it may be justified to go beyond the standing 14-day limit that restricts how long researchers can study human embryos in a dish.

5 Mar 2021

Study findings help explain the diversity of cancers in different Li-Fraumeni patients

The most frequently mutated gene in human cancers is called p53. Patients with Li-Fraumeni syndrome, which is a rare disorder that increases the risk of developing several types of cancer, often have an increased risk to develop cancers at early ages if they inherit p53 mutations.

23 Feb 2021

Scientists describe genetic mechanisms behind mating process of ciliates

Conjugation (or mating) of ciliates is a unique phenomenon among living beings. They have sex not for reproduction or pleasure — they seek to increase genetic variation.

20 Feb 2021

Montana’s health policy MVP takes her playbook on the road

Marilyn Bartlett might be the closest thing health policy has to a folk hero. A certified public accountant who barely tops 5 feet, Bartlett bears zero resemblance to Paul Bunyan.

18 Feb 2021