Gene

A gene is a unit of heredity in a living organism. It normally resides on a stretch of DNA that codes for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. All living things depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains.

What are Genes?

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the chemical information database that carries the complete set of instructions for the cell as to the nature of the proteins produced by it, its life span, maturity, function and death. Genes are the working subunits of DNA. Each gene contains a particular set of instructions, usually coding for a particular protein or for a particular function.

Gene Concepts

Gene History

Restoring neuron balance in the amygdala reverses anxiety in mice

The Synaptic Physiology laboratory, led by Juan Lerma at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche, has discovered that a specific group of neurons in the amygdala, a brain region involved in emotion regulation, plays a key role in the emergence of conditions such as anxiety, depression, and altered social behavior.

4 Jul 2025

New insights into nature's most remarkable innovation- the ability to sustain a successful pregnancy

An international research team led by scientists from the University of Vienna has uncovered new insights into how specialized cell types and communication networks at the interface between mother and fetus evolved over millions of years.

4 Jul 2025

NAD+ supplementation could be a potential treatment for accelerated aging diseases

Can research into a rare, accelerated aging disease and "zombie cells" teach us something about the normal aging process?

4 Jul 2025

New study moves closer to defeating dormant tuberculosis cells

New drugs that target 'zombie' tuberculosis (TB) cells are now a step closer, thanks to a new study led by the University of Surrey, published in Scientific Reports.

4 Jul 2025

Study elucidates relationship between Type 2 diabetes and salivary enzyme gene

A new Cornell University study brings additional clarity to the relationship between Type 2 diabetes and genes that express a salivary enzyme that breaks down starch.

4 Jul 2025

New neurons form in the hippocampus even in late adulthood

A study in the journal Science presents compelling new evidence that neurons in the brain's memory centre, the hippocampus, continue to form well into late adulthood.

4 Jul 2025

New lab model brings hope for aggressive blood cancer research

Researchers working on an incurable blood cancer can now use a new lab model which could make testing potential new treatments and diagnostics easier and quicker, new research has found.

3 Jul 2025

Harnessing the gut virome emerges as a promising strategy in precision medicine

The human gut is home to trillions of microbes, yet scientific understanding has largely focused on bacteria, leaving the virome—the community of viruses—relatively uncharted.

3 Jul 2025

Lung cells generated from mouse embryonic fibroblasts in just 7 to 10 days

Researchers in Japan have successfully generated lung cells similar to alveolar epithelial type 2 (AT2) cells from mouse embryonic fibroblasts without using stem cell technology.

3 Jul 2025

Alzheimer’s protein found to drive lung cancer spread to the brain

Researchers at McMaster University, Cleveland Clinic and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered how a protein long associated with Alzheimer's disease helps lung cancer spread to the brain – a discovery that offers hope that existing Alzheimer's drugs could be repurposed in preventing cancer's spread.

3 Jul 2025

PPP2R1A mutations linked to improved survival in ovarian clear cell carcinoma

Patients with ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) whose tumors have specific mutations in the PPP2R1A gene were found to have improved survival following immunotherapy compared to patients without these mutations, according to researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

3 Jul 2025

Gene therapy brings back hearing in young and adult deaf patients

Gene therapy can improve hearing in children and adults with congenital deafness or severe hearing impairment, a new study involving researchers at Karolinska Institutet reports.

3 Jul 2025

Study unveils powerful strategy to rejuvenate effectiveness of CAR T cell therapy against glioblastoma

A team of researchers from the San Raffaele-Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-TIGET, Milan), led by Nadia Coltella and Luigi Naldini, has unveiled a powerful strategy to rejuvenate the effectiveness of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy against glioblastoma, one of the most lethal and treatment-resistant brain tumors.

3 Jul 2025

New study maps cellular fingerprints driving childhood arthritis

A new groundbreaking study by researchers from University of Birmingham, UCL, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Birmingham Children's Hospital has revealed important clues into what is driving disease in children with arthritis.

2 Jul 2025

TET2 mutations in blood stem cells linked to lower Alzheimer's risk

A study published in Cell Stem Cell reveals that some mutations in blood stem cells might help protect against late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

2 Jul 2025

Breakthrough AI uncovers promising Rett syndrome treatment

Rett syndrome is a devastating rare genetic childhood disorder primarily affecting girls. Merely 1 out of 10,000 girls are born with it and much fewer boys.

2 Jul 2025

Study enhances the understanding of urolithiasis pathogenesis

A recent study published in Genes & Diseases reveals new insights into the relationship between immune cell characteristics, blood metabolites, and the risk of urolithiasis.

2 Jul 2025

Single-cell transcriptomes of immune cells offer insight into juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), a type of arthritis commonly occurring in children, is a chronic, inflammatory condition that affects the joints, causing pain, swelling, stiffness, and limiting the range of motion.

2 Jul 2025

Targeting RAP proteins for next-generation malaria treatments

A University of California, Riverside-led team has made an advance in the basic understanding of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for the deadliest form of human malaria, that could make novel, highly targeted anti-malarial therapies possible.

1 Jul 2025

Brain cells can burn fat to fuel activity

While glucose, or sugar, is a well-known fuel for the brain, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have demonstrated that electrical activity in synapses—the junctions between neurons where communication occurs—can lead to the use of lipid or fat droplets as an energy source.

1 Jul 2025