Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Scientists discover immune cell control switch to destroy fungal infections

Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UK) have contributed to discovering a "control switch" inside our immune cells that helps the body destroy dangerous fungal infections.

11 May 2026

Prenatal progesterone exposure alters brain development genes in male fetuses

Excessive exposure to progesterone in the womb can alter a gene in the frontal cortex in male sheep fetuses, which is needed for brain development and function, according to research presented at the 28th European Congress of Endocrinology in Prague.

11 May 2026

Non-invasive swab test offers fast, accurate tuberculosis detection worldwide

A portable molecular test, MiniDock MTB, detected pulmonary tuberculosis rapidly and accurately across seven high-burden countries, using sputum or tongue swab samples. The study suggests the low-cost, battery-operated platform could expand near-point-of-care TB diagnosis in low-resource settings, although real-world implementation and drug-resistance integration still need evaluation.

10 May 2026

Do repeated football head hits disrupt the gut microbiome?

A small exploratory study of collegiate football players found that non-concussive head impacts are correlationally linked to acute and season-long shifts in gut microbiome composition, with changes most pronounced 48–72 hours after significant impacts. However, most associations weakened after correction for multiple testing, and the authors stress the findings are preliminary and hypothesis-generating.

10 May 2026

Scientists uncover cellular mechanism behind rare childhood brain disorders

Thousands of times per year, a family's moment of joy turns to unexpected grief. A seemingly healthy infant stops smiling or making eye contact.

8 May 2026

Engineered regulatory T cells offer a path toward immunosuppression-free transplants

Organ transplantation remains the cornerstone treatment for end-stage organ failure. While conventional broad-spectrum immunosuppression effectively controls acute rejection, it fails to address chronic rejection and carries long-term side effects including infection, malignancy, and metabolic disorders.

8 May 2026

Suppressing TGF-β signaling reactivates dormant bone cells to treat osteoporosis

Osteoporosis, a common skeletal disorder, is marked by reduced bone mass and deterioration of bone microarchitecture, making bones more porous and prone to fractures.

8 May 2026

The power of organoids in speeding up lifesaving drug development

Organoids are miniature tissue or organ models formed by stem cells (including pluripotent stem cells, tissue-specific adult stem cells, etc.) or progenitor cells in an in vitro three-dimensional culture system, which possess structural features and partial functions analogous to their corresponding in vivo organs. In 2009, the Hans Clevers laboratory developed the first intestinal organoid, marking the inception of organoid-based disease modeling.

8 May 2026

New genetic link found for sudden cardiac death in young people

Short QT syndrome is a genetic disease that leads to sudden cardiac death at a young age. Mutations in the SLC4A3 gene, which regulates bicarbonate-chloride exchange, were recently described as a potential cause. An international research team, including a group from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, investigated this possibility.

8 May 2026

A breakthrough in understanding how viruses defeat bacterial immunity

Bacteria fend off invading viruses with molecular scissors that slice up viral DNA - a system called CRISPR that's become indispensable to gene editing.

8 May 2026

Child abuse linked to disrupted biological development and body regulation

Children who experienced abuse or neglect displayed disrupted development and decreased ability to maintain stable function of internal bodily systems, according to a new study led by researchers in the Penn State Department of Biobehavioral Health.

8 May 2026

Neurodegeneration in Down syndrome may begin shortly after birth

Signs of neurodegeneration in individuals with Down syndrome may start as early as birth, a critical stage of brain development, a new study shows.

8 May 2026

Blocking TGF-beta may enhance osteoporosis bone regeneration therapies

A recent mouse model based study suggests that blocking TGF-β may improve osteoporosis treatment by helping quiescent osteoblasts in inactive bone surfaces return to an active state.

7 May 2026

Long telomeres linked to higher lymphoma risk in families

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Telomere Clinic at Johns Hopkins have identified a genetic syndrome in which unusually long telomeres - the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes - allow immune cells to remain biologically "younger" for longer than normal, predisposing affected individuals to lymphoma and other cancers.

7 May 2026

Chromosome abnormalities may help cancer cells resist treatment and spread

A new study led by NYU Langone Health researchers found that cancer cells are better able to resist treatments when they have an abnormal number of chromosomes, which are DNA strands wound up in bundles that control which genetic instructions are followed in each cell type.

7 May 2026

Study reveals why women face higher autoimmune disease risks

Ahead of World Lupus Day on May 10, new research from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and UNSW Sydney helps explain why women are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with an autoimmune disease – a condition where the immune system misfires and mistakenly attacks the body's own healthy tissues.

7 May 2026

Study identifies genetic cause linked to juvenile glaucoma risk

A major international study led by Flinders University has identified a genetic contributor to juvenile glaucoma.

7 May 2026

Cell swelling in macrophages may trigger stronger inflammatory immune responses

As part of the body's first line of defense against foreign invaders, macrophages play an integral role in the innate immune system.

7 May 2026

Blood test may improve early tuberculosis detection among household contacts

Household contacts of people with tuberculosis (TB) have a high risk of getting TB themselves, at around 2 percent. It is currently difficult to detect TB in its early stages, or predict who will go on to have TB, and therefore preventive treatment is not widely used.

7 May 2026

The importance of genetic screening for all cancer survivors

Hundreds of thousands of people diagnosed with cancer are still alive today but were never genetically tested, either because testing was not available or was not routinely offered at the time of their diagnosis. These patients are just as likely as those diagnosed today to carry a germline pathogenic variant (gPV) - a heritable genetic alteration - that increases cancer risk.

7 May 2026