Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Cryo-EM provides real-time glimpse of cellular machinery reading DNA inside living organisms

All living things have a fleet of tiny copy machines that turn instructions from DNA into RNA, the molecules responsible for helping build proteins that keep organisms alive.

20 Aug 2026

Wake-activated brain circuits reveal what drives the urge to sleep

Researchers identified wake-activated neurons in the median raphe and anterior medial preoptic area that track sleep pressure and help regulate when and how deeply mice sleep. Manipulating these circuits altered NREM sleep, sleep-pressure accumulation, and rebound sleep, revealing key neural mechanisms underlying mammalian sleep homeostasis.

20 Aug 2026

Researchers maintain brain organoids for longer than ever before

An international team of researchers has maintained brain organoids, three-dimensional models of human brain tissue, for longer than ever before.

20 Aug 2026

Researchers map DNA's physical code using large-scale simulations

Nearly every cell in the human body contains essentially the same genetic information, yet different cells activate different genes. For regulatory proteins to reach these genes, DNA must be accessible.

20 Aug 2026

Brain organoid studies on the ISS move closer to new treatments

Research using human brain organoids onboard the International Space Station International Space Station (ISS) helped lead to the clinical trial of a potential therapy for Rett syndrome, a debilitating neurological disorder in children.

20 Aug 2026

Microglial differences found in genetic and sporadic frontotemporal dementia patients

A study by the University of Eastern Finland revealed for the first time clear differences in the function and gene expression of microglial cells from patients with genetic and sporadic types of frontotemporal dementia.

20 Aug 2026

New studies reveal hidden control hub for MYC-driven cancers

In a rare pair of papers published back-to-back in the journal Genes & Development, research teams led by senior author Anindya Bagchi, PhD, associate professor in the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, establish a unified framework that governs one of cancer's most powerful master regulators.

19 Aug 2026

New genetic risk score uncovers hidden type 1 diabetes cases

Incorporating a genetic risk score into standard testing for a genetic form of diabetes which affects young people could identify hidden type 1 diabetes in around one in five patients with a negative genetic test.

19 Aug 2026

Gene editing fails to protect beta-cell transplants from rejection

In people with type 1 diabetes, the immune system mistakenly destroys the pancreatic beta cells responsible for producing insulin. Patients therefore require lifelong insulin therapy to regulate their blood glucose levels.

19 Aug 2026

New optical control platform blocks and restores neural signaling

DGIST (President Kunwoo Lee) announced that a research team led by Professor Ji Won Um of the Center for Synapse Diversity and Specificity, Department of Brain Sciences, in collaboration with a research team led by Professor Alice Ting at Stanford University, has developed LATeNT, a novel optical control platform that uses light to block signal transmission between neurons and subsequently restore normal signaling.

19 Aug 2026

Red blood cells inspire next-generation therapeutic nanocarriers

Red blood cells serve as the foundation for nanocarriers that show promise in a new study as effective and efficient vehicles for gene therapy, tumor targeting and other medical treatments.

19 Aug 2026

New research uncovers unique genetic links to eating disorders

New research led by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, in collaboration with an international partnership of researchers, has, for the first time, compared the genetics of people with binge eating versus those without any eating disorder.

19 Aug 2026

Penn State team lays groundwork to 3D print spheroids for regenerating bone tissue

An interdisciplinary team of engineers and chemists at Penn State has laid the groundwork to 3D print spheroids - tiny clusters of living cells - capable of regenerating bone tissue in response to severe trauma or infections.

18 Aug 2026

Leisure-time exercise linked to lower dementia risk

For years, scientists have known that regular physical activity can help lower the risk of dementia. But new USC research suggests that it's not only the amount but also the activity's context - for work or for leisure - that makes a difference.

18 Aug 2026

UVA researchers find how postoperative delirium may set the stage for dementia

UVA Health researchers have discovered how a form of delirium that often strikes older patients after surgery may set the stage for dementia – and identified a drug that could reverse the underlying brain changes.

18 Aug 2026

Researchers develop new tool to estimate a cell's biological age

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University have developed a new tool that estimates a cell's biological age by analyzing its gene activity.

18 Aug 2026

First high-resolution cell-by-cell map tracks tomato root and fungal partnership

Scientists at VIB and Ghent University have produced the first high-resolution, cell-by-cell map of how tomato roots respond to colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

18 Aug 2026

Deep-learning tissue clocks reveal how organs age and leave disease-linked signals in blood

Deep learning applied to more than 25,000 histopathology slides revealed tissue-specific structural signatures of biological aging that tracked telomere attrition, pathology, comorbidity, and molecular changes more closely than chronological age alone.

18 Aug 2026

New microfluidic chip predicts personalized glioblastoma treatment responses

Even for the same brain tumor treated with the same anticancer drug, the effect can differ from patient to patient.

17 Aug 2026

Engineered red blood cell vesicles improve gene therapy delivery

Red blood cells serve as the foundation for nanocarriers that show promise in a new study as effective and efficient vehicles for gene therapy, tumor targeting and other medical treatments.

17 Aug 2026