Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Study suggests a role for the hypothalamus in genetic susceptibility to IBD

Using sophisticated 3D genomic mapping and integrating with public data resulting from genome-wide association studies, researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have found significant genetic correlations between inflammatory bowel disease and stress and depression.

29 Oct 2020

Dietary restriction effective in reducing the odds of developing liver cancer from fatty liver

Liver cancer from too much fat accumulation in the liver has been increasing in many countries including Japan.

29 Oct 2020

Antiviral inhibitor DDX42 shows broad activity against Chikungunya, HIV and SARS-CoV-2

By exploiting type 1 interferon's ability to foster an antagonistic cellular environment for viral replication, a research group from France pinpointed DEAD-box RNA helicase DDX42 as an intrinsic inhibitor of HIV, but also other pathogenic viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Chikungunya virus.

29 Oct 2020

Tumor suppressor gene represses 'jumping genes'

About half of all tumors have mutations of the gene p53, normally responsible for warding off cancer. Now, UT Southwestern scientists have discovered a new role for p53 in its fight against tumors: preventing retrotransposons, or "jumping genes," from hopping around the human genome.

29 Oct 2020

Study sheds new light on cell division fidelity, can impact future regenerative medicine

Researchers discover that a specialized part of the chromosomes, essential for a correct cell division, is smaller and weaker in stem cells, when compared to the ones of differentiated cells.

29 Oct 2020

Cell biologists and bioimaging expert team up to solve fourth dimension secrets

Cell biologists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Bar-Ilan University at Israel and a bioimaging expert at the University of Central Florida are teaming up in what they hope may lead to a major breakthrough in understanding of the three-dimensional organization of the nucleus over time and their role in certain diseases.

29 Oct 2020

Study reveals complex and vast diversity of African genetic variation

The study, in which six Wits researchers were involved, show that these newly discovered variants were found mostly among newly sampled ethnolinguistic groups.

29 Oct 2020

Study: Mammary basal cell lineage contributes to breast cancer heterogeneity

A key hurdle in treating breast cancers is intratumoral heterogeneity, or the presence of multiple different cell populations within the same tumor that have distinct characteristics such as gene expression, metabolism and ability to divide, spread and grow.

29 Oct 2020

Mouth may be primary route of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in October 2020 shows that the virus also multiplies robustly in the oral cavity, indicating that saliva plays a role in viral transmission.

29 Oct 2020

High-sugar diet can damage the gut’s protective mucus layer, lead to worse colitis

Mice fed diets high in sugar developed worse colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and researchers examining their large intestines found more of the bacteria that can damage the gut's protective mucus layer.

28 Oct 2020

Genome-wide CRISPR screens reveal resistance and sensitization mechanisms of drugs used in COVID-19

By leveraging nucleotide triphosphate analog-induced cell death, Chinese researchers unveiled genes that affect the import, export, and metabolism of pervasively used antiviral drugs in the treatment of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This exciting study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

28 Oct 2020

Cognitive disorders associated with risk for developing severe COVID-19

Dementia and other cognitive disorders now appear to be risk factors for developing severe COVID-19, according to research from the University of Georgia. The findings highlight the need for special care for populations with these preexisting conditions during the pandemic.

28 Oct 2020

Penn researchers awarded $5.4 million to find genetic risk markers for testicular cancer

The international hunt to find more genetic risk markers for testicular cancer is expanding. A team of researchers led by Katherine L. Nathanson, MD, deputy director of the Abramson Cancer Center and the Pearl Basser Professor for BRCA-Related Research in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, was recently awarded $5.4 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to continue the long-standing genomics work of the TEsticular CAncer Consortium (TECAC).

28 Oct 2020

Researchers describe factors that reduce placenta's capacity to protect fetus from zika virus

Genetic factors that reduce the placenta's capacity to protect the fetus from the zika virus are described by Brazilian researchers in an article published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

28 Oct 2020

Scientists use experimental approach to identify genes and interactions

A phage is a virus that invades a bacterial cell. While harmless to human cells, phages are potentially deadly to bacteria since many phages enter a cell in order to hijack its machinery in order to reproduce itself, thus destroying the cell.

28 Oct 2020

Researchers demonstrate potent antibody that fights against coronavirus

Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have shown that a potent antibody from a COVID-19 survivor interferes with a key feature on the surface of the coronavirus's distinctive spikes and induces critical pieces of those spikes to break off in the process.

28 Oct 2020

Genetic analysis with RNA sequencing can increase diagnostic yield, shows study

In the world of rare genetic diseases, exome and genome sequencing are two powerful tools used to make a diagnosis. A recent addition to the toolkit, RNA sequencing, has been demonstrated to help researchers narrow down disease candidate variants identified first on exome and genome sequencing.

28 Oct 2020

Researchers identify physiological mechanism that maintains regenerative capacity of muscle stem cells

Researchers at UPF, the National Centre for Cardiovascular Research, ICREA and Ciberned have identified a physiological mechanism that maintains the regenerative capacity of muscle stem cells, and surprisingly resists the passage of time far more than expected, until geriatric age.

28 Oct 2020

Specific genes of infant gut bacterium determine its symbiotic function in the infant's gut

While an infant's genes distinguish her from other newborns, a new peer-reviewed study reports that specific genes of a particular infant gut bacterium determine its symbiotic function in the infant's gut.

28 Oct 2020

Gut's immune response to SARS-CoV-2 very different from the lung

Megan L. Stanifer et al. study the immune response in the human gut upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study published as a bioRxiv* preprint reveals a robust proinflammatory response: a cell type-specific or a tissue-specific regulation of interferon-mediated signaling during SARS-CoV-2 infection.

27 Oct 2020

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Study suggests a role for the hypothalamus in genetic susceptibility to IBD

Dietary restriction effective in reducing the odds of developing liver cancer from fatty liver

Antiviral inhibitor DDX42 shows broad activity against Chikungunya, HIV and SARS-CoV-2

Tumor suppressor gene represses 'jumping genes'

Study sheds new light on cell division fidelity, can impact future regenerative medicine

Cell biologists and bioimaging expert team up to solve fourth dimension secrets

Study reveals complex and vast diversity of African genetic variation

Study: Mammary basal cell lineage contributes to breast cancer heterogeneity

Mouth may be primary route of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission

High-sugar diet can damage the gut’s protective mucus layer, lead to worse colitis

Genome-wide CRISPR screens reveal resistance and sensitization mechanisms of drugs used in COVID-19

Cognitive disorders associated with risk for developing severe COVID-19

Penn researchers awarded $5.4 million to find genetic risk markers for testicular cancer

Researchers describe factors that reduce placenta's capacity to protect fetus from zika virus

Scientists use experimental approach to identify genes and interactions

Researchers demonstrate potent antibody that fights against coronavirus

Genetic analysis with RNA sequencing can increase diagnostic yield, shows study

Researchers identify physiological mechanism that maintains regenerative capacity of muscle stem cells

Specific genes of infant gut bacterium determine its symbiotic function in the infant's gut

Gut's immune response to SARS-CoV-2 very different from the lung

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging