Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Two enzymes fuel transition from pre-cancer stem cells to leukemia stem cells

Since stem cells can continually self-regenerate, making more stem cells, and differentiate into many different specialized cell types, they play an important role in our development and health.

26 Jan 2021

Genetic interactions may shed light on NGLY1 deficiency

In 2012, four-year-old Bertrand Might became the first-ever patient diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called N-glycanase (NGLY1) deficiency. The discovery of this condition and Bertrand's diagnosis allowed doctors to look for other children with the same genetic defect. Since then, more than 60 additional patients have been found.

26 Jan 2021

New NIH grant supports research on Alzheimer's disease caused by gene mutations

A new grant from the National Institute On Aging at the National Institutes of Health will support ongoing research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to address Alzheimer's disease caused by gene mutations.

26 Jan 2021

£1.6 million grant awarded to advance development of MND drug candidate

Researchers from the University of Sheffield's Institute for Translational Neuroscience have been awarded a £1.6 million grant from the Medical Research Council.

26 Jan 2021

Researchers find microbiome-controlled anti-inflammatory subsets of astrocytes

Astrocytes are the most abundant type of cells within the central nervous system (CNS), but they remain poorly characterized.

26 Jan 2021

Researchers develop method for presymptomatic COVID-19 detection

An encouraging new study by researchers at University College London, UK, reports the potential of a form of COVID-19 testing which can detect presymptomatic cases.

26 Jan 2021

Codon frequency optimization shows SARS-CoV-2 antiviral potential

A study conducted by researchers in the US has revealed that optimization of codon for bacterial expression causes the production of an inactive enzyme non-structural protein 12 (Nsp12), a catalytic subunit of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2.

26 Jan 2021

Drug intervention may prevent heart damage caused by chemotherapy

There could be an intervention on the horizon to help prevent heart damage caused by the common chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, new research suggests.

26 Jan 2021

Scientists show how coconut oil is metabolized in the liver

Coconut oil has increasingly found its way into German kitchens in recent years, although its alleged health benefits are controversial. Scientists at the University of Bonn have now been able to show how it is metabolized in the liver.

26 Jan 2021

B.1.1.7 variant and healthcare workers’ travel worry

Recently a team of researchers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States assessed travel-related anxiety in healthcare workers (HCWs) considering the emergence of new variants caused by SARS-CoV-2 mutations.

25 Jan 2021

New partnership to develop test for predicting disease course in pediatric Crohn's patients

The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, the leading non-profit organization focused on both research and patient support for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), has entered into a partnership with LifeArc, an independent medical research charity that advances translation of early science into health care treatments or diagnostics, to potentially develop the first clinical lab test to predict disease course in pediatric patients with Crohn's disease and response to treatment.

25 Jan 2021

World's first fully reversible manipulation of the circadian clock

The Nagoya University Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules research team of Designated Associate Professor Tsuyoshi Hirota, Postdoctoral Fellow Simon Miller, Professor Kenichiro Itami and graduate student Tsuyoshi Oshima (Research Fellowship for Young Scientists, JSPS), in collaboration with the group of Professor Ben Feringa and Postdoctoral Fellow Dušan Kolarski of Groningen University in the Netherlands, have achieved a world first: fully reversible manipulation of the period of the circadian clock using light, by exchanging part of a compound with a light-activated switch.

25 Jan 2021

Stem cell based cell culture model to recapitulate important aspects of NAFLD

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a widespread condition in the Western World. Around 30% of the population have lipid droplets stored in their liver which diminish its function in the long term.

25 Jan 2021

New method can help identify potential anti-cancer drugs at a high pace

The enzymes in human cells known as histone deacetylases, or HDACs, are targets for a handful of anticancer drugs because of their ability to affect gene expression.

25 Jan 2021

Missing surface protein allows small cell lung cancer cells to hide from immune defenses

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cells are missing a surface protein that triggers an immune response, allowing them to hide from one of the body's key cancer defenses, a new study led by UT Southwestern researchers suggests.

25 Jan 2021

COVID-19 diagnostic tests remain able to detect all published virus strains

Paris, France and Camberley, UK – 21 December 2020 – Novacyt (EURONEXT GROWTH: ALNOV; AIM: NCYT), an international specialist in clinical diagnostics, announces that following the detection of a new variant of COVID-19 by the UK’s COVID19 Genomics UK consortium, known as VUI-202012/01, the Company has carried out a detailed analysis of the mutations in this new variant and in all published COVID-19 strains to fully assess the reliability of its existing diagnostic tests.

From AFSBio 25 Jan 2021

Reduced expression of TBX15 in tumor tissue represents a prognostic biomarker for HCC patients

The cover for issue 52 of Oncotarget features Figure 1, "Volcano plots of DNA methylation in tumor tissues compared with nontumor tissue," published in "Reduction of T-Box 15 gene expression in tumor tissue is a prognostic biomarker for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma" by Morine, et al. which reported that the authors conducted a genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation of the tumor and non-tumor tissue of 15 patients with Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and revealed TBX15 was the most hypermethylated gene of the tumor.

25 Jan 2021

Transcriptional regulator BRD2 as a potential therapeutic target for COVID-19

A team of international scientists has demonstrated that therapeutic inhibition of a transcriptional regulator BRD2, required for the endogenous expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), can potentially suppress severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

24 Jan 2021

Experts advise disaggregating data on COVID-19 patients by sex

Researchers at Yale University School of Medicine have highlighted the importance of ensuring studies of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) report data in a sex-disaggregated manner.

24 Jan 2021

New maintenance treatment for AML shows strong benefit for patients

Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common form of acute leukemia in adults, that has gone into remission following initial chemotherapy remain in remission longer and have improved overall survival when they are given a pill form of the cancer drug azacitidine as a maintenance treatment, according to a randomized, international phase 3 clinical trial for which Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian are trial sites.

22 Jan 2021