Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Newly discovered large phages blur the life/non-life boundary

A new study published in the journal Nature shows that there are literally hundreds of viruses large enough to consume bacteria, and with properties that are typical of a living organism rather than the non-living self-replicating packages of DNA/RNA that viruses are often assumed to be.

12 Feb 2020

Yale scientists enlist most unlikely ally in efforts to treat glioblastoma

Glioblastomas are relentless, hard-to-treat, and often lethal brain tumors. Yale scientists have enlisted a most unlikely ally in efforts to treat this form of cancer -- elements of the Ebola virus.

12 Feb 2020

Bacterial viruses in intestinal tracts of children may play a role in stunting

New research spearheaded by McGill University has discovered that bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) found in the intestinal tracts of children may play a role in childhood stunting, a significant impediment to growth that affects 22% of children under the age of five around the world.

12 Feb 2020

UChicago researchers develop first accurate mouse model of celiac disease

Researchers at the University of Chicago have developed the first truly accurate mouse model of celiac disease. The animals have the same genetic and immune system characteristics as humans who develop celiac after eating gluten. This provides a vital research tool for developing and testing new treatments for the disease.

12 Feb 2020

Mysterious virus found in Brazil puzzles scientists with its unique genetic makeup

A team of Brazilian scientists discovered a puzzling new virus made of genetic material never seen before. But the virus won’t pose a serious health threat to humanity since it seems to only hunt amoebas.

12 Feb 2020

Discovery identifies an adaptation by cancer cells that promotes metastasis

The discovery identifies an adaptation by cancer cells that facilitates their spreading to distant sites, and the potential for targeting these features to prevent or slow the progression of metastatic hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

12 Feb 2020

Study reveals new role for gene associated with autism spectrum disorder

A UCLA-led study reveals a new role for a gene that's associated with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability and language impairment.

12 Feb 2020

Vapers exhibit similar chemical changes in their genome as smokers

Biologically important changes in DNA seen in smokers are also being found in people who vape, according to a new study published in the journal Epigenetics.

12 Feb 2020

Accumulated brain protein affects genes in Alzheimer's disease

A new study published in February 2020 in the journal Cell Reports shows how the build-up of specific brain cell proteins are linked to altered gene expression that causes the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

11 Feb 2020

Individual response to Ebola predicted by new method

The Ebola virus produces widely varying reactions, from asymptomatic illness to death, in people depending on the individual's susceptibility. But what drives this difference in response? A new study published in the journal Cell Reports on February 2020 goes one step further in understanding how the immune system reacts to the virus causing varying levels of severity of disease between cases.

11 Feb 2020

Macrophages migrate from the blood to attack brain tissue shortly after stroke

Macrophages are part of the innate immune system and essential for brain development and function. Using a novel method, scientists from Jena University Hospital, the University of Bonn and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York (USA) succeeded in visualizing macrophages that were formed in the bone marrow.

11 Feb 2020

DNA misfolding linked to heightened risk for Type 1 diabetes

It's known that genetics, or an inherited genome, is a major determinant of one's risk for autoimmune diseases, like Type 1 diabetes. In human cells, a person's genome--about six feet of DNA--is compressed into the micrometer space of the nucleus via a three-dimensional folding process.

11 Feb 2020

Simple accelerometers improve diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common type of muscular dystrophy, affecting more than 10,000 males at birth per year in the United States with severe physical disability, chronic wasting and muscle deterioration.

11 Feb 2020

UC research could help identify organ donors at risk of developing kidney disease

Kidney transplantation is the gold standard treatment for end-stage kidney disease and is associated with an advantage over dialysis in both survival and quality of life.

11 Feb 2020

PolyU develops fully automated, rapid diagnostic platform for detecting respiratory infectious diseases

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University today announced the development of the world's most comprehensive automated multiplex diagnostic system (the System) which includes a fully automated machine and a multiplex full-screening panel for the point-of-care genetic testing of respiratory infectious disease including the 2019-nCoV.

11 Feb 2020

Pioneering project on genomic edition through CRISPR/Cas9 to study early embryonic development

Characterization studies of early embryonic development are limited, mainly due to the lack of samples and the obvious legal and ethical limitations.

11 Feb 2020

InquireFirst announces Cross-Border Science Journalism Project for Latin America

InquireFirst is pleased to announce a new initiative to encourage crossborder reporting on science, health and the environment by Latin American journalists.

11 Feb 2020

Bats' fierce immune response to viruses could drive zoonotic emergence

It's no coincidence that some of the worst viral disease outbreaks in recent years -- SARS, MERS, Ebola, Marburg and likely the newly arrived 2019-nCoV virus -- originated in bats.

10 Feb 2020

Study explores how some mammals postpone development of their embryos

How do some mammals postpone the development of their embryos to await better conditions for having offspring? A recent study at the UW Medicine Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine explored this reproductive enigma, which can occur in more than 130 species of mammals as well as in some marsupials.

10 Feb 2020

Finding the origins of angiosarcoma

In a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine on February 2020, scientists report some newly discovered reasons for the occurrence of a rare blood vessel wall cancer called angiosarcoma. This could one day help develop better therapies for this aggressive tumor. The project is a striking example of unexpectedly rich findings from a crowd-sourced venture that brings together a scattered group of patients with a rare disease.

10 Feb 2020