Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Scientists discover potential drug compounds that target common type of liver cancer

Scientists from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore, and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)'s Genome Institute of Singapore have discovered four potential drug compounds that target hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer.

30 Dec 2019

Study uncovers key protein that supports the growth of many colorectal cancers

Researchers at the University of Toronto have identified a key protein that supports the growth of many colorectal cancers.

28 Dec 2019

Study reveals rapid effects of diet on sperm quality

Sperm are influenced by diet, and the effects arise rapidly. This is the conclusion of a study by researchers at Linköping University, in which healthy young men were fed a diet rich in sugar.

28 Dec 2019

Lab-grown brain organoids may hold the answers to personalized treatments for glioblastomas

Lab-grown brain organoids developed from a patient's own glioblastoma, the most aggressive and common form of brain cancer, may hold the answers on how to best treat it.

26 Dec 2019

Researchers identify new insecticide resistance mechanism by mosquitoes

Researchers at LSTM have identified a completely new mechanism by which mosquitoes that carry malaria are becoming resistant to insecticide.

26 Dec 2019

CD4 T cells are not to be blamed for pushing dengue fever from bad to worse

No one knows what makes a mild dengue viral infection morph into a severe and sometimes deadly dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome.

26 Dec 2019

New spatiomolecular map may advance understanding of the brain's decision-making area

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have come one step closer toward understanding how the part of our brain that is central for decision-making and the development of addiction is organized on a molecular level.

26 Dec 2019

Synthetic mRNA nanoparticles restore tumor suppressor gene, make cancer cells susceptible to drugs

In preclinical experiments, investigators restored p53 using synthetic mRNA nanoparticles, making lung and liver cancer cells susceptible to available cancer drugs.

23 Dec 2019

Inserting end-modified DNA fragments with CRISPR-Cas9 yields highest efficiency

University of Illinois researchers achieved the highest reported rates of inserting genes into human cells with the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system, a necessary step for harnessing CRISPR for clinical gene-therapy applications.

23 Dec 2019

Ancestral-sequence reconstruction of FMO genes unveils structure of important enzyme

To disarm toxic substances, many organisms - including humans - possess enzymes called flavin-containing monooxygenases. Despite their importance, the structure of the enzymes has not been resolved, as the protein is too unstable to study in detail.

23 Dec 2019

Research findings may one day help keep ALS at bay

A new study published in the journal Nature Medicine on December 23, 2019, shows how to silence a defective gene responsible for the degeneration of the motor neurons in Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in adult mice. This could help prevent disease progression if the condition is already symptomatic, and even suppress the illness if it has not yet started.

23 Dec 2019

Immunosupressant combination therapy for glioblastoma shows promise

Researchers from the University of Texas have found an immunosuppressing target for the treatment of glioblastoma. In mice studies the team has identified CD73 macrophages which could be used to treat the cancers. The team also performed studies on human tumours to arrive at their conclusions. The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Medicine this week.

23 Dec 2019

New, faster and cheaper method to uncover genetic variants in single cells

Researchers led by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg and the Center for Bioinformatics at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany, have developed a cheaper and faster method to check for genetic differences in individual cells, which outperforms existing techniques with respect to the information received.

23 Dec 2019

NIH awards $1.2 million grant for studying biomolecular interactions to inform better drug design

Biomolecules -- carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids -- form the foundation of life and are responsible for carrying out every process that occurs in our bodies.

23 Dec 2019

IU researchers identify potential target to improve functional recovery after spinal cord injury

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have made several novel discoveries in the field of spinal cord injuries. Most recently, the team led by Xiao-Ming Xu, PhD, has been working to determine how to activate movement after a spinal cord injury at the ninth thoracic level, where nerve fibers from the brain down to the spinal cord are interrupted.

22 Dec 2019

McGill study finds new role of apolipoprotein E4 gene in Alzheimer’s disease

For years, physicians have been aware that patients carrying the apolipoprotein E4 (APOEε4) gene are at a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. New research from McGill University has now found the gene plays an even greater role in dementia.

21 Dec 2019