Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Yale-led study provides roadmap to discover new treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

A Yale-led collaborative study boosts scientific understanding of how the lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) progresses, providing a roadmap for researchers to discover new treatment targets for the disease.

15 Nov 2019

Research breakthrough may lead to new therapeutic targets for cancers

Computational modeling is the use of computers to simulate and study the behavior of complex systems. Computational approaches are widely adopted in the bioimedical sciences and can be used to sift through large volumes of complex data to extract recurrent patterns that may point to a disease's causes and effects.

15 Nov 2019

Study: 15,000 cases of hypophosphatasia potentially undetected in Spanish population

Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare and serious hereditary disease that is potentially life-threatening and is caused by one or more mutations in the gene coding for alkaline phosphatase (ALPL). It is frequently misdiagnosed.

15 Nov 2019

Mining 'darkest' parts of the genome in cancer cells yields gold

Mining the rich uncharted territory of the genome or genetic material of a cancer cell has yielded gold for Princess Margaret scientists: new protein targets for drug development against prostate cancer.

15 Nov 2019

Broccoli's effects on kidney health may depend on individual's genetics

New research indicates that the benefits of a dietary compound on kidney health may depend on an individual's genetics. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of JASN, may be helpful for tailoring interventions to prevent or treat kidney disease.

15 Nov 2019

Key Alzheimer's gene variants act differently among Caribbean Hispanics based on ancestry

Researchers looking to uncover the mysteries of Alzheimer's disease have revealed new insights from old variants.

15 Nov 2019

Scientists reverse learning and memory deficits with drugs in animal model of Down syndrome

In a surprising finding using the standard animal model of Down syndrome (DS), scientists were able to correct the learning and memory deficits associated with the condition -- the leading genetic cause of cognitive disability and the most frequently diagnosed chromosomal disorder in the U.S. -- with drugs that target the body's response to cellular stresses.

15 Nov 2019

Non-coding enhancer DNA may be key for identifying genetic risk in neurological conditions

One might think that the primary cause of most genetically linked diseases comes from mutations in coding DNA -- alterations in coding regions of the genome that can lead directly to changes in the expression of particular proteins important for a healthy body.

14 Nov 2019

Altering malarial parasite genes to prevent malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by the parasitic organism called Plasmodium, of which there are several types that cause the different kinds of malarial fever. This age-old infection still kills over 400,000 people every year, all over the world. A new study published in the journal Cell on November 14, 2019, shows how a simple tweaking of the genes of this organism could quite conceivably lead to the elimination of this disease altogether.

14 Nov 2019

Lithium corrects radiation damage to brain in young cancer patients

A new study on mice, published online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, on November 14, 2019, shows that the intermittent use of lithium, which is widely used to stabilize the mood in conditions such as bipolar disorder, can correct memory and learning losses due to radiation therapy to the brain in very young animals, even when the lithium is given long after the injury.

14 Nov 2019

Study sheds light on how Zika virus causes microcephaly in newborns

A new study led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine revealed how in utero Zika virus infection can lead to microcephaly in newborns. The team discovered that the Zika virus protein NS4A disrupts brain growth by hijacking a pathway that regulates the generation of new neurons.

14 Nov 2019

Dopamine D2 receptor modulates Wnt expression, controls cell proliferation

The dopamine D2 receptor has a previously unobserved role in modulating Wnt expression and control of cell proliferation, according to a new study from the George Washington University and the University of Pittsburgh.

14 Nov 2019

Promising method to identify aggressive breast cancers that will respond to immunotherapy

University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have discovered a promising method to identify aggressive breast cancer tumors that will respond to drugs that unleash the immune system against cancer.

14 Nov 2019

New computational model could help in the development of anti-cancer drugs

Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of Helsinki have developed a computational model, Combined Essentiality Scoring (CES) that enables accurate identification of essential genes in cancer cells for development of anti-cancer drugs.

14 Nov 2019

Blocking metastasis-promoting enzyme can prevent spread of breast cancer

In a breakthrough with important implications for the future of immunotherapy for breast cancer, UC San Francisco scientists have found that blocking the activity of a single enzyme can prevent a common type of breast cancer from spreading to distant organs.

14 Nov 2019

Cedars-Sinai surgeons detect and remove 25-pound cancerous ovarian tumor

Maria Robles Garcia was sure her uncomfortable abdominal symptoms weren't caused by irritable bowel syndrome or from being overweight, no matter that her local doctors repeatedly told her that was the case.

13 Nov 2019

Study shows potential of phage therapy to treat alcoholic liver disease

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that specifically destroy bacteria. In the early 20th century, researchers experimented with phages as a potential method for treating bacterial infections.

13 Nov 2019

Deterministic mechanoporation of cells en masse to cure cancer

What if you could cure cancer by re-engineering patients' cells to better target and destroy their own tumors? With the advent of powerful new cellular engineering technologies, this is no longer the stuff of science fiction.

13 Nov 2019

Caution: blood infections traced to probiotics

Probiotics aren’t harmless, says a new study published on November 7, 2019 in the journal Nature Medicine. In fact, some patients may be put at serious risk by the bacteria in probiotics. Doctors should weigh the risks of probiotics in severely ill or immunocompromised patients before prescribing them, as their benefits may be significantly smaller than the danger in such situations.

13 Nov 2019