Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Researchers develop single blood test that screens for 8 cancer types

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers developed a single blood test that screens for eight common cancer types and helps identify the location of the cancer.

19 Jan 2018

Researchers discover potential target genes to halt thyroid cancer progression

Thyroid cancer is a disease with good cure rates in most cases. In 5% of patients, however, the tumor becomes refractory to the available therapies and may spread all over the body, causing death.

19 Jan 2018

Research shows how Zika virus damages placenta to cause malformations in babies

Though the Zika virus is widely known for a recent outbreak that caused children to be born with microencephaly, or having a small head, and other malformations, scientists have struggled to explain how the virus affects a baby as it grows in the womb.

19 Jan 2018

Scientists methodically identify genes related to blood feeding and non-biting mosquitoes

Researchers have taken the first step on a path that eventually could result in female mosquitoes that no longer bite and spread diseases.

19 Jan 2018

Researchers develop new mathematical tool to solve genetics challenge

Researchers developed a new mathematical tool to validate and improve methods used by medical professionals to interpret results from clinical genetic tests. The work was published this month in Genetics in Medicine.

19 Jan 2018

Study reveals key role of macrophages in systemic sclerosis

A new international study has made an important discovery about the key role of macrophages, a type of immune cell, in systemic sclerosis (SSc), a chronic autoimmune disease which currently has no cure.

19 Jan 2018

Researchers propose new regulation mechanism linked to action of SirT6 on chromatin

Researchers from the Epigenetics and Cancer Biology Program of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, led by Dr. Àlex Vaquero, have proposed a new regulation mechanism of the NF-κB pathway, which is associated with accelerated cellular aging, based on the analysis of the function of the SirT6 protein.

19 Jan 2018

Children born with Down's syndrome have superior genome that compensates for disability

Down's syndrome - also known as trisomy 21 - is a genetic disorder caused by an additional third chromosome 21. Although this genetic abnormality is found in one out of 700 births, only 20% of foetuses with trisomy 21 reach full term.

19 Jan 2018

Study reveals key mechanism of how cancer metastasis happens

Cancer metastasis, the migration of cells from a primary tumor to form distant tumors in the body, can be triggered by a chronic leakage of DNA within tumor cells, according to a team led by Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center researchers.

19 Jan 2018

Study devises efficient and economical strategy to screen breast and ovarian cancer gene mutations

A new study published yesterday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests that, in comparison with just screening women who are at high risk of carrying breast and ovarian cancer gene mutations, screening the entire population for these mutations will be more cost-effective.

18 Jan 2018

Modular gene enhancers may be suitable target in treatment of blood cancer

Every day, billions of new blood cells are generated in the bone marrow. The gene Myc is known to play an important role in this process, and is also known to play a role in cancer.

18 Jan 2018

Research reveals cost-effectiveness of whole-population screening for breast, ovarian cancer gene mutations

Screening the entire population for breast and ovarian cancer gene mutations, as opposed to just those at high-risk of carrying this mutation, is cost effective and could prevent more ovarian and breast cancers than the current clinical approach, according to research published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

18 Jan 2018

Analysis finds overlooked crucial factor in determining prognosis for DIPGs

The prognosis for all children diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma and similar tumors has been mostly the same: dismal.

18 Jan 2018

New vaccine approach offers effective protection against tuberculosis

A unique platform that resulted in a promising HIV vaccine has also led to a new, highly effective vaccine against tuberculosis that is moving toward testing in humans.

18 Jan 2018

Novel gene expression analysis technique can accurately and quickly measure RNA

A University of Illinois and Mayo collaboration has demonstrated a novel gene expression analysis technique that can accurately measure levels of RNA quickly and directly from a cancerous tissue sample while preserving the spatial information across the tissue --something that conventional methods cannot do.

18 Jan 2018

Review explores consequences of genetic testing and cancer risk-reducing surgery

Genetic testing is commonplace for many inheritable cancer syndromes, and with that comes the knowledge of being a gene carrier for some patients.

18 Jan 2018

Genetic study identifies six new gene regions associated with type 1 diabetes in children

This article outlines a recent study which identified six novel gene regions in children who are at risk of type 1 diabetes.

17 Jan 2018

Scientists discover possible cause of colonial-era epidemic in Mexico

An international team of scientists has identified the possible cause of a colonial-era epidemic in Mexico. Using new techniques in ancient DNA research, experts from the Max Plank Institute, Harvard University and the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, identified Salmonella enterica Paratyphi C in skeletons left behind from the 1545-1550 cocoliztli epidemic.

17 Jan 2018

Three-dimensional organization of genome plays key role in gene expression, cell fate

Scientists have long been reading the code of life - the genome -, as a sequence of letters but now researchers have also started exploring its three-dimensional organization.

17 Jan 2018

Scientists identify six new gene regions that may help treat type 1 diabetes

Six novel chromosomal regions identified by scientists leading a large, prospective study of children at risk for type 1 diabetes will enable the discovery of more genes that cause the disease and more targets for treating or even preventing it.

17 Jan 2018