Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Wistar researchers find potential way for using STAT3 inhibitors to stop cancer progression

Imagine developing a drug designed to inhibit a protein that helps cancer cells proliferate and survive only to find that the drug does not perform very well in the clinic. This was the dilemma faced by scientists researching inhibitors of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT3), a protein that controls transcription by the STAT3 gene.

17 Feb 2016

Study reveals another clue to workings of trachoma

Another clue to the workings of trachoma - the world's leading infectious cause of blindness - has been revealed in a new study published in BMC Infectious Diseases. Researchers identified markers of genetic regulation present in the early stages of infection that could predispose children to developing the condition in its long-term, severe form.

17 Feb 2016

Synthetic RNA and DNA could reverse protein deficiency that causes Friedreich's ataxia

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified synthetic RNA and DNA that reverses the protein deficiency causing Friedreich's ataxia, a neurological disease for which there is currently no cure.

17 Feb 2016

Study shows new RNA letter as regulatory key to control gene expression

DNA, RNA, protein -- the end. Or is it? Until recently, the pattern used to encode genetic information into our cells was considered to be relatively straightforward: four letters (A,G,C,T) for DNA and four (A,G,C,U) for RNA. This equation, however, turned out to be oversimplified -- RNA was holding out.

17 Feb 2016

Researchers discover factor that controls embryonic stem cell development

After a gestation period of around ten months, fawns are born in early summer - when the weather is warm and food is plentiful for the mother. Six months would actually be enough for the embryo's development, but then offspring from mating in the later portion of summer would be born in winter.

17 Feb 2016

AKT1 gene moderates mind-altering effects of smoking cannabis in young people

Researchers at the University of Exeter and UCL (University College London) have identified a gene which can be used to predict how susceptible a young person is to the mind-altering effects of smoking cannabis. The finding could help identify otherwise healthy users who are most at risk of developing psychosis.

17 Feb 2016

Research shows how developing neurons use copper for their various needs

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have used a precision sensor in a chicken embryo to find dramatic differences in the use of copper between developing and fully mature neurons.

17 Feb 2016

UAB research reveals heterogonous population of leukemia stem cells

University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have found a marker on blood cells that may help the most pressing problem in chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML, today — an inability to get patients off treatment.

16 Feb 2016

Regrowing dopaminergic neurons may lead to new therapy for Parkinson's disease

While scientists are unsure of the molecular causes of Parkinson's Disease, they do know the disorder's tremors and other motor dysfunctions are linked to a loss of dopaminergic neurons located in the substantia nigra, a structure in the midbrain.

16 Feb 2016

Scientists discover new subgroups of ILC immune cells using single-cell RNA sequencing

A relatively newly discovered group of immune cells known as ILCs have been examined in detail in a new study published in the journal Nature Immunology. By analysing the gene expression in individual tonsil cells, scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have found three previously unknown subgroups of ILCs, and revealed more about how these cells function in the human body.

16 Feb 2016

One specific microRNA has strong links to autism spectrum disorder, say TSRI scientists

Discovered only in the 1990s, microRNAs are short molecules that work within virtually all cells. Typically, each one functions as a “dimmer switch” for the expression of one or more genes, regulating a wide variety of cellular processes, including learning and memory.

16 Feb 2016

Variations in Tie2 gene play significant role in patient responses to infections

Major infections such as influenza and bacterial sepsis kill millions of people each year, often resulting fro dangerous complications that impair the body's blood vessels. But the reasons why some patients experience these dramatic responses to infections -- and others don't -- have been unclear.

16 Feb 2016

Research findings identify potential genetics-guided precision medicine for leukemia patients

An international research team has determined how inherited gene variations lead to severe drug toxicity that may threaten chances for a cure in children with leukemia. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led the study, results of which set the stage to expand the use of a patient's genetic make-up to tailor chemotherapy.

16 Feb 2016

St. Jude-led scientists explore better ways to use blood-forming stem cells for therapeutic interventions

A team of researchers led by scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is looking at ways to improve how blood-forming stem cells can be used for therapeutic interventions. The work has uncovered a group of genes that regulate how hematopoietic stem cells start to grow and thrive in mice. The function of many of these genes was previously unknown. Reconstitution of a robust blood-forming system is essential for recovery from many catastrophic diseases as well as from chemotherapy treatments.

16 Feb 2016

Scientists discover role of nucleocytoplasmic transport in specific forms of ALS and FTD

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two devastating adult-onset neurodegenerative disorders.

15 Feb 2016

Scientists modify plants' defense system to confer resistance to virus

Scientists at Indiana University have modified a plant gene that normally fights bacterial infection to confer resistance to a virus.

15 Feb 2016

Neural gene promotes growth and spread of metastatic breast cancer

When breast cancer becomes advanced and spreads to other organs, patient survival is drastically reduced, prompting the need to explore the genes that may cause tumor cells to metastasize.

15 Feb 2016

Intracellular process of autophagy plays role in prostate cancer development, shows research

Research from investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center, shows the intracellular process of autophagy plays a role in the development of prostate cancer.

15 Feb 2016

New approach could be used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Scientists at the UCLA Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research and Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at UCLA have developed a new approach that could eventually be used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

14 Feb 2016

TSRI scientists receive $1.7 million NIH grant to find new target for treating Huntington's disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have won nearly $1.7 million from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to investigate the mechanisms that contribute to Huntington's disease, a fatal inherited disease that some have described as having ALS, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's--at the same time.

12 Feb 2016

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Wistar researchers find potential way for using STAT3 inhibitors to stop cancer progression

Study reveals another clue to workings of trachoma

Synthetic RNA and DNA could reverse protein deficiency that causes Friedreich's ataxia

Study shows new RNA letter as regulatory key to control gene expression

Researchers discover factor that controls embryonic stem cell development

AKT1 gene moderates mind-altering effects of smoking cannabis in young people

Research shows how developing neurons use copper for their various needs

UAB research reveals heterogonous population of leukemia stem cells

Regrowing dopaminergic neurons may lead to new therapy for Parkinson's disease

Scientists discover new subgroups of ILC immune cells using single-cell RNA sequencing

One specific microRNA has strong links to autism spectrum disorder, say TSRI scientists

Variations in Tie2 gene play significant role in patient responses to infections

Research findings identify potential genetics-guided precision medicine for leukemia patients

St. Jude-led scientists explore better ways to use blood-forming stem cells for therapeutic interventions

Scientists discover role of nucleocytoplasmic transport in specific forms of ALS and FTD

Scientists modify plants' defense system to confer resistance to virus

Neural gene promotes growth and spread of metastatic breast cancer

Intracellular process of autophagy plays role in prostate cancer development, shows research

New approach could be used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy

TSRI scientists receive $1.7 million NIH grant to find new target for treating Huntington's disease

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

How cohesin mechanics and nanotracker tech are redefining DNA research

Todd Bauman and Chris Povich