Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Methylmercury may harm metabolism beyond its known neurological effects

Methylmercury can accumulate in water environments and enter the food chain. Human exposure is of particular concern in communities affected by contaminated rivers, industrial pollution, artisanal gold mining and environmental disasters.

7 May 2026

A new combined therapy to boost the immune system against cancer

Cancer immunotherapy is built on a simple but powerful idea: the immune system can recognize and destroy cancer cells if it is properly activated. In many patients, however, this response is too weak or too slow to be effective.

7 May 2026

The importance of genetic screening for all cancer survivors

Hundreds of thousands of people diagnosed with cancer are still alive today but were never genetically tested, either because testing was not available or was not routinely offered at the time of their diagnosis. These patients are just as likely as those diagnosed today to carry a germline pathogenic variant (gPV) - a heritable genetic alteration - that increases cancer risk.

7 May 2026

Largest blood protein genetics study reveals new precision medicine opportunities

Involving a collaboration with 118 investigators contributing from 89 institutions, scientists from Queen Mary University of London's Precision Healthcare University Research Institute and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at Charité have led the world's largest study on the genetic regulation of blood proteins.

6 May 2026

AI-driven model predicts type 1 diabetes risk with greater accuracy

Researchers use machine learning and genetic analysis to uncover type 1 diabetes risk factors, improving prediction accuracy and identifying patient subtypes.

5 May 2026

A new tool that predicts obesity-related disease risk beyond BMI

OBSCORE is a data-driven tool that identifies high-risk individuals for obesity-related diseases, enhancing treatment targeting beyond traditional BMI metrics.

5 May 2026

AI model reads genetic code to trace evolutionary history

Researchers at the University of Oregon have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can read genetic code the way large language models like ChatGPT read text. Scanning the genome for biological mutation patterns, the computer model traces pairs of genes back in time to their last common ancestor.

4 May 2026

New genomic study tracks rare blood disease in children

Aplastic anemia is a rare, life-threatening blood disorder where patients are unable to make enough blood cells due to the immune system's attack on blood stem cells. The condition can progress to myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and leukemia. A study led by scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, with multiple collaborating institutions, used state-of-the-art genomic techniques to profile 619 children and adults with aplastic anemia.

4 May 2026

T1GRS model enhances prediction of genetic risk for Type 1 diabetes

In people with Type 1 diabetes (T1D), the immune system shuts down the body's ability to make the hormone insulin, responsible for regulating blood sugar and providing cells with glucose to produce energy.

30 Apr 2026

Sickness behavior may be a coordinated whole organism immune strategy

Symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite, altered sleep, and social withdrawal are often treated as inconvenient side effects of infection.

30 Apr 2026

UCLA researchers build programmable artificial organelles using RNA

Just as the human body relies on organs such as the heart or liver for essential functions, cells depend on their own tiny organs, or organelles, to carry out vital tasks, including transporting nutrients, removing waste and regulating genetic activity.

30 Apr 2026

How multi-omics is changing what scientists can see in the human immune system

Human systems immunology is using multi-omics, single-cell tools, spatial technologies, and AI to decode immune responses across real-world human cohorts. The review highlights major opportunities for biomarker discovery and precision medicine, while stressing the need for rigorous study design, validation, and careful interpretation.

29 Apr 2026

Epigenetic changes reshape Dicer enzyme function in cancer and reproduction

Activation of a specific part of the Dicer enzyme can change its shape in a way that affects its critical role in proper cell division, with implications for both cancer biology and fertility, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

28 Apr 2026

New scientific statement defines brain health across life

Brain health isn't determined only by genetics or what happens later in life. A growing body of research shows that a range of factors-from mental health and sleep to environment, lifestyle and social conditions-play a powerful role in shaping how the brain functions and ages.

28 Apr 2026

Lipid pathways driving diabetes and heart disease risk in South Asians

Identifying lipid-linked genetic pathways in Asian Indians offers insights into diabetes and heart disease, crucial for developing ancestry-specific therapies.

28 Apr 2026

Detailed images reveal DNA repair mechanism in cancer-related proteins

Scientists have captured the most detailed structural images to date of a specific type of protein's DNA repair process, a finding that could reveal ways to inhibit the effects of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations that heighten the risk for breast, ovarian and other cancers.

28 Apr 2026

NIH awards five year grant for cardiovascular epidemiology training

Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine researchers Vanessa Xanthakis, PhD, FAHA, associate professor of medicine and director of research training, and Mathew Nayor, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine, have been awarded a five-year, T32 grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

27 Apr 2026

Scientists seek to reverse neurodegeneration by eliminating harmful RNA pollution

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, the Salk Institute and Sanford Burnham Prebys have received a four-year, $13 million award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to investigate how to reverse age-related neurodegeneration by eliminating what the researchers call "RNA pollution" in aging neurons.

27 Apr 2026

Newer mail-in stool tests increase colorectal cancer screening completion rates

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States and disproportionally impacts people who receive care in under-resourced settings.

27 Apr 2026

Engineered cells boost production of gene editing delivery vehicles

Gene editing has emerged as a powerful approach for targeting the genetic causes of disease, but getting the editing machinery into the right cells efficiently, safely, and at the scale needed for therapies remains one of the biggest set of challenges in the field.

25 Apr 2026