Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Timing of trauma strongly influences adult brain function and behavior

A research team from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology), in collaboration with the IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini in Genoa (Italy), has demonstrated that traumatic experiences occurring at specific stages of life - particularly from childhood through the early years following adolescence - have persistent effects on brain development and adult behavior.

12 May 2026

Large human islet study reveals new insights into diabetes risk

Diabetes is the most common and serious chronic disease worldwide, characterized by insufficient insulin to maintain proper blood glucose levels.

12 May 2026

Loss of X chromosome linked to female infertility risk

Chromosomes carry genetic information for biological sex, which generally assigns women two X chromosomes and men XY chromosomes.

12 May 2026

Researchers map the brain histamine system to understand mental health

New research, from King's College London and the University of Porto, has mapped the histamine system in the brain. Histamine, a molecule more commonly associated with allergies, plays a separate but poorly understood role in brain function.

12 May 2026

BGI Genomics joins HGP2 Rare Disease Alliance to close rare disease care gap in Asia-Pacific

The HGP2 RaDiAnce-APAC initiative enhances rare disease diagnosis and genomic medicine, fostering collaboration for improved health in the Asia-Pacific region.

From BGI Genomics 12 May 2026

Common cholesterol drug may help disrupt ovarian cancer cell protection

A fluid that women with advanced ovarian cancer know all too well - ascites, the buildup of liquid in the belly - may be doing more than causing discomfort.

11 May 2026

Could a fingerprick at home flag your Alzheimer's risk? New study says yes

Researchers demonstrated that self-administered fingerprick blood tests measuring p-tau217 and GFAP, returned by post, correlate strongly with venous blood biomarkers and cognitive performance across the Alzheimer's disease continuum. Combined with computerized cognitive testing, this at-home approach offers a scalable, patient-friendly tool for triaging individuals at risk of AD-related impairment.

10 May 2026

Clinicians find evolutionary explanations for anxiety more helpful than genetics

Mental health clinicians are over five times more likely to see evolutionary explanations of anxiety as helpful for their patients, rather than the genetic approaches currently taught to trainee doctors and psychiatrists in the UK and US, a new study shows.

8 May 2026

Metformin targets the gut instead of the liver to lower glucose

For decades, physicians and scientists thought metformin, the leading Type 2 diabetes medication taken by millions worldwide, mainly targets the liver to suppress glucose production.

8 May 2026

The BHARAT study: India’s first large-scale search for aging biomarkers

A new research paper was published in Volume 18 of Aging-US on April 24, 2026, titled "The BHARAT study: a multi-modal, multi-omics investigation of aging signatures in the Indian population."

8 May 2026

Chromosome abnormalities may help cancer cells resist treatment and spread

A new study led by NYU Langone Health researchers found that cancer cells are better able to resist treatments when they have an abnormal number of chromosomes, which are DNA strands wound up in bundles that control which genetic instructions are followed in each cell type.

7 May 2026

Study reveals why women face higher autoimmune disease risks

Ahead of World Lupus Day on May 10, new research from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and UNSW Sydney helps explain why women are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with an autoimmune disease – a condition where the immune system misfires and mistakenly attacks the body's own healthy tissues.

7 May 2026

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