Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Researchers identify enzyme that plays vital role in sexual development of fungi

Biologists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen have gained new insights into specific enzymes that effect the specialization of fungal cells.

5 Sep 2018

Genome-wide association study reveals potential genes behind diverticular disease

More than half of adults in the Western hemisphere over the age of 40 have small bulging pouches inside their intestine known as diverticula. Caused by weakening of the outer lining of the intestine, these pouches are typically harmless.

5 Sep 2018

Huntington's disease may take effect much earlier in life than previously believed, study suggests

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that Huntington's disease may take effect much earlier in life than was previously believed, and that a new drug may be key in controlling the disease.

5 Sep 2018

Research reveals noise-canceling mechanisms in developmental biology

Noise is usually considered a nuisance, for example when preventing us from clearly hearing what someone is saying. The general concept of noise applies more broadly. In biology, the physical differences between organisms of the same type, for example two humans, originate from so-called developmental noise -- ultimately stemming from probabilistic collisions between reacting molecules and environmental conditions in cells during the early stages of the organism's growth.

4 Sep 2018

Hormone link between diabetes and hypertension discovered

Physician researchers with The Ohio State University College of Medicine at the Wexner Medical Center say increased levels of the hormone aldosterone, already associated with hypertension, can play a significant role in the development of diabetes, particularly among certain racial groups.

4 Sep 2018

Restricting food to 10-hour window can lead to better health

Scientists at the Salk Institute found that mice lacking the biological clocks thought to be necessary for a healthy metabolism could still be protected against obesity and metabolic diseases by having their daily access to food restricted to a 10-hour window.

31 Aug 2018

Plant-derived substance could offer new option for treatment of obesity

A plant-derived substance widely used in traditional Chinese medicine has demonstrated promising weight loss effects.

31 Aug 2018

Study raises possibility of detecting childhood bone cancers earlier

Scientists have discovered that some childhood bone cancers start growing years before they are currently diagnosed.

30 Aug 2018

Vertex, Genomics team up to improve discovery of precision medicines

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) and Genomics plc today announced a three-year collaboration, extendable to five years, to use human genetics and machine learning to improve discovery of targets for precision medicines, and to advance understanding of the clinical impact of human genetic variation and patient stratification in diseases with significant unmet need.

30 Aug 2018

$Genetics study uncovers key factors for fracture risk in osteoporosis$

Genetics study uncovers key factors for fracture risk in osteoporosis

The largest study ever to investigate the genetics of osteoporosis and fracture risk determined that only two examined factors - bone mineral density and muscle strength - play a potentially causal role in the risk of suffering osteoporotic fracture, a major health problem affecting more than 9 million people worldwide very year.

30 Aug 2018

Study opens new avenues for engineering smells and tastes

Every smell, from a rose to a smoky fire to a pungent fish, is composed of a mixture of odorant molecules that bind to protein receptors inside your nose.

30 Aug 2018

$Genome-wide association study provides insight into biologic mechanisms leading to fractures$

Genome-wide association study provides insight into biologic mechanisms leading to fractures

A paper titled "Assessment of the genetic and clinical determinants of fracture risk: genome wide association and mendelian randomization study" appeared today in the British Medical Journal.

30 Aug 2018

Study yields therapeutic clues to combat drug resistance in rare aggressive cancer

Stephen Elledge, PhD, and his team did not set out to find therapies that could render tumors less resistant to therapy or make existing drugs more potent against a rare form of cancer. But these are precisely the clinical insights that their most recent study has yielded.

29 Aug 2018

Study adds more evidence to underlying autoimmune mechanisms in type 1 diabetes

Immune reactions are usually a good thing - the body's way of eliminating harmful bacteria and other pathogens. But people also rely on molecular "brakes," or checkpoints, to keep immune systems from attacking their own cells and organs and causing so-called autoimmune disease.

29 Aug 2018

Researchers discover reason why many bladder cancer patients do not respond to immunotherapy

Mount Sinai researchers have discovered that a particular type of cell present in bladder cancer may be the reason why so many patients do not respond to the groundbreaking class of drugs known as PD-1 and PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors, which enable the immune system to attack tumors.

29 Aug 2018

Research shows proteomics can be used to predict evolution of triple negative breast cancer

The rarest, but also the most aggressive and hard to treat form of breast cancer, is known as triple negative. For this type of cancer, researchers have so far been unable to identify markers that can classify patients by prognosis or probability of responding to different treatments.

29 Aug 2018

New study suggests chemotherapy may cause early menopause in women with lung cancer

A new study suggests chemotherapy may cause acute amenorrhea leading to early menopause in women with lung cancer.

29 Aug 2018

The connection between brain anatomy, genes and obesity

Clinicians should consider how the way we think can make us vulnerable to obesity, and how obesity is genetically intertwined with brain structure and mental performance, according to new research.

29 Aug 2018

Cannabis use and mental illness link found

A large new study has found that people with mental ailments such as schizophrenia are more genetically inclined to use cannabis.

29 Aug 2018

Pediatric researchers discover gene mutation that causes lymphatic disorder

Pediatric researchers have identified a gene mutation that causes a serious lymphatic condition, and used that knowledge to restore normal lymphatic vessels in model animals. The laboratory findings may lead to a new therapy for patients with this type of abnormal lymphatic circulation.

28 Aug 2018