University of Utah Health scientists have corrected abnormal heart rhythms in mice, suggesting a new strategy for treating arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, the leading cause of cardiac arrest in young athletes.
Researchers in China have successfully restored the vision of mice with retinitis pigmentosa, one of the major causes of blindness in humans. The study, to be published March 17 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, uses a new, highly versatile form of CRISPR-based genome editing with the potential to correct a wide variety of disease-causing genetic mutations.
Hair loss in women can be emotionally devastating and may negatively impact quality of life, and new research suggests that it can also be associated with having other common medical conditions.
Omnitrophota are nano-sized bacteria first discovered 25 years ago. Though common in many environments around the world, until now they've been poorly understood. An international research team produced the first large-scale analysis of Omnitrophota genomes, uncovering new details about their biology and behavior. The team’s findings are reported in the March 16 issue of the journal Nature Microbiology.
Researchers may have found why viral infections hit males more severely than females. They found that female mouse and human NK cells have an extra copy of an X chromosome-linked gene called UTX. UTX acts as an epigenetic regulator to boost NK cell anti-viral function, while repressing NK cell numbers.
A team of scientists led by Dr. Kei-ichi TAKATA from the Center for Genomic Integrity (CGI) within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), has discovered a new type of DNA repair mechanism that cancer cells use to recover from next-generation cancer radiation therapy.
Using a new computational approach they developed to analyze large genetic datasets from rare disease cohorts, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and colleagues have discovered previously unknown genetic causes of three rare conditions: primary lymphedema (characterized by tissue swelling), thoracic aortic aneurysm disease, and congenital deafness.
Ochsner Health is leading the way for precision medicine nationwide by becoming one of the first hospital systems to standardize genomic testing, significantly advancing ways in which care teams can treat cancer patients. This change helps providers determine individualized treatment by understanding how patients will react to certain drugs, thereby lowering risk of adverse side effects, improving patient experience, and bettering patient outcomes.
The sex hormone estrogen has a negative impact on heartbeat regulation, according to an experimental study from Linköping University, Sweden, published in Science Advances.
Now in its 11th year, participants in Utah Cardiac Recovery Symposium (U-CARS) will exchange ideas and evaluate paradigms on a now-thriving field of science and medicine that was once thought to be impossible: making diseased hearts healthy again.
It's sleep awareness week, according to the National Sleep Foundation. It’s important to understand how sleep deprivation can impact your health. Most people recognize that if they don’t get enough sleep, their mood and memory will suffer the next day.
A new approach that delivers a “one-two punch” to help T cells attack solid tumors is the focus of a preclinical study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
A new software tool developed by Texas Biomedical Research Institute and collaborators can help scientists and vaccine developers quickly edit genetic blueprints of pathogens to make them less harmful. The tool, called CoDe – short for Codon Deoptimization – enables users to make precise edits to a genetic code to make genes less functional – in other words, to deoptimize the genes.
UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company, and Aitia, the leader in the application of Causal AI and "Digital Twins" to discover and develop new drugs, today announced an early drug discovery collaboration focused on the discovery and validation of novel drug targets and drug candidates for Huntington's disease.
Scientists have developed a test that could greatly improve quality of life for infants with homocystinuria (HCU)—a congenital disease that, if not treated early, causes serious complications. Research demonstrating the efficacy of this test was published today in AACC’s Clinical Chemistry journal.
In a step forward for genetic engineering and synthetic biology, researchers have modified a strain of Escherichia coli bacteria to be immune to natural viral infections while also minimizing the potential for the bacteria or their modified genes to escape into the wild.
Many highly sensitive diagnostic tests for viral diseases still require complicated techniques. But now, a team reporting in ACS Central Science has developed a sensitive method that analyzes viral nucleic acids quickly and can be completed in one step with “glow-in-the-dark” proteins.
In decades past, scientists have been unable to conclusively identify human-associated microbes in samples collected above 26,000 feet. This study marks the first time that next-generation gene sequencing technology has been used to analyze soil from such a high elevation on Mount Everest, enabling researchers to gain new insight into almost everything and anything that’s in them.
Investigators have developed a fast, point-of-care molecular diagnostic test that identifies a subset of individuals who are most likely to benefit from hypnosis interventions for pain treatment.
National Institutes of Health researchers compared a new genetic animal model of Down syndrome to the standard model and found the updated version to be enhanced.
In APL Bioengineering, researchers create a biomimetic model to study wound healing in burn and laceration wounds. The team designed an in vitro model system made of fibroblasts embedded in a collagen hydrogel. Wounds were created in this microtissue using a microdissection knife to mimic laceration or a high-energy laser to simulate a burn. They discovered that fibroblasts clear away damaged tissue before depositing new material. This part of the healing process is slower in burn wounds.
Certain enzymes within a class known as bile salt hydrolases (BSHs) can restrict Clostridioides difficile (C. diff.) colonization by both altering existing bile acids and by creating a new class of bile acids within the gut’s microbial environment. The work could lead to “designer” probiotics that protect against disease.
UC San Diego researchers have identified a strong association between the product of a gene expressed in most cancers and elevated levels of white blood cells that produce antibodies within tumors, suggesting a new therapeutic target.
Researchers have identified two previously unknown genes linked to schizophrenia and newly implicated a third gene as carrying risk for both schizophrenia and autism. Led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the multi-center study further demonstrated that the schizophrenia risk conferred by these rare damaging variants is conserved across ethnicities. The study may also point to new therapeutics. The findings were published in the March 13 online issue of Nature Genetics.
The constant evolution of new COVID-19 variants makes it critical for clinicians to have multiple therapies in their arsenal for treating drug-resistant infections. Researchers have now discovered that a new class of oral drugs that acts directly on human cells can inhibit a diverse range of pathogenic SARS-CoV-2 strains. In their newly published study, the team found a novel mechanism through which the gene that expresses angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2)—the cellular receptor to which SARS-CoV-2 binds so that it can enter and infect the cell—is turned on.
A study of one family from Alabama has led Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers to discover that insulin deficiency, independent of the autoimmunity associated with Type 1 diabetes, is the principal factor leading to a markedly smaller pancreas.
A first-of-its-kind study in the March 2023 issue of JNCCN highlights how the lack of genomic research for people with African ancestry, particularly those from the Sub-Saharan region, is hampering efforts to reduce disparities for people with advanced prostate cancer.
In the first step toward understanding how dogs – and perhaps humans – might adapt to intense environmental pressures such as exposure to radiation, heavy metals, or toxic chemicals, researchers at North Carolina State, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, and the National Institutes of Health found that two groups of dogs living within the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, one at the site of the former Chornobyl reactors, and another 16.5 km away in Chornobyl City, showed significant genetic differences between them.
The trial, which concluded in 2021, found that 133 hemophilia patients treated weekly with injections of efanesoctocog alfafor a year improved their outcomes and quality of life compared to their previous treatment.
A Michigan Medicine study has identified a new potential target for treating osteoarthritis – a debilitating joint disease that affects over 31 million Americans and is a leading cause of disability worldwide.
New insights into the effects of a hormonal treatment for transgender men, discovered by Cedars-Sinai investigators, could have implications for the treatment of breast cancer.
The faba bean genome, which at 13 billion bases is more than four times the size of the human genome, has been sequenced for the first time and is published today (08 March 2023), in Nature.
Read how researchers discovered genetic markers that hinder pancreatic cancer treatment and mutations that increase sarcoma risk. Then learn how artificial intelligence is helping predict prostate cancer outcomes and see how a new clinical trial looks at less-invasive breast cancer treatments. Finally, find out how a new grant could help veterans get the cancer care they need.
The new partnership aims to accelerate an innovative heart-failure gene therapy. The agreement is an exclusive world-wide license and includes a sponsored research program to support future FDA filings.
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back.
A team of researchers has discovered a potential therapeutic that can synergize with existing drugs to more effectively kill certain leukemia cells. The authors published their results on Jan. 19 in the journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.
Researchers have begun to explore the underlying neural activity of eating behaviours in fruit flies to better understand the motives that drive feeding.
UC San Diego researchers delve deep into the unknown cause of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia to identify a gene splicing dysregulation and potential target for treating the disease, which often becomes treatment-resistant.
The same genetics that helped some of our ancestors fight the plague is still likely to be at work in our bodies today, potentially providing some of the population with extra protection against respiratory diseases such as COVID-19. However, there is a trade-off, where this same variation is also linked to increased autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Will AI drive the next biomedical revolution? Why is RNA so powerful? What can we learn from studying bias? You’ll get the answers to these questions and more at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, to be held March 25–28 in Seattle.