Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital comprehensively characterized oncogenic fusions in pediatric cancer, providing proof-of-principle for genetic engineering-based therapies.
Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have found that human ribosomes decode mRNA slower than bacteria, with implications for drug development.
In a twist on the question, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”, scientists have long faced a similar question about how human adenovirus replicates: “Which comes first, assembly of the viral particle, or packaging of the viral genome?” Now, in a new study published today in Nature, researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have answered that question, showing that viral proteins use a process called phase separation to coordinate production of viral progeny.
The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology awarded Diana Libuda, PhD, Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Oregon Institute of Molecular Biology, with the Excellence in Science Early-career Investigator Award.
A new survey of allergists/immunologists from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology shows that diagnosing, treating and managing hereditary angioedema can be challenging for patients and healthcare providers - including patients in rural areas. An article about the survey is published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, ACAAI’s scientific journal.
Surviving family members of a person who died from sudden cardiac death rely on information from death investigators and health care professionals to process their relative’s death and understand their own risk of inherited heart conditions.
Is our brain able to regenerate? And can we harness this regenerative potential during aging or in neurodegenerative conditions? These questions sparked intense controversy within the field of neuroscience for many years.
New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that transposable elements in various cancers potentially may be used to direct novel immunotherapies to tumors that don’t typically respond to immune-based treatments.
Each person has about 4 million sequence differences in their genome relative to the reference human genome. These differences are known as variants. A central goal in precision medicine is understanding which of these variants contribute to disease in a particular patient.
A study from the National Eye Institute (NEI) identified rare genetic variants that could point to one of the general mechanisms driving age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common cause of vision loss in older adults.
Report in the journal Molecular Cell crucial and surprising first steps that promote resistance to ciprofloxacin, or cipro for short, one of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics. The findings point at potential strategies that could prevent bacteria from developing resistance, extending the effectiveness of new and old antibiotics.
“Horses have been part of us since long before other cultures came to our lands, and we are a part of them,” states Chief Joe American Horse, a leader of the Oglala Lakota Oyate, traditional knowledge keeper, and co-author of the study.
Institutional Research Grants provide important financial support for new treatments and discovering valuable genetic information. This year’s grants fund the development of a new skin cancer detection and treatment device, as well as studies that analyze the relationship between cancer treatment and mental health, how cells detect and repair broken DNA, how metabolism affects cancer cells, and the possible link between leukemia, inflammation, and aging.
Scientists have made progress in understanding the circadian clock, the 24-hour cycle that synchronizes with light-dark exposure, and how it functions. They developed a new way to study how the circadian clock synchronizes in real time, revealing surprises about the clock’s mechanisms.
Elizabeth Hénaff, Assistant Professor in the NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and in the Department of Technology, Culture and Society, along with colleagues from MIT, Pratt Institute and Weill Cornell Medicine, conducted a pilot study by sampling various materials from three hives in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. They found diverse genetic information in the debris accumulated at the bottom of the hives, including genetic data from environmental bacteria.
Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say their 20-year study of more than 200 people with premature aging syndromes caused by abnormally short telomeres, or shortened repetitive DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes, may upend long-held scientific dogma and settle conflicting studies about how and whether short telomeres contribute to cancer risk.
BD²: Breakthrough Discoveries for Thriving with Bipolar Disorder today announced its first grants, totaling $15 million, to advance scientific understanding of the genetic and biological foundations of bipolar disorder.
Once adults reach age 65, the threshold age for the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, the extent of their genetic risk may outweigh age as a predictor of whether they will develop the fatal brain disorder, a new study suggests.
Traces of ancient empires that stretched across Africa remain in the DNA of people living on the continent, reveals a new genetics study led by UCL researchers.
A study from the UC Davis School of Medicine has identified a gene-enzyme interaction that appears to play a key role in how the brain forms memories. The findings provide insights into how PDE inhibitor medications may help diseases like Alzheimer’s. The research was published in Science Signaling.
A National Eye Institute-led team has identified a compound already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that keeps light-sensitive photoreceptors alive in three models of Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA 10), an inherited retinal ciliopathy disease that often results in severe visual impairment or blindness in early childhood.
The largest-yet analysis of ancient DNA in Africa, which includes the first ancient DNA recovered from members of the medieval Swahili civilization, has now broken the stalemate about the extent to which people from outside Africa contributed to Swahili culture and ancestry.
A rapid genetic testing model for patients with advanced prostate cancer can more quickly identify those with "actionable" gene variants eligible for newer targeted therapies, reports a clinical trial in the May issue of The Journal of Urology®, an Official Journal of the American Urological Association (AUA). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
A DNA editing tool adapted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists makes engineering microbes for everything from bioenergy production to plastics recycling easier and faster.
A new study published today in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Plus by Timothy A. McCaffrey, professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences and INOVA Fairfax Hospitals demonstrates how RNA biomarkers may be used to confirm heart disease. The study, which involves the largest analysis of blood RNA from patients with angiographically confirmed CAD, adds several novel dimensions to the current understanding of heart disease and could one day lead to a simple blood test that would help doctors diagnose heart disease in the physician’s office.
Researchers have identified two distinct subtypes of insulin-producing beta cells, or ß cells, each with crucial characteristics that may be leveraged to better understand and treat Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
George Jabboure Netto, MD, an internationally recognized physician-scientist specializing in genitourinary pathology and molecular genetic pathology, has been named chair of the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn Medicine, effective Aug. 1, 2023.
Scientists have identified an autoinflammatory disease caused by mutations in the LYN gene, an important regulator of immune responses in health and disease.
The community of microbes living in and on our bodies may be acting as a reservoir for antibiotic resistance, according to new research from the Earlham Institute and Quadram Institute in Norwich.
Nearly double the number of young adults under 55 are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer than a decade ago. This most recent significant increase in CRC among the younger population, Dr. Xavier Llor says, is more associated with a patient’s environment, including all sorts of exposures, and diet.
The Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai highlighted progress against Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, multiple sclerosis, brain cancer and stroke in their 2023 Annual Report, which also details advancements in spine surgery.
As health care professionals, researchers and consumers increasingly use genetic testing, they are uncovering incidental genetic abnormalities, or variants, that are associated with cardiovascular diseases.
The breast tumors of Asian, Black and white women have very different cellular, microbial and genomic features that could potentially be used to personalize care or predict disease progression, according to new research by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.
A new study reported in JAMA Network Open unveils disparities in Mesothelioma survival, a grant to help construction workers nail quitting smoking, a new AI algorithm that offers insights into deadly cancer, a newly launched Neuroendocrine Tumors Program, a cancer researcher chosen to co-lead Tumor Biology Program and more are in this month’s tip sheet from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Metabolic pathways consist of a series of biochemical reactions in cells that convert a starting component into other products. There is growing evidence that metabolic pathways coupled with external stress factors influence the health of cells and tissues.
Using artificial intelligence, researchers have discovered how to screen for genetic mutations in cancerous brain tumors in under 90 seconds — and possibly streamline the diagnosis and treatment of gliomas, a study suggests. The newly developed system, DeepGlioma, identified mutations used by the World Health Organization to define molecular subgroups of diffuse glioma with an average accuracy over 90%.
People infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may experience genome structure changes that not only may explain our immunological symptoms after infection, but also potentially link to long COVID, according to a new study by researchers at UTHealth Houston.
An international research team has developed a meta-scale approach to quantifying the human proteome and the massive number of protein variants produced by the human body. Proteomics is a cornerstone of biology and a precursor to understanding how protein dysfunction contributes to disease.
Congenital arhinia (meaning patients born without a nose) is a rare condition associated with high mortality if not identified. As most babies when born are obligate nose breathers, the condition requires immediate attention. The clinical condition is a very rare genetic disorder that, in severe cases, causes congenital absence of the nose with life threatening conditions.