Feature Channels: Genetics

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Motives for drinking — to party, to conform, to cope, or to feel good — are consistent through young adulthood, and genes play a role in how those motives influence alcohol use, a new study of college students suggests. Understanding the mechanisms linking genetic variants to differences in drinking behaviors could present opportunities for predicting individuals’ vulnerability to Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and intervening to prevent it. Genetic factors are responsible for about 50% of individual risk of AUD. Much of how that heritability functions is unexplained, however. The relationship between genes and drinking behavior is complex, involving thousands of genetic variants that each have small effects. Critical factors known as endophenotypes, or intermediary phenotypes, affect how an individual’s genetic predisposition manifests as a behavioral trait. For the new study in Alcoholism: Clinical & Environmental Research, investigators sought to determine whether drinking motives are o

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Newly published research is the first to show that stillbirth can be inherited and tends to be passed down through male members of the family. That risk preferentially comes from the mother’s or father’s male relatives—their brothers, fathers, grandfathers, uncles, or male cousins. But the odds of a couple losing a baby to stillbirth are even greater when the condition comes from the father’s side of the family.

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Psychedelic compounds found in ‘magic mushrooms’ are increasingly being recognised for their potential to treat health conditions such as depression, anxiety, compulsive disorders and addiction.

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The Harvard Medical School-led Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness will play a central role in genomic surveillance and education on emerging and novel pathogens under a new $25 million CDC grant awarded to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to establish the New England Pathogen Genomics Center of Excellence (PGCoE).

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Frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis, is a common cause of shoulder pain and immobility. New findings point to specific genes associated with an increased risk of this condition, reports The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer.

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An international team of researchers led by the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center received a collaborative SPORE grant from the National Cancer Institute with a goal of bringing new insights into leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that seemingly originates in smooth muscle.

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In a research paper published in PLOS ONE, The Wistar Institute's Dario C. Altieri, M.D., alongside national and international collaborators, distinguish a specific gene signature indicative of mitochondrial reprogramming in tumors that correlates with poor patient outcome.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists found the cellular response to low oxygen also increases fetal hemoglobin expression in adults, which could lead to novel treatments for some common genetic anemias.

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A method for detecting intraspecies genomic diversity of uncultivated bacterial DNA has been developed. This enhanced MAG method's ability to detect previously overlooked variations focuses on the DNA sequence and structural traits of the genome. The spectrum of microdiversity in environmental bacterial genomes has been found to be broader than expected.

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Researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine collaborated on a recently published paper that provides new guidance on inclusion of underrepresented populations in genetics research.

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Patients’ low-light sensitivity improved by factors of thousands in a clinical trial

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New COVID-19 variants could potentially be contained where they arise using genetic sequencing, a new study from the University of Georgia has found. But it will require global cooperation. Published in PNAS Nexus, the study found that standard methods that first assess a new variant’s severity are too slow to stop its spread. Next-generation genetic sequencing, however, offers a feasible alternative to spot new variants with enough time to contain variants where they first appear.

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By: Bill Wellock | Published: October 10, 2022 | 1:11 pm | SHARE: More than 264,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the United States. Although deaths from breast cancer have declined over time, it remains the second-leading cause of cancer death among women.October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an opportunity to focus on the impact of this disease.

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Scientists are working to bioengineer a defense mechanism that most plants develop naturally to protect against drought, insects and other environmental stresses. The goal is to create a roadmap for breeding plants with designer cuticles to respond to changing climates.

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Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is proud to announce that one of its own – Stephen J O’Brien, Ph.D. – was honored with The Explorers Club’s 2022 Lowell Thomas Award.

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University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers have identified how multiple genes of SARS-CoV-2 affect disease severity, which could lead to new ways in how we develop future vaccines or develop newer treatments. The genes control the immune system of the host, contributing to how fiercely the body responds to a COVID-19 infection.

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Two new discoveries led by Cedars-Sinai Cancer investigators help improve the understanding of what drives the development of ovarian cancer and why some women’s tumors do not respond to therapy.

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The human brain is probably the most complex organ in the entire living world and has long been an object of fascination for researchers. However, studying the brain, and especially the genes and molecular switches that regulate and direct its development, is no easy task.

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Researchers attach green fluorescent protein (GFP), a protein that changes light from one color into another, to other proteins to observe how and where cells produce those proteins and thus how cells express genes. However, the use of GFP is time consuming and requires expensive equipment. Researchers have now designed and developed a special type of GFP visible with the unaided eye and a simple black light.

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National Eye Institute researchers mapped the organization of human retinal cell chromatin, the fibers that package 3 billion nucleotide-long DNA molecules into compact structures that fit into chromosomes within each cell’s nucleus. The resulting comprehensive gene regulatory network provides insights into regulation of gene expression in general, and in retinal function, in both rare and common eye diseases. The study published in Nature Communications.

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A research team led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst scientist has made a significant genetic discovery that sheds light on the use of the drug caspofungin to treat a deadly fungal infection, Aspergillus fumigatus, which kills some 100,000 severely immunocompromised people each year.

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s genes desempenham um papel em quase todas as áreas da saúde. Um gene é como um manual de instruções que diz ao corpo como funcionar, se desenvolver e permanecer saudável. As pessoas têm cerca de 20.000 genes em seus corpos. Os exames genéticos podem ajudar a indicar se uma pessoa tem risco elevado de desenvolver determinadas doenças presentes na família. Breanna Mitchell, conselheira genética do Sistema de Saúde da Mayo Clinic em Eau Claire, responde algumas das questões mais comuns sobre exames genéticos.

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Los genes desempeñan alguna función en casi todas las áreas de la salud. Un gen es como un manual de instrucciones que indica al cuerpo cómo funcionar, desarrollarse y mantenerse sano. La gente tiene alrededor de 20 000 genes en el cuerpo. Las pruebas genéticas indican si una persona corre más riesgo de desarrollar ciertas afecciones que se encuentran presentes en su familia. Breanna Mitchell, consejera genética del Sistema de Salud de Mayo Clinic en Eau Claire, responde varias preguntas frecuentes sobre las pruebas genéticas.

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Moffitt Cancer Center has named Joseph L. Kissil, Ph.D., chair of its Molecular Oncology Department.

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UC San Diego study finds enhanced PKCγ activity drives spinocerebellar ataxia type 14; suggests inhibiting the enzyme may have therapeutic potential

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The latest dinosaur discoveries in the Dinosaurs channel on Newswise.

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The American Physiological Society (APS) congratulates geneticist Svante Pääbo, PhD, recipient of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

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Clemson geneticists Trudy Mackay and Robert Anholt will work to discover why some people become addicted to drugs while others don't.

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The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture is awarding more than $1.8 million to the Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative led by Iowa State University, which aims to foster research collaborations to improve the long-term efficiency and resilience of U.S. agriculture.

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“I'm a professional pin-in-a-haystack seeker,” geneticist Thijn Brummelkamp responds when asked why he excels at tracking down proteins and genes that other people did not find, despite the fact that some have managed to remain elusive for as long as forty years.

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The Basser Center for BRCA at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania has awarded Mayo Clinic's Fergus Couch, Ph.D., with the 10th annual Basser Global Prize. This highly distinguished award recognizes a leading scientist who has advanced research related to BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. People with mutations in these genes are at an increased risk of breast, ovarian, pancreatic and prostate cancers.

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University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers and their collaborators have solved a decades-old mystery about how E. coli and other bacteria are able to move.