Research findings from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine are shining a light on an important regulatory role performed by the so-called dark matter, or “junk DNA,” within each of our genes.
In a novel use of gene knockout technology, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine tested the same gene inserted into 90 different locations in a yeast chromosome – and discovered that while the inserted gene never altered its surrounding chromatin landscape, differences in that immediate landscape measurably affected gene activity.
Much of the DNA that makes up our genomes can be traced back to strange rogue sequences known as transposable elements, or jumping genes, which are largely idle in mammals. But Johns Hopkins researchers report they have identified a new DNA sequence moving around in bats — the first member of its class found to be active in mammals.
Research out of the George Washington University, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals another piece of the puzzle in a genetic developmental disorder that causes behavioral diseases such as autism.
Climate change poses a major challenge to humanity’s ability to feed its growing population. But a new study of sorghum, led by Stephen Kresovich and Geoff Morris of the University of South Carolina, promises to make this crop an invaluable asset in facing that challenge.
Some brain changes that are found in adults with common gene variants linked to disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and autism can also be seen in the brain scans of newborns, a study by UNC School of Medicine researchers finds.
Advances in bio-technologies and computer software have helped make genome sequencing much more common than in the past. But still in question are both the accuracy of different sequencing methods and the best ways to evaluate these efforts. Now, computer scientists have devised a tool to better measure the validity of genome sequencing.
As anyone familiar with the X-Men knows, mutants can be either very good or very bad — or somewhere in between. The same appears true within cancer cells, which may harbor hundreds of mutations that set them apart from other cells in the body; the scientific challenge has been to figure out which mutations are culprits and which are innocent bystanders. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have devised a novel approach to sorting them out: they generated random mutations in a gene associated with lymphoma, tested the proteins produced by the genes to see how they performed, and generated a catalog of mutants with cancer-causing potential.
An international team, headed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has identified a key enzyme in the reprogramming process that promotes malignant stem cell cloning and the growth of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a cancer of the blood and marrow that experts say is increasing in prevalence.
A cutting-edge genomic analysis method has helped researchers track new genetic contributors relevant to diabetes. The results provide a first example that the new tool can help decipher many complex diseases such as obesity and cancer.
Diagnosed with severe coronary artery disease, a group of patients too ill for or not responding to other treatment options decided to take part in a clinical trial testing angiogenic gene therapy to help rebuild their damaged blood vessels. More than 10 years later, in a follow-up review of these patients, doctors at Baylor College of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College (where the clinical trial and review took place) and Stony Brook University Medical Center report the outcomes are promising and open the door for larger trials to begin.
A breakthrough that will lead to understanding how bats carry very deadly viruses without getting sick has been reported by an international team of researchers who completed the first whole bat genome sequencing. That understanding may shed light on mitigating viral infections and ultimately lead to vaccines for deadly viruses. The results of the study, “Comparative analysis of bat genomes provides insight into the evolution of flight and immunity,” will appear in Science online. The full study will be available following the release of the embargo at 2 p.m. EST, Dec. 20, 2012.
Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have developed potentially game-changing diagnostic and prognostic genetic tests shown to better predict prostate cancer survival outcomes and distinguish clinically-relevant cancers.
There are promising results from the first-ever use of a virus-based gene therapy for a neurodegenerative/neurological disorder. The therapy was given to 19 young patients with Canavan disease, a devastating inherited childhood condition.
Autism sequencing consortium discovers six new drug targets through large-scale studies.
Scientists at Tufts University have discovered a new gene mechanism that appears to regulate triglyceride levels. This pathway may protect carriers of a gene variant against cardiovascular disease.
Is homosexuality genetic? It's a long-running debate. Now researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, say they've found a clue that may unlock the mystery. It lies in something called epi-genetics—how gene expression is regulated by temporary switches.
Stroke the soft body of a newborn fruit fly larva ever-so-gently with a freshly plucked eyelash, and it will respond to the tickle by altering its movement—an observation that has helped scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) uncover the molecular basis of gentle touch, one of the most fundamental but least well understood of our senses.
A new method for detecting abnormalities in unborn children is providing physicians with more information to analyze the results than conventional, microscopic testing, according to two George Washington University researchers.
The Archibald Lab at Dalhousie led a team of researchers from across the globe that decoded the genetic blueprints of two tiny organisms, shedding light on a major feat of evolution.
A large, multi-center clinical trial led by Columbia University Medical Center shows that a new genetic test resulted in significantly more clinically relevant information than the current standard method of prenatal testing. The test uses microarray to conduct a comprehensive examination of a fetus’s DNA. Results will be in the 12/6/12 issue of NEJM.
Our bodies contain far more microbial genes than human genes. And a new study suggests that just as human DNA varies from person to person, so too does the massive collection of microbial DNA in the intestine. The research is the first to catalog the genetic variation of microbes that live in the gut.
Genetics study shows promise in feeding the world in spite of heat and drought.
Techniques used in breeding programs meant to yield the perfect dairy cow may soon more accurately predict a person’s genetic risk for skin cancer.
Using powerful gene-analysis tools, researchers have discovered mutations in two related genes, ARID1A and ARID1B, that are involved in the most aggressive form of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma.
Researchers have discovered four new gene regions that contribute to low birth weight. Three of those regions influence adult metabolism, including outcomes such as adult height, risk of type 2 diabetes and adult blood pressure.
In a genome sequencing study of 74 neuroblastoma tumors in children, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that patients with changes in two genes, ARID1A and ARID1B, survive only a quarter as long as patients without the changes. The discovery could eventually lead to early identification of patients with aggressive neuroblastomas who may need additional treatments.
Using genetic analyses, scientists have discovered that Northern European populations descend from a mixture of two very different ancestral populations, and one of these populations is related to Native Americans.
Scientists seeking to develop treatments for Huntington’s disease just got a roadmap that could dramatically speed their discovery process. Researchers at the Buck Institute have used RNAi technology to identify hundreds of “druggable” molecular targets linked to the toxicity associated with HD. The gene RRAS, involved in cell motility and neuronal development , was among the diverse range of modifiers identified. RRAS was revealed as a potent modulator of HD toxicity in multiple HD models.
Vanderbilt biologists have discovered mosquitoes possess a previously unknown mechanism for destroying pathogens that takes advantage of the peculiarities of the insect’s circulatory system to increase its effectiveness.
Scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have identified two genes involved in establishing the neuronal circuits required for breathing, findings which could advance treatments for spinal cord injuries, ALS.
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have combined the ability to detect cancer DNA in the blood with genome sequencing technology in a test that could be used to screen for cancers, monitor cancer patients for recurrence and find residual cancer left after surgery.
Researchers led by Stephan Kissler, Ph.D., have demonstrated how a genetic variant associated with type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases influences susceptibility to autoimmunity.
A University of Utah study produced new mathematical support for a theory that explains why men in some cultures often feed and care for their sisters’ children: where extramarital sex is common and accepted, a man’s genes are more likely to be passed on by their sister’s kids than by their wife’s kids.
An international consortium of more than 60 scientists from the United States, China, and Europe has published the genome sequence of watermelon — information that could dramatically accelerate watermelon breeding toward production of a more nutritious, tastier and more resistant fruit.
Researchers at McGill University and the University of Montreal uncover a crucial link between protein synthesis and autism spectrum disorder.
Previously discarded, human-specific “junk” DNA represents untapped resource in the study of diseases like Alzheimer’s and autism.
International team finds genes associated with condition that causes premature skull fusion.
Changes in how DNA interacts with histones—the proteins that package DNA—regulate many fundamental cell activities from stem cells maturing into a specific body cell type or blood cells becoming leukemic. These interactions are governed by a biochemical tug of war between repressors and activators, which chemically modify histones signaling them to clamp down tighter on DNA or move aside and allow a gene to be expressed.
A new discovery concerning a fundamental understanding about how DNA works will produce a “180-degree change in focus” for researchers who study how gene packaging regulates gene activity, including genes that cause cancer and other diseases.
Insights from a genetic condition that causes brain cancer are helping scientists better understand the most common type of brain tumor in children.
An international scientific collaboration that includes two Kansas State University researchers is bringing home the bacon when it comes to potential animal and human health advancements, thanks to successfully mapping the genome of the domestic pig.
About 10 percent of kids born with kidney defects have large alterations in their genomes known to be linked with neurodevelopmental delay and mental illness, a new study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers has shown. The study was published today in the online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics.
New research at the University of Adelaide has revealed a genetic link in pregnant mums - and their male partners - to pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening complication during pregnancy.
A gene so powerful it nearly triples the risk of Alzheimer’s disease has been discovered by an international team including researchers from Mayo Clinic. It is the most potent genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s identified in the past 20 years.
Research led by the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has identified a fusion gene responsible for almost 30 percent of a rare subtype of childhood leukemia with an extremely poor prognosis.
An international research team co-led by a scientist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified two genetic factors behind the third most common form of muscular dystrophy. The findings, published online in Nature Genetics, represent the latest in the team’s series of groundbreaking discoveries begun in 2010 regarding the genetic causes of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, or FSHD.
Although schizophrenia is highly genetic in origin, the genes involved in the disorder have been difficult to identify. In the past few years, researchers have implicated several genes, but it is unclear how they act to produce the disorder. A new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center identifies affected gene networks and provides insight into the molecular causes of the disease. The paper was published today in the online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience.
The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) released a new official Position Statement on the Public Disclosure of Clinically Relevant Genome Variants. This important new statement addresses the problems resulting from gene patent monopolies that have allowed some to develop proprietary databases of the clinical meaning of the variants in particular genes.
Johns Hopkins researchers have succeeded in teaching computers how to identify commonalities in DNA sequences known to regulate gene activity, and to then use those commonalities to predict other regulatory regions throughout the genome. The tool is expected to help scientists better understand disease risk and cell development.
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