Feature Channels: Genetics

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It was long believed that conception doesn't involve a meeting of equals. The egg is a relatively large biological factory compared with the tiny sperm. However, a new study from Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah reveals that the father's sperm delivers much more complex genetic material than previously thought. The findings could lead to a test to help couples deal with infertility.

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Jumping genes do most of their jumping, not during the development of sperm and egg cells, but during the development of the embryo itself. The research challenges standard assumptions on the timing of when mobile DNA, so-called jumping genes, insert into the human genome.

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Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and a team of collaborators from across the country have identified a new risk factor gene for rheumatoid arthritis. The gene, dubbed REL, is a member of the NF-(kappa)B family. The NF-(kappa)B family seems to have a big hand in regulating the body's immune response.

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Boys who carry a particular variation of the gene Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), sometimes called the "warrior gene," are more likely not only to join gangs but also to be among the most violent members and to use weapons, according to a new study from The Florida State University that is the first to confirm an MAOA link specifically to gangs and guns.

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If you had cancer and a genetic test could predict the risk of aggressive metastasis, would you want to know "“ even if no treatments existed to help you? An overwhelming majority of eye cancer patients would answer yes, according to a new UCLA study published in the June edition of the Journal of Genetic Counseling.

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New research shows that most parents who undergo genetic testing to assess their risk of breast cancer in particular, tell their young children of the results. The study, presented at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, also looks at how parents perceive their child's reaction to such news.

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Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified a gene that may play a key role in regulating tumor progression in neuroblastoma, a form of cancer usually found in young children. Scientists hope the finding could lead to an effective therapy to inhibit the expression of this gene.

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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have uncovered variation around two genes that are associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young men, and its incidence among non-Hispanic Caucasian men has doubled in the last 40 years -- it now affects seven out of 100,000 white men in the United States each year.

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Researchers have discovered a novel molecular path that predisposes patients to develop primary biliary cirrhosis, a disease that mainly affects women and slowly destroys their livers. Primary biliary cirrhosis has no known cause.

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A protein that plays a key role in tumor formation, oxygen metabolism and inflammation is involved in a pathway that extends lifespan by dietary restriction. The finding provides a new understanding of how dietary restriction contributes to longevity and cancer prevention and gives scientists new targets for developing and testing drugs that could extend the healthy years of life.

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A simple genetic test can determine a kidney transplant patient's tolerance for a potent anti-rejection medication, according to an upcoming study in the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The test could allow doctors to individualize each patient's dose, optimizing the drug's benefits and minimizing its side effects.

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UCLA scientists have discovered a variant of a gene that may increase a child's risk of developing autism, particularly in boys.

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The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit (May 11) against the Patent and Trademark Office, Myriad Genetics, and the University of Utah Research Foundation for patenting two genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. Yvonne Cripps, the Harry T. Ice Professor of Law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, says this is likely to be a landmark case.

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Our genome is a patchwork of neighborhoods that couldn't be more different: Some areas are hustling and bustling with gene activity, while others are sparsely populated and in perpetual lock-down. Breaking down just a few of the molecular fences that separate them blurs the lines and leads to the inactivation of at least two tumor suppressor genes, according to researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

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A popular view among evolutionary biologists that fundamental genes do not acquire new functions was challenged this week by a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Indiana University Bloomington biologist Armin Moczek and research associate Debra Rose report that two ancient genes were "co-opted" to help build a new trait in beetles -- the fancy antlers that give horned beetles their name.

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In an international effort, scientists at the Illinois Institute of Technology together with industrial partners at DNAFORM in Japan, imaGenes in Germany, FASTERIS in Switzerland, and Precision Biomarker Resources in USA have for the first time prepared a genome-wide map of Transcription Start Sites (TSS) for the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

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University of Adelaide researchers in Australia are developing a world-first genetic test that can predict which pregnancies are at risk of complications long before symptoms arise.

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An international team of researchers has identified three genes containing common mutations that are associated with altered kidney disease risk. One of the discovered genes, the UMOD gene, produces Tamm-Horsfall protein, the most common protein in the urine of healthy individuals. Although the Tamm-Horsfall protein has been known for almost 60 years, its functions are not well understood and its relationship to chronic kidney disease risk was not known previously.

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DNA is damaged about 20,000 times a day. Sometimes this damage causes gaps that prevent the DNA molecule from being copied when the cell divides. In a sloppy but efficient repair technique, the cell may fill in the missing DNA in an inaccurate fashion. Such repair can save the cell from dying, but it comes at a price: this error-prone mechanism is a major source of mutations. Now, a scientist at the Weizmann Institute has revealed how the stopgap repair works. It proceeds in two steps and requires two types of enzymes.

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A new UNC study published online in the journal Genome Research describes a new, more effective and less costly method for testing drugs for potential toxicity and one that could also result in more people benefiting from existing drugs.

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In a recent issue of The Journal of Chemical Physics, published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), a group of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Los Alamos National Laboratory describe the first comprehensive, molecular-level numerical study of gene therapy. Their work should help scientists design new experimental gene therapies and possibly solve some of the problems associated with this promising technique.

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Researchers have made an important step forward in understanding the complex genetic structure of autism spectrum disorders. A researcher collaboration, including geneticists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), have detected variations along a genetic pathway that is responsible for neurological development, learning and memory, which appears to play a significant role in the genetic risk of autism.

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A research team has connected more of the intricate pieces of the autism puzzle, with two studies that identify genes with important contributions to the disorder. One study pinpoints a gene region that may account for as many as 15 percent of autism cases. Both studies detected genes along biological pathways implicated in the development of brain circuitry in early childhood.

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Immunology researchers with the Bovine Genome Sequencing Project say the first full genome of a livestock animal published in "Science" this week advances understanding of large numbers of gamma delta T cells in ruminants and how to fight infectious diseases such as TB and leptospirosis in cattle.

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A new study reveals that "“ contrary to decades of evolutionary thought "“ chromosome regions that are prone to breakage when new species are formed are a rich source of genetic variation.

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Researchers report today in the journal Science that they have sequenced the bovine genome, for the first time revealing the genetic features that distinguish cattle from humans and other mammals.

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Scientists already know that some genes are controlled by the circadian clock and are turned on only one time during each 24-hour cycle. Now, researchers have found that some genes are switched on once every 12 or 8 hours, indicating that shorter cycles of the circadian rhythm are also biologically encoded.