A new University of Iowa study, published online July 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals a potential link between epilepsy and neurodegenerative disorders.
As part of a multinational, collaborative effort, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have helped identify over 100 locations in the human genome associated with the risk of developing schizophrenia, in the largest genomic study published on any psychiatric disorder to date, conducted with 80,000 people. The findings, published online in Nature, point to biological mechanisms and pathways that may underlie schizophrenia, and could lead to new approaches to treating the disorder, which has seen little innovation in drug development in more than 60 years.
As part of a multinational, collaborative effort, researchers from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and scores of other institutions from all over the world have helped identify over 100 locations in the human genome associated with the risk of developing schizophrenia, in what is the largest genomic study published on any psychiatric disorder to date.
Heritability trumps spontaneous glitches, environment
Scientists have completed a chromosome-based draft sequence of the bread wheat genome as well as the first reference sequence of chromosome 3B, the largest chromosome in wheat.
Scientists at the Salk Institute have identified a gene responsible for stopping the movement of cancer from the lungs to other parts of the body, indicating a new way to fight one of the world’s deadliest cancers. By identifying the cause of this metastasis—which often happens quickly in lung cancer and results in a bleak survival rate—Salk scientists are able to explain why some tumors are more prone to spreading than others. The newly discovered pathway, detailed today in Molecular Cell, may also help researchers understand and treat the spread of melanoma and cervical cancers.
Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have found in animal models that a single gene plays a surprising role in aging, a discovery that could lead to the possibility of using therapeutics, even commonly used ones, to manipulate the aging process itself.
A new study, involving roundworms, shows that starvation induces specific changes in so-called small RNAs and that these changes are inherited through at least three consecutive generations, apparently without any DNA involvement.
Cardiologists at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have developed a minimally invasive gene transplant procedure that changes unspecialized heart cells into “biological pacemaker” cells that keep the heart steadily beating. The laboratory animal research, published online and in today’s print edition of the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine, is the result of a dozen years of research with the goal of developing biological treatments for patients with heart rhythm disorders who currently are treated with surgically implanted pacemakers.
A researcher at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Research Institute has found a genetic identifier for autism that includes physical features that may eventually allow clinicians to identify babies who are at risk for autism before they are born. This is the first time a genetic mutation has been linked to autism.
If you consider your friends family, you may be on to something. A study from the University of California, San Diego, and Yale University finds that friends who are not biologically related still resemble each other genetically.
Ithaca College professor Iann Woods researches how genetics influence responses to stimuli that can trigger anxiety, and he’s using zebrafish — a tropical member of the minnow family named for the black stripes on their bodies — to do so. He and his team of student researchers examine how fish with tweaked genes respond to different triggers compared to unmodified fish. The work could someday lead to better, more nuanced medications for anxiety disorders.
More than 140 years ago, Charles Darwin noticed something peculiar about domesticated mammals. Compared to their wild ancestors, domestic species are more tame, and they also tend to display a suite of other characteristic features, including floppier ears, patches of white fur, and more juvenile faces with smaller jaws. Since Darwin’s observations, the explanation for this pattern has proved elusive, but now, in a Perspectives article published in the journal GENETICS, a new hypothesis has been proposed that could explain why breeding for tameness causes changes in such diverse traits.
A research team led by Irwin H. Gelman, Ph.D., of Roswell Park Cancer Institute has identified a new suppressor of cancer metastasis, FOXO4, that may point the way toward development of more effective treatments for solid tumors.
Researchers examine survival rates for healthy mosquitoes and those carrying West Nile virus, under varying environments. The results were complicated, but intriguing.
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have shed new light on the complex processes of nerve cell growth, showing that a particular protein plays a far more sophisticated role in neuron development than previously thought.
A chimpanzee’s intelligence is largely determined by its genes, while environmental factors may be less important than scientists previously thought, according to a Georgia State University research study.
Studying the most common type of lung cancer, researchers have uncovered mutations in a cell-signaling pathway that plays a role in forming tumors. The new knowledge may expand treatments for patients because drugs targeting some of these genetic changes already are available or are in clinical trials.
New results ease previous concerns that gene-editing techniques—used to develop therapies for genetic diseases—could add unwanted mutations to stem cells.
Three geneticists at the forefront of human evolutionary genomics assess the changing state of the field and how we are moving closer to understanding the evolution of the human brain.
In a study published yesterday in the scientific journal Nature Immunology, a group at the La Jolla Institute (LJI) led by Pandurangan Vijayanand, Ph.D. identify new genes that likely contribute to asthma, a disease that currently affects over 200 million people world wide.
Two genetic mutations in liver cells may drive tumor formation in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA), the second most common form of liver cancer
Key genetic variants may affect how cancer patients respond to radiation treatments
A study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center used the Sleeping Beauty gene transfer system to modify T cells in hopes of fighting major life-threatening infections caused by invasive Aspergillus fungus. Results of the study appear in today’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Many families with a history of Alzheimer’s or related diseases remain unaware they can use preimplantation genetic diagnosis to avoid passing on disease genes to their children. In a two-part series, Alzforum covers the pros and cons of PGD.
Use of exome sequencing improved the ability to identify the underlying gene mutations in patients with biochemically defined defects affecting multiple mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes (enzymes that are involved in basic energy production), according to a study in the July 2 issue of JAMA.
Whitehead Institute scientists have genetically and enzymatically modified red blood cells to carry a range of valuable payloads—from drugs, to vaccines, to imaging agents—for delivery to specific sites throughout the body.
Scientists have found how the electric fish evolved its jolt. Writing June 27, 2014 in the journal Science, a team of researchers led by Michael Sussman of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Harold Zakon of the University of Texas at Austin and Manoj Samanta of the Systemix Institute in Redmond, Washington identifies the regulatory molecules involved in the genetic and developmental pathways that electric fish have used to convert a simple muscle into an organ capable of generating a potent electrical field.
A gene known to control brain growth and development is heavily involved in promoting clear cell renal cell carcinoma, the most common form of kidney cancer, researchers from Mayo Clinic in Florida are reporting.
Virginia Bioinformatics Institute researchers at Virginia Tech have discovered aging can occur at different rates within an individual's genome, with some portions aging 100 times faster than others. It makes personalized medicine even more challenging.
A team of genome scientists has identified a “hit-and-run” mechanism that allows regulatory proteins in the nucleus to adopt a “Tom Sawyer” behavior when it comes to the work of initiating gene activation.
Biologists at UC San Diego have found the “missing link” in the chemical system that enables animal cells to produce ribosomes—the thousands of protein “factories” contained within each cell that manufacture all of the proteins needed to build tissue and sustain life.
Do you jump to help the less fortunate or cry during sad movie scenes? If yes, you may be among the 20 percent of our population that is genetically pre-disposed to empathy, according to a study by Stony Brook University psychologists.
Study identifies two novel oncogenes that cause childhood brain cancer when activated.
Nearly 900 scientists from 27 countries will attend the 11th International Conference on Zebrafish Development and Genetics organized by the Genetics Society of America (GSA), June 24–28, 2014, in Madison, Wisconsin. The conference will feature 600 presentations of cutting-edge research results on topics including embryonic and adult development, functional genomics, regenerative medicine, chemical biology, emerging technologies, evolution, and cancer as well as cardiovascular, digestive, and infectious diseases.
Gene mutation sets off accumulation of unhealthy beta cells that can no longer produce insulin needed to control blood sugar. Researcher who lives with type 1 diabetes published genetic finding in Cell.
New research describes details of how a diabetes-related gene functions on biological pathway that affects the release of insulin. Finding drugs that act on that pathway may eventually lead to a new treatment for type 1 diabetes.
Researchers from NC State University have developed a technique to control populations of the Australian sheep blowfly – a major livestock pest in Australia and New Zealand – by making female flies dependent upon a common antibiotic to survive.
Autoimmune disease occurs when the body's own natural defense system rebels against itself. One example is pemphigus vulgaris (PV), a blistering skin disease in which autoantibodies attack desmoglein 3 (Dsg3), the protein that binds together skin cells. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania recently found a shared genetic link in the autoimmune response among PV patients that provides important new clues about how autoantibodies in PV originate.
Researchers have identified hundreds of long non-coding RNAs expressed in developing and adult lungs. Many of these non-protein-coding RNAs in the lung regulate gene expression by opening and closing the DNA scaffolding on neighboring genes.
Researchers have identified the first genetic variations linked to race that begin to explain a higher risk of death among some African American and Caucasian patients taking the anti-clotting drug clopidogrel (Plavix) after a heart attack.
Virginia Tech entomologists have developed a chromosome map for about half of the genome of the mosquito Aedes agypti, the major carrier of dengue fever and yellow fever. With the map, researchers can chart ways to prevent diseases.
University of Adelaide research into the origins of ovarian cancer has led to the discovery of a genetic pathway that could slow the spread of the cancer.
A new study shows that children in homes affected by violence, suicide, or the incarceration of a family member have significantly shorter telomeres—a cellular marker of aging, than those in stable households.
A new mouse model developed by researchers at Tufts University demonstrates that learning impairments and autistic-like behaviors can be caused by loss of the APC gene in the developing brain, demonstrating that APC regulates critical pathways that link to these disabilities.
Immunity stops you dying from a common cold or a tiny pinprick. Differences in resistance or tolerance to disease influence who catches the bug that’s going around the office, or which species succumb to the deadly fungus devastating frogs around the world. To catalyze new advances in this complex field, the Genetics Society of America journals GENETICS and G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics have launched an ongoing collection of research articles that address the genetics of immunity.
National University of Singapore (NUS), University of California, Berkeley, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) researchers have teamed up to show that when we make strategic decisions in a competitive betting game, at least in the laboratory, genes that modulate dopamine information signaling in the brain partially trigger how we take risks.
Sex is everywhere in nature. Whether it’s a bird singing or a tiny yeast cell secreting chemicals to attract the opposite mating type, sex has profoundly shaped the appearance, behavior and evolution of many organisms. In recognition of the importance of the genetic and evolutionary forces underlying sex differences and sex determination, the Genetics Society of America journals GENETICS and G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics announce an ongoing collection of research articles on the genetics of sex.
A new Moffitt Cancer Center study published Thursday in Genetics in Medicine shows that counseling from a genetic health care provider before genetic testing educates patients and may help reduce unnecessary procedures.
An imbalance of female sex hormones among men in Western nations may be contributing to high levels of male obesity, according to new research from the University of Adelaide.
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