Feature Channels: Genetics

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A new genetic study of polar bears and brown bears upends prevailing ideas about the evolutionary history of the two species.

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Researchers from the University of Toronto and SickKids Research Institute announced today that they have successfully mapped the genes in the fungus that causes Dutch Elm Disease. The researchers believe this is the first time the 30 million DNA letters for the fungus Ophiostoma ulmi have been mapped. The findings, published in this week’s online journal BMC Genomics, could help scientists figure out how to prevent the fungus from destroying elm trees in the future.

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Researchers are developing a genetic hearing screening for newborns at the Medical College of Wisconsin. They hope their work will lead to standard genetic hearing screenings for newborns at other hospitals.

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Autism results from abnormal cell communication. Testing a new theory, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have used a newly discovered function of an old drug to restore cell communications in a mouse model of autism, reversing symptoms of the devastating disorder.

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A Primer in the March 2013 journal GENETICS pairs undergraduate teaching concepts in population genetics with current research on speciation and sequencing in crickets, resulting in critical thinking in the classroom.

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A better “mousetrap” discovered in fruit flies might stop a human cancer-driving kinase in its tracks.

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The University of Washington and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) partnered to launch UW-OncoPlex – an advanced gene sequencing test to help clinicians treat cancer.

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Researchers at the University of Montreal’s Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) have discovered a new mechanism that allows some cells in our body to move together, in some ways like the tortoise formation used by Roman soldiers depicted in the Asterix series.

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Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA) in Vienna have identified a completely new mechanism in the onset of motor neuron diseases. Their findings could be the basis for future treatments for these presently incurable diseases.

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In evolutionary biology, there is a deeply rooted supposition that you can't go home again: Once an organism has evolved specialized traits, it can't return to the lifestyle of its ancestors.

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Scientists at UC San Francisco have found a more precise way to turn off genes, a finding that will speed research discoveries and biotech advances and may eventually prove useful in reprogramming cells to regenerate organs and tissues.

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Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified patterns of epigenomic diversity that not only allow plants to adapt to various environments, but could also benefit crop production and the study of human diseases.

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UCLA scientists have discovered a new genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease by screening people's DNA and then using an advanced type of scan to visualize their brains' connections.

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A pair of studies tells the tale of how a neuroscientist at Mayo Clinic in Florida helped to discover the first African-American family to have inherited the rare movement disorder dystonia, which causes repetitive muscle contractions and twisting, resulting in abnormal posture.

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Millions of people unknowingly carry rare gene mutations that put them at high risk of developing preventable diseases such as colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and several catastrophic blood vessel disorders. University of North Carolina experts from the School of Medicine and from the Gillings School of Global Public Health propose that screening healthy adults for these and other specific, rare genetic disorders could potentially prevent these diseases.

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Research published in the March 2013 journal GENETICS explains a novel interaction between aging and how neurons dispose of unwanted proteins and why this impacts the rising prevalence of dementia with advancing age.

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In what may be a first, University at Buffalo research uncovers a virus that infects a host with a non-standard nuclear genetic code.

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University of Adelaide researchers have found the answer to one of natural history’s most intriguing puzzles – the origins of the now extinct Falkland Islands wolf and how it came to be the only land-based mammal on the isolated islands – 460km from the nearest land, Argentina.

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UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists report the first successful blocking of tumor development in a genetic mouse model of an incurable human cancer.

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A professor from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is one of the lead authors of a study identifying seven new regions of the human genome that are associated with increased risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness among older adults.

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NCI scientists have developed a new paradigm to assess hereditary risk prediction in common diseases, such as prostate cancer.

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For the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics spoke with one voice and released a set of recommendations and guidelines on best practices for genetic testing and screening of children.

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Scientists have a new view of the cellular machinery that assembles directly on DNA and readies it for transcription into RNA, the first step in protein production.

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Novel discovery brings a close to a 17-year-old scientific debate about the impact of mechanical stretching on the structure of DNA.

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An estimated 300,000 U.S. patients get surgical site infections every year, and while the causes are varied, a new University of Utah study suggests that some who get an infection can blame it partly on their genes.

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One reporter tries out a genome sequencing machine that may revolutionize medicine.

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A healthy lung has some capacity to regenerate itself like the liver. In COPD, these reparative mechanisms fail. HDAC therapies may be useful for COPD, as well as other airway diseases. The levels of HDAC2 expression and its activity are greatly reduced in COPD patients. Decreased HDAC activity may impair the ability of the lung epithelium to regenerate.

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Research conducted at Henry Ford Hospital shows that race and possibly genetics play a role in children’s sensitivity to developing allergies. Researchers found: • African-American children were sensitized to at least one food allergen three times more often than Caucasian children. • African-American children with one allergic parent were sensitized to an environmental allergen twice as often as African-American children without an allergic parent.

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An international research team co-led by cancer prevention researcher Ulrike “Riki” Peters, Ph.D., M.P.H., and biostatistician Li Hsu, Ph.D., at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified variations in four genes that are linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Peters and colleagues from 40 institutes throughout the world published their findings online ahead of the April print issue of Gastroenterology.

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DNA preserved in calcified bacteria on the teeth of ancient human skeletons has shed light on the health consequences of the evolving diet and behaviour from the Stone Age to the modern day.

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Study identifies regions of genes linked to Behçet’s, a poorly understood condition that causes painful and serious symptoms, including ulcers and brain inflammation

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In a study of mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a new molecular pathway involved in the growth of tiny air sacs called alveoli that are crucial for breathing. The scientists say their experiments may lead to the first successful treatments to regrow the air sacs in people who suffer from diseases such as emphysema in which the air sacs have been destroyed by years of smoking. The work may also suggest new therapy for premature infants born before their lungs are fully developed.

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A search for long-lived balancing selection has found at least six regions of the genome where humans and chimpanzees share a combination of genetic variants. These human genetic variation dates back to a common ancestor with chimpanzees millions of years ago, before the species split.

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Scientists have known for nearly a century that cold-blooded animals, such as worms, flies and fish all live longer in cold environments, but have not known exactly why.

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Researchers found that epigenetic regulation is key to distinguishing one caste of carpenter ants, the “majors”, as brawny Amazons of the colony, compared to the “minors”, their smaller, brainier sisters. The two castes have the same genes, but strikingly distinct behaviors and shape.

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Research published in the journal GENETICS shows that marrying genome-wide and proteome-wide screening helps determine susceptibility in a wide variety of diseases.

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In the journal GENETICS, NIH researchers review research on dog cranium development, suggest future research and how it may inform human skull development.

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Researchers have found a genetic variant that doubles the likelihood that people will have calcium deposits on their aortic valve. Such calcification, if it becomes severe, can cause narrowing or a blockage of the aortic valve, a condition called aortic stenosis. The study is the first large-scale, genome-wide association study to uncover a genetic link to aortic valve calcification. An article detailing the findings is published in the February 7, 2013 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

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A team of biologists from Indiana University and Brown University believes it has discovered the mechanism by which interacting mutations in mitochondrial and nuclear DNA produce an incompatible genotype that reduces reproductive fitness and delays development in fruit flies.

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By broadly comparing the DNA of children to that of elderly people, gene researchers have identified copy number variations that influence lifespan, either by raising disease risk or by providing protection from disease.

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Research from Whitehead Institute shows that transcription at the active promoters of protein-coding genes commonly runs in opposite directions. This leads to coordinated production of both protein-coding messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs).

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Researchers found a key determinant in the balance between two proteins, BRCA1 and 53BP1, in DNA repair machinery. Breast and ovarian cancer are associated with a breakdown in the repair systems involving these proteins.

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After an intensive three-year hunt through the genome, medical researchers have pinpointed mutations that leads to drug resistance and relapse in the most common type of childhood cancer—the first time anyone has linked the disease’s reemergence to specific genetic anomalies.

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Autism spectrum disorders affect nearly 1 in 88 children, with symptoms ranging from mild personality traits to severe intellectual disability and seizures. New work to examine which genes are responsible for autism disorders will be presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society (BPS), held Feb. 2-6, 2013, in Philadelphia, Pa.

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University of Utah researchers decoded the genetic blueprint of the rock pigeon, unlocking secrets about pigeons’ Middle East origins, feral pigeons’ kinship with escaped racing birds, and how mutations give pigeons traits like a fancy feather hairdo known as a head crest.

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A new study, to be published in the Feb. 7, 2013 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, expands and deepens the biological and genetic links between cardiovascular disease and schizophrenia. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of premature death among schizophrenia patients, who die from heart and blood vessel disorders at a rate double that of persons without the mental disorder.

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Genetic analysis by Stowers investigators has implications for a genetic disorder known as Hirschsprung Syndrome.

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New ancient DNA research show Aztec empire altered genetics of the Otomí inhabitants of Xaltocan. It is the first study to provide genetic evidence for the anthropological cold case.