In a step forward for genetic engineering and synthetic biology, researchers have modified a strain of Escherichia coli bacteria to be immune to natural viral infections while also minimizing the potential for the bacteria or their modified genes to escape into the wild.
Many highly sensitive diagnostic tests for viral diseases still require complicated techniques. But now, a team reporting in ACS Central Science has developed a sensitive method that analyzes viral nucleic acids quickly and can be completed in one step with “glow-in-the-dark” proteins.
In decades past, scientists have been unable to conclusively identify human-associated microbes in samples collected above 26,000 feet. This study marks the first time that next-generation gene sequencing technology has been used to analyze soil from such a high elevation on Mount Everest, enabling researchers to gain new insight into almost everything and anything that’s in them.
Investigators have developed a fast, point-of-care molecular diagnostic test that identifies a subset of individuals who are most likely to benefit from hypnosis interventions for pain treatment.
National Institutes of Health researchers compared a new genetic animal model of Down syndrome to the standard model and found the updated version to be enhanced.
In APL Bioengineering, researchers create a biomimetic model to study wound healing in burn and laceration wounds. The team designed an in vitro model system made of fibroblasts embedded in a collagen hydrogel. Wounds were created in this microtissue using a microdissection knife to mimic laceration or a high-energy laser to simulate a burn. They discovered that fibroblasts clear away damaged tissue before depositing new material. This part of the healing process is slower in burn wounds.
Certain enzymes within a class known as bile salt hydrolases (BSHs) can restrict Clostridioides difficile (C. diff.) colonization by both altering existing bile acids and by creating a new class of bile acids within the gut’s microbial environment. The work could lead to “designer” probiotics that protect against disease.
UC San Diego researchers have identified a strong association between the product of a gene expressed in most cancers and elevated levels of white blood cells that produce antibodies within tumors, suggesting a new therapeutic target.
Researchers have identified two previously unknown genes linked to schizophrenia and newly implicated a third gene as carrying risk for both schizophrenia and autism. Led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the multi-center study further demonstrated that the schizophrenia risk conferred by these rare damaging variants is conserved across ethnicities. The study may also point to new therapeutics. The findings were published in the March 13 online issue of Nature Genetics.
The constant evolution of new COVID-19 variants makes it critical for clinicians to have multiple therapies in their arsenal for treating drug-resistant infections. Researchers have now discovered that a new class of oral drugs that acts directly on human cells can inhibit a diverse range of pathogenic SARS-CoV-2 strains. In their newly published study, the team found a novel mechanism through which the gene that expresses angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2)—the cellular receptor to which SARS-CoV-2 binds so that it can enter and infect the cell—is turned on.
A study of one family from Alabama has led Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers to discover that insulin deficiency, independent of the autoimmunity associated with Type 1 diabetes, is the principal factor leading to a markedly smaller pancreas.
A first-of-its-kind study in the March 2023 issue of JNCCN highlights how the lack of genomic research for people with African ancestry, particularly those from the Sub-Saharan region, is hampering efforts to reduce disparities for people with advanced prostate cancer.
In the first step toward understanding how dogs – and perhaps humans – might adapt to intense environmental pressures such as exposure to radiation, heavy metals, or toxic chemicals, researchers at North Carolina State, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, and the National Institutes of Health found that two groups of dogs living within the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, one at the site of the former Chornobyl reactors, and another 16.5 km away in Chornobyl City, showed significant genetic differences between them.
The trial, which concluded in 2021, found that 133 hemophilia patients treated weekly with injections of efanesoctocog alfafor a year improved their outcomes and quality of life compared to their previous treatment.
A Michigan Medicine study has identified a new potential target for treating osteoarthritis – a debilitating joint disease that affects over 31 million Americans and is a leading cause of disability worldwide.
New insights into the effects of a hormonal treatment for transgender men, discovered by Cedars-Sinai investigators, could have implications for the treatment of breast cancer.
The faba bean genome, which at 13 billion bases is more than four times the size of the human genome, has been sequenced for the first time and is published today (08 March 2023), in Nature.
Read how researchers discovered genetic markers that hinder pancreatic cancer treatment and mutations that increase sarcoma risk. Then learn how artificial intelligence is helping predict prostate cancer outcomes and see how a new clinical trial looks at less-invasive breast cancer treatments. Finally, find out how a new grant could help veterans get the cancer care they need.
The new partnership aims to accelerate an innovative heart-failure gene therapy. The agreement is an exclusive world-wide license and includes a sponsored research program to support future FDA filings.
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back.
A team of researchers has discovered a potential therapeutic that can synergize with existing drugs to more effectively kill certain leukemia cells. The authors published their results on Jan. 19 in the journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.
Researchers have begun to explore the underlying neural activity of eating behaviours in fruit flies to better understand the motives that drive feeding.
UC San Diego researchers delve deep into the unknown cause of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia to identify a gene splicing dysregulation and potential target for treating the disease, which often becomes treatment-resistant.
The same genetics that helped some of our ancestors fight the plague is still likely to be at work in our bodies today, potentially providing some of the population with extra protection against respiratory diseases such as COVID-19. However, there is a trade-off, where this same variation is also linked to increased autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Will AI drive the next biomedical revolution? Why is RNA so powerful? What can we learn from studying bias? You’ll get the answers to these questions and more at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, to be held March 25–28 in Seattle.
The study, published in the journal Science, suggests that the harsh climate during the Pleistocene era resulted in the fragmentation of wild ecotypes, which paved the way for the domestication of grapevine about 11,000 years ago in the Near East (Israel) and the Caucasus.
Differences in genes involved in inflammation, immunity response and neural transmissions begin in childhood and evolve across the lifespan in brains of people with autism, a UC Davis MIND Institute has found.
Research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified a possible treatment strategy for a rare bone marrow failure syndrome that is named poikiloderma with neutropenia. The work also may have implications for treating other bone marrow failure syndromes with similar underlying dysfunctions.
Adding evidence to the importance of early development, a new study links neutral maternal behavior toward infants with an epigenetic change in children related to stress response.
عادة ما يوجد تكاثر لنوع معين من الميكروبات في الجهاز التناسلي للنساء المصابات يسرطان المبيض، وفقًا لدراسة جديدة من مركز مايو كلينك لنهج الطب الشخصي. إن هذا الاكتشاف المنشور في مجلة التقارير العلمية يقوي الأدلة التي تشير إلى أن المكون البكتيري للحَيُّوم الدقيق - وهو مجتمع من الكائنات الحية الدقيقة يتكون أيضًا من فيروسات وخمائر وفطريات - من المؤشرات الهامة للكشف المبكر عن سرطان المبيض وتشخيصه والتنبؤ بسير المرض.
CHLA researchers launched a liquid biopsy blood test to detect and differentiate between various pediatric cancers less invasively than a tissue biopsy.
Epigenetic changes in the regulation of a key gene in the body’s stress response system were detected in babies and young children with abusive injuries, as opposed to accidental, according to a pilot study published in the journal Pediatric Research.
New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes [EASD]) is the first study to show that childhood obesity is associated with an increased risk of four of the five recently proposed subtypes of adult-onset diabetes.
Dario Marchetti, PhD, and his team at the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center found the same common genomic signature in the circulating tumor cells taken from the mice and from the people with melanoma brain metastases. And they found this signature in the circulating tumor cells that were injected in the mice, as well as in cells isolated from a person with melanoma brain metastasis who was undergoing treatment.
National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD®) Founder and past President Abbey S. Meyers, PhD, former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington State, New York Yankees centerfielder Bernie Williams, and pioneer clinical geneticist, Dr.Ada Hamosh, headline a group of rare disease champions who will be honored for their outstanding contributions to the rare disease community at NORD's 2023 Rare Impact Awards (RIA).
According to a new study from Rutgers Institute for Health, researchers may be able to predict cardiovascular disease in patients by using artificial intelligence to examine the genes in their DNA.
Scientists know that TDP-43, which helps regulate processing of RNA, may be responsible for the death of nerve cells in ALS and frontotemporal dementia. And a study suggests that a common modification to RNA, a methylation event known as m6A, plays a pivotal role in TDP-43-related neurodegeneration in ALS. Through sequencing analysis, investigators showed that methylation strongly influences the binding of TDP-43 to its RNA targets. They also observed highly abundant RNA methylation in the end-stage tissues of patients with ALS.
Although genetic mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 are associated with a younger onset of breast and ovarian cancer, women with these genetic mutations continue to face a high risk of cancer incidence after age 50, even if they have not been previously diagnosed with cancer.
Vascular malformations (VMs), a group of rare genetic disorders that causes an abnormal formation of veins, arteries, capillaries, or lymphatic vessels at birth, can interfere with the duties of our circulatory system by causing blockages, poor drainage, and the formation of cysts and tangles.