New statistical method could improve search for genes involved in common diseases

In the ongoing quest to identify the genetic factors involved in disease, scientists have increasingly turned to genome-wide association studies, or GWAS, which enable the scanning of up to a million genetic markers in thousands ...

By dividing individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) into four subtypes according to similarity of symptoms and reanalyzing existing genome-wide genetic data on these individuals vs. controls, researchers at the George ...

As much as 90 percent of variation in adult height may be caused by genetic inheritance, but a multitude of genes are involved. Most of these have yet to be discovered.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Geneticists trying to find a link between the genes and traits such as height have until recently found genetic variants that account for only around 5% of the heritability of these traits. ...

Scientists at Duke University Medical Center say they are now convinced that rare genetic variants - as opposed to more common ones - lie at the heart of the genetic component of most common diseases.

Methylation refers to a chemical modification of DNA and this modification can occur in millions of positions in the DNA sequence. Until now, scientists believed that this epigenetic phenomenon actively reduced the expression ...

Aspirin is known to lower risk for some cancers, and a new study led by a UC San Francisco scientist points to a possible explanation, with the discovery that aspirin slows the accumulation of DNA mutations in abnormal cells ...

A study by researchers at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Department of Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego, shows that a protein called MCL-1, which promotes cell survival, ...

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a slow-growing and often fatal malignancy that can occur at multiple organ site, but is most frequently found in the salivary glands. The primary treatment is surgical removal; however, the ...

(HealthDay)—Two new studies offer some solace to those who can't control their weight despite diet and exercise by providing more evidence that genetics may play a role in obesity.

(Medical Xpress)—Rett Syndrome is a neurological disorder that affects about 1 in 10,000 girls. Back in 1992, University of Edinburgh researcher Adrian Bird discovered that the protein, MeCP2, plays a major ...