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Genetics news

Genetics

New study challenges longstanding assumption about the cause of the genome's most common mutation

A Ludwig Cancer Research study has punctured a longstanding assumption about the source of the most common type of DNA mutation seen in the genome—one that contributes to many genetic diseases, including cancer.

Oncology & Cancer

Large-scale study identifies prostate cancer genetic risk factors in a diverse group of African men

Researchers have identified the genetic risk factors that contribute to prostate cancer in a diverse group of African men. Although research and treatment are scant, this first large-scale African genomics study could signal ...

Medications

How your skin tone could affect how well your medication works

Skin pigmentation may act as a "sponge" for some medications, potentially influencing the speed with which active drugs reach their intended targets, a pair of scientists report in a perspective article published in the journal ...

Oncology & Cancer

Study uncovers mutations and DNA structures driving bladder cancer

How bladder cancer originates and progresses has been illuminated as never before in a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the New York Genome Center. The researchers found that antiviral enzymes that mutate ...

Genetics

Study finds new genetic loci associated with dementia

A research team comprising several researchers within the University of Kentucky's Sanders-Brown Center on Aging has investigated the genetic risk of neuropathological traits commonly seen by neuropathologists performing ...

Genetics

How diabetes risk genes make cells less resilient to stress

The cells in your pancreas, like people, can only handle so much stress before they start to break down. Certain stressors, such as inflammation and high blood sugar, contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes by overwhelming ...

Oncology & Cancer

Cell line models identify cause of melanoma with drug resistance

Melanoma is a type of cancer that originates from melanocytes, the cells responsible for producing skin pigment, and is known as the most lethal form of skin cancer due to its high rates of metastasis and recurrence. With ...

Genetics

Genetics and the COVID-19 pandemic

With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging worldwide, members of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) are working to understand how the virus spreads and infects people, why there is so much variability in susceptibility ...

Genetics

New genome sequencing sheds light on diversity in Africa

Analysis of the genomes of hundreds of people from across Africa has shed light on ancient migrations and modern susceptibility and resistance to disease, revealing unexpected genetic diversity.

Genetics

NHGRI publishes new vision for human genomics

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), this week published its "Strategic vision for improving human health at The Forefront of Genomics" in the journal Nature. ...

Medical research

Researchers study delayed wound healing due to gene mutations

"Wound healing is one of the most complex biological processes," write Professor Kazumitsu Sugiura and Dr. Kenta Saito from Fujita Health University, Japan, in their article recently published in Scientific Reports. As countless ...

Genetics

Cause of Alzheimer's disease traced to mutation in common enzyme

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered a new mechanism by which clumps of tau protein are created in the brain, killing brain cells and causing Alzheimer's disease. A specific mutation to an enzyme ...

Genetics

Insights into the genetic architecture of penicillin allergy

Researchers announce the first robust evidence for the role of the major histocompatibility complex gene HLA-B in penicillin allergy. To identify genetic risk factors for penicillin allergy, the international team of researchers ...

Genetics

Cell-free DNA provides a dynamic window into health

Short fragments of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) that circulate in blood, urine, and other biofluids can offer an information-rich window into human physiology and disease. By looking at the methylation markers of cfDNA, researchers ...

Medical research

Silencing gene expression to cure complex diseases

Many people think of new medicines as bullets, and in the pharmaceutical industry, frequently used terms like "targets" and "hits" reinforce that idea. Immuneering co-founder and CEO Ben Zeskind '03, Ph.D. '06 prefers a different ...

Oncology & Cancer

Researchers uncover crucial gene for growth of Ewing sarcoma

Researchers at the Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD) in collaboration with those at Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) have discovered that RING1B is a critical gene for the development of Ewing sarcoma, a rare ...