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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

Q&A: Getting to the roots of fragile X syndrome

The cause of fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common inherited intellectual disability, is easy to see in the lab. Under electron microscopy, an affected X chromosome exhibits a deformed tip that gives the disorder its ...

Genetics

High-quality cat genome helps identify novel cause of dwarfism

A new and improved cat genome developed by the feline research teams at the University of Missouri and Texas A&M University has already proven to be a valuable tool for feline biomedical research by helping to confirm existing ...

Genetics

Multiple sclerosis as the flip side of immune fitness

About half of the people with multiple sclerosis have the HLA-DR15 gene variant. A study led by the University of Zurich has now shown how this genetic predisposition contributes to the development of the autoimmune disease ...

Oncology & Cancer

Epigenomic platform detects early-stage pancreatic cancer

Bluestar Genomics has published study results in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications demonstrating the power of the company's platform to detect pancreatic cancer in its early stages, addressing the unmet need ...

Genetics

Scientists map the human proteome

Twenty years after the release of the human genome, the genetic "blueprint" of human life, an international research team, including the University of British Columbia's Chris Overall, has now mapped the first draft sequence ...

Genetics

The line of succession in neuron function

A specific region of messenger RNAs, the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR), plays an important role for cells to function properly. During embryonic development, 3'UTRs in hundreds of RNAs lengthen exclusively in neurons, which ...

Genetics

Transposons could be rewiring our brains

A new study by neuroscientists at the University of Oxford shows that mobile genetic elements that were active in the genomes of our ancestors could be closely linked to important functions in our brain and might help diversify ...

Genetics

Rare congenital heart defect rescued by protease inhibition

A research team at the Greenwood Genetic Center (GGC) has successfully used small molecules to restore normal heart and valve development in an animal model for Mucolipidosis II (ML II), a rare genetic disorder. Progressive ...

Medical research

Using artificial RNA editing to restore genetic code

Various genetic diseases caused by point mutations have no established therapeutic approaches. Prof. Tsukahara and colleagues (Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) are studying a therapeutic method using artificial ...

Genetics

Single gene disorders not so simple after all

Traditionally, geneticists divide disorders into "simple," where a single gene mutation causes disease, or complex, where mutations in many genes contribute modest amounts. A new study suggests that the truth is somewhere ...