Arthritis linked to blood cancer mutations
A team of Adelaide and U.S. researchers has discovered a link between a less common form of rheumatoid arthritis and gene mutations found in blood cancer.
13 hours ago
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A team of Adelaide and U.S. researchers has discovered a link between a less common form of rheumatoid arthritis and gene mutations found in blood cancer.
13 hours ago
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A study led by Professors Hongtae Kim and JaYil Lee from the Department of Biological Sciences, in collaboration with researchers from the Catholic University of Korea, sheds light on the pivotal role of mutated DDX41 protein ...
14 hours ago
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Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most frequent cause of heart failure in young people and is the leading cause of heart transplantation. In this disease, the heart enlarges and reduces its capacity to pump blood. People with ...
Apr 22, 2024
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The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID has the unsettling ability of often generating variants of itself. Other viruses also mutate, but as SARS-CoV-2 quickly spread throughout the entire human population during the pandemic, ...
Apr 22, 2024
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Some genes are known to drive cancer, and astonishing new research shows why: Mutations in the noncoding regions become functional, altering the abundance of messenger RNA, or mRNA, and potentially facilitating cell proliferation. ...
Apr 18, 2024
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New research in the April 2024 issue of Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network showcases the feasibility of improving early detection and prevention for pancreatic cancer. Global incidences of pancreatic cancer ...
Apr 16, 2024
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Despite many efforts to find better, more effective ways to treat cancer, it remains a leading cause of death by disease among children in the U.S.
Apr 11, 2024
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Scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School have uncovered why some pancreatic and colorectal cancers fail to respond to Wnt inhibitors, a promising new class of cancer drugs currently under development for these cancers. Their ...
Apr 11, 2024
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A new lab assay developed by researchers at Fred Hutch Cancer Center could make diagnosis and treatment of small-cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer easier. The work is published in the journal Science Advances.
Apr 10, 2024
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Understanding the mutation and evolution of viruses (such as SARS-CoV-2) is crucial for effective public health management and response. Traditional epidemiological models often assume that viral transmissibility and pathogenicity ...
Apr 10, 2024
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In biology, mutations are changes to the nucleotide sequence of the genetic material of an organism. Mutations can be caused by copying errors in the genetic material during cell division, by exposure to ultraviolet or ionizing radiation, chemical mutagens, or viruses, or can be induced by the organism itself, by cellular processes such as hypermutation. In multicellular organisms with dedicated reproductive cells, mutations can be subdivided into germ line mutations, which can be passed on to descendants through the reproductive cells, and somatic mutations, which involve cells outside the dedicated reproductive group and which are not usually transmitted to descendants. If the organism can reproduce asexually through mechanisms such as cuttings or budding the distinction can become blurred. For example, plants can sometimes transmit somatic mutations to their descendants asexually or sexually where flower buds develop in somatically mutated parts of plants. A new mutation that was not inherited from either parent is called a de novo mutation. The source of the mutation is unrelated to the consequence, although the consequences are related to which cells were mutated.
Mutations create variation within the gene pool. Less favorable (or deleterious) mutations can be reduced in frequency in the gene pool by natural selection, while more favorable (beneficial or advantageous) mutations may accumulate and result in adaptive evolutionary changes. For example, a butterfly may produce offspring with new mutations. The majority of these mutations will have no effect; but one might change the color of one of the butterfly's offspring, making it harder (or easier) for predators to see. If this color change is advantageous, the chance of this butterfly surviving and producing its own offspring are a little better, and over time the number of butterflies with this mutation may form a larger percentage of the population.
Neutral mutations are defined as mutations whose effects do not influence the fitness of an individual. These can accumulate over time due to genetic drift. It is believed that the overwhelming majority of mutations have no significant effect on an organism's fitness. Also, DNA repair mechanisms are able to mend most changes before they become permanent mutations, and many organisms have mechanisms for eliminating otherwise permanently mutated somatic cells.
Mutation is generally accepted by the scientific community as the mechanism upon which natural selection acts, providing the advantageous new traits that survive and multiply in offspring or disadvantageous traits that die out with weaker organisms.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA