Tag: Genes

Joanne Laird had struggled with obesity for her entire life. She’d tried every diet under the sun, but it wasn’t until last June, when she received the results of an at-home DNA test, that she was finally able to shed the extra pounds. That test was 23andme Health + Ancestry, and Laird credits it as the

How are chromosomes arranged in the cell nucleus? Is it possible that they communicate with one another by “touching” each other? To answer this question and to shed more light on the fundamental properties of the communication between different chromosomes, Philipp Maass from Friedrich Luft’s lab at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in

New preclinical research shows a gene already linked to a subset of people with autism spectrum disorder is critical to healthy neuronal connections in the developing brain, and its loss can harm those connections to help fuel the complex developmental condition. Scientists at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center report in Developmental Cell their data clarify

Pregnancy loss and the death of a newborn baby are devastating events, and as of today around 25% of these perinatal deaths are unexplained despite autopsy. Discovering the cause of such a loss is of great importance for the bereaved parents, both in providing an explanation and in helping them to understand the likelihood of

Some people struggle greatly with sleeplessness, whereas others appear to be able to nod off effortlessly, regardless of the circumstances. Perhaps the most obvious explanation for differences between us in terms of our sleep is the environmental challenges that we face. An unrelenting stint at work, relationship difficulties or receiving bad news are just some

The findings revealed that a special group of genes that function within the body’s normal DNA repair process were vital to the effectiveness of p53. This new information could help doctors to better identify patients with an increased risk of developing certain cancers. It could also help to develop safer, more effective treatments for patients.

A hospital outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) became more worrisome when researchers found resistance genes being shared among unrelated bacteria via plasmids and other mobile genetic elements. This new research will be presented at ASM Microbe, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, held from June 7th through June 11th in Atlanta, Georgia.

A daily jab could knock out hunger pangs of children born with obesity genes, reveal scientists Daily injection drug could treat obese children with faulty genes, scientists say Drug liraglutide affects faulty MC4R gene, which occurs in 1 in 50 obese people The gene controls feelings of hunger but doesn’t turn off due to the

Hiding in plain sight, new research shines a spotlight on the placenta’s critical role in the nature versus nurture debate and how it confers risk for schizophrenia and likely other neurodevelopmental disorders including ADHD, autism, and Tourette syndrome. This new scientific frontier, with far-reaching implications for maternal and child health, creates the possibility that scientists

A team of Texas A&M and Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists now have a deeper understanding of a large switch/sucrose non-fermentable (SWI/SNF) protein complex that plays a pivotal role in plant and human gene expression that causes life-threatening diseases such as cancer. Their findings could lead to more targeted therapies and help with physiological improvements

Researchers from Columbia University have developed a new technique for the powerful gene editing tool CRISPR to restore retinal function in mice afflicted by a degenerative retinal disease, retinitis pigmentosa. This is the first time researchers have successfully applied CRISPR technology to a type of inherited disease known as a dominant disorder. This same tool

Erythropoietin (EPO) helps to protect and repair vulnerable brains though it remains a mystery how the anemia drug does so. Genetic analyses conducted by a multi-institutional research team finds that EPO may work its neuroprotective magic by modifying genes essential for regulating growth and development of nervous tissue as well as genes that respond to

During a stroke or an epileptic seizure, neurons in affected parts of the brain fire at an abnormally rapid rate. One byproduct of this condition is that the pH of the brain drops markedly, rendering the local environment inhospitably acidic. Using a powerful microscopy method called cryo-EM, biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have

Plant scientists have taken the crucial last steps in a 60-year quest to unravel the complex chemistry of Madagascar periwinkle in a breakthrough that opens up the potential for rapid synthesis of cancer-fighting compounds. The team in the laboratory of Professor Sarah O’Connor at the John Innes Centre have, after 15 years of research, located

For most people with hemophilia B, whose bodies can’t properly form blood clots, constant injections to replenish their clotting factors are a way of life. But now, Salk researchers have demonstrated in mice that hemophilia B can be treated for life with one single injection, containing disease-free liver cells that can produce their missing clotting

Peptides are short chains of amino acids that can bind to proteins and change their function. They show high binding affinity, low toxicity, and are easy to synthesize, all of which makes peptides ideal for use in drug development, and many naturally occurring peptides such as insulin, oxytocin, somatostatin and the antibiotics vancomycin or polymyxin

What happens in a cell when genetic information is translated into proteins? In order to study this process, researchers take a closer look on one particular biomolecule inside the cell: messenger ribonucleic acid, mRNA for short. This biomolecule plays a major role in all cellular processes — and it is also the focus of joint

Boston University researchers, Thomas Kepler, professor of microbiology; Stephanie Pavlovich, an MD/PhD student; and Elke Mühlberger, director, Biomolecule Production Core, National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL); in collaboration with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Viral Special Pathogens Branch, today released

Many bacteria are equipped with a flagellum, a helical propeller that allows bacteria to travel. The flagellum is assembled in a highly organized manner involving the stepwise addition of each of its internal parts. However, there are many open questions as to how this orderly construction is achieved. In a study published in Science Advances,

It’s DNA, but not as we know it. In a world first, Australian researchers have identified a new DNA structure — called the i-motif — inside cells. A twisted ‘knot’ of DNA, the i-motif has never before been directly seen inside living cells. The new findings, from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, are published