by Gladstone Institutes New research, led by a Gladstone team including Maxine Nelson (left) and Yadong Huang (right), sheds light on protective mechanisms of the “Christchurch mutation.” Credit: Michael Short/Gladstone Institutes (2023) Researchers at Gladstone Institutes have discovered that a rare genetic variant known as the “Christchurch mutation” can block detrimental effects of apolipoprotein E4, the...
by Lyn Griffiths and Annette Greenhow, The Conversation Credit: Shutterstock Concussion and head trauma is a real and serious risk for many Australians. While most people suffer acute and relatively short-lived effects, such as dizziness and headache, in some cases symptoms persist for weeks, months or years. It can result in long-term and debilitating neurological impairment....
ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY One of the most terrifying aspects of the COVID pandemic has been its unpredictably severe impact on some children. While most infected kids have few or no symptoms, one in 10,000 fall suddenly and dramatically ill about a month after a mild infection, landing in the hospital with inflamed hearts, lungs, kidneys, and...
by Robert Sanders, University of California – Berkeley Age impacts the predictive power of eQTLs in many tissues. Credit: Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33509-0 Amid much speculation and research about how our genetics affect the way we age, a University of California, Berkeley, study now shows that individual differences in our DNA matter less as we get...
by American Chemical Society Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Cluster headaches, anxiety and depression can be debilitating for people living with these conditions. Psychedelic drugs have shown benefits as treatments for these conditions in clinical studies, but not for everyone. Now, in ACS Chemical Neuroscience, researchers report that one reason could be common genetic variations in one serotonin...
by Simon Fraser University Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Simon Fraser University researchers are studying how a combination of genetics and brain MRIs may be used to predict the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease in the future. In a newly published study, researchers from SFU’s Functional and Anatomical Imaging & Shape Analysis Lab (FAISAL) identified distinct properties...
by Flinders University Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The rare blood clot side-effect associated with some COVID-19 vaccines could be the result of genetics, new research has found, paving the way for a potential genetic screening test. Vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), a rare disorder causing thrombosis (blood clotting) and thrombocytopenia (low blood platelet counts), was early...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system and the most common cause of neurological impairment in young adults. In MS, the patient’s own immune system attacks the brain and spinal cord, resulting in cumulative neurological deficits such as damaged sight, sensory disturbances, motor deficits (e.g. limiting the ability to...
by Lancaster University Some of these genetic changes cause neurodevelopmental problems and dramatically increase someone’s risk of developing disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and Tourette’s syndrome. Credit: Lancaster University Drugs to increase insulin signaling may be effective for treating autism say Lancaster University researchers, who have discovered how a genetic change impacts on insulin signaling...
A Stanford Medicine-led research team has identified a common genetic profile that predicts severe, potentially fatal reactions to four powerful immune-suppressing drugs. The genetic profile is found in about 20% of the general population. Pills. Image credit: Ajale via Pixabay The drug reactions, reported in a study published online in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, were identified...
