by Max Planck Society The constant battle against infectious pathogens has had a decisive influence on the human immune system over the course of our evolution. A key role in our adaptation to pathogens is played by HLA molecules. These proteins activate the immune system by presenting it with fragments of pathogens that have entered...
Category: <span>Genetics</span>
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Genetic ‘fingerprint’ may ID breast cancer patients likely to benefit from potentially toxic chemo, study finds
by Krista Conger, Stanford University Medical Center Women with early-stage breast cancer that has a specific pattern of gene expression are more likely than others to benefit from treatment with a class of common but potentially harmful chemotherapy drugs called anthracyclines, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Identifying these women is...
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Potential genetic markers of multiple sclerosis severity
JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE In a bid to determine factors linked to the most debilitating forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have identified three so-called “complement system” genes that appear to play a role in MS-caused vision loss. The researchers were able to single out these genes — known to be...
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Discovery in monkeys could lead to treatment for blindness-causing syndrome
by Oregon Health & Science University A genetic mutation that leads to a rare, but devastating blindness-causing syndrome has been discovered in monkeys for the first time. The finding offers a promising way to develop gene and cell therapies that could treat the condition in people. Three rhesus macaques with a mutated gene that’s associated with Bardet-Biedl Syndrome have been discovered, according to a...
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New clues as to why mutations in the MYH9 gene cause broad spectrum of disorders in humans
Researchers use in vivo imaging to watch how cells move and generate forces inside living tissues, study sheds new light on how motor proteins generate forces inside living tissues and how genetic factors alter these forces to result in disease COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE New York, NY–October 28, 2019–Myosins are motor proteins that...
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Testing people with bowel cancer for genetic syndrome could save lives and money
by Medical Journal of Australia Lynch syndrome, a mutation of four genes involved in DNA repair, is associated with increased risk of developing a range of cancers, particularly colorectal cancer (CRC). In the most comprehensive analysis for Australia to date, published online by the Medical Journal of Australia today, an international team of researchers led...
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Researchers discover new genetic brain disease
by University of Manchester Manchester researchers have contributed towards the discovery of a genetic brain disease which can cause paraplegia and epilepsy in sufferers. Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSP) are a group of genetic disorders that cause weakness and stiffness in the leg muscles. Generally symptoms gradually get worse over time, and severely affected patients are...
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U. Iowa team is developing new delivery tools for gene editing
Engineered peptides provide efficient, non-toxic delivery of gene-editing proteins to airway cells UNIVERSITY OF IOWA HEALTH CARE News of advances in gene-editing technology raises the prospect of actually using this approach to treat disease in patients. But one of the hurdles that remains is how to deliver these tools to the right cells in the patients safely and efficiently. Scientists led by University of Iowa researcher Paul...
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Advanced microscopy reveals unusual DNA structure
Sandia scientist pushes technology’s limits to see fundamental feature of stretched S-DNA An advanced imaging technique reveals new structural details of S-DNA, ladder-like DNA that forms when the molecule experiences extreme tension. This work conducted at Sandia National Laboratories and Vrije University in the Netherlands provides the first experimental evidence that S-DNA contains highly tilted...
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Competitor accuses 23andMe of ‘false negatives’ in cancer-gene testing
By SHARON BEGLEY when 23andMe received government permission in 2017 to sell health-related genetic testing, it came with several conditions, including that the company tell customers that its brand of testing can miss disease-causing variants. Now, in a study presented on Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, a competitor has analyzed the likelihood of such...