by Daniel Liang-Dar Hwang, The Conversation Credit: CC0 Public Domain You might love sugary doughnuts, but your friends find them too sweet and only take small nibbles. That’s partly because your genes influence how you perceive sweetness and how much sugary food and drink you consume. Now our recently published study shows a wider range of genes at...
Category: <span>Genetics</span>
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What Are Polygenic Scores and Why Are They Important?
Leo P. Sugrue, MD, PhD1; Rahul S. Desikan, MD, PhD1,2 Author AffiliationsArticle Information JAMA. Published online April 8, 2019. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.3893 Mendelian disorders and monogenic traits result from combinations of variants in 1 or a few genes that have a large effect on the propensity for developing a certain disease or characteristic. In contrast, complex traits, such as eye color or cardiovascular disease, are determined by...
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New advances to improve the genetic diagnosis of Opitz C syndrome
by University of Barcelona Opitz C syndrome (OCS), an ultra-rare disease that causes serious physical and intellectual disabilities, has an heterogeneous genetic base that makes its medical diagnostic and therapeutic intervention difficult, according to a new study by professors Daniel Grinberg, Susanna Balcells and Roser Urreizti, from the Group on Human Molecular Genetics of the of the Faculty of Biology of the University...
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Unpaired 1 — A new candidate gene to contribute to lifespan regulation
INSILICO MEDICINE, INC. Wednesday, April 3, 2019 – Alexey Moskalev, Ph.D., Head of the Laboratory of Geroprotective and Radioprotective technologies, and co-authors from the Institute of biology of Komi Science Center of RAS announce the publication of a scientific article titled “Effects of unpaired 1 gene over expression on the lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster” in BMC...
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Scientists home in on microRNA processing for novel cancer therapies
by Virginia Commonwealth University More than a decade of research on the mda-7/IL-24 gene has shown that it helps to suppress a majority of cancer types, and now scientists are focusing on how the gene drives this process by influencing microRNAs. Published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the findings...
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A more accurate method to diagnose cancer subtypes
GARVAN INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH Developed by researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, this potential diagnostic method screens a cancer sample for ‘fusion genes’, estimated to be linked to one in five cancers, and may provide a more accurate snapshot of rearranged DNA found in cancer. The test could help connect cancer patients with personalised treatments...
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Novel DNA repair mechanism maintains human genome
This news or article is intended for readers with certain scientific or professional knowledge in the field. University of Tokyo researchers and their collaborators have demonstrated that a special structure that forms when DNA is damaged helps to restore it. Human cells have a mechanism for recognizing this structure, consisting of DNA and RNA, which promotes accurate...
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Gene transfer improves diabetes-linked heart ailment
VETERANS AFFAIRS RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS Researchers with the VA San Diego Healthcare System and the University of California San Diego have shown that a gene transfer technique can combat heart dysfunction caused by diabetes. Working with mice, the researchers showed that a single injection to promote the expression of the hormone urocortin 2 (UCn2) increased left ventricle function and improved how...
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The case of a woman who feels almost no pain leads scientists to a new gene mutation
By JACQUELYN CORLEY Doctors in Scotland were amazed when a 66-year-old woman underwent what is normally a very painful operation on her hand for severe arthritis and required little to no pain medication afterward. Similarly, two years ago, she was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis in her hip with significant joint degeneration, yet she complained of no...
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U of T Mississauga study identifies ‘master pacemaker’ for biological clocks
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO What makes a biological clock tick? According to a new study from U of T Mississauga, the surprising answer lies with a gene typically associated with stem and cancer cells. In the first study of its kind for the field of circadian biology, UTM researchers used RNA sequencing to observe the expression of genes...