Genetics News and Research

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Genetics is the study of genes and heredity. Heredity is the passing of genetic information and traits (such as eye color and an increased chance of getting a certain disease) from parents to offspring.

Genomics can Transform Care for Children with Rare Diseases

A simple genomics blood test could improve treatment and care for childhood epilepsy, but more investment is needed to make access fair and securely join up the data, finds a new study involving researchers at University College London (UCL) and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH).

8 Mar 2025

New Insights into Biofilm Formation and Dispersal

The oldest type of multicellularity on Earth is biofilms, which are common bacterial communities embedded in a slimy matrix.

7 Mar 2025

Mapping DNA's Hidden Switches: A Methylation Atlas

A new study, led by PhD student Jonathan Rosenski under the guidance of Prof. Tommy Kaplan from the School of Computer Science and Engineering and Prof. Yuval Dor from the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Medical Center, has been published in Nature Communications, presenting the first comprehensive atlas of allele-specific DNA methylation across 39 primary human cell types.

7 Mar 2025

New Genetic Discovery Could Lead to Larger Tomatoes and Eggplants

Bigger, tastier tomatoes and eggplants could soon grace our dinner plates thanks to Johns Hopkins scientists who have discovered genes that control how large the fruits will grow.

6 Mar 2025

Neural Mechanism Involved in Leptin Resistance Revealed

Worldwide obesity rates have more than doubled since 1990, with nearly a billion people now falling into the category.

5 Mar 2025

Arab Pangenome Reference Provides New Path for Advancing Precision Medicine

Creation of a comprehensive genetic representation for more than 2.5 billion people across the Middle East and South Asia could make a major contribution towards advancing precision medicine, a publication in Nature Medicine reveals.

5 Mar 2025

Colossal Creates the Colossal Woolly Mouse, Showcasing Breakthroughs in Multiplex Genome Editing and Trait Engineering on the Path to a Mammoth

In an extraordinary achievement of advanced multiplexed genome engineering, Colossal Biosciences announces the birth of the Colossal Woolly Mouse—mice engineered to express multiple key mammoth-like traits that provide adaptations to life in cold climates.

5 Mar 2025

New Genetic Clues Could Explain Prostate Cancer’s Aggressive Progression

Scientists from UCLA, the University of Toronto and the University of Melbourne have uncovered new genetic clues that explain why some prostate cancers remain slow-growing while others become life-threatening.

4 Mar 2025

Study Clarifies Genetic Thresholds for Diagnosing SCA6

The Department of Neurology at Niigata University and National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry has identified pathogenic thresholds for the CAG repeat units (RU) of the CACNA1A gene that causes SCA6.

3 Mar 2025

Rare Gene Variants Increase Type 2 Diabetes Prevalence in Asian Indian Families

A new study published in Communications Medicine, a Nature publication, details the discovery of rare gene variants that increase the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in multiple generations of Asian Indian people.

27 Feb 2025

Study Reveals How Evolving DNA Powers Human Brain Development

A study of artificial human and chimpanzee nerve cells revealed how faster-evolving DNA gives neurons the ability to build increasingly complex brain power.

27 Feb 2025

Giraffe Gut Flora Linked to Species Not Diet

The gut bacteria of giraffes are not primarily determined by what they eat, but by the species they belong to.

25 Feb 2025

LUC7 Proteins Play Key Role in RNA Splicing Control

RNA splicing is a cellular process that is critical for gene expression. After genes are copied from DNA into messenger RNA, portions of the RNA that don't code for proteins, called introns, are cut out and the coding portions are spliced back together.

21 Feb 2025

Dysfunctional Memory B Cells Identified as Key Cancer Therapy Target

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center scientists have discovered a novel subset of cancer-fighting immune cells that reside outside of their normal neighborhood – known as the tertiary lymphoid structure – where they become frustratingly dysfunctional when in close contact with tumors.

20 Feb 2025

Genetic Factors Play a Key Role in Eye Aging and Disease

Vision changes are an inevitable part of aging, but why are some more susceptible to age-related eye diseases and why do some individuals experience more severe decline than others?

19 Feb 2025

Unlocking the Genetic Secrets Behind Human Vocal Communication

The origins of human language remain mysterious. Are we the only animals truly capable of complex speech? Are Homo sapiens the only hominids who could give detailed directions to a far-off freshwater source or describe the nuanced purples and reds of a dramatic sunset?

19 Feb 2025

New Computational Approach Speeds Up Genetic Variant Analysis for Disease Risk

Argonne computer scientists enabled a new research modality in the search for causality among genetic variants for a given disease.

18 Feb 2025

Gene Editing Breakthrough Creates CoQ10-Producing Rice Varieties

A team of Chinese scientists has used targeted gene editing to develop rice that produces coenzyme CoQ10 (CoQ10), a vital compound for human health.

17 Feb 2025

Researchers Discover New Role of Mitofusin 2 in Cellular Health

Researchers from Cologne, Bochum, Padova and Angers have discovered a novel connection between mitochondrial function, protein quality control and cellular health, whose failure could be the leading cause in the currently incurable neurological disease Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT).

17 Feb 2025

Scientists Uncover Mechanism Linking OPN3 to Food Intake Regulation

Scientists discovered years ago that the hypothalamus - which helps to manage body temperature, hunger, sex drive, sleep and more - includes neurons that express the protein opsin 3 (OPN3).

17 Feb 2025