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Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biologically important type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate.

3D “mini eyes” provide insight into genetically induced blindness

The development of “mini eyes” by researchers at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH) has made it possible to study and comprehend the onset of blindness in the rare genetic disease known as Usher syndrome more.

From University College London 22 Nov 2022

Revealing the functional significance of DDX41 in great detail

The DDX41 gene encodes the nuclear enzyme DEAD-box-type RNA helicase. Hematopoietic malignancies are caused by DDX41 mutations. However, the mechanism behind the development of this malignancy remains unknown.

21 Nov 2022

Applying “programmable molecular scissors” to combat COVID-19 infection

As an approach that could be used to create a new class of antiviral drugs, synthetic biology was used by Cambridge scientists to artificially create enzymes programmed to attack the genetic code of SARS-CoV-2 and eliminate the virus.

17 Nov 2022

New study figures out which patients will react to immunotherapy

According to a new study, patients with head and neck cancer who have more chromosome 9 genetic material in their cancer cells survive three times longer after accepting immunotherapy than patients who have less of it.

From New York University (NYU) 15 Nov 2022

Statistical methodology uncovers changes in genomic data

A novel statistical technique makes it easier to find biologically significant changes in genomic data that span multiple conditions, like cell types or tissues.

From Penn State University 15 Nov 2022

NIH funds research on mRNA vaccines to stop cancer development

The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health has awarded a multidisciplinary team of Weill Cornell Medicine researchers a five-year $5.7 million grant to support a center dedicated to creating messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines to prevent the development of cancer in at-risk groups.

15 Nov 2022

microRNA molecules upregulate proteins instead of dampening it

microRNAs are thought to only suppress protein expression in dividing cells, such as tumor cells, and can contribute to the development of cancer.

11 Nov 2022

Providing structural understanding of the influenza virus

The structure of the influenza replication machinery and how it interacts with cellular proteins have been solved by a team of Oxford University scientists using a variety of techniques at Diamond Light Source.

8 Nov 2022

RNA-edited regions in brain shed light on neurodevelopment and disease

Numerous sites in the brain where RNA is altered over the course of a person’s lifespan through a process known as adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) editing have been identified by Mount Sinai researchers.

3 Nov 2022

New technique could help fine-tune the production of useful proteins

Using an approach based on CRISPR proteins, MIT researchers have developed a new way to precisely control the amount of a particular protein that is produced in mammalian cells.

2 Nov 2022

New tool advances potential means to deliver gene therapy

Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine claim to have successfully “slid” genetic instructions into a cell and produced essential proteins that were lacking from those cells using a cell’s normal process for creating proteins.

1 Nov 2022

All normal human tissues express remnants of widespread retrovirus

Ancient viral remnants in the human genome are active in both healthy and diseased tissues, restricting their applicability as disease indicators, according to a study published on October 18th, 2022, in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Aidan Burn at Tufts University in Boston, USA and colleagues.

20 Oct 2022