Chromosome 4 News and Research

RSS

Humans normally have 46 chromosomes in each cell, divided into 23 pairs. Two copies of chromosome 4, one copy inherited from each parent, form one of the pairs. Chromosome 4 spans more than 191 million DNA building blocks (base pairs) and represents more than 6 percent of the total DNA in cells.

Identifying genes on each chromosome is an active area of genetic research. Because researchers use different approaches to predict the number of genes on each chromosome, the estimated number of genes varies. Chromosome 4 likely contains between 1,300 and 1,600 genes.

Genes on chromosome 4 are among the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 total genes in the human genome.

New findings refine link between clonal hematopoiesis and blood cancer risk

It's a common occurrence in elderly people: Blood cells carrying mutated DNA explosively increase in number, resulting in genetic "mosaicism": the presence of a population of cells that carries an altered genome.

12 Jul 2018

Researchers uncover molecular drivers of a deadly pediatric cancer

Researchers have made important discoveries about the molecular mechanisms driving acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a deadly pediatric cancer.

11 Jul 2018

Researchers unmask functioning of protein involved in DNA repair during spermatogenesis

Researchers from the Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology and the Institute for Biotechnology and Biomedicine of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have unmasked the functioning of a protein involved in DNA repair, ATR, in the meiotic recombination process which takes place during the development of spermatocytes - sperm precursor cells- and how inhibiting this protein causes anomalies which block spermatogenesis.

9 Jul 2018

Researchers discover biomarkers that accurately identify hypervirulent K. pneumoniae

Imagine a pathogen that infects completely healthy people and can cause blindness in one day and flesh-eating infections, brain abscesses and death in just a few days.

9 Jul 2018

Study explains why men are more at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders

A new study has shed light on the reason why males are more at risk than females for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and ADHD.

4 Jul 2018

Genes associated with autism interact to modulate variable symptoms of disease

Genes located in a large chromosomal aberration associated with autism interact with each other to modulate the variable symptoms of the disease, according to new research.

29 Jun 2018

Hearing partially restored in deaf lab mice using novel therapy

A small molecule of a drug has been successfully used to treat an inherited form of hearing loss in laboratory mice.

28 Jun 2018

USC study reveals how the cell launches emergency response to repair damaged DNA

The cell has its own paramedic team and emergency room to aid and repair damaged DNA, a new USC Dornsife study reveals.

21 Jun 2018

Scientists explore interactions between chromosomes 12 and 17

How are chromosomes arranged in the cell nucleus? Is it possible that they communicate with one another by "touching" each other?

21 Jun 2018

Researchers identify gene enhancer that affects sex determination

Researchers have identified a gene enhancer that is critical for male sex development and shown that deleting it results in male-to-female sex reversal in mice.

15 Jun 2018

Researchers discover protein responsible for X chromosome inactivation

Researchers have discovered that the structural protein SMCHD1 is required to prevent genes from both X chromosomes being expressed in female mammals.

7 Jun 2018

Scientists shed light on key aspect of healthy cell division

Scientists have shed light on a key aspect of healthy cell division, helping build a clearer picture of the complex mechanisms involved.

5 Jun 2018

Researchers discover three genes that may have contributed to evolution of large human brain

Three genes involved in nerve cell generation in the brain emerged roughly 3.5 million years ago and may have contributed to the rapid evolution of the large human brain, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator David Haussler and colleagues report on May 31, 2018, in the journal Cell.

1 Jun 2018

Scientists develop new method to speed up genome evolution of baker's yeast

Scientists have created a new way of speeding up the genome evolution of baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the same yeast people use for bread and beer production, to develop a synthetic yeast strain that can be transformed on demand for use in various industrial applications.

26 May 2018

Study establishes the importance of haploid cells

A new study has found that when the cell replication process exceeds or has less than a pair of chromosome set (a genome), destabilization occurs.

25 May 2018

Study reveals new protective mechanism for tumor cells in breast cancer

Greater knowledge of the mechanisms that contribute to the survival of tumor cells is key to vanquishing them.

25 May 2018

Tau mutations may serve as novel risk factor for cancer

Mutations to the protein tau, commonly associated with neurodegenerative disorders, may serve as a novel risk factor for cancer, according to results published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

24 May 2018

Mapping the Genes Responsible for Pluripotency

Dr. Atilgan Yilmaz and his team have developed a method by which they can produce haploid human embryonic stem cells from oocytes. They combined this technique with CRISPR-Cas9 to generate an atlas of the genome, containing the functions of over 18,000 genes.

23 May 2018

CRISPR-Cas9-based strategy allows researchers to precisely alter hundreds of different genes

Geneticists have been using model organisms ranging from the house mouse to the single-cell bakers' yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to study basic biological processes that regulate human development and physiology, and that can be compromised in various diseases.

22 May 2018

Scientists disrupt two enzymes to shrink cancer cells

Before cell division, the long strings of the cell's DNA are wrapped tightly into the structures we know as chromosomes. This protects the cell's genetic material from physical and chemical damage.

17 May 2018