Chromosome News and Research

Latest Chromosome News and Research

New discovery may be useful for developing novel cancer treatments

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have discovered that our cells replicate their DNA much more loosely than previously thought.

28 Feb 2020

Large non-protein coding gene regulates process vital to placental implantation in early pregnancy

Abnormal formation and growth of the placenta is considered an underlying cause of various pregnancy complications such as miscarriages, preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction.

25 Feb 2020

Chromosomal imbalance in cancer cells can either promote or inhibit metastasis

Cancer cells are notorious for their genetic disarray. A tumor cell can contain an abundance of DNA mutations and most have the wrong number of chromosomes.

24 Feb 2020

DNA topological problems may cause lymphoma, study shows

Researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, Madrid, and the Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre, Seville, published today a paper in Nature Communications that shows that DNA topological problems may cause endogenous DNA breaks that have a causal relationship with cancer.

24 Feb 2020

Coriell researchers find new genetic indicator of obesity risk

Obesity is among the most common complex diseases in the United States and has been a stubborn public health challenge for decades. Its causes are wide ranging, but genetic heritability is increasingly understood to be an influential factor in determining a person's risk for the disease.

23 Feb 2020

Language may be a promising biomarker for progression of Hungtinton's disease

Huntington's disease is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder caused by a gene of chromosome 4 that affects a very important area of the brain, the striatum. People are born with the defective gene but symptoms do not appear until the age of 30 or 40.

20 Feb 2020

Single gene cluster loss promotes initiation and progression of multiple myeloma in mice

The loss of one copy of the miR15a/miR16-1 gene cluster promoted initiation and progression of multiple myeloma in mice.

20 Feb 2020

New C. elegans model will accelerate study of a rare disease

The model will permit to accelerate and reduce the price of the research, which is studying the mechanisms and the possible pharmacological targets for the neuronal alterations of this disease.

20 Feb 2020

New technique can label diverse molecules in a single tissue sample

A new technique can label diverse molecules and amplify the signal to help researchers spot those that are especially rare. Called SABER (signal amplification by exchange reaction), Peng Yin's lab at Harvard's Wyss Institute first introduced this method last year and since have found ways to apply it to proteins, DNA and RNA.

16 Feb 2020

Generating genomes and encoding new abilities into artificial DNA

A new study to be presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in February 2020 will report on the generation of the world’s first artificially created bacterial genome using a digital design algorithm along with the synthesis of DNA building blocks on a large scale. This genome takes form by chemical rather than template-based synthesis. The research is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

16 Feb 2020

Researchers identify key modifier in large genetic deletion linked to neurodevelopmental disorders

Neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism, likely result from complex interactions that modify the effects of individual genes.

16 Feb 2020

Scientists unravel mechanisms that lead to ventricular enlargement in schizophrenia

Enlarged cerebral ventricles are found in 80% of individuals with schizophrenia, yet the mechanisms that lead to ventricular enlargement are mostly unknown.

14 Feb 2020

Minigenes produced by CRISPR combat liver disease in mice

A new gene-editing technique based on CRISPR was used to successfully avoid the development of a liver disease that can be caused by hundreds of mutations, as well as to ease the symptoms in mice. This proof-of-concept study was published online in the journal Science Advances in February 2020.

12 Feb 2020

New study provides clear picture of brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia

What if the key to a better understanding of schizophrenia has been here all along--but researchers haven't had the resources to study it?

12 Feb 2020

Major breakthrough in understanding how malaria parasite grows and multiplies

Scientists have made a major breakthrough in understanding how the parasite that causes malaria is able to multiply at such an alarming rate, which could be a vital clue in discovering how it has evolved, and how it can be stopped.

11 Feb 2020

New mechanism for repair of chromosomal breaks

Chromosomal breaks are the most harmful damage for cells. If they are not repaired, they block the duplication and segregation of chromosomes, stop the growth cycle and cause cell death. These breaks appear frequently in tumor cells and are produced spontaneously during the replication of genetic material.

10 Feb 2020

Growing eggs and sperm to treat infertility

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, have reported, in the journal Cell Reports, the mechanism of how the very early precursor or stem cells which eventually give rise to the germ cells, eggs and sperm, are formed over the course of development. This could help create eggs and sperms under laboratory conditions to help infertile people who don’t have sperms, or eggs, for instance.

9 Feb 2020

Discovery of potential cause of age-related macular degeneration

Age related macular degeneration or AMD leads to loss of vision in around 1.5 million people in the United Kingdom and millions of others around the world. In a new study researchers have discovered a new protein that could explain the causation and thus provide clues to its early diagnosis and effective treatment. The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications.

9 Feb 2020

Research provides new insights into molecular basis of X-chromosome inactivation

Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg and Institut Curie in Paris have shown that the protein SPEN plays a crucial role in the process of X-chromosome inactivation, whereby female mammalian embryos silence gene expression on one of their two X chromosomes.

7 Feb 2020

Natural antioxidant reverses reproductive harms caused by BPA exposure in worms

From plastics to pesticides, it seems like every week delivers fresh news about the dangers of endocrine disruptors--chemicals in the environment that alter the body's hormones and can lead to reproductive, developmental, neurologic and immune problems and cancer.

6 Feb 2020