Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Understanding how the malaria parasite can withstand fever's heat

Even when a person suffering from malaria is burning up with fever and too sick to function, the tiny blood-eating parasites lurking inside them continue to flourish, relentlessly growing and multiplying as they gobble up the host's red blood cells.

5 Oct 2020

More evidence Pangolin not intermediary in transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans

The team proposed a different model named the ‘circulation model’ to illustrate how SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses could have circulated in different species, including humans, before COVID-19 emerged.

4 Oct 2020

Scientists map genetic networks that control the biology of regulatory T cells

Unlike most T cells, which launch immune responses against foreign molecules, regulatory T cells are the peacekeepers of the human immune system, damping down inflammatory reactions when they're not needed.

1 Oct 2020

Genetic heritage from Neanderthals linked to severe COVID-19

Since first appearing in late 2019, the novel virus, SARS-CoV-2, has had a range of impacts on those it infects. Some people become severely ill with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and require hospitalization, whereas others have mild symptoms or are even asymptomatic.

30 Sep 2020

NIH awards $5 million grant to reduce COVID-19-related health disparities

To help reduce COVID-19-related health disparities in vulnerable populations in Texas, a multi-institutional team of researchers led by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston will identify disease hotspots and testing deserts in three racially diverse areas, and then develop and evaluate intervention strategies to increase COVID-19 testing.

30 Sep 2020

Study identifies mutations in single genes that can be responsible for cerebral palsy

The causes of cerebral palsy have long been debated and often are attributed to in utero infections, premature birth, or brain injury to the baby near or during delivery, usually from a lack of oxygen. But many young children diagnosed with cerebral palsy have not experienced such events.

30 Sep 2020

Study shows how human cells fight viral infections with the emergence of SARS-CoV-2

Science's pursuits of unraveling how human cells fight viral infections kicked into high gear in 2020 with the devastating emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

30 Sep 2020

Scientists identify mutations in single genes linked to certain cases of cerebral palsy

30 Sep 2020

Simple interactions between nerve cells can shape complex brain circuits

Complex brain circuits in rodents can organize themselves with genetics playing only a secondary role, according to a new computer modelling study published today in eLife.

30 Sep 2020

Brain wiring genes may be linked to a significant portion of cerebral palsy cases

In an article published in Nature Genetics, researchers confirm that about 14% of all cases of cerebral palsy, a disabling brain disorder for which there are no cures, may be linked to a patient's genes and suggest that many of those genes control how brain circuits become wired during early development.

28 Sep 2020

Epigenetic changes in the brain drive late-onset Alzheimer's disease

New findings suggest that late-onset Alzheimer's Disease is driven by epigenetic changes -- how and when certain genes are turned on and off -- in the brain. Results were published today in Nature Genetics.

28 Sep 2020

Scientists identify a new way to regulate cell plasticity

Cell plasticity is a property by which a cell can take on different and reversible identities. Cell plasticity is also essential for embryo development and for the correct function of the immune system.

28 Sep 2020

Study shows clear links between genetic predisposition of CVD and lifestyle factors

From Weight Watchers to wearable tech – wherever we look, there are messages encouraging us to stay fit and healthy.

28 Sep 2020

Study identifies genes linked with abdominal aortic aneurysm

A veteran's study identified more than a dozen genes associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) that could be used to better identify people at risk for the often-deadly condition, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation.

28 Sep 2020

Bacteria-free method for making SARS-CoV-2 infectious clones

Using a circular polymerase chain reaction, researchers have developed a method for making severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) recombinant virus, with the ability to introduce mutations. The research by Japanese scientists is published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in September 2020.

27 Sep 2020

Researchers elucidate the impact of genetic mutations in cocaine addiction

Cocaine addiction is a chronic disorder with a high rate of relapse for which no effective treatment is currently available.

26 Sep 2020

New study links 160 genes to brain shrinkage

A new study implicates 160 genes in brain shrinkage seen on MRIs of 45,000 healthy adults. The shrinkage is in the cortex, the dimply outer layer of the brain that gives rise to thinking, awareness and action, and largely consists of gray matter.

25 Sep 2020

New approach uses AI to identify which early stage breast cancers will spread

About 1 in 5 new breast cancers are caught at their earliest stages, before they've spread from milk ducts into the surrounding breast tissue.

25 Sep 2020

Study: 2020 presidential candidates Biden, Trump likely to be "super-agers"

In a paper published in the Journal on Active Aging, University of Illinois Chicago longevity researcher S. Jay Olshansky and his colleagues conclude that both 2020 presidential candidates -; former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, and President Donald Trump, 74 -; are likely to maintain their health beyond the end of the next presidential term.

25 Sep 2020

Faulty genes and an autoimmune condition linked to severe COVID-19 in young, healthy people

More than 10 percent of young and healthy people who develop severe COVID-19 have misguided antibodies that attack not the virus, but the immune system itself, new research shows. Another 3.5 percent, at least, carry a specific kind of genetic mutation.

25 Sep 2020