The current COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), underscores the importance of understanding the evolution of ribonucleic acid (RNA) genomes. Scientists Zachary W. Kockler and Dmitry A. Gordenin, from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, US National Institutes of Health,…
Set of genetic markers in lung cancer identified
Investigators at Wake Forest School of Medicine, part of Wake Forest Baptist Health, have identified a set of new genetic markers that could potentially lead to new personalized treatments for lung cancer. The study appears online in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. This study…
Study shows stronger link between Down syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia
A new large-scale study led by UC Davis Health and UC San Francisco researchers assessed the risks of leukemia in children with Down syndrome. It pointed to stronger than expected associations between Down syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one type of blood cancer. Down syndrome is one of the…
Specific gene may play a causal role in heart disease independent of cholesterol levels
High cholesterol is the most commonly understood cause of atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries that raises the risk of heart attack and stroke. But now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a gene that likely plays a causal role in coronary artery disease…
Researchers explore potential role of TARM1 protein in pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis
TARM1 is a receptor protein whose role in the functioning of the immune system is unknown. In a new study, scientists from Japan have explored the potential role of TARM1 in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis by analyzing mouse models. They found that TARM1 activated dendritic cells, and development of…
Researchers develop mutant gene-targeted immunotherapy approach to fight cancers
A novel targeted immunotherapy approach developed by researchers at the Ludwig Center, the Lustgarten Laboratory, and Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center employs new antibodies against genetically altered proteins to target cancers. The researchers targeted their immunotherapy approach to alterations in the common cancer-related…
Researchers develop mutant gene-targeted immunotherapy approach to fight cancers
A novel targeted immunotherapy approach developed by researchers at the Ludwig Center, the Lustgarten Laboratory, and Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center employs new antibodies against genetically altered proteins to target cancers. The researchers targeted their immunotherapy approach to alterations in the common cancer-related…
Deep learning-based splice-AI can help predict the onset of Alzheimer's disease
Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI, President Suh Pann-ghill) announced that the research team led by Dr. Jae-Yeol Joo discovered new cryptic splice variants and SNVs in PLCg1 gene of AD-specific models for the first time using Splice-AI. This research outcome was published in PNAS, a world-renowned academic journal. Prediction of…
SARS-CoV-2 variants emerge during humoral immunity phase of acute COVID-19
Among the biggest challenges to containing the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is the emergence of mutations that allow the virus to evade host immune responses. Initially, changes in the SARS-CoV-2 genome were slow to emerge, due perhaps…
Genetic mechanism enables TB-causing bacterium to remember and rapidly respond to stress
Tuberculosis bacteria have evolved to remember stressful encounters and react quickly to future stress, according to a study by computational bioengineers at Rice University and infectious disease experts at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS). Published online in the open-access journal mSystems, the research identifies a genetic mechanism that allows…
Researchers use functional test to measure the effect of inherited variants in BRCA2 cancer gene
Researchers at Mayo Clinic have combined results from a functional test measuring the effect of inherited variants in the BRCA2 breast and ovarian cancer gene with clinical information from women who received genetic testing to determine the clinical importance of many BRCA2 variants of uncertain significance (VUS). The findings were…