Unlocking the genetic mysteries behind pediatric brain tumors is at the heart of the mission of the Center for Data Driven Discovery in Biomedicine (D3b) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The Children's Brain Tumor Network (CBTN), a multi-institutional brain tumor research program with its operations center housed at D3b,…
USC Stevens INI launches a $3 million study to solve some puzzles about Parkinson's disease
The USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (USC Stevens INI), part of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, has launched a $3 million study that will unite researchers and data from 20 countries to answer some of the most pressing questions about Parkinson’s disease (PD). The…
Ethnic diversity in genetic study of glycemic traits yields better results
By including multi-ethnic participants, a largescale genetic study has identified more regions of the genome linked to type 2 diabetes-related traits than if the research had been conducted in Europeans alone. The international MAGIC collaboration, made up of more than 400 global academics, conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis led by…
Genetic risk of heart disease may be due to low Omega 3-linked biomarker
People who are genetically more likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases may benefit from boosting a biomarker found in fish oils, a new study suggests. In a genetic study in 1,886 Asian Indians published in PLOS ONE today, scientists have identified the first evidence for the role of adiponectin, an…
How learning about your genes can help with your nutritional needs
Genetics influences our food tastes and sensitivities; know all about it here When it comes to health, people mostly understand it as independent of their genetic makeup. But health and wellness do not exist in a vacuum. Everything is interconnected and interdependent and within you, in the form of a…
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic underscores importance of understanding evolution of RNA genomes
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…