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Genetics news

Genetics

One-time gene therapy could end lifelong transfusions for rare blood disease

Thanks to in-utero blood transfusion technology, what was once a fatal diagnosis in the womb can now result in live births. However, this medical advancement created a new challenge: a growing population of children born ...

Genetics

Telomere protection failure: How genetic mutations cause pulmonary fibrosis

A research group from the National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) has found that an alteration in the POT1 gene prevents lung tissue from regenerating, which over time makes breathing difficult. The mutation prevents telomeres, ...

Genetics

CRISPR approach offers hope for severe childhood brain disorder

When brain development gets off to a bad start, the consequences are lifelong. One example is a condition called SCN2A haploinsufficiency, in which children are born with just one functioning copy of the SCN2A gene—instead ...

Genetics

AI-powered CRISPR could lead to faster gene therapies

Stanford Medicine researchers have developed an artificial intelligence tool to help scientists better plan gene-editing experiments. The technology, CRISPR-GPT, acts as a gene-editing "copilot" supported by AI to help researchers—even ...

Oncology & Cancer

Research links DNA replication failure to cancer therapy

A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Nature Communications, reveals that cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) promote DNA replication licensing in human cells by relieving inhibitory signals from RB tumor suppressor ...

Genetics

Gene therapy safeguards hearing, balance in preclinical test

Scientists from the Gray Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University introduced an innovative gene therapy method to treat impairments in hearing and balance caused by inner ear dysfunction. According to the ...

Genetics

Cell defect in exosomes linked to development of Alzheimer's

They're tiny particles—with potentially huge human consequences. Researchers from Aarhus University have identified a defect in the production of so-called exosomes in cells, associated with a mutation seen in dementia ...

Oncology & Cancer

Surprising new roles discovered for known blood cancer gene DNMT3A

A gene called DNMT3A is important for guiding blood stem cells into forming all the cell types present in blood, including red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. When this gene accumulates mutations—which might ...

Oncology & Cancer

New treatments found for tough blood cancers

Researchers from King's have identified a new way to treat certain blood cancers using existing drugs, by turning a once-dismissed part of our DNA into a therapeutic target.

Genetics

Just how identical are identical twins?

From Romulus and Remus—the myth of the twin brothers who founded the city of Rome—to the synchronized speech of Australia's "Twinnies" Paula and Brigette Powers, identical siblings have long inspired our fascination and ...

Genetics

Gene editing treats smooth muscle disease in preclinical model

Using gene editing in a preclinical model, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center blocked the symptoms of a rare smooth muscle disease before they developed. Their findings, published in Circulation, could eventually ...

Oncology & Cancer

How inflammation drives prostate tumor formation

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men worldwide. However, the mechanisms controlling the early stages of prostate cancer formation are poorly understood.

Genetics

Scientists discover new approach to gene therapy

Researchers have found a promising new method for gene therapy. They successfully restarted inactive genes by bringing them closer to genetic switches on the DNA called enhancers. The intermediate piece of DNA was cut out ...