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Clinical genetics news

Consent and its discontents: UK Biobank projects may breach trust of thousands of participants

UK Biobank is a major biomedical database and research resource, holding the genetic, health, and lifestyle information of half a million adult volunteers. Its datasets are accessible to approved researchers from academic, ...

mRNA therapy restores fertility in genetically infertile mice

Researchers have found that targeted delivery of messenger RNA (mRNA) can restore sperm production and fertility in genetically infertile male mice. The findings, published in Stem Cell Reports, demonstrate that transient ...

Life-changing drug identified for children with rare epilepsy

A new experimental treatment for children with a hard-to-treat form of epilepsy is safe and can reduce seizures dramatically, helping them lead much healthier and happier lives, according to the findings of a UCL (University ...

A promising potential therapeutic strategy for Rett syndrome

A team of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children's Hospital reports in Science Translational Medicine a potential new approach to treat Rett ...

Tracking mysteries of loss of Y chromosome, cancer

The Y chromosome is among the smallest in the human body and carries the fewest genes. Researchers are paying renewed attention to its role in cancer—specifically, what happens when it vanishes.

What is a 'cancer gene'? How genetic mutations lead to cancer

An estimated 170,000 Australians were diagnosed with cancer in 2025. Many people know the causes of cancer are partly genetic. But how do your genes, which contribute so much of what makes you you, change what they do and ...

Vitamin B3 therapy offers hope for fatal childhood disease

Scientists at Gladstone Institutes have flipped the traditional approach to finding potential treatments for deadly diseases. Instead of starting with a disease and hunting for a cure, they began with vitamins and systematically ...

Engineers sharpen gene-editing tools to target cystic fibrosis

Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania and Rice University have refined a technology for editing individual genetic "base pairs" to a new level of precision, opening the door to safer, more reliable therapies for a wide ...

Q&A: Identifying new risk genes for schizophrenia

Schizophrenia, a psychiatric disorder that affects how a person feels, thinks, and behaves, affects roughly 1% of the population (approximately 3.5 million people in the U.S.) and is a leading cause of disability and death. ...

Overlooked layer of DNA may explain disease risk, severity

Scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have revealed a previously overlooked layer of genetic variation that could help explain why people experience disease differently, and why some treatments work better ...

Genes may predict suicide risk in depression

Depression in young adulthood has a stronger hereditary component and is associated with a higher risk of suicide attempts than depression that begins later in life, according to a new study published in Nature Genetics by ...

Why do some people with depression struggle to get better?

Depression is one of the most common mental health conditions, and some people recover with medications or therapies. However, for some individuals, treatment does not work, even after several attempts. This harder-to-treat ...

Congenital heart disease mutation linked to kidney damage

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have shown that a genetic mutation that causes congenital heart disease also contributes to kidney damage and developmental defects. Identifying this early cause of kidney damage could ...