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Genetics news

Genetics

Largest genetic study to date identifies 13 new DNA regions linked to dyslexia

Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental condition estimated to affect between 5–10% of people living in most countries, irrespective of their educational and cultural background. Dyslexic individuals experience persistent difficulties ...

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

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 ...

Genetics

Genetic predisposition to birch pollen allergy decoded

Birch pollen allergy is one of the most common allergies in Europe and affects around 450,000 people in Austria alone. It considerably impairs the quality of life and can lead to chronic diseases such as asthma in the long ...

Genetics

Global study pinpoints genes for depression across ethnicities

New genetic risk factors for depression have been identified across all major global populations for the first time, allowing scientists to predict the risk of depression regardless of ethnicity. The study is published in ...

Genetics

Gene editing extends lifespan in mouse model of prion disease

Researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have developed a gene-editing treatment for prion disease that extends lifespan by about 50% in a mouse model of the fatal neurodegenerative condition. The treatment, ...

Genetics

Genetic mutation linked to higher SARS-CoV-2 risk

Researchers have identified a novel genetic risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection, providing new insights into the virus's ability to invade human cells. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that spreads COVID-19.

Oncology & Cancer

DNA repair pathways reveal how tumor cells die after radiotherapy

Scientists at Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI) have solved a big mystery in cancer research—why cells die in different ways following radiotherapy. This surprising finding opens up new opportunities to improve ...