Epigenetic changes implicated in rheumatoid arthritis
Research published recently in Nature Biotechnology provides evidence that epigenetic changes to DNA mediate the influence of environmental factors to determine whether rheumatoid arthritis develops...
View ArticleGene variant may explain greater H1N1 severity for Chinese
A new study suggests that a gene variant prevalent in people of Chinese descent may partly explain the higher incidence of severe H1N1 influenza (swine flu) infection in some populations. The work...
View ArticleCopy number variations in genome may influence lifespan
Research published this week in PLOS ONE concludes that copy number variations (CNVs) in some regions of the genome can influence lifespan. CNVs (additions or losses of sections of DNA sequence) are...
View ArticleGenes for short-sightedness uncovered
A meta-analysis of 32 previous studies has found 24 genes associated with risk of refractive errors and myopia, or short-sightedness. The work published in Nature Genetics combined data from over...
View ArticleFirst demonstration of RNAi treatment for cancer in humans
A new trial has shown promising results in treating cancer patients using RNAi therapy. RNAi (RNA interference) is a means of silencing a gene by introducing into a cell a complementary sequence that...
View Article'Obesity gene' linked to skin cancer
New research has shown a gene known to be strongly linked to risk of obesity is also associated with increased risk of melanoma. The work published in Nature Genetics analysed the genomes of over...
View ArticleInsufficient sleep alters activity of multiple genes
A study that received much media attention last week found that the activity of more than 700 genes was altered by changes to duration of sleep. In the research published in the Proceedings of the...
View ArticleGene linked to more aggressive prostate cancer
A new large-scale study appears to confirm that prostate cancer patients with mutations in the BRCA2 gene are likely to have more aggressive and rapid progression of the disease, and to have worse...
View ArticleTwo genome-wide studies identify new links to obesity
Two studies published last week in Nature Genetics have identified new genetic links to both childhood and adult obesity. In one study a large international team of researchers conducted a...
View ArticleGene 'super-enhancers' may define cell types
Two studies published in the journal Cell suggest that multiple separate gene-regulating regions across the genome may act together to form huge ‘super-enhancer’ structures that...
View ArticleWomen's screening decisions unaffected by over-diagnosis
A study funded by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has found that despite being ‘shocked’ to discover the extent of over-diagnosis and unnecessary treatment that results from mammography,...
View ArticleGenome, microbiome and diet linked with atherosclerosis
New research published in the New England Journal of Medicine reports links between diet, microorganisms that inhabit the gut, and atherogenesis, the development of atherosclerosis. The...
View ArticlePersonal Genome Project participants often identifiable
A pre-publication study posted to arXiv last week showed that full names, addresses and medical details of a significant proportion of participants in the Personal Genome Project (PGP) could readily...
View ArticleFirst human embryonic stem cells created from adult tissue
Researchers claim to have created the first ever viable human pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), the same ‘cloning’ technique used...
View ArticleFungal and foodborne disease microbial genomes sequenced
US researchers have sequenced the DNA of the human fungal skin microbiome, published in Nature. The skin microbiome refers to the collective genomes of all the fungi, bacteria and viruses...
View ArticleGenomic features of uterine fibroids reveal surprises
A small scale study of uterine fibroids has found genomic features more commonly seen in aggressive cancers. Fibroid muscle tumours in the uterus (uterine leiomyomas, generally referred to as uterine...
View ArticleLeprosy genome suggests genetic resistance in Europeans
Researchers have analysed the genome sequences of Mycobacterium leprae samples from the teeth and bones of mediaeval skeletons. M. leprae is the bacillus that causes leprosy, which was...
View ArticleWeeding out false positives in the hunt for cancer genes
New research published in Nature has shed light on the so-called ‘fishy genes’ in cancer – genetic mutations consistently linked with cancer, but which appear to have...
View ArticleScientifically valuable mice cloned from a drop of blood
Japanese researchers have successfully cloned a mouse using a small sample of peripheral white blood cells from the tail of a donor mouse. The Riken BioResource Center team were trying to find a...
View ArticleNew genetic links to migraine found
The largest genetic analysis of migraine sufferers has linked twelve genetic regions with susceptibility to the condition. Researchers from the International Headache Genetics Consortium...
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