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New Insights into the Biological Basis of Bipolar Disorder

According to research published in Nature on January 22nd, 2025, an international team of psychiatric genetics researchers has discovered 298 regions of the genome with DNA variations that increase the risk for bipolar disorder, more than four times the number previously found.

24 Jan 2025

New Breakthrough Pushes DNA-Nanoparticle Motors Closer to Natural Protein Speed

DNA-nanoparticle motors are exactly as they sound: tiny artificial motors that use the structures of DNA and RNA to propel motion by enzymatic RNA degradation.

23 Jan 2025

Breakthrough Achieved in Completing the Creation of First Synthetic Yeast Genome

Macquarie University researchers have worked with an international team of scientists to achieve a major milestone in synthetic biology by completing the creation of the final chromosome in the world's first synthetic yeast genome.

23 Jan 2025

New Map Reveals How Human DNA Shuffles During Reproduction

Scientists at deCODE genetics/Amgen have constructed a complete map of how human DNA is mixed as it is passed down during reproduction.

23 Jan 2025

Genetic Mutations May Be Behind Epigenetic Clock of Aging

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have published results that shed new light on an old question: what causes aging at the molecular level? Their findings, published in Nature Aging, describe a never-before-seen link between the two most accepted explanations: random genetic mutations and predictable epigenetic modifications.

22 Jan 2025

Ancient Viral DNA Plays a Key Role in Embryonic Development

More than half of the human genome is made up of thousands of remnants of ancient viral DNA, known as transposable elements, which are pervasive across the tree of life.

21 Jan 2025

Mapping Global Microbial Diversity Using Genomic Sequencing Data

Metagenomic datasets could help map out microbial diversity hotspots. Published January 17, 2025 in Science Advances, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), a DOE Office of Science User Facility located at Berkeley Laboratory, have taken stock of the current state of microbial genomic biodiversity.

20 Jan 2025

Understanding the Impact of Microbial Associations on Insect Evolution

The evolutionary success of leaf beetles, the most varied herbivores on Earth, was investigated by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Max Planck Institute of Biology in Tübingen, Germany, and a group of scientists from around the world.

20 Jan 2025

Scientists Discover Surprising Directional Flexibility in DNA-Shaping Motors

Scientists from Delft, Vienna, and Lausanne discovered that the protein machines that shape our DNA can switch direction.

17 Jan 2025

Study Unveils Surprising Cause of Brain Cell Death in Huntington's Disease

Scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Harvard Medical School, and McLean Hospital have discovered a surprising mechanism by which the inherited genetic mutation known to cause Huntington's disease leads to the death of brain cells.

17 Jan 2025

New study reveals how genes switch on and off in human cells

An international group of scientists has made a significant advancement in their understanding of the regulation of gene expression throughout the human genome.

17 Jan 2025

Researchers Develop Strategy to Boost Pharmaceutical Production in CHO Cells

An international team of researchers led by the University of California San Diego has developed a new strategy to enhance pharmaceutical production in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, which are commonly used to manufacture protein-based drugs for treating cancer, autoimmune diseases and much more.

16 Jan 2025

Long Reads Show Promise for Diagnosing Rare Genetic Disorders

The cause of rare diseases is increasingly being detected through genome sequencing, which involves reading the entire human DNA by first breaking it into small pieces-short reads.

16 Jan 2025

Protein Shapes Reveal Deeper Evolutionary Relationships

According to a study published in the journal Nature Communications, the three-dimensional form of a protein can be utilized to determine long-standing evolutionary relationships in the tree of life.

16 Jan 2025

Unrepaired DNA Damage Can Persist for Years and Lead to Cancer Mutations

While most known types of DNA damage are fixed by our cells’ in-house repair mechanisms, some forms of DNA damage evade repair and can persist for many years, new research shows. This means that the damage has multiple chances to generate harmful mutations, which can lead to cancer.

15 Jan 2025

Base Editing Technique Extends Lifespan in Prion Disease Mouse Model

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

15 Jan 2025

Understanding RapA's Function in E. coli R-loop Control

From a genetic perspective, it is the worst-case scenario for a bacterium: during transcription, freshly created RNA adheres to its DNA template to form a three-stranded structure called an R-loop.

15 Jan 2025

Outer Ears Evolved From Fish Gills Through Unique Genetic Mechanism

The outer ear is unique to mammals, but its evolutionary origin has remained a mystery. According to a new study published in Nature from the USC Stem Cell lab of Gage Crump, this intricate coil of cartilage has a surprisingly ancient origin in the gills of fishes and marine invertebrates.

10 Jan 2025

Researchers Discover How Protein Instability Drives Heritable Diseases

Most mutations which cause disease by swapping one amino acid out for another do so by making the protein less stable, according to a massive study of human protein variants published today in the journal Nature.

10 Jan 2025

UK Biobank to Study Protein Changes Across 600,000 Samples

UK Biobank has today announced the launch of the world's most comprehensive study of the proteins circulating in our bodies, which will transform the study of diseases and their treatments.

10 Jan 2025