Genetics News and Research

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Genetics is the study of genes and heredity. Heredity is the passing of genetic information and traits (such as eye color and an increased chance of getting a certain disease) from parents to offspring.

Web-Based Platform Facilitates Chemical Structure Queries in Metabolomics

An international team led by researchers at University of California San Diego and University of California, Riverside has developed a free, web‑based platform designed to make public metabolomics data more accessible.

15 May 2026

Novel RNA Analysis Method Supports Antiviral Drug Discovery

Researchers from A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR GIS) have developed a new method, called 'sm-PORE-cupine', to study individual RNA molecules and reveal how their structures influence gene regulation, a fundamental process that affects how cells function in health and disease.

15 May 2026

Inherited Genetic Pathways Shape Individual Cancer Risk and Outcomes

Why do two people with the same cancer diagnosis-the same stage, the same cell type, and the same clinical profile-often have completely different outcomes? For decades, scientists have studied acquired mutations in cancer to find answers, but mutations alone explain only part of the story.

12 May 2026

Epigenetic Changes May Influence Inheritance Beyond DNA Sequence Alone

When we think about genetic inheritance, we usually leap to DNA, the four-letter code containing the instructions for building a living organism.

11 May 2026

Why Women Face a Much Higher Risk of Autoimmune Disease

A recent study has identified biological abnormalities that make the female immune system more likely to mistakenly attack the body's own healthy tissues, providing insight into why women are significantly more likely than men to experience autoimmune diseases.

8 May 2026

UNC Professor Receives Grant to Investigate Origins of the Genetic Code

Over the course of natural history, animals and plants have evolved to adapt to an ever-changing environment and increase the chances of survival. So, too, has our own DNA.

7 May 2026

AI Model Reads DNA Like Language to Trace Ancestry

Researchers at the University of Oregon have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can read genetic code the way large language models like ChatGPT read text. Scanning the genome for biological mutation patterns, the computer model traces pairs of genes back in time to their last common ancestor.

5 May 2026

Host Genetics and Sex Shape Evolution of Viral Virulence

During the early stages of a pandemic, viruses tend to evolve in ways that enhance their ability to reproduce and spread, rather than to evade the host's immune system.

4 May 2026

Long Read Sequencing Uncovers Telomere Length Variation Across Chromosomes

In a new proof-of-concept study published in Nature Communications, researchers at the University of Chicago analyzed genomic data from more than 2,500 participants in the national All of Us research program to estimate chromosome-specific telomere length (csTL).

30 Apr 2026

High Resolution Images Reveal DNA Repair Process in Key Protein

Scientists have captured the most detailed structural images to date of a specific type of protein's DNA repair process, a finding that could reveal ways to inhibit the effects of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations that heighten the risk for breast, ovarian and other cancers.

28 Apr 2026

Discovery of Heme Transport Pathway Solves Longstanding Red Blood Cell Enigma

Scientists have long been puzzled by how maturing red blood cells manage to produce all the hemoglobin they need to carry oxygen to tissues, even after shedding the vital structures they need to produce it.

25 Apr 2026

Re-Engineering the Cellular Factory to Build a Better Delivery System for Gene Editors

Gene editing has emerged as a powerful approach for targeting the genetic causes of disease, but getting the editing machinery into the right cells efficiently, safely, and at the scale needed for therapies remains one of the biggest set of challenges in the field.

25 Apr 2026

New Genetic Pathways Linked to Cardiometabolic Disease Identified

A study published today in PLOS Medicine has identified two new genetic pathways that contribute to cardiometabolic disease, which includes heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

24 Apr 2026

Ancient Genetic Sequences Found to Drive Human Language Abilities

In a first-of-its-kind finding, researchers at University of Iowa Health Care discovered that specific genetic sequences have an outsized impact on humans' language abilities and that these sequences evolved before humans and Neanderthals diverged.

23 Apr 2026

New Molecular Imaging Technology Illuminates Proteins Inside Living Cells

Fluorescent probes have transformed modern biology by allowing researchers to tag and visualize individual molecules in living cells, tissues, and animals.

22 Apr 2026

Genetic Study Reveals Biological Drivers of Frailty in Aging

Researchers at McMaster University have identified, for the first time, a novel region of DNA and two associated genes connected to frailty, offering neurological and immune-related insights that might help explain why some older adults are more likely to be frail than others.

22 Apr 2026

Structured National Genomic Program can be Effective for Rare Disease Diagnosis

For many families, eight years of uncertainty meant repeated specialist visits, inconclusive genetic tests and the growing fear that a clear answer might never come. For nearly half of the children enrolled in the Telethon Undiagnosed Disease Program (TUDP), that wait is now over.

21 Apr 2026

Regulatory Genetic Elements Coordinate Temporal Activity of Key Developmental Gene

In a new study published in Genes & Development, research led by Dr Lila Allou at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) in London and Professor Stefan Mundlos at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics and Charité in Berlin demonstrates how different regulatory genetic elements coordinate the temporal activity of a key developmental gene.

20 Apr 2026

RNA Network Controls Cell Wall Remodeling in Apple Embryogenesis

Somatic embryogenesis is a powerful route for plant regeneration, transformation, and breeding, but one major question has remained unresolved: how highly differentiated cells regain the capacity to divide and develop like embryos.

20 Apr 2026

Study Reveals the "Black Box" of Protein Quality Control in the ER

Over the past few years, Kivanç Birsoy of Rockefeller University and his colleagues in the Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics have uncovered amazing information about the antioxidant glutathione, which has numerous vital functions in the body, including eliminating free radicals and repairing cellular damage.

20 Apr 2026