DNA Damage News and Research

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New technologies reveal cross-cutting breakdowns in Alzheimer’s disease

A figure from the paper depicts pathways perturbed in Alzheimer's disease. Below examples are listed for each pathway by major brain cell type. Image Credit: The Picower Institute.

4 Jan 2023

Revealing the unappreciated role of POLQ in responding to DNA replication stress

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, in partnership with Artios, have discovered how an enzyme involved in DNA repair (POLQ) becomes critical to the survival of some tumors when the cancer cells lose the ability to employ a more frequent way of DNA repair.

1 Dec 2022

Importance of localizing BRCA gene mutations for ovarian cancer treatment

Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are inherited by 1 in 400 and 1 in 800 persons, respectively, elevate the risk of various malignancies such as ovarian, breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancer considerably.

30 Nov 2022

Launch of stem cells into space to investigate stem cell aging

Lab tests on astronaut Scott Kelly’s blood cells after he returned from a year-long stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) showed telomeric and pre-leukemic changes.

From UC San Diego 24 Nov 2022

Enzymes hold the answer to understanding how DNA mutates

According to recent research from the University of Surrey, enzymes, which are essential for regulating how cells replicate in the human body, could be the very component that encourages DNA to spontaneously mutate, leading to potentially permanent genetic errors.

From University of Surrey 17 Nov 2022

Role of p53-mediated metabolism in preventing genomic instability

The gene that codes for the protein p53 is most likely the most significant factor in defending human cells against DNA-damaging agents that cause cancer. The protein permits cells to repair DNA damage and so prevents the formation of malignancies, earning it the nickname “guardian of the genome.”

4 Nov 2022

Researchers face challenges with stem cell lines that carry major DNA damage

Stem cells are a type of cell that can be configured to transform into almost any sort of cell in the body. They are presently used in research on organ development as well as in the initial phases of embryo development.

15 Aug 2022

Study provides guidelines on how to design safer CRISPR reagents

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Jennifer A. Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier for developing the widely utilized and incredibly precise genome editing method known as CRISPR/Cas9

11 Aug 2022

Study highlights the history of ancient DNA technology development

Ancient DNA (aDNA) technology has been used for the past ten years by researchers working under the direction of FU Qiaomei at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to learn more about the history of ancient human populations, particularly those in East Asia.

26 Jul 2022

Researchers review the major milestones of ancient DNA techniques

Ancient DNA (aDNA) technology has been used for the past ten years by researchers working under the direction of Qiaomei Fu at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to learn more about the past of ancient human populations, particularly those in East Asia.

25 Jul 2022

Researchers discover potential ways to comprehend DNA replication

Non-coding DNA, also known as “junk DNA,” has been discovered to be anything but harmless and inactive and may even play a role in the onset of cancer.

22 Jul 2022

Research sheds light on innovative techniques to improve drugs for diseases

In a paper that was just published in Science, scientists from Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet and SciLifeLab explain how they were able to enhance a protein’s capacity to repair oxidative DNA damage while also giving the protein a new role.

27 Jun 2022

Study highlights the interaction between single-stranded DNA and the linker histone H1

Human DNA is neatly locked in place around a central disc in the tight quarters of the cell nucleus by H1 linker histone that helps shepherd DNA into the tidy chromatin fibers that make up chromosomes. The linker histone, on the other hand, is much more than a protein clip.

31 May 2022