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New Biomarker Offers Early Detection of ALS and FTD

Two progressively degenerative diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD, recently in the news with the diagnoses of actor Bruce Willis and talk show host Wendy Williams), are linked by more than the fact that they both damage nerve cells critical to normal functioning -; the former affecting nerves in the brain and spinal cord leading to loss of movement, the latter eroding the brain regions controlling personality, behavior and language.

19 Mar 2024

Study Reveals Genetic Mechanism Behind Human Tail Loss

A genetic change in our ancient ancestors may partly explain why humans don't have tails like monkeys, finds a new study led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

29 Feb 2024

Researchers Reveal Evolutionary Origin of Mysterious Immune System Molecule in Humans

Biological systems can behave as siblings in several ways, including by borrowing something and never giving it back.

31 Jan 2024

Review: Role of Alternative Splicing Defects in Major Neurodegenerative Diseases

Alternative splicing, a clever way a cell generates many different variations of messenger RNAs -; single-stranded RNAs involved in protein synthesis -; and proteins from the same stretch of DNA, plays an important role in molecular biology.

21 Jun 2023

Deep-Sequencing Identifies Over 10,000 Unique Genes in Cotton

TEs (transposable elements), particularly LTRs, are recognized to play a crucial role in defining basic genome organization and affecting functional gene expression. Insertion of TE or LTR fragments may also result in the formation of new transcription start sites (TSSs) in the host genome.

25 May 2023

Research Details the Food Safety Profile of Genetically Edited Allergen-Free Eggs

Researchers have developed a chicken egg that may be safe for people with egg white allergies. Chicken egg allergies are one of the most common allergies in children.

18 May 2023

New Genetic Mutations Linked to Canine Bladder Cancers Identified

Researchers have identified new genetic mutations linked to a subset of canine bladder cancers. Their findings have implications both for early cancer detection and for targeted treatments in dogs and humans.

26 Apr 2023

CRISPR-Cas9 Driven Gene-Editing Tool Models Liver Cancer Tumor Subtypes

Mutations in human genes can cause serious issues, such as colon or liver cancer. However, cancer is a very complex condition. Mutations in the same genes can result in distinct kinds of cancers in different persons.

11 Apr 2023

UChicago scientists shed light on the longstanding puzzle of RNA methylation

University of Chicago scientists have discovered a new wrinkle in our understanding of how our genes work.

14 Feb 2023

Pancreatic islet microexons play key role in islet function and glucose homeostasis

When cells copy DNA to produce RNA transcripts, they include only some chunks of genetic material known as exons and throw out the rest.

10 Feb 2023

Chilling tolerance trait in rice with the codon repeats at a single site

A recent study performed by Professor Chong Kang’s group from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has disclosed a fact that a novel cold domesticated repair mechanism for DNA damage in rice.

11 Jan 2023

NATA accreditation for BGI Australia to perform whole exome sequencing

The National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) has accredited BGI Australia’s lab to conduct clinical Whole Exome Sequencing in Australia, opening the door for the multinational life sciences company to offer clinical sequencing services for locating potential disease-causing genetic changes.

25 Oct 2022

Novel molecular pathway shared by ALS and frontotemporal dementia identified

Scientists from two independent research teams have discovered how the mislocalization of a protein, known as TDP-43, alters the genetic instructions for UNC13A, providing a possible therapeutic target that could also have implications in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and other forms of dementia.

1 Mar 2022

A missing link explains how class I molecules evolved from a class II-like origin Major Histocompatibility...

Which came first, MHC class I or MHC class II? For decades, it has been debated which of these two similar classes came first in evolution. Now, Keiichiro Hashimoto and his group at Fujita Health University, Japan, in collaboration with European research groups, have provided an answer to this question in a new article in PNAS.

14 Dec 2021

Experts explain left–right asymmetry development in the embryo

Research on the development of symmetry in mice embryos is anticipated to provide a deeper understanding of the causes of disease.

21 Oct 2021

Researchers systematically analyze alternative splicing in the family of glutamate receptors

Alternative splicing can lead to the formation of numerous protein variants. For the first time, alternative splicing has now been systematically analysed for the family of glutamate receptors.

17 Jun 2021

New gene therapy could help treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Researchers from UT Southwestern used a new kind of gene therapy to successfully treat mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), distinctively employing CRISPR-Cas9-based tools to restore a large section of the dystrophin protein missing in several DMD patients.

3 May 2021

Study reveals mechanism by which ibuprofen prevents RAC1B alternative splicing in colorectal cells

Oncotarget published "Ibuprofen disrupts a WNK1/GSK3β/SRPK1 protein complex required for expression of tumor-related splicing variant RAC1B in colorectal cells" which reported that although the molecular mechanism behind the antitumor properties of NSAIDs has been largely attributed to inhibition of cyclooxygenases , several studies have shown that the chemopreventive properties of ibuprofen also involve multiple COX-independent effects.

23 Mar 2021

Jumping genes are an important force in the creation of new genes during evolution, shows study

In the same way that Lego pieces can be arranged in new ways to build a variety of structures, genetic elements can be mixed and matched to create new genes, according to new research.

23 Feb 2021

Innovative system allows complete study of SARS-CoV-2 mutant spectrum by ultrasequencing

Researchers have designed a program that allows the complete study of the SARS-CoV-2 mutant spectrum by ultrasequencing.

15 Feb 2021