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The immune system can play a key role in improving recovery from heart attacks

International research collaboration to pioneer the field of immuno-cardiology and investigate ways to harness the power of the immune system to improve recovery from heart attacks will be led at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania by Jonathan Epstein, MD, executive vice dean, chief scientific officer and the William Wikoff Smith Professor of Cardiovascular Research.

14 Jul 2020

Scientists discover new antiviral drug against paramyxovirus

A new antiviral drug that is effective against a broad range of human pathogens in the paramyxovirus family, such as the human parainfluenzaviruses and measles virus, has been discovered by researchers in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

14 Jul 2020

Scientists develop new genome editing methods for better crop yield

Although crop hybrid technologies have played a key role in considerably improving crop yield across the world in the past decades, developing and maintaining a hybrid production line has invariably been laborious and complex.

13 Jul 2020

Study explains why human mitochondrial genomes mutate frequently

One could say that mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles inside every human cell, dance to their own beat.

10 Jul 2020

Bioinformaticians reveal previously unknown features of genes involved in brain functioning

In a recent study of genes involved in brain functioning, their previously unknown features have been uncovered by bioinformaticians from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Institute of Mathematical Problems of Biology, RAS. The findings are reported in PLOS One.

10 Jul 2020

Structural analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein offers clues about the virus' evolution

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have characterized the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as well as its most similar relative in a bat coronavirus. The structures provide clues about how the spike evolved and could help inform vaccine design.

10 Jul 2020

Supergenes may have a massive role in evolutionary adaption

Massive blocks of genes--inherited together 'plug and play' style--may play a larger role in evolutionary adaption than previously thought, according to new research in Nature.

9 Jul 2020

New type of molecular editor can make precise changes in mitochondrial DNA

The genome in mitochondria -- the cell's energy-producing organelles -- is involved in disease and key biological functions, and the ability to precisely alter this DNA would allow scientists to learn more about the effects of these genes and mutations.

9 Jul 2020

New spatial mapping method pinpoints new potential therapeutic targets for lupus

A team of researchers from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia used a new method of pinpointing potential disease-causing changes in the genome to identify two new potential therapeutic targets for lupus, while also paving the way for more accurately identifying disease-causing variations in other autoimmune disorders.

9 Jul 2020

Integrating metabolomics and genomics to improve patient diagnosis

A patient and family walk into a doctor's office. They hope that the latest tests will reveal what is causing the patient's illness and end the diagnostic odyssey they have been going through for years.

8 Jul 2020

Protein PRC1 acts as a 'viscous glue' during cell division, research shows

An over-abundance of the protein PRC1, which is essential to cell division, is a telltale sign in many cancer types, including prostate, ovarian, and breast cancer.

8 Jul 2020

Salk researchers discover genetic 'dial' to fine-tune the immune response

The human immune system is a finely-tuned machine, balancing when to release a cellular army to deal with pathogens, with when to rein in that army, stopping an onslaught from attacking the body itself.

8 Jul 2020

Researchers map non-coding, 'functional' genome in maize during early development

Growth and development of all organisms depends on coordinated regulation of gene expression in time and space, and this is largely controlled by non-coding sequences in the genome.

8 Jul 2020

DNA repair tool is tailored to deal with specific type of complex break, study shows

Our cells are constantly dividing, and as they do, the DNA molecule - our genetic code - sometimes gets broken. DNA has twin strands, and a break in both is considered especially dangerous.

7 Jul 2020

Study highlights the role of hematopoietic immune cells in gene regulation

More often, the human body is viewed as a “machine” containing specialized components: immune cells protect against pathogens, organs contribute physiological functions, and soft tissue and bones give structure.

6 Jul 2020

Molecular landscape of myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms revealed

Myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN) is a group of rare malignancies with overlapping features from myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), that include a variety of diseases depending on their phenotype (hematological and morphological characteristics).

3 Jul 2020

Researchers discover protein involved in protecting B cells

Whenever a germ gets into the human body, the immune system usually responds immediately to fight off the enemy attacker. One of our defense system's most important strategies involves B lymphocytes, also known as B cells, which produce antibodies that target and neutralize pathogens.

2 Jul 2020

Study reveals how and where cells suppress transcription across the whole genome

All life depends on a genome, which acts as an instruction manual for building all the products essential for development and survival. But knowing which of these individual instructions - or genes - need to be read, and when, is key for a properly functioning organism: so how does life get this right?

1 Jul 2020

Researchers develop a series of APOBEC-Cas9 fusion-induced deletion systems

Many small regulatory elements, including miRNAs, miRNA binding sites, and cis-acting elements, comprise only 5~24 nucleotides and play important roles in regulating gene expression, transcription and translation, and protein structure, and thus are promising targets for gene function studies and crop improvement.

1 Jul 2020

Study shows promise for developing novel COVID-19 therapeutics

A protein known as polymerase is used by SARS-CoV-2—the coronavirus that is responsible for causing the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic—to replicate its genome within the infected human cells.

1 Jul 2020