Genetics and Genomics News and Research

Latest Genetics and Genomics News and Research

Adapting the equipment and expertise of agtech labs could help combat pandemics

Just as redeploying a fleet of small British fishing boats helped during the Battle of Dunkirk, marshalling the research equipment and expertise of the many agtech labs around the world could help combat pandemics, say the authors of a just-published article in Nature Biotechnology.

11 Aug 2020

Light impulses can be used to trigger electrical excitation in plants

Optogenetics denotes the manipulation of cellular processes by light-based biological techniques. An international research team led by the Würzburg plant scientists Rainer Hedrich, Georg Nagel and Dirk Becker has succeeded in applying this method to higher plants: Light impulses can now be used to trigger electrical excitation in plants.

11 Aug 2020

Scientists resolve photosynthetic bottlenecks to increase crop productivity

Plants are factories that manufacture yield from light and carbon dioxide--but parts of this complex process, called photosynthesis, are hindered by a lack of raw materials and machinery.

11 Aug 2020

Using genetic engineering to study evolutionary assimilation of foreign DNA in a new host

All life is subject to evolution in the form of mutations that change the DNA sequence of an organism's offspring, after which natural selection allows the 'fittest' mutants to survive and pass on their genes to future generations.

11 Aug 2020

Researchers use genome editing to facilitate drug discovery based on natural fungus

Rice University scientists have won federal support for their pursuit of novel drugs to treat human disease.

11 Aug 2020

Researchers describe a previously unknown phylum of aquatic Archaea

In a publication in Nature Communications last Friday, NIOZ scientists Nina Dombrowski and Anja Spang and their collaboration partners describe a previously unknown phylum of aquatic Archaea that are likely dependent on partner organisms for growth while potentially being able to conserve some energy by fermentation.

11 Aug 2020

Study suggests that coronavirus does not directly damage taste bud cells

A new study from the Regenerative Bioscience Center at the University of Georgia is the first to suggest that COVID-19 does not directly damage taste bud cells.

From University of Georgia 11 Aug 2020

$1.2 million NIH grant awarded to create humanized mice susceptible to COVID-19

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a grant of $1.2 million to the Mouse Biology Program at the University of California, Davis, to create mice that are susceptible to the COVID-19 virus, and to distribute them to researchers.

11 Aug 2020

Gene therapy to the inner retina prevents blindness in Cln3-deficient mice

Gene therapy to the inner retina prevented blindness in a mouse model of the neuro-degenerative disorder CLN3 Batten disease.

11 Aug 2020

UC Riverside physicist receives NIH grant to study how pathogens evolve

For several years, physicist John Barton at the University of California, Riverside, has been working on developing models to understand and predict how pathogens, such as HIV, evolve. This research pursuit has just received support from the National Institutes of Health.

11 Aug 2020

Study may reduce transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils, offers hope for treating human cancers

A rare, transmissible tumor has brought the iconic Tasmanian devil to the brink of extinction, but new research by scientists at Washington State University and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle indicates hope for the animals' survival and possibly new treatment for human cancers.

10 Aug 2020

West Virginia University performs revolutionary Alzheimer's treatment

A hospital nurse for 33 years, Nanette Miller would call her husband Frank at the end of each shift to let him know she was coming home.

10 Aug 2020

Genetic analysis reveals the inhibitory role of NSD2 enzyme in cellular senescence

Using a detailed genetic analysis, a research team from Japan-based Kumamoto University has discovered that the NSD2 enzyme, which controls the actions of several genes, also functions to block the aging of cells.

10 Aug 2020

Increased blood lead levels in children are linked to reduced expression of genes

Researchers have revealed a connection between methylation of genes implicated in heme synthesis and carcinogenesis and high blood lead levels in children, signifying a previously unfamiliar mechanism for lead poisoning.

10 Aug 2020

Researchers isolate fragile protein complex from heat-loving bacteria

Goethe University scientists have discovered what is probably the oldest enzyme found in cellular respiration. Now, the team has successfully isolated a highly delicate protein complex known as “Rnf” from the heat-loving bacterium called Thermotoga maritima.

10 Aug 2020

Study shows how legumes recognize beneficial microbes from harmful ones

Legume plants can recognize their friends from their foes, and now scientists have found out how they do it at the molecular level.

10 Aug 2020

Early neuron training shows promise for regenerative medicine

When it comes to training neural circuits for tissue engineering or biomedical applications, a new study suggests a key parameter: Train them young.

10 Aug 2020

Test pinpoints which people with gonorrhea can be treated with ciprofloxacin

A test designed by UCLA researchers can pinpoint which people with gonorrhea will respond successfully to the inexpensive oral antibiotic ciprofloxacin, which had previously been sidelined over concerns the bacterium that causes the infection was becoming resistant to it.

10 Aug 2020

New method targets hidden HIV viral reservoirs during antiretroviral therapy

Scientists at The Wistar Institute may have discovered a new way of identifying and targeting hidden HIV viral reservoirs during treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART).

10 Aug 2020

Study shows how DNA from ancient ancestors was passed down to modern humans

According to a new study of ancient genomes, different branches of the human family tree could have interbred numerous times, and certain human beings carry DNA from an unfamiliar and ancient ancestor.

7 Aug 2020