news, journals and articles from all over the world.
Millions around the world have waited for news about a COVID-19 vaccine, regarding it as the beginning of the end for the global pandemic and a herald for the eventual return to “normal life.” Recent announcements from pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna that their respective late-stage vaccine trials have shown a 90% or better effectiveness rate have received international applause, excitement furthered with estimates that doses could be ready as early as December.
Darwin’s theory of evolution should be expanded to include consideration of a DNA stability “energy code” – so-called “molecular Darwinism” – to further account for the long-term survival of species’ characteristics on Earth, according to Rutgers scientists. The iconic genetic code can be viewed as an “energy code” that evolved by following the laws of thermodynamics (flow of energy), causing its evolution to culminate in a nearly singular code for all living species, according to the Rutgers co-authored study in the journal Quarterly Review of Biophysics.
University of Washington and Microsoft researchers have developed a DNA-based molecular tagging system.
A radioisotope researcher in the Radioisotope Science and Technology Division at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Davern is focusing on ways to use nanoparticles — particles 100 nanometers or smaller that can have special properties — to contain those radioisotopes and deliver them directly to cancer cells, where they can decay into different isotopes that irradiate those cells.
Neuro-oncologist and renowned physician-scientist Ingo Mellinghoff will lead MSK’s distinguished Department of Neurology after previously serving as Acting Co-Chair.
The inflammasome—a protein signaling network that is activated to rid the body of virus or bacteria-infected cells—may play an important role in triggering an immune response to cancer and causing an existing class of drugs to work better against cancers.
Untreated HIV infection is linked with epigenetic changes suggesting rapid aging. A new study by UCLA researchers shows that antiretroviral therapy given over two years was unable to completely restore age-appropriate epigenetic patterns, leaving patients more susceptible to aging-related illnesses.
Combining their expertise in protein engineering and synthetic DNA technology, Wistar scientists successfully delivered nanoparticle antitumor vaccines that stimulated robust CD8 T cell immunity and controlled melanoma growth in preclinical models.
With the aid of artificial intelligence, UC San Diego scientists have solved a long-standing puzzle in human gene activation. The discovery described in the journal Nature could be used to control gene activation in biotechnology and biomedical applications.
DALLAS – Sept. 7, 2020 – Like wrenches made of Legos, SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes tighten or loosen DNA in our cells to control how genes are turned on and made into proteins. When assembled correctly, these complexes play a crucial role in the development of normal tissues, and when broken, they can lead to the development of cancer. These complexes are commonly disrupted by mutations in the genes that encode them – but how this leads to cancer is poorly understood.
September’s edition of SLAS Discovery features the cover article, “Applications of Functional Genomics for Drug Discovery” by Ami M. Kabadi, Ph.D., (Element Genomics), Eoin McDonnell, Ph.D. (Element Genomics), Christopher L. Frank, Ph.D., (Element Genomics), and Lauren Drowley, Ph.D., (UCB Biosciences). The article reviews how functional genomic tools are better able to understand the biological interplay between genes, improving disease modeling and identifying novel drug targets.
A new analysis of ancient genomes suggests that different branches of the human family tree interbred multiple times, and that some humans carry DNA from an archaic, unknown ancestor.
Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine are among the contributors to a package of 10 studies in the journal Nature, describing the latest results from the ongoing Encyclopedia of DNA Elements project, a worldwide effort led by the NIH to understand how the human genome functions.
In an effort to better understand how our cells work, scientists have studied the function of 208 proteins responsible for orchestrating the regulation genes in the human genome. A paper appearing in the journal “Nature” describes the collaborative effort.
Scientists have unraveled key mechanisms behind the mysteries of aging. They isolated two paths that cells travel during aging and engineered a new way to genetically program these processes to extend life. The researchers also identified a master circuit that guides these aging processes.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have developed software to identify cancer-causing mutations lurking in vast regions of the human genome
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every Tuesday throughout the duration of the outbreak.
The most strongly disease-relevant genetic variants can be hard to localize in widespread scanning of the genome – but by zooming in on key genetic locations associated with these DNA methylation imbalances in multiple normal and cancer tissues, the scientists report they have uncovered promising new leads beneath the broader statistical signals.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) announces the following awards and honors to our staff, given by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) organizations.
Yale Cancer Center scientists have identified mutations in metabolite-producing genes as a disruption of DNA repair. These mutation-driven “oncometabolites” may make cells more prone to developing cancer—but also more vulnerable to new cancer treatment strategies.
Coriell Life Sciences is rolling out a new tool in the fight against COVID-19: personalized COVID-19 Risk Scores designed to enable safer re-opening and return to work plans (especially given the recent release of the CDC guidelines for re-opening).
Rutgers’ RUCDR Infinite Biologics received an amended emergency use authorization from the FDA late Thursday for the first SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus test that will allow people to collect their own saliva at home and send to a lab for results. The decision follows the FDA’s recent emergency approval to RUCDR Infinite Biologics for the first saliva-based test, which involves health care workers collecting saliva from individuals at testing sites.
A biomedical engineer is leading new research that could soon deliver coronavirus test results much faster and at much lower cost.
Scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U) and collaborators at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) published research in the journal Nature extending our understanding of cell division. They discovered the protein LEM2 has two important functions during cell division.
Improper removal of faulty brain cells during neurodevelopment may cause lifelong behavioral issues, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests. The finding also could have important implications for a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
New Brunswick, N.J. (March 25, 2020) – Stephen K. Burley, director of the RCSB Protein Data Bank headquartered at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, is available for interviews on how to help the free market fight the coronavirus. His viewpoint is published in the journal Nature. “Had drug…
DHS S&T and MatMaCorp completed a successful evaluation of a field-deployable genetic test to detect African Swine Fever (ASF) virus in infected pigs and pork products.
Rutgers researchers have discovered the origins of the protein structures responsible for metabolism: simple molecules that powered early life on Earth and serve as chemical signals that NASA could use to search for life on other planets. Their study, which predicts what the earliest proteins looked like 3.5 billion to 2.5 billion years ago, is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Genomic data donated by the public is valuable for the companies that collect it. But a recent survey finds that once people are aware of issues surrounding the use and security of genetic information, people are more concerned about how it might be used and expect to be better compensated for providing it.
In search of new ways to sequence human genomes and read critical alterations in DNA, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have successfully used the gene cutting tool CRISPR to make cuts in DNA around lengthy tumor genes, which can be used to collect sequence information.
Genes are like instructions, but with options for building more than one thing. Daniel Larson, senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute, studies this gene “splicing” process, which happens in normal cells and goes awry in blood cancers like leukemia.
A new technique can label diverse molecules and amplify the signal to help researchers spot those that are especially rare. Called SABER (signal amplification by exchange reaction), Peng Yin’s lab at Harvard’s Wyss Institute first introduced this method last year and since have found ways to apply it to proteins, DNA and RNA.
Researchers found, in mice, that changes in DNA sequence can trigger the chromosomes to misfold in a way that puts one at a heightened risk for Type 1 diabetes. The study revealed that differences in DNA sequences dramatically changed how the DNA was folded inside the nucleus, ultimately affecting the regulation of genes linked to the development Type 1 diabetes.
Researchers from University of California San Diego School of Medicine have defined the most detailed list of genetic fingerprints of DNA-damaging processes that drive cancer development to date.
New Brunswick, N.J. (Feb. 5, 2020) – Stephen K. Burley, director of the RCSB Protein Data Bank headquartered at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, is available for interviews on the 3D structure of a key enzyme in the new coronavirus that has been made publicly available…
Painful hypodermic needles may not be needed in the future to give shots, inject drugs and get blood samples. With 4D printing, Rutgers engineers have created tiny needles that mimic parasites that attach to skin and could replace hypodermic needles, according to a study in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
New Brunswick, N.J. (Jan. 29, 2020) – Nearly 30 years after scientists first showed that RNA molecules can act as biological catalysts, researchers at Rutgers have discovered how an important RNA enzyme works in unprecedented detail. The research, led by scientists…
A group of University of Chicago scientists has uncovered a previously unknown way that our genes are made into reality. Rather than directions going one-way from DNA to RNA to proteins, the latest study shows that RNA itself modulates how DNA is transcribed—using a chemical process that is increasingly apparent to be vital to biology. The discovery has significant implications for our understanding of human disease and drug design.
The Symposium on February 19 will feature a variety of clinical disorders in which prevention, screening, and treatment can be informed through genomic and epigenomic data.
The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity’s (IARPA) Molecular Information Storage (MIST) program has awarded a multi-phase contract worth up to $25 million to develop scalable DNA-based molecular storage techniques. The goal of the project is to use DNA as the basis for deployable storage technologies that can eventually scale into the exabyte regime and beyond with reduced physical footprint, power and cost requirements.
Protein editorial assistants are clearing the way for cut-and-paste DNA editors, like CRISPR, to access previously inaccessible genes of interest. Opening up these areas of the genetic code is critical to improving CRISPR efficiency and moving toward futuristic, genetic-based assaults on disease. The DNA-binding editorial assistants were devised by a U.S.-based team of bioengineers, who describe their design in APL Bioengineering.
DHS sought a technology that can quickly analyze DNA to verify family relationships (kinship) and identify victims of mass casualty events and human trafficking.
New insights into the process of DNA-looping change our view of how the genome is organised within cells. The discoveries by IMP-researchers elucidate a fundamental mechanism of life and settle a decade long scientific dispute.
Researchers from the Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute in Salt Lake City have identified new mutations in a gene commonly associated with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDC), a disease that weakens the heart muscle, making it more difficult to adequately circulate blood to meet the body’s needs.
Geneticist Faith Walker, a researcher at Northern Arizona University, tested whether other questions could be answered by her Species from Feces assay beyond just species. Her answer? Yes, quite a few more questions can be answered.
MD Anderson, Artios and ShangPharma have announced the in-licensing by Artios of a small-molecule ATR inhibitor program, developed jointly by MD Anderson and ShangPharma.
University of Washington researchers have found that the third-party genealogy site GEDmatch is vulnerable to multiple kinds of security risks.
NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center have launched clinical whole genome DNA methylation profiling for patients with brain tumors.
This leading-edge molecular assay utilizes DNA epigenetic signatures and artificial intelligence with machine learning to correctly identify and subtype brain tumors. NYU Langone Health is the first Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified laboratory in the United States to receive state approval (New York State Department of Health) for whole genome DNA methylation for diagnosis and classification of brain tumors.
Bourbon isn’t bourbon without the mighty white oak. Distillers have been aging bourbon in oak barrels as far back as the Roman Empire. Oak barrels give bourbon its unique caramel, vanilla, nutty and toasted flavors. Kentucky distillers rely especially on the white oak. But what if disease hits the species? How would industry professionals protect it? The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment is partnering with Maker’s Mark Distillery Inc. in Loretto, Kentucky, and Independent Stave Company to research the DNA of the white oak.
Mothers who drink moderate to high levels of alcohol during pregnancy may be changing their babies’ DNA, according to a Rutgers-led study.
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