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Making the pieces fit: How WVU, Marshall and the state of West Virginia detect new COVID-19 variants

March 26, 2021 sarah Jonas BIOCHEMISTRY, covid, COVID Variants, Genome Sequencing

Picture viral RNA as a single component that you can break into one million pieces. Now imagine reassembling those pieces together, literally like a jigsaw puzzle. If there’s a chipped corner or if a piece won’t fit snugly as it should, consider that a virus mutation or variant. That’s genomic sequencing, in a nutshell, when it comes to identifying variants of COVID-19, according to Peter Stoilov, associate professor of biochemistry at the West Virginia University School of Medicine.

Research Results

Split Ends: New studies show how DNA crossovers can drive healthy, abnormal sperm, egg cell division

June 4, 2020 sarah Jonas Aneuploidy, Biology, Birth Defects, C Elegans, Crossovers, egg cells, Fertility, genes, Genetics, Genome Sequencing, Infertility, Meiosis, Miscarriage, Reproductive Biology

Human genetic diversity wouldn’t be possible without DNA crossovers in egg and sperm cells. Two Harvard Medical School studies provide new insights into how crossovers go right–and wrong, leading to infertility, miscarriages and birth defects.

Research Results

NYU Scientists Sequence the Genome of Basmati Rice

February 5, 2020 sarah Jonas Genome, Genome Sequencing, Genomics, rice

Using an innovative genome sequencing technology, researchers assembled the complete genetic blueprint of two basmati rice varieties, including one that is drought-tolerant and resistant to bacterial disease. The findings, published in Genome Biology, also show that basmati rice is a hybrid of two other rice groups.

Research Results

Discovery reveals antibiotic-resistant strep throat may be too close for comfort

January 29, 2020 sarah Jonas 0 Comments Antibiotic, antibiotic resisistance, Flesh Eating Bacteria, Genome Sequencing, Penicillin

Infectious disease scientists identified strains of group A streptococcus that are less susceptible to commonly used antibiotics, a sign that the germ causing strep throat and flesh-eating disease may be moving closer to resistance to penicillin and other related antibiotics known as beta-lactams.