Personal Health

Set of genes predicts severity of dengue, study reports

There’s no such thing as a “good” case of dengue fever, but some are worse than others, and it’s difficult to determine which patients will make a smooth recovery and which may find their condition life-threatening. Now, after scouring the gene expression of hundreds of patients infected with dengue virus—a mosquito-borne virus that can cause […]

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Cancer: A mutation that breaks gene interplay in 3D

Inside the cell, DNA is tightly wrapped around proteins and packed in a complex, 3D structure that we call “chromatin.” Chromatin not only protects our genetic material from damage, but also organizes the entire genome by regulating the expression of genes in three dimensions, unwinding them to be presented to the cell’s gene-expression machinery and […]

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When less is more: A promising approach for low-cell-number epigenomic profiling

Scientists at Kyushu University and Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan have developed a technique that enables analysis of DNA-protein interactions using very small numbers of cells, ranging from 100 to 1,000. Their method could capture previously unexamined epigenomic information, facilitate biomarker discovery and open new avenues for precision medicine. A collaborative study by researchers […]

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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Helping Marvel superheroes breathe

Marvel comics superheroes Ant-Man and the Wasp — nom de guerre stars of the eponymous 2018 film — possess the ability to temporarily shrink down to the size of insects, while retaining the mass and strength of their normal human bodies. But a new study suggests that, when bug-sized, Ant-Man and the Wasp would face […]

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Single protein controls thousands of genes essential for sperm development: New regulatory mechanism could underlie male infertility

A single protein regulates a battery of key genes inside developing sperm, according to a new study out of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Scientists discovered the protein — called Dazl — controls a network of genes essential for developing sperm to replicate and survive. The findings, published in Cell Reports, could lay […]

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New platform based on biology and nanotechnology carries mRNA directly to target cells: Combined platform provides safe, effective passage for therapies treating cancer and other diseases, researchers say

Delivering an effective therapeutic payload to specific target cells with few adverse effects is considered by many to be the holy grail of medical research. A new Tel Aviv University study explores a biological approach to directing nanocarriers loaded with protein “game changers” to specific cells. The groundbreaking method may prove useful in treating myriad […]