A team of scientists from Stanford University School of Medicine has discovered a blood-based genetic biomarker that could predict how likely a person is to become ill when exposed to the flu virus.
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Antibiotics aren’t very picky, indiscriminately wiping out both good and bad bacteria and upsetting the balance of your microbiome. Now, researchers at Penn State have developed a new approach to make a drug that can single out a specific, opportunistic bacteria known as C. difficile.
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The CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system has revolutionized medical research, but since its discovery in 2012 progress towards human trials has been slow. Now another setback has appeared with the FDA pausing one of the first human trials using the technique in the United States before it even begins.
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A potentially revolutionary breakthrough from the University of Virginia School of Medicine reveals how our cells can wrinkle with age, resulting in genes not being expressed properly. And the solution could be a novel cellular anti-wrinkle cream, delivered by custom-built viruses.
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A compelling new study suggests that activity in the placenta could be the missing link connecting environmental factors with genetics in relation to the development of many behavioral disorders, including schizophrenia.
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Allowing scientists to make cut-and-paste edits to an organism’s genome, the CRISPR gene-editing tool may be powerful, but it’s still a bit clumsy. Now, researchers have developed a neater new version dubbed MAGESTIC, which they describe as swapping the scissors for a word processor.
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A team from Duke University has used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technique to switch off certain genes in mice to reduce cholesterol levels, marking the first time CRISPR has been used to silence genes – without making edits – in adult animals.
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Humanity might not go out with a bang, but a sniffle – at least if the terrifyingly-plausible “superbug” scenario comes to pass. But now, researchers at Oxford University have discovered a “genetic catalyst” that lets the bugs develop resistance – and they might be able to switch it off.
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When we think of the structure of DNA, the image that most likely comes to mind is that of the iconic double helix. Now, Australian scientists have found a new form, a twisted knot known as the i-motif, in living cells for the first time.
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Evolution is such a gradual process that it can be easy to think it’s not still happening. Now, researchers have discovered a striking example of natural selection at work in humans: a seafaring population of people with a mutation that allows them to dive deeper and hold their breath longer.
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