Genetics

A team of US scientists is embarking on an immense project to catalog all the genes in the collective human microbiome. In the first published study an astounding 46 million genes have been chronicled from just 3,500 human microbiome samples. Half of those genes are unique to single human samples.

An incredible new breakthrough from scientists at ETH Zurich has, for the first time, demonstrated a new CRISPR method that can modify dozens of genes simultaneously, allowing for more large-scale cell reprogramming.

A remarkable new study revealed thousands of previously undiscovered small proteins produced by bacteria in the human microbiome. Almost all of these proteins serve unknown functions in the human body and the researchers suggest the discovery opens up a new frontier for future drug development.

A newly published statement from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has revealed inaccurate, intentionally manipulated data was included as part of a submission for a major new gene therapy that was approved for public use in May.

Our bodies aren't great at regeneration. Other creatures have mastered this skill though, and now scientists at the University of California Davis (UC Davis) and Harvard have sequenced the RNA transcripts for the immortal hydra and figured out how it manages to do just that.

Scientists from Taiwan are suggesting not all exercise is equal when it comes to those with a genetic propensity for obesity trying to lose weight. The study concluded jogging was better for weight loss than either swimming or cycling in those subjects with a genetic predisposition for obesity.

Under the right conditions, DNA can last for thousands of years. RNA, on the other hand, degrades much more quickly and was thought impossible to recover in older samples. But now researchers have isolated and sequenced the RNA of a 14,000-year-old wolf found frozen in the Siberian permafrost.

In one of the largest, and most detailed studies of its kind conducted to date, a team of researchers examined data from over 150,000 US war veterans and found eight specific genetic regions that seem to confer an increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer in the world – and we might have a two million year old ancestor to blame. A team pinpointed a single gene that ancient ancestors lost, which appears to have predisposed us as a species towards higher rates of atherosclerosis than other apes.

A study is suggesting a gene variant associated with increased Alzheimer’s risk in late life could affect cognitive health in childhood. The research reveals those carrying the gene score lower on IQ tests in childhood, implying cognitive decline is apparent at a younger age than ever realized.

Two new studies are shedding light on the mystery of why women suffer from Alzheimer’s at higher rates than men. As well as discovering sex-specific genes associated with Alzheimer’s risk, the researchers describe how toxic dementia-causing proteins spread differently through female brains.

A global study into the genetic origins of anorexia suggests the illness is not just a psychiatric condition but also a metabolic disorder. The research revealed metabolic genetic variants unique to those suffering from this chronic eating disorder, and not seen in other psychiatric conditions.