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A new therapeutic being tested by University of Alberta researchers is showing early promise as a more effective treatment that could help nearly half of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The treatment—a cocktail of DNA-like molecules—results in dramatic regrowth of a protein called dystrophin, which acts as a support beam to keep muscles strong. The protein is virtually absent […]
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Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is DNA found in trace amounts in blood, which has escaped degradation by enzymes. Scientists from Tokyo University of Science, led by Prof Ryushin Mizuta, have now discovered exactly how cfDNA is generated. They also talk about the applications of DNase1L3—the enzyme mainly responsible for generating cfDNA—as a novel molecule to prevent the spread of tumors. Prof […]
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Cancer cells adapt to potentially fatal mutations and other molecular malfunctions by adjusting one or more other genes’ activity, in the process becoming dependent on those genes for their survival and growth. The resulting genetic dependencies may provide targets for developing new precision-guided drugs or other cancer treatment strategies. Reporting in Nature, researchers led by members of the Cancer Dependency […]
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Infections by the mosquito-borne Mayaro virus (MAYV) have largely been restricted to people who ventured into the heavily forested areas of Trinidad and Tobago and neighboring regions of South America. However, recent laboratory studies showing additional mosquito vectors can transmit MAYV as well as a reported case of MAYV infection in Haiti in 2015, reveal the potential for the virus […]
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While other toddlers her age were fighting naptime, two-year-old Michelle was battling an aggressive, life-threatening cancer. Doctors at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles saved her life in an epic battle, wielding what is being hailed as a “magic bullet” in the fight against certain cancers. CHLA’s Leo Mascarenhas, MD, MS, saw promise in larotrectinib when he helped design the clinical trial […]
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Researchers from the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology have shown that the number of mutations in healthy and leukemic blood stem cells does not differ. Rather, the location of DNA mutations is relevant. Using the mutation patterns in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), the team was able to trace the developmental lineage tree of the cells. Van Boxtel, […]
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A simple modification of a DNA base in small areas of the genome may explain why glioblastoma tumors are so deadly, researchers at Yale and the University of California-San Diego report Nov. 1 in the journal Cell. Glioblastomas are particularly virulent brain tumors, with survival rates of only about three to six months. A major culprit is the existence of […]
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Halfway up a hill overlooking the Great Rift Valley in western Kenya are two graves. One of them is a few years old now, bristling with bushy shrubs stretching bright green leaves towards a cloudless sky. The other is a freshly dug bed of rough red dirt planted with a white wooden cross. They are the final resting places of […]
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Using shotgun DNA sequencing, Cornell University researchers have demonstrated a new method for monitoring urinary tract infections (UTIs) that surpasses traditional methods in providing valuable information about the dynamics of the infection as well as the patient’s biological response. The technique is detailed in the paper “Urinary cell-free DNA is a versatile analyte for monitoring infections of the urinary tract,” […]
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An international team of researchers including USC scientists has found scores of new genetic markers in DNA code that increase prostate cancer risk—powerful knowledge likely to prove useful to detect and prevent the disease. Focusing on DNA of more than 140,000 men worldwide, researchers were able to identify 63 new genetic markers associated with prostate cancer risk. That greatly increases […]
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