The information of the human genome is encoded by approximately 3 billion DNA base pairs and packaged into 23 pairs of chromosomes. If all chromosomes could be disentangled and linearly aligned, they would be a thin thread of about 2…
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Altering a mosquito's gut genes shows promise to curb malaria
Altering a mosquito's gut genes to make them spread antimalarial genes to the next generation of their species shows promise as an approach to curb malaria, suggests a preliminary study published today in eLife. The study is the latest in…
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Discovering DNA methylation from bacteria and microbiome using nanopore technology
Journal name: Nature Methods Title of the article: Discovering multiple types of DNA methylation from individual bacteria and microbiome using nanopore sequencing Corresponding author: Gang Fang, PhD Bottom line: Bacterial DNA methylation occurs at diverse sequence contexts and plays important…
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Scientists discover new genetic disease that causes abnormal brain development in children
Scientists have discovered a new genetic disease, which causes some children's brains to develop abnormally, resulting in delayed intellectual development and often early onset cataracts. The majority of patients with the condition, which is so new it doesn't have a…
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Researchers unravel how a novel microbial small molecule is connected to dental caries development
An inter-disciplinary team of researchers led by Prof. Qian Peiyuan, Chair Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)'s Department of Ocean Science and Division of Life Science has unraveled how a novel microbial small molecule released…
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A new blindness gene uncovered in a canine study
Inherited retinal dystrophy is a common cause of blindness, with as many as two million people suffering from the disorder globally. No effective treatment is available for retinal dystrophies. Gene therapy is expected to offer a solution, but developing such…
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Studies reveal the promise of newly engineered bispecific antibodies against tumor cells
Three studies – one each in Science, Science Translational Medicine, and Science Immunology – reveal the promise of newly engineered bispecific antibodies, including by demonstrating their power against previously inaccessible tumor cell targets for the first time, in two cases….
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A region within GLI1 gene could potentially be targeted as cancer treatment
Scientists from the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago found that a region within the DNA of the cancer-promoting GLI1 gene is directly responsible for regulating this gene's expression. These findings,…
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Could rotavirus vaccine platforms aid in the immunization campaign against SARS-CoV-2?
Rotavirus is a common diarrheal disease that affects young children. Live oral rotavirus vaccines have been used to reduce its incidence in many countries. However, with the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and amid focus on vaccines…
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Children exposed to air pollution may be at higher risk of disease in adulthood
Children exposed to air pollution, such as wildfire smoke and car exhaust, for as little as one day may be doomed to higher rates of heart disease and other ailments in adulthood, according to a new Stanford-led study. The analysis,…
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