Researchers in Japan have uncovered the mechanism for how the measles virus can cause subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE, a rare but fatal neurological disorder that can occur several years after a measles infection. Although the normal form of the measles virus cannot infect the nervous system, the team found that viruses that persist in … Read more
Papillomaviruses are non-enveloped, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses with a circular genome. Infection with these viruses can lead to several clinical symptoms ranging from subclinical, cutaneous, and mucosal warts to cancerous lesions in vertebrate hosts. A new study published in the journal Biology Letters identifies two novel lineages of papillomaviruses by mining the genome data of … Read more
A new clinical and preclinical study from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center identifies the DNA roots of resistance to targeted cancer therapy, providing a possible strategy to address a vexing issue in cancer therapeutics. Results are published online ahead of print in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. We … Read more
In a recent study published in Nature Biotechnologyresearchers reported on AGORA2, an expansion of their previously published resource, AGORA, both resources of genomewide metabolic reconstructions of human intestinal microbes. Study: Genome-scale metabolic reconstruction of 7,302 human microorganisms for personalized medicine. Image Credit: nobeastsofierce/Shutterstock Human intestinal microbes synthesize biological metabolites, including neurotransmitters, hormones, and short-chain fatty … Read more
CTCF is a critical protein known to play various roles in key biological processes such as transcription. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital used a next-generation protein degradation technology to study CTCF. Their work revealed the superiority of the approach in addition to providing functional insights into how CTCF regulates transcription. The study, published … Read more
Scientists at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have illuminated how treatments for multiple myeloma and other aggressive blood cancers can lead to future malignancies, called therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (tMNs). These findings from Sylvester’s Myeloma Research Institute highlight the importance of fully understanding the long-term impact anti-cancer … Read more
RNA viruses, such as the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, are in a life-and-death race the moment they infect a cell. These viruses have only minutes to establish their replication machinery inside the host cell before the genetic instructions contained in their vulnerable RNA genomes – which are more fragile than DNA – would otherwise be … Read more
Cells zealously protect the integrity of their genomes, because damage can lead to cancer or cell death. The genome -; a cell’s complete set of DNA -; is most vulnerable while it is being duplicated before a cell divides. Cancer cells are constantly dividing, so their genomes are constantly in jeopardy. Researchers at Washington University … Read more
In a recent review published in Cellresearchers explored the role of endogenous retrovirus (ERV) reactivation in the aging process. Study: Is aging a “retro” perspective event? Image Credit: BLACKDAY/Shutterstock ERVs are reported to be viral remnants of infections among primates that transform into stable genetic components at the boundary between own cell-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and … Read more
In a recent review published in Nature Reviews Bioengineering, researchers assessed the changing landscape of lateral flow tests (LFTs), and the development of next-generation LFTs based on lessons learned from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Study: Lateral flow test engineering and lessons learned from COVID-19. Image Credit: Ink Drop/Shutterstock Background LFT … Read more
