Check out the latest Genomics Week In Brief – full of intriguing news and research from the genomics space!
Top stories from the past week:
- A computational method has been developed to filter out noise when using AI to analyse DNA (Genome Biology).
- A study has revealed a link between epigenetic changes and chromosomal instability in cancer cells (Nature).
- For the first time, scientists have discovered a genetic locus that influences voice pitch (Science Advances).
- Scientists have developed a method to detect BRCA-related cancer risk without using DNA sequencing. Instead, the new method pinpoints functional changes caused by mutations (Nature Communications).
- More loci associated with insulin resistance have been identified, shedding new light on the mechanisms underpinning diabetes (Nature Genetics).
- Scientists have investigated how non-coding DNA influences the risk of hypertension (Cell Genomics).
- Researchers have used new computational tools to determine how many Neanderthal genes are still active in modern humans and what influence they have (eLife).
- New research enhances our understanding of why antibody-producing B-cells are often defective in response to melanomas (Nature Communications).
- Research has illustrated how ‘inflammasomes’ detect viruses and trigger an immune response (PLOS Biology).
- Researchers have discovered that circular RNAs can ‘stick’ to DNA, leading to cancer-causing mutations (Cancer Cell).
- Scientists have developed a method that allows stem cells from hundreds of donors to be grown in one culture. This will improve the efficiency of stem cell research (Nature Communications).
- The latest update of the ‘BabySeq Project’ has revealed that infants have benefitted from follow-up care and surveillance after genetic testing, and that in some cases family members have been alerted to the presence of harmful mutations as a result of their child undergoing newborn sequencing (American Journal of Human Genetics).
In other news:
- US Food and Drug Administration advisers have backed the approval of the Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi following positive trial results (The Washington Post).
- Ciltacabtagene autoleucel treatment, a form of CAR-T cell therapy, decreases multiple myeloma progression by 74%, according to the results of a large clinical trial (Guardian).
- Cancer ‘breath tests’ are now in the final clinical trial stages, and could hopefully be implemented in GP surgeries in the coming years (Guardian).
