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Genomics week in brief: Week ending 31st July

We have got your weekly summary of some of the latest genomics news and research from the past week!

Top stories from the past week

  • An international research team has decoded the genetic programmes that control the development of cerebellar cell types before and after birth in mice. (Sarraopoulos et al, 2021)
  • UT Southwestern researchers have identified new molecular mechanisms and biomarkers in ovarian cancer that could help identify the best candidates for possible new treatments. (Challa et al, 2021)
  • Researchers have reported that mutations that give rise to melanoma result from a chemical conversion in DNA fuelled by sunlight, not just a DNA copying error as previously thought. (Jin et al, 2021)
  • Prenatal exposure to the opioid oxycodone has been found to alter behaviour and gene expression in offspring. (Martin et al, 2021)
  • Researchers have found that studying chemical modifications to cell-free DNA could help assess and determine treatment approaches for cancer and other diseases. (Barefoot et al, 2021)
  • Scientists have harnessed genomics and statistical and machine learning approaches to predict nicotine biomarkers in multiple ethnicities. (Bergen et al, 2021)
  • Researchers have identified a cellular defect that is common to familial and sporadic forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). (Coyne et al, 2021)
  • A new study has identified the association between the severity of preeclampsia and cell-free DNA. (Kolarova et al, 2021)
  • Researchers have shown how neurons may be damaged by mutations in the tau protein using personalised cerebral organoids in petri diseases. (Bowles et al, 2021)
  • Penn Medicine researchers have clarified the problem of T-cell exhaustion, which could provide lessons for immune-based therapy research. (Abdel-Hakeem et al, 2021)
  • Using data from the UK Biobank, researchers have found that healthy lifestyle factors may help mitigate against a high genetic risk of cancer. (Zhu et al, 2021)

In other news

  • The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and Elsevier have announced a new partnership to publish ACMG’s official journal, Genetics in Medicine (GIM). (Elsevier, 2021)
  • NHS England has appointed its first female chief executive – Amanda Pritchard. (NHS England, 2021)

More on these topics

Cancer / Genomics / NHS / Week in brief