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bluebird bio Inc. have announced that their gene therapy for the blood disorder transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT) is commercially available for the first time.

In the first-ever genome-scale analysis of the puberty process in humans, researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U) outline distinct and critical changes to stem cells in males during adolescence.

Fat cells are filled with droplets coated by molecules that act like hotel doormen: These “doormen” control cellular access for nutrients as well as for the exit of energy-supplying molecules called lipids. Yale researchers report that they have found the molecular regulator of this fat droplet doorman.

Boston researchers have developed a new way to generate groups of intestinal cells that can be used to make disease models in the lab to test treatments for diseases affecting the gastrointestinal system.

The nucleic acids of DNA encode genetic information, while the amino acids of proteins contain the code to turn that information into structures and functions. Together, they provide the two fundamental codes underlying all of life.

Scientists at Rutgers University-Newark have discovered that when a key protein needed to generate new brain cells during prenatal and early childhood development is missing, part of the brain goes haywire – causing an imbalance in its circuitry that can lead to long-term cognitive and movement behaviors characteristic of autism spectrum disorder.

Since the late 19th century, pearl aquaculture has been a revered industry in Japan, enabling widespread cultivation and commercialization of beautiful pearls. From a genetic and evolutionary perspective, scientists have known little about the source of these pearls - the Japanese pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata - until now.

Dying cells in the body can keep the immune system in check, thus preventing unwanted immune responses against the body's own tissues. Scientists have now identified a receptor on murine immune cells that activates this protective mechanism.

The folding state of the proteins in live cells often reflect the cell’s general health. Now scientists have developed a molecular probe that senses the state of the proteome—the entire set of the proteins—by measuring the polarity of the protein environment in live cells.

Researchers used post-mortem genetic testing to find the underlying cause of multiple sudden deaths in young people and sudden cardiac arrests in two large Amish families.