Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now discovered a new mechanism of a major risk gene for multiple sclerosis (MS) that triggers disease through so-called epigenetic regulation. They also found a protective genetic variant that reduces the risk for MS through the same mechanism.

A new synthetic enzyme, crafted from DNA rather than protein, flips lipid molecules within the cell membrane, triggering a signal pathway that could be harnessed to induce cell death in cancer cells. Researchers say their lipid-scrambling DNA enzyme is the first in its class to outperform naturally occurring enzymes – and does so by three orders of magnitude

A research team has released a study in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Bioinformatics showing that DNA methylation patterns in circulating blood cells can be used to help identify spastic cerebral palsy (CP) patients. The technique which makes use of machine learning, data science and even analysis of Antarctic worms, raises hopes for earlier targeted CP therapies.

Inconsistent naming and labeling of cannabis strains continue to pose challenges for consumers and researchers alike.

New technologies are making genetic information (and the power to manipulate it) more widely available that ever before. What the public do with that information, and the effects of those actions, could be a defining theme of the 21st century.

The Canadian Genetic Non-Discrimination Act (GNA), introduced last May, made it illegal to require individuals to disclose genetic test results or to compel individuals to undergo genetic tests for any agreement or service. However, a subsequent legal challenge has prompted a robust defense of the act from scientists in the May issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).

Advances in sequencing technologies are providing scientists with a powerful way to view microbial communities in unprecedented detail. Metagenomics is a rapidly evolving field that is uncovering a wealth of hidden biodiversity, revolutionizing our understanding of uncharted corners in the living world.

As part of work recently published in Science Advances, a team of researchers from the Institute of Systems Biology at Yale University has built a microfluidic device to demonstrate that single cells preserve a memory of their mother's dynamic response to glucose limitation stress for multiple generations.

Researchers have published the first detailed picture and description of the 3-dimensional molecular structure of telomerase – a discovery that could enable better targeted drug screening and could result in more successful telomerase-related clinical therapeutics.