https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. In 2000, researchers discovered that mutations that inactivate a gene known as TRIM37 cause a developmental disease called Mulibrey nanism. The extremely rare inherited disorder leads to growth delays and abnormalities in several organs, causing afflictions of the heart, muscles, liver, brain and eyes. In addition, Mulibrey nanism patients exhibit high rates of cancer and are infertile. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-mob-breaker-trim37-abnormal-cell.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 03 Sep 2025 10:02:26 EDT news676112539 Van Andel Institute scientists have developed an improved technique to comprehensively profile DNA methylation in single cells, an advance that will help researchers better study the role of epigenetics in cancer and other diseases. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-scientists-technique-high-resolution-cell.html Biotechnology Tue, 15 Jul 2025 10:18:56 EDT news671793531 Scientists have confirmed that there is something unique about ginger-hued domestic felines. In a new study, Stanford Medicine researchers have discovered the long-posited but elusive genetic mutation that makes orange cats orange—and it appears to occur in no other mammal. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-scientists-track-mutation-orange-cats.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 15 May 2025 11:00:07 EDT news666511921 From Tama, Japan's most famous stationmaster calico cat, to the lasagna-loving, ginger Garfield, cats with orange fur are both cultural icons and beloved pets. But their distinctive color comes with a genetic twist—most orange tabbies are male, while calicos and tortoiseshells are nearly always female. This pattern points to an unknown "orange gene" on the X chromosome, but identifying this gene has eluded scientists for decades. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-orange-cats-genetic-linked-mutation.html Plants & Animals Thu, 15 May 2025 11:00:01 EDT news666512024 Chemicals used as food preservatives, flavoring agents, dyes, pesticides, cosmetics, cleaners, and other industrial materials are being increasingly recognized as a health hazard. Their rampant use has led to an increase in the prevalence of various chemical toxicity-induced diseases, including hormonal disruption, cancer, neurological disorders, skin conditions, and occupational poisoning. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-simple-effective-assay-chemical-epigenetic.html Biotechnology Thu, 10 Apr 2025 12:00:03 EDT news663505201 Science has revealed some of the secrets of the X chromosome, but many remain. In humans, female cells contain two X chromosomes (XX) and male cells contain one (XY). In each female cell, one X chromosome must be inactivated—crumpled up in such a way that the genetic code it contains cannot be read out. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-rna-biophysical-behavior-insights-chromosome.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 Jan 2025 12:31:25 EST news656598682 Protein modifications are key to cell survival because they ensure they do what they are supposed to do in a healthy system. One vital modification involves adding sugar molecules to proteins, a process known as glycosylation. Previous studies have shown that this modification is required for the dynamic regulation of essential cellular functions, such as the cell's life cycle, and even how cells break down sugar to create energy (a process known as glycolysis). https://phys.org/news/2025-01-embryo-hinges-sugar-proteins.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 13 Jan 2025 14:51:03 EST news656002261 Garfield, star of the eponymous comic strip created by Jim Davis in 1978, is, like many of the cats that roam our homes, orange. He is orange in the same way that some people are redheaded, some horses are brown, or some dogs are Irish setters, but there is one important difference. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-geneticists-mystery-garfield-orange-coat.html Plants & Animals Sat, 07 Dec 2024 12:40:01 EST news652538051 As the largest variant of the histone H2A family, macroH2A plays significant regulatory roles in various processes such as X-chromosome inactivation, embryonic development, cellular metabolism, and tumorigenesis due to its unique linker and macro domains. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-scientists-molecular-mechanism-plays-key.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 30 Aug 2024 09:25:11 EDT news644228708 Women are far more likely than men to get autoimmune diseases, when an out-of-whack immune system attacks their own bodies—and new research may finally explain why. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-lupus-autoimmune-diseases-women-men.html Molecular & Computational biology Sat, 03 Feb 2024 12:50:01 EST news626013919 Cell biologists from RIKEN have provided an unprecedented glimpse into the distinctive features of an unusual chromosome—the inactivated X chromosome copy carried by every female cell. The findings are published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-secrets-inactive-chromosome.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 Nov 2023 11:23:00 EST news619183375 Conventional crop breeding is not time-efficient for creating inbred lines with desired genetic traits owing to the diploid nature of plants, wherein they have two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. In contrast, double haploid technology utilizes gene-edited haploid inducer plants to create double haploid crops that have two sets of chromosomes from a single parent. This revolutionary agricultural method can create inbred crop lines in a single generation thereby accelerating the breeding process. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-exploring-osmatl2-gene-candidate-haploid.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 12 Sep 2023 16:03:03 EDT news613753381 The clustered regularly interspaced short palindrome repeats (CRISPR) and Crispr-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) is now a well-known, revolutionary method to engineer microbial cells. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-dna-kit-crispr-cas9-potential-metabolic.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 30 Aug 2023 07:30:01 EDT news612520107 The cellular processes involved in gene regulation can be unexpectedly complicated. The expression of genes—the when, where and how much of gene activity—underlies all of biology, but is surprisingly poorly understood. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-assumptions-chromosomal-behavior-wrong.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 28 Aug 2023 14:55:05 EDT news612453301 If you've ever kept a garden, you're probably familiar with hybrids, from disease-resistant tomatoes to Stargazer lilies. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-method-ancestry-hybrids.html Plants & Animals Mon, 12 Jun 2023 12:28:03 EDT news605791681 RIKEN researchers have shed new light on the roles two protein complexes play in the enigmatic process of turning off one X chromosome in female mammals. This finding could help researchers discover how certain cancers occur in women. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-gene-silencing-complexes-inactivate-chromosomes.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 19 Apr 2023 11:03:03 EDT news601120981 Nearly every cell in our body contains pairs of each of our chromosomes, and these pairs are identical in all but one case: that of our sex chromosomes. Males typically have one X and one Y sex chromosome, while females typically have two X chromosomes. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-inactive-chromosome.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 09 Feb 2023 09:58:04 EST news595159081 More than 2,500 genes exhibit significant sex differences in expression in mouse alveolar type II cells (AT2s), which are important for keeping the lungs functioning, potentially explaining sex biases in the prevalence and severity of lung diseases. In particular, very high numbers of X-linked genes escape transcriptional silencing in lung alveolar type 2 (AT2s) cells, researchers report January 12 in the journal Stem Cell Reports. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-sex-differences-lung-injury-mice.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 12 Jan 2023 11:12:42 EST news592744354 Body cells burn off fat reserves when nutrient supply from food ceases. A team led by Professor Volker Haucke and Dr. Wonyul Jang from the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) has now discovered a previously unknown mechanism for how this "starvation response" is triggered, and what can inhibit it. The results have been published in the journal Science. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-starvation-shown-cell-remodeling.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 15 Dec 2022 14:00:01 EST news590316975 An international research team has provided valuable new information about what drives the global spread of genes responsible for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-tracking-global-antimicrobial-resistance.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 12 Dec 2022 05:00:04 EST news590042982 In humans, and many other species, both genes inherited from the mother and from the father influence how embryos develop. In the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, however, the mother has total control, as researchers from the Berger lab at GMI now uncovered. In a study published in eLife, the researchers show that the "mother plant" has total control and completely inactivates the paternal genes in its embryos to ensure they develop properly. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-mothers-fathers-genes-embryos.html Plants & Animals Tue, 23 Aug 2022 13:15:02 EDT news580479301 The Francis Crick Institute has published its 2021 statistics on animal research, as part of its commitment to openness about animal research. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-annual-animal-published.html Plants & Animals Thu, 30 Jun 2022 10:57:15 EDT news575805432 The development of an embryo is a well-orchestrated string of processes, ensuring correct formation and positioning of vital organs of the growing organism. At the molecular level, these processes are controlled in a precise manner by switching on or off specific factors such as genes or proteins. Any errors in these processes could result in physical defects or disease in the newborn organism. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-highlights-role-genes-inherited-mothers.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 29 Jun 2022 10:06:06 EDT news575715961 In a recent study published online in Theoretical and Applied Genetics, Dr. Han Fangpu's group from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has reported the establishment of new wheat-rye addition lines that conferred resistance to Ug99. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-chromosome-materials-resistance-ug99-wheat.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 22 Jun 2022 11:07:02 EDT news575114821 Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have identified a potential new diagnostic marker that predicts the successful and efficient development of mammalian egg cells. The findings could pave the way for generating artificial oocytes in the laboratory, helping researchers study the causes and treatments of infertility disorders and test the impact of drugs and chemicals on women's reproduction. The research is published in The EMBO Journal. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-chromosome-critical-oocyte.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 23 May 2022 12:31:25 EDT news572527881 In most mammals, females have two X chromosomes and males have one X and one Y chromosome in each of their cells. To avoid a double dose of X-linked genes in females, one of the Xs is silenced early in the developmental process. This silencing is critical, yet how it happens has been relatively mysterious. Two new U-M studies reveal more about this silencing process and insights that could improve stem cell research. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-chromosomes-female-embryonic-stem-cells.html Biotechnology Fri, 20 May 2022 09:33:27 EDT news572258001 A new study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet identify major sex differences in the timing of X chromosome upregulation, a finding that is vital for understanding central gene-regulatory processes in early fetal development. The results are published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-adjusting-x-chromosome-dosage.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 08 Apr 2022 10:42:16 EDT news568633332 WEHI researchers have revealed how an "accordion effect" is critical to switching off genes, in a study that transforms the fundamentals of what we know about gene silencing.   https://phys.org/news/2022-04-dna-discovery-reveals-critical-accordion.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 05 Apr 2022 10:24:50 EDT news568373087 RNA (ribonucleic acid) plays many roles in human health, and now a study in the journal Nature offers powerful evidence that RNA could also be a viable target for drug development. This work, led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), suggests that a new class of biological factors numbering in the thousands can be targeted and thereby heralds a new era in drug development. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-rna-small-molecule-drugs-possibilities.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 30 Mar 2022 12:44:07 EDT news567863044 Stem cell analyses could reveal how extra doses of some genes lead to the characteristics seen in males born with one or more surplus X chromosomes. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-genes-surplus-chromosomes.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 29 Mar 2022 13:25:49 EDT news567779147