Landing therapeutic genes safely in the human genome

Many future gene and cell therapies to treat diseases like cancer, rare genetic and other conditions could be enhanced in their efficacy, persistence, and predictability by so-called "genomic safe harbors (GSHs)." These are ...

How Hydra animals regenerate their own heads

A new paper in Genome Biology and Evolution maps out for the first time how Hydra, which are a group of small aquatic animals, can regenerate their own heads by changing the way that their genes are regulated, known as epigenetics.

Understanding what drives cell typing

Scientists know that developing cells in a healthy embryo will transform into a variety of cell types that will make up the different organ systems in the human body, a process known as cell differentiation. But they don't ...

New-found molecular signature keeps key genes ready for action

During development, scores of molecular signals prod cells to take on specialized identities and functions. In response to some of these signals, the cellular machinery awakens specific genes called 'immediate early genes' ...

Antibiotic resistance may spread even more easily than expected

Pathogenic bacteria in humans are developing resistance to antibiotics much faster than expected. Now, computational research at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows that one reason could be significant genetic ...

Songbirds sing species-specific songs

The generation of species-specific singing in songbirds is associated with species-specific patterns of gene activity in brain regions called song nuclei, according to a study published November 12 in the open-access journal ...

A model to decipher the complexity of gene regulation

How, where and when genes are expressed determine individual phenotypes. If gene expression is controlled by many regulatory elements, what, ultimately, controls them? And how does genetic variation affect them? The SysGenetiX ...

Expansion of transposable elements offers clue to genetic paradox

Species often experience a genetic bottleneck that diminishes genetic variation after speciation or introduction into a new area. Though bottlenecks in population size always reduce fitness and evolutionary potential, introduced ...

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