Using AI to explore the 3D structure of the genome
May 7, 2025
Two meters of DNA is crammed into the nucleus of every human cell. Bin Zhang wants to know how gene expression works in this minuscule space.
Two meters of DNA is crammed into the nucleus of every human cell. Bin Zhang wants to know how gene expression works in this minuscule space.
The research team, led by Professor Minee L. Choi from the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, in collaboration with University College London (UCL) and the Francis Crick Institute, discovered that the RNA-editing enzyme ADAR1 plays an important role in controlling immune responses in astrocytes, glial cells that trigger protective reactions in the brain, and demonstrated that this mechanism is critically involved in the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Medicine) have successfully employed an algorithm to identify potential mutations which increase disease risk in the noncoding regions of our DNA, which make up the vast majority of the human genome.
Even though the virus was first discovered in laboratory monkeys in 1958, the original source came from a squirrel.
Findings reveal opportunities for new treatments of Parkinson’s and related neurodegenerative disorders
The Greenland shark likes to stick around, with some estimates suggesting a lifespan of more than 500 years – and a new study of the shark’s DNA has given researchers vital clues to the secret of its longevity.
The programmable proteins are compact, modular, and can be directed to modify DNA in human cells.
A novel tool for rapidly identifying the genetic “fingerprints” of cancer cells may enable future surgeons to more accurately remove brain tumors while a patient is in the operating room, new research reveals. Many cancer types can be identified by certain mutations, changes in the instructions encoded in the DNA of the abnormal cells.
A team led by University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health geneticists has shown, for the first time, that a gene “silencer” that resides in junk DNA is directly sparing people from a devastating and fatal progressive neurological disease.
Researchers have developed a powerful tool that can detect variants of SARS-CoV-2 with high transmission potential before they become widespread. This approach could significantly support public health efforts to control outbreaks and help identify new variants that need closer monitoring.