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Category: biotech/medical – Page 320

MEDIA ADVISORY: An international team of researchers, led by NCI scientists, has identified 50 new areas across the human genome that are associated with the risk of developing kidney cancer.

In a new analysis of genetic susceptibility to kidney cancer, an international team of researchers has identified 50 new areas across the genome that are associated with the risk of developing kidney cancer. These insights could one day be used to advance our understanding of the molecular basis of kidney cancer, inform screening efforts for those at highest risk, and identify new drug targets. The study was led by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

A previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) of people of European ancestry identified 13 regions of the genome that are associated with kidney cancer risk. However, the study population was not diverse. To identify additional regions, researchers conducted a GWAS in participants of many different genetic ancestries that included 29,020 people with kidney cancer and 835,670 people without kidney cancer. Analysis of the data, which came from published studies, biobanks, and a new study, resulted in the identification of 50 new regions associated with the risk of developing kidney cancer, bringing the total number of such regions to 63.

Among the newly identified genetic variants were several associated with a risk of developing papillary renal cell carcinoma, the second most common subtype of renal cell carcinoma. Another variant, in the VHL gene, was common in individuals of African ancestry and was associated with an estimated three times higher risk of developing clear cell renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer.

Continue reading “New study provides genomic insights into kidney cancer risk” | >

Technology views living cancer cell:

This technique could provide valuable insights into how different types of cancer respond to treatments. It might also help doctors understand the impact of irradiation on cells, specifically how some cancer cells resist radiation treatment. This resistance may result in relapse of the cancer.

A deeper understanding of cancer biology may lead to the development of more effective treatments in the future.

Moreover, the researchers state that studying lipids inside single cells may help various health areas, including immunity, and infectious diseases.

Continue reading “In a first, scientists use new tech to see inside cancer cells” | >

A unique genetic mutation in two siblings – that has never been seen in anyone else – has been discovered by UK researchers at the University of Exeter, pointing the way towards new treatment options for type 1 diabetes.

The mutation is in the gene for a protein called programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), and a new study explains how it may be responsible for the autoimmune form of diabetes that the children developed at a very young age.

“We searched the globe, looking at all the large-scale datasets that we know of, and we haven’t been able to find another family,” says molecular geneticist Matthew Johnson, from the University of Exeter in the UK.

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A doctor has explained more about the world’s first personalised mRNA cancer jab for melanoma, which is currently being tested in British patients.

Doctor Amir Khan described the vaccine as “positive news” as he discussed how it works when he appeared on Good Morning Britain on Friday (26 April).

Dr Khan said: What is happening is the melanoma is being surgically removed and then it’s being analysed for something called neoantigens.

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A collaborative research team from NIMS and Tokyo University of Science has successfully developed an artificial intelligence (AI) device that executes brain-like information processing through few-molecule reservoir computing. This innovation utilizes the molecular vibrations of a select number of organic molecules.

By applying this device for the blood glucose level prediction in patients with diabetes, it has significantly outperformed existing AI devices in terms of prediction accuracy.

The work is published in the journal Science Advances.

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According to a big German study, those in middle or older age today have an elevated idea of “old” compared to previous generations.” This mirrors increases in life expectancy, especially for the better-off half of the population in rich countries.

Research is finding ways to extend animal lifespans but regulators are still wary of treating ageing as a disease.

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Medically, AI is helping us with everything from identifying abnormal heart rhythms before they happen to spotting skin cancer. But do we really need it to get involved with our genome? Protein-design company Profluent believes we do.

Founded in 2022 in Berkeley, California, Profluent has been exploring ways to use AI to study and generate new proteins that aren’t found in nature. This week, the team trumpeted a major success with the release of an AI-derived protein termed OpenCRISPR-1.

The protein is meant to work in the CRISPR gene-editing system, a process in which a protein cuts open a piece of DNA and repairs or replaces a gene. CRISPR has been actively in use for about 15 years, with its creators bagging the Nobel prize in chemistry in 2020. It has shown promise as a biomedical tool that can do everything from restoring vision to combating rare diseases; as an agricultural tool that can improve the vitamin D content of tomatoes, and slash the flowering time of trees from decades to months; and much more.

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In order to terraform new planets, we will need to be able transport entire ecologies & ecosystems through interstellar space in the future. Today we will examine how we could build and maintain such environments inside vast arks, generations ships able to colonize our galaxy, and the challenges these starships will face maintaining not just stores of DNA and genetic material but living organisms which depend heavily on other members of their species and other species to survive and thrive, not least of which is human ourselves. Visit our sponsor, Brilliant: https://brilliant.org/IsaacArthur/ Join this channel to get access to perks: / @isaacarthursfia Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net Join Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… Group: / 1,583,992,725,237,264 Reddit: / isaacarthur Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content. SFIA Discord Server: / discord Listen or Download the audio of this episode from Soundcloud: Episode’s Audio-only version: / exporting-earth Episode’s Narration-only version: / exporting-earth-ships-narration-only Credits: Exporting Earth Episode 150, Season 4 E36 Writers: Isaac Arthur Editors: Darius Said Gregory Leal https://www.gregschool.org/ Jerry Guern Konstantin Sokerin Laura Graham Mark Warburton Matthew Acker Sigmund Kopperud Stuart Graham https://beyondnerva.wordpress.com Producer: Isaac Arthur Cover Artist: Jakub Grygier https://www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier Graphics Team: Darth Biomech https://www.artstation.com/darth_biomech Fishy Tree https://www.deviantart.com/fishytree/ Jarred Eagley Jeremy Jozwik https://www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_… Katie Byrne Ken York / ydvisual Krisitijan Tavcar https://www.miragedereve.com LegionTech Studios Sam McNamara Sergio Boterio https://www.artstation.com/sboterod?f… Narrator: Isaac Arthur Music Manager: Luca DeRosa — [email protected] Music: Dracovallis, “Golden Meadows” https://dracovallis.bandcamp.com/ NJ Mandaville, “Intrumental Background 1” / nj-mandaville Kevin Macleod, “Infinite Wonder” / @incompetech_kmac Chris Zabriskie, “Candlepower” http://chriszabriskie.com Kai Engel, “Endless Story About Sun and Moon” https://www.kai-engel.com/ Lombus, “Amino” https://lombus.bandcamp.com Aerium, “Windmill Forests” / @officialaerium Epic Mountain, “Rising Sky” / epicmountain.

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Charles Darwin and his followers postulated that random accidental mutations of small effect plus natural selection over long periods would provide sufficient hereditary variation to explain biological diversity. Research since the middle of the twentieth century has unexpectedly shown that living organisms possess many different means of altering their genomes biologically, and these processes have been validated by DNA sequence analysis. In addition, the biological process of interspecific hybridization has become recognized as a major source of rapid speciation and genome amplification. Thus, it is time to shift our basic concept of evolutionary variation from the traditional model of slow change from non-biological sources to a fully biological model of rapid genome reorganization stimulated by challenges to reproduction.

Introduction

In Western society prior to the Enlightenment, there was little disagreement about the origins of biological diversity: it resulted from divine creation of an unchanging panorama of plant and animal species, as explained in Genesis. No thought was given to the idea that living organisms could change their fundamental natures. Even a scientist dedicated to analyzing the nature and classification of life forms, Carl Linnaeus (1707−1778), and one who documented the extinction of fossil organisms, Georges Cuvier (1769−1832), both believed in the fixity of species.

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