News by Subject Biology

A new study on genetic pathways in the common liverwort could have future implications for crop manipulation.

Scientists at Fujita Health University, Japan, have discovered how deficiencies of the IL-36Ra protein -- caused by mutations in the IL36RN gene -- delay wound healing via the flooding of the wound with several types of immune cells. However, by inhibiting the functioning of proteins and the signaling pathways involved in activating the immune system at a wound, this delay can be offset. These findings could aid efforts to develop ways of regulating wound healing in IL36RN mutation-related skin disorders.

Researchers at Yale University and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard screened hundreds of millions of cells exposed to the COVID-19 and MERS viruses and identified dozens of genes that both enable the viruses to replicate in cells and also those that seem to slam the door on the virus. The pro-viral and anti-viral role of these genes will help guide scientists in development of new therapies to combat COVID-19, the researchers say.

Genetic sensors that can detect the activity from genes, rather than just the genes themselves, have been developed by a team led by University of Warwick scientists.

Since COVID-19 began its menacing march across Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and then across the world, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has taken a 'whatever works' strategy to ensure its replication and spread. But in a new study published in Evolutionary Bioinformatics, University of Illinois researchers and students show the virus is honing the tactics that may make it more successful and more stable.

The dynamic change in root growth of plants plays an important role in their adjustment to soil conditions. Depending on the location, nutrients or moisture can be found in higher or lower soil layers. This is why, depending on the situation, a short or a long root is advantageous. Caroline Gutjahr, Professor of Plant Genetics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and her team investigate how plant hormones influence the growth of roots.

Study demonstrates how changes in human genes can reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection and describes a wide array of genes that have not previously been considered as therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2.

Scientists have used genome sequencing to reveal the extent to which a drug-resistant gastrointestinal bacterium can spread within a hospital, highlighting the challenge hospitals face in controlling infections.

The lack of some genes in the BEC/TCEAL cluster could be related to some alterations associated with the autism spectrum disorder, according to a preclinical study published in the journal Genome Biology, and led by Professor Jordi Garcia Fernàndez, from the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB), and researcher Jaime Carvajal, from the Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology - University Pablo de Olavide (CSIC-UPO).