A team of European and Japanese scientists, led by Mariko Taniguchi-Ikeda, Ph.D., from Fujita Health University Hospital, have described a set of seven patients with a novel mitochondrial disorder caused by biallelic variants in ligase III (LIG3)—a ligase involved in DNA replication and repair. LG3 plays a role in mitochondrial…

Startup Orchid already has a wait list for its soon-to-be released new test to predict a child’s risk of common diseases—before conception. The test requires only a saliva sample from each prospective parent, and is based on genetic risk scores calculated by testing for genetic variations. The company also announced…

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many aspects of healthcare, but two leaders in the cardiovascular field believe lessons learned over the last year can help the U.S. deal with a future ‘tsunami’ of chronic health conditions, both those caused by the virus and from other causes. Even before the pandemic,…

Atherosclerosis, the accumulation of plaque inside artery walls, can lead to heart attacks and strokes. There are many factors that can contribute to the weakening of the arteries and increasing deposits of fat and cholesterol, including conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. However, a new…

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have shown that specific regions within the DNA of neurons accumulate high rates of single-strand breaks (SSBs). This process appears to be unique to neurons and challenges what is generally understood about the cause of DNA damage and its potential implications in…

Taking into consideration how a person’s genes affect how he or she responds to medications can help healthcare providers tailor therapeutic interventions by prescribing the right drug for the right patient for increased efficacy and decreased risk of side effects. In an article titled ‘Effect of CYP2C19 Genotype on Ischemic…

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine report they have identified 40 genes that act to thwart the regeneration of cells in the central nervous system. When the researchers suppressed those genes in mouse models of glaucoma they were able to regenerate the damaged axons. The findings could eventually lead…

A prophylactic treatment that could stop SARS-CoV-2 transmission between people successfully prevented viral transmission in a ferret study, show results from an international study. The lipopeptide fusion inhibitor, given to ferrets two days before they were co-housed with SARS-CoV-2-infected animals, prevented virus transmission to the treated ferrets. SARS-CoV-2 infection is…

A large U.S.-based research collaboration has discovered five genes—BIN1, TMEM175, SNCA, APOE, and GBA—associated with increased risk for developing Lewy body dementia, the second most common form of the progressive disease after Alzheimer’s. Lewy body dementia impacts 10% to 25% of all dementia cases. Patients with this condition tend to…

A new study from investigators at the Yale School of Medicine describes the mechanisms that allow the SARS-C0V-2 virus to directly infect the central nervous system, further highlighting the multivariate forms COVID-19 can take. The new study was performed using both mouse and human brain tissue, and the results were…

A new in silico model has been developed that can predict which COVID-19 patients need which treatments when, depending on their symptoms and the course of their disease. The model, developed by an international team, can predict how different patients are likely to respond to specific interventions based on their…

A small study carried out by NIH researchers suggests that severe COVID-19 can damage the brain via the excessive inflammatory response seen in severe cases of the disease. MRI scans showed damage to small blood vessels in the brain, but no signs of viral RNA were found in tissue samples,…

With relatively few therapeutic methods of against COVID-19 currently available, treating patients who develop the disease continues to be a challenge. Now, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have isolated a set of promising tiny antibodies called nanobodies that were produced by a llama named Cormac. A preliminary…

While the most common symptoms of COVID-19 are those of a respiratory illness, there are also a host of other symptoms that relate to the central nervous system. While it remains unclear whether SARS-CoV-2 can enter the brain, new research found that the spike protein can cross the blood-brain-barrier (BBB)…

The effect of oral hormone therapy on the metabolome of postmenopausal women is profound. Different hormone therapy regimens result in discordant metabolomic effects that impact the risk for coronary heart disease, reports a study led by Raji Balasubramanian, associate professor in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University…