Genome

New diagnostic framework addresses challenges of rapidly-mutating RNA viruses

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The rapid evolutionary dynamics of RNA viruses, driven by high mutation rates and the consequent formation of complex quasispecies populations, present a formidable obstacle to conventional molecular diagnostic approaches. Widely used methods such as reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction are highly susceptible to performance degradation when primer or probe binding sites accumulate nucleotide mismatches. … Read more

Study traces deep origins of syphilis to prehistoric Americas

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A newly sequenced genome of the bacterium that causes syphilis, Treponema pallidum, highlights the deep antiquity of treponemal diseases in the Americas. The findings, based on a 5,500-year-old specimen from Colombia, suggest syphilis’s emergence was not dependent on the agricultural intensification and population crowding often linked to the spread of infectious disease. Instead, it was dependent on … Read more

Moffitt researchers develop a new way to predict how cancer cells evolve

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Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have developed a new way to predict how cancer cells evolve by gaining and losing whole chromosomes, changes that help tumors grow, adapt and resist treatment.  In a study published in Nature Communications, scientists describe a computational approach called ALFA-K that uses longitudinal, single-cell data to reconstruct how cancer cells move through different chromosome states over time and identify which configurations … Read more

The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 enters a new era of aging research

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One of the world’s most extensive birth cohorts is now entering later adulthood. At the University of Oulu in Finland, the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966) is launching a major new follow-up combining decades of biological, social, and environmental data with modern digital health tools to examine how lifelong exposures and the genome shape health and … Read more

Large study identifies more than 100 genetic regions linked to schizophrenia

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A team of researchers led by scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, and the Department of Veterans Affairs has conducted the largest and most comprehensive genome-wide association study (GWAS) to date of schizophrenia in individuals of African ancestry. The study, published January 21 in Nature, identified … Read more

Newly discovered survival pathway explains stubborn EGFR-driven lung cancers

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Scientists from A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (A*STAR IMCB) have identified why certain lung cancer cells become highly resistant to treatment after developing mutations in a key gene called EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor). In a study published in Science Advances, the researchers revealed a previously unknown survival mechanism and demonstrated that disrupting … Read more

Single-cell technique maps pre-malignant gene mutations in solid tissues

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A new single-cell profiling technique has mapped pre-malignant gene mutations and their effects in solid tissues for the first time, in a study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and the New York Genome Center. The research, published Dec. 31 in Cancer Discovery, demonstrates a practical method for simultaneously measuring specific DNA mutations and … Read more

Age-related sperm changes at imprint regions linked to autism risk

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A new research paper was published in Volume 17, Issue 12 of Aging-US on December 29, 2025, titled “Age-specific DNA methylation alterations in sperm at imprint control regions may contribute to the risk of autism spectrum disorder in offspring.” The study – selected as our Editors’ Choice for January, 2026 – was led by first authors Eugenia Casella and Jana … Read more

Genetic study reveals why some children respond better to myopia lenses

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Myopia, or nearsightedness, has reached epidemic levels worldwide, particularly in East and Southeast Asia. Orthokeratology, which involves wearing specially designed contact lenses overnight to reshape the cornea, has proven effective in slowing axial eye growth—a key factor in myopia progression. Yet not all children benefit equally. Traditional predictors like age or initial degree of myopia … Read more

Study links cannabis addiction to mental health disorders

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New research uncovers how cannabis addiction, not casual use, is genetically tied to severe mental health conditions, raising red flags for policy, treatment, and prevention. Study: The genetic relationship between cannabis use disorder, cannabis use and psychiatric disorders. Image credit: PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock.com In a recent study published in the journal Nature Mental Health, researchers in … Read more