Tag: DNA
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Health
Estrogen a more powerful breast cancer culprit than we realized
A Harvard Medical School study shows the sex hormone estrogen — thus far thought to be only a fuel for breast cancer growth — can directly cause tumor-driving genomic rearrangements.
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Science & Tech
How greatest biological discovery of 20th century got passed over
Harvard Professor Richard Losick highlights flawed, human side of science in his MSI Distinguished Achievement Award lecture.
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Science & Tech
DNA shows poorly understood empire was multiethnic with strong female leadership
Biomolecular archaeology reveals a fuller picture of the Xiongnu people, the world’s first nomadic empire.
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Science & Tech
Tracing history of early seafarers through genes
New genetic research shows untold migration to remote Pacific islands was generally matrilocal.
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Science & Tech
Was Facebook the original social network? Not by a long shot
New research produces earliest DNA from Sub-Saharan Africa and a more complete look at ancient peoples.
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Science & Tech
Drug delivery system offers hope for treating genetic diseases
A team of researchers has developed a new drug delivery system that was able to edit genes associated with high cholesterol and to partially restore vision in mice.
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Science & Tech
Geneticists’ new research on ancient Britain contains insights on language, ancestry, kinship, milk
Two new studies highlight technological advances in large-scale genomics and open windows into the lives of ancient people.
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Science & Tech
Mathematician’s life advice: Subtract the boring parts
Marcus du Sautoy discussed his latest work “Thinking Better: The Art of the Shortcut in Math and Life,” with Melissa Franklin, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics.
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Science & Tech
DNA, assemble
A concept for seeded all-or-nothing assembly of micron-scale DNA nanostructures that could extend nanofabrication capabilities and enable creation of highly specific diagnostics.
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Science & Tech
Innovative tool offers hope for children with rapid-aging disease
Several hundred children worldwide live with progeria, a deadly premature aging disease.
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Science & Tech
Island investigations
New answers have emerged from the largest genome-wide study to date of ancient human DNA in the Americas.
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Science & Tech
Enzymatic DNA synthesis sees the light
Controlling a DNA-synthesizing enzyme with photolithographic methods from the computer chip industry facilitates multiplexed writing and storage of digital data in DNA.
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Science & Tech
Deep learning takes on synthetic biology
Computational algorithms enable identification and optimization of RNA-based tools for myriad applications.
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Science & Tech
A promise to a friend
Wei Hsi “Ariel” Yeh dedicated her research in chemistry to solving some of the vast genetic mysteries behind hearing loss.
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Health
New blood test can detect wide range of cancers
In a study involving thousands of participants, a new blood test detected more than 50 types of cancer as well as their location within the body with a high degree of accuracy.
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Science & Tech
A crisper CRISPR
Fewer off-target edits and greater targeting scope bring gene editing technology closer to treating human diseases.
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Science & Tech
Life’s Frankenstein monster beginnings
The evolution of the first building blocks on Earth may have been messier than previously thought, likening it to the mishmash creation of Frankenstein’s monster.
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Science & Tech
A new spin on an old question
Understanding how DNA and proteins interact — or fail to — could help answer fundamental biological questions about human health and disease.
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Science & Tech
Beyond the cloud
Every day, more and more information is filed in less and less space. Even the cloud will eventually run out of space, can’t thwart all hackers, and gobbles up energy. Now, a new way to store information could stably house data for millions of years.
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Campus & Community
Arriving self-sufficient, leaving prepared
Adele Woodmansee arrived self-sufficient and leaves prepared to share her talents — from bow to biology — and grow even more.
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Health
Calculating genetic risk for obesity
A “polygenic score” for obesity, a quantitative tool that predicts an individual’s inherited risk for becoming overweight, may identify an opportunity for early intervention.
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Science & Tech
The genetics of regeneration
Led by Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Mansi Srivastava, a team of researchers is shedding new light on how animals perform whole-body regeneration, and uncovering a number of DNA switches that appear to control genes used in the process.
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Science & Tech
Mining the mysteries of DNA
Science authors David Quammen and Carl Zimmer both have recent books showing that DNA is not only passed down from our ancestors but can also come from viruses, siblings, and even our children.
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Science & Tech
DNA reveals we are all genetic mutts
Geneticist David Reich discusses DNA findings that show how migration shaped Europe and southern Asia, and that “No population is, or ever could be, pure.”
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Science & Tech
Solving colibactin’s code
In an effort to understand how colibactin, a compound produced by certain strains of E. coli, may be connected to the development of colorectal cancer, Harvard researchers are exploring how the compound damages DNA to produce DNA adducts.
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Health
Study identifies hundreds of genetic ‘switches’ that affect height
Researchers discovered hundreds of genetic “switches” that influence height, then performed tests that demonstrated how one such switch altered the function of a key gene involved in height difference.
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Health
A step forward in DNA base editing
Scientists at Harvard University and the Broad Institute have developed a new class of DNA base editor that can repair the type of mutations that account for half of human disease-associated point mutations. These single-letter mutations are associated with disorders ranging from genetic blindness to sickle-cell anemia to metabolic disorders to cystic fibrosis.
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Science & Tech
History under the microscope
Researchers delivered lectures on recent findings to launch the Max Planck-Harvard Research Center for the Archaeoscience of the Ancient Mediterranean.
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Health
First draft of a genome-wide cancer ‘dependency map’
Researchers have identified more than 760 genes upon which cancer cells of multiple types are strongly dependent for their growth and survival.