Featured series 
Tag: Genetics
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Science & Tech
Scientists using gene chips identify unique form of leukemia
Currently, physicians diagnose and treat a rare form of cancer that strikes infants as a particularly aggressive form of the more common acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The cancer may respond to…
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Health
Comprehensive set of vision genes discovered
Using a computer program that compares bits of genetic material taken from tissue in the retinas of mice against records in a huge genetic data base from the mouse and…
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Health
Whole genes delivered to cells
To make a protein, a cell’s enzymes typically edit out about 90 percent of the information along the length of a DNA strand that makes up a whole gene. In…
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Health
Cell protein potently blocks enzyme linked to cancer
The ends of chromosomes in normal cells eventually unravel, causing the cells to die. This does not happen in cancer cells, however. Cancer cells use an enzyme named telomerase to…
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Health
Anthrax immunity gene found in mice
Anthrax is an often fatal disease that is caused by a bacterium. It has been considered a prime biological weapon in the arsenal of terrorists since attacks in the United…
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Health
Researchers identify genes that trigger depression
A substance known as CREB controls gene expression in the brain. It also appears to be active in mood disorders. A group of Harvard researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont,…
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Health
Study shows strong public interest in genetic testing for Alzheimer’s disease
A genetic test to determine a person’s chance of getting Alzheimer’s disease is still hypothetical. But scientists are getting closer and closer to being able to determine who is likely…
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Health
Resistance to antibodies is reversed
It’s a frightening — and increasingly common — problem. A patient seeks treatment for a particular ailment in a hospital and develops an entirely different disease: a bacterial infection that…
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Health
Harvard scientists identify chromosome location of genes associated with long life
Scientists have long thought of aging as a complex process affected by perhaps a thousand genes. So a recent discovery by Harvard scientists that a gene or genes located on…
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Health
Deadliest form of malaria is younger than previously believed
Malaria kills more people than any other communicable disease except for tuberculosis. It is the world’s most serious parasitic tropical disease, resulting in 1 million to 3 million deaths annually.…
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Science & Tech
New way to ‘see’ DNA
Research by Harvard scientists was driven by the need to make extremely small holes that mimic the pores in human cells through which different molecules must pass to keep the…
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Health
Gene found for rare bone disorder
Cherubism may sound angelic, but it certainly is not. The rare bone disorder afflicts children starting at about age 3 or 4, causing them to develop chubby cheeks and upward-looking…
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Health
Gene initiates joint formation
Researchers at Harvard Medical School have identified a molecule that plays a central role in the initiation of joint formation. Studying limb formation in the developing chick, postdoctoral fellow Christine…
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Health
In human genome race, competition spurred better science
The conflicts between the two teams — one publicly funded, one private — that raced to sequence the human genome often drew more attention than the actual completion of the…
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Health
Specific gene provides health benefits for moderate drinkers
Moderate alcohol consumption among people who have a specific version of a gene that metabolizes alcohol yields health benefits — less risk of heart disease and higher good cholesterol levels.…
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Health
Direct damage from radiation may be passed to neighboring cells
Cells communicate, organize, share resources, and form direct connections with one another. They also are affected by damage to their neighbors. Research led by John Little of the Harvard School…
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Health
New gene found in fruit flies could impact human medicine
In one type of fruit fly, Drosophilia melanogaster, but not in others, researchers found a gene that carries instructions for making a motor that gives this species’ sperm extra horsepower.…
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Health
Using statistics to understand genes
Professor Jun Liu studies repetitive patterns in the DNA that lies between genes. This material contains instructions for regulating the expression of genes, and it is involved in whether the…
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Health
Protein may play double role in issuing genetic gag order
So cells can differentiate and maintain their specialized identities, large sections of unneeded genes must be turned off. During cell division, the stability of every chromosome depends upon sections of…
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Health
Gene for familial dysautonomia discovered
Familial dysautonomia is a neurodegenerative disease that mainly targets Ashkenazi Jews. The disease, which affects one in every 3,600 members of this group, impairs the development of the sensory and…
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Health
Genetic link discovered for late onset Alzheimer’s
Although they have not yet identified the actual gene, researchers have evidence that a gene located on human chromosome 10 could be more potent than previous risk factors for late…
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Health
Tiny creatures offer clues to human aging
When its aging gene is not working right, a worm named C. elegans lives three times longer than normal, according to Harvard researcher Gary Ruvkun. The development gene keeps an…
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Health
Researchers identify genes that control development of fat tissues
Until now, no one knew the specific trigger that controls the extent to which cells called preadipocytes turn into fat cells. Harvard researchers have identified the genes GATA-2 and GATA-3…
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Health
Biological clock genes identified
“We’ve identified the molecules that we believe form the essential gears of the 24-hour clock,” says researcher Steven Reppert, who is a professor of pediatrics at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.…
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Health
Diving into the gene pool
Maryellen Ruvolo, professor of anthropology, specializes in the analysis of human and primate family trees using DNA data, a subfield of molecular evolution. She is probably best known for her…