Evolving genes lead to evolving genes
Researchers have designed a method that can universally test for evolutionary adaption, or positive (Darwinian) selection, in any chosen set of genes, using re-sequencing data such as that generated by the 1000 Genomes Project. The method identifies gene sets that show evidence for positive selection in comparison with matched controls, and thus highlights genes for further functional studies.
Family ties: Relationship between human and zebrafish genomes
Researchers demonstrate today that 70 per cent of protein-coding human genes are related to genes found in the zebrafish and that 84 per cent of genes known to be associated with human disease have a zebrafish counterpart. Their study highlights the importance of zebrafish as a model organism for human disease research.
Fishing for solutions
Equipped with the zebrafish genome, researchers have designed a method to assay the function of each and every gene and to explore the effects genetic variation has on zebrafish. So far the team has generated one or more mutations in almost 40% of all zebrafish genes. The resource will be a comprehensive catalogue of how changes to our genes can have physical and biochemical consequences, giving…
Wanted: Your views on genetics
The world’s largest survey on public attitudes to genetics feels it simply isn’t big enough. What it wants is more people and what it really wants is more ‘ordinary people’.
Study identifies genetic variants associated with childhood obesity
Researchers have identified four genes newly associated with severe childhood obesity. They also found an increased burden of rare structural variations in severely obese children.
Final chapter to 60-year-old blood group mystery
Researchers have uncovered the gene at the root of a human blood group that has remained a mystery for the past 60 years. They showed that a genetic deletion on this gene is responsible for the lack of this blood group in some people.
Rise in CF patient infections explained
Researchers at Papworth Hospital, the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have discovered why a new type of dangerous bacterial infection has become more common among people with Cystic Fibrosis around the world. Through their ground-breaking research, the team has developed new measures to protect Cystic Fibrosis patients.
What are your views on what happens to your genomic information?
Would you want to know about your genetic risk for hundreds of conditions all in one go, ranging from whether you have a higher than average risk from Alzheimer’s disease or diabetes or whether you are sensitive to certain antibiotics or statins? How do you feel about researchers generating this information but not sharing it with you? An ethics team from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute…
Tapeworm DNA contains drug weak spots
For the first time, researchers have mapped the genomes of tapeworms to reveal potential drug targets on which existing drugs could act. The genomes provide a new resource that offers faster ways to develop urgently needed and effective treatments for debilitating diseases.
Director awarded prestigious prize
Professor Mike Stratton, Director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, has been awarded the 2013 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine, a major European award recognising excellence in biomedical research.
Bugs without borders
Researchers show that the global epidemic of Clostridium difficile 027/NAP1/BI in the early to mid-2000s was caused by the spread of two different but highly related strains of the bacterium rather than one as was previously thought. The spread and persistence of both epidemics were driven by the acquisition of resistance to a frontline antibiotic.
Nobody’s perfect: researchers produce catalogue of disease-causing genetic variants
Researchers at Cambridge and Cardiff have found that, on average, a normal healthy person carries approximately 400 potentially damaging DNA variants and two variants known to be associated directly with disease traits. They showed that one in ten people studied is expected to develop a genetic disease as a consequence of carrying these variants.
A leap forward for red blood cell formation
New research is revealing how red blood cells are made and how the body regulates the amount of haemoglobin that is packaged in red blood cells at any time. Genomic analysis techniques have doubled the number of genetic regions that are likely to be involved in red blood cell formation and subsequent study using fruit flies has given insights into what these regions do.
Insights into the genetic causes of coronary artery disease and heart attacks
In the largest genetic study of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) to date, researchers from the CARDIoGRAMplusC4D Consortium report the identification of 15 genetic regions newly associated with the disease, bringing to 46 the number of regions associated with CAD risk.
Biology behind brain development disorder
Researchers have defined the gene responsible for a rare developmental disorder in children. The team showed that rare variation in a gene involved in brain development causes the disorder. This is the first time that this gene, UBE3B, has been linked to a disease.
Bacterial DNA sequence used to map an infection outbreak
For the first time, researchers have used DNA sequencing to help bring an infectious disease outbreak in a hospital to a close.
C’est difficile
In a new study out today, researchers used mice to identify a combination of six naturally occurring bacteria that eradicate a highly contagious form of Clostridium difficile, an infectious bacterium associated with many hospital deaths. Three of the six bacteria have not been described before. This work may have significant implications for future control and treatment approaches.
Babies learn the smell of mum
Newborn mice use mum’s unique odour, not a pheromone, to begin breastfeeding
Human genome far more active than thought
The GENCODE Consortium expects the human genome has twice as many genes than previously thought, many of which might have a role in cellular control and could be important in human disease. This remarkable discovery comes from the GENCODE Consortium, which has done a painstaking and skilled review of available data on gene activity.
Near and far, nature and nurture
A new study points the way to discover genetic variants that affect human health. It is the first study to use unique sets of samples from twins that mean the team - led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, among others - can unpick the relative contributions of genetic variants in the genome and the environment in controlling activity of key genes.
Metabolic MAGIC
Researchers have identified 38 new genetic regions that are associated with glucose and insulin levels in the blood. This brings the total number of genetic regions associated with glucose and insulin levels to 53, over half of which are associated with type 2 diabetes.
Close to the bone
A genetic screening approach to studying bone disease has found nine new genes associated with bone health and suggests a new way to discover genes that may be implicated in human skeletal diseases. This collaborative study of the mineral content, strength and flexibility of bones has found clues to the cause of bone disorders such as osteoporosis, osteogenesis imperfecta, and high bone density…
Building better science conversations
The world-leading Wellcome Trust Science Conference Centre begins work today on a £9 million development which includes a new residential bedroom block of 64 rooms, increasing the overnight accommodation to a total of 136 bedrooms. This exciting development will strengthen the already state-of-the art facilities, including a 300-seat auditorium, a flexible 60-seat meeting room, a self-contained…
Tracking MRSA in real time
In a new study released today in New England Journal of Medicine, researchers demonstrate that whole genome sequencing can provide clinically relevant data on bacterial transmission within a timescale that can influence infection control and patient management.
Putting parasites on the world map
Researchers have developed a new technique to identify hotspots of malaria parasite evolution and track the rise of malarial drug resistance, faster and more efficiently than ever before.