NIH launches investigation of somatic mosaicism in human cells and tissues The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently launched a new program: the Common Fund’s Somatic Mosaicism Across Human Tissues (SMaHT) Network. The program, with planned awards totaling $140 million over five years, aims to enhance knowledge of how much genetic variation exists within normal human cells and tissues throughout the body.Read More
Next-generation statistical simulator provides benchmarking tool UCLA researchers have developed an all-in-one, next-generation statistical simulator capable of assimilating a wide range of information to generate realistic synthetic data and provide a benchmarking tool for researchers who use advanced technologies to study diseases and potential therapies. The study, published Thursday in Nature Biotechnology, indicates that the new computer modeling, or in silico, system, can help researchers evaluate and validate computational methods.Read More
Alzheimer’s drug could prevent damage to the brain Researchers showed that tiny aggregates of amyloid beta protein, a naturally occurring substance associated with Alzheimer’s disease progression, can float freely through brain tissue fluid, reaching important brain regions and disrupting local neuron functioning. The research, published Wednesday in the journal Neuron, also indicated that a newly-approved Alzheimer’s disease treatment could neutralize these tiny aggregates, also known as protofibrils or oligomers.Read More
A closer look at long COVID symptoms Patients with persistent neurological symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infections were intensively studied and found to have autonomic dysfunction and differences in their immune cell profiles. The findings, published last Friday in Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, may help explain lingering long-COVID neurological symptoms, and lead to better diagnoses and treatments.Read More
An unprecedented view of gene regulation Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers have developed a technique to analyze the organization of the genome at a resolution 100 times higher than was previously possible.Read More