Most Popular
Latest Discovery
Anorexic mice
Nov 20, 2017
During the past several years, there has been an increasing public awareness of mental illness and their societal and health consequences. Eating disorders represent one of the most damaging groups of mental illnesses. Current estimates are... Read More >
Latest Discovery
'Trimming the fat' with CRISPR
Oct 31, 2017
Around 20 million years ago, for unknown reasons, wild pigs lost an important metabolic gene known as uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). In most mammals this gene plays a major role in generating body heat for thermoregulation by burning fat... Read More >
Latest Discovery
A mammalian half-day clock
Oct 20, 2017
Last month, the Nobel Foundation recognized Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young "for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm". This 24-hour "clock" influences many physiological processes... Read More >
Latest Discovery
Is ApoE the key to an Alzheimer's cure?
Sep 29, 2017
Alzheimer’s disease has gained a lot of attention in the past week or so due to new findings about Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) published in Nature1. ApoE genotype has long been known to be a major risk factor for Alzheimer disease... Read More >
Latest Discovery
Palmitoylation the key to redhead melanoma risk
Sep 14, 2017
Around 100 million people worldwide have red hair due to the variants of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene they carry. In addition to affecting hair color and skin pigmentation, red-hair-color (RHC) MC1R variants also... Read More >
Latest Discovery
Inducing regeneration
Aug 25, 2017
In many ways, regeneration is the ‘holy grail’ of medical research. To be able to completely heal from injuries and to regrow lost organs or tissues is a feat that most mammals are generally not capable of. However, many types of animals can regenerate... Read More >
Research Trend
Controlling when and where: Conditional and inducible gene expression
Jul 26, 2017
In the early days of engineered animal models, simple knockout and transgenic mice were used to examine gene function. Researchers began to dissect the roles of individual genes by studying phenotypes of mice lacking or... Read More >
Research Trend
Optogenetics: Light-control of genes, pathways, and cells
Jul 12, 2017
Optogenenetics refers to a family of techniques which allow modulation of biological processes using light. Over the past 12 years, optogenetics has... Read More >
Research Trend
Making mice live longer, then humans
Jun 28, 2017
Invariably, everyone gets old. However, as a true testament to human stubbornness, research toward a “cure” for aging has never stopped. Over the past... Read More >
Newsletter
Rare Genomics Institute Announces Winners of BeHEARD Rare Disease Challenge
Jun 21, 2017
Washington, D.C. June 21, 2017. The Rare Genomics (RG) Institute is delighted to announce the winners of the 2017 BeHEARD (Helping Empower and... Read More >