mutation | Common News Update

Feb172021 by adminNo Comments

‘Virus always has mutation as a weapon’: Scientists warn against lifting lockdown too soon

Technology

Scientists tracking the spread of COVID variants have warned against lifting lockdown too soon.They caution that easing restrictions before daily cases are in "the low thousands" could allow more sinister versions of the virus to escape and seed a new outbreak. In an exclusive interview, Steve Paterson, professor of genetics at Liverpool University, told Sky News: "The virus doesn't care that we want to meet our friends. It's going to find new ways to transmit or evade immunity. Image: Professor Paterson said the virus 'has always got mutation and evolution as a weapon' "To give public health and the genome sequencing a chance to work out where the virus is mutating and where new variants are starting to spread, we really need that he...

Feb162018 by adminNo Comments

Genetic mutation from father may speed onset of ovarian cancer

Health

Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A genetic mutation linked to sped up onset of ovarian and prostate cancers, and passed through the X-chromosome, has been identified by researchers.The mutation can also advance the start of ovarian cancer by six or more years, researchers at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo said. Their findings appeared in the journal PLOS Genetics on Thursday.Earlier studies showed that when a woman develops ovarian cancer, her sister also faces a higher risk of developing the disease than her mother. The studies led to an examination by researchers of whether genes on the X-chromosome, passed down through the father, may contribute to a daughter's risk of ovarian cancer.Using the donor-funded Familial Ovarian Cancer Registry based at Roswell Park, the researchers ...

Feb142018 by adminNo Comments

Amazon fish challenges mutation idea

Science

Evolutionary theory suggests that species favouring asexual reproduction will rapidly become extinct, as their genomes accumulate deadly mutations over time.But a study on an Amazon fish has cast doubt on the rapidity of this decline. Despite thousands of years of asexual reproduction, the genomes of the Amazon molly fish are remarkably stable and the species has survived. Details of the work have been published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.There are two fundamental ways in which new generations of life come to being - sexual and asexual reproduction.Sexual reproduction relies on special reproductive male and female sex cells, the eggs and sperm, joining together during the process of fertilisation.Each sex cell contains half the number of chromosomes of normal parent cells, then follow...

Feb12018 by adminNo Comments

Study reveals secrets of DNA mutation

Science

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- According to new research, some mutational DNA bases are able to avoid detection by the body's natural defense systems and incorporate themselves into the human genome.The DNA base pair formed by guanine and thymine, a mutational mismatch, are able to shape-shift so they blend in with the rest of the DNA ladder, or helix."When these two bases form a hydrogen bond by accident, at first, they don't fit quite right," Zucai Suo, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio State University, said in a news release. "They stick out along the DNA helix, so normally it's easy for the enzymes that replicate DNA to detect them and fix them."And normally, they do get caught and the mismatch is rectified. But sometimes, the base pair can change shapes before detection, avoiding the ...

Sep182017 by adminNo Comments

What to know about the new BRCA genetic mutation test

Health

A new genetic testing kit that hits the market today is the most affordable, and arguably one of the simplest, ways for women to find out if they have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Here is what women should know about BRCA gene mutation testing, including how it works, who should actually consider getting it and the new convenient test that one woman already credits for helping detect her cancer early. The two BRCA genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) normally help protect women from cancer, however, some women may have mutations to their BRCA genes, which can actually lead to cancer, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If untreated, women with a BRCA gene mutation are seven times more likely to get breast cancer, and 30 times more likely to get ovaria...