Cafe Scientifique Oxford

Study reveals how RNA travels between cells to control genes across generations

RNA-based medicines are one of the most promising ways to fight human disease, as demonstrated by the recent successes of RNA vaccines and double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) therapies. But while health care providers can now successfully develop drugs that use dsRNA to accurately target and silence disease-causing genes, a major challenge remains: getting these potentially life-saving RNA molecules into cells efficiently.

Scientists Reveal Structure of Ancient Virus-Like Genetic Element | Sci.News

The Long Interspersed Element-1 (LINE-1) retrotransposon is an ‘ancient genetic parasite’ that has written around one third of the human genome through a ‘copy-and-paste’ mechanism.

Dark Genome Discovery: Researchers Reveal “Ancient Genetic Parasite” Implicated in Human Diseases

Understanding the mechanism of LINE-1 is key to developing potential new treatments for cancer, autoimmune disorders, neurodegeneration, and even aging. Research published on December 14 in Nature sheds light on a small part of the so-called “dark genome” — the 98 percent of the human genome whos

‘Jumping genes’ help fungus kill salamanders

A fungus that infects salamanders contains multiple copies of the same “jumping genes”, scientists have discovered.