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Genetics
How one gene in a tiny fish may alter an aquatic ecosystem
Linking genomics to evolution to ecology, the work takes an unusual approach to reveal broad implications of how species adapt to their local environment.
The diversity of rural African populations extends to their microbiomes
In the largest study of its kind, researchers led by PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff, Matthew Hansen, and Meagan Rubel investigated the gut microbiomes of people from Botswana and Tanzania, and illuminate the impact of lifestyle, geography, and genetics in shaping the microbiome.
Using fat cells to predict response to anti-diabetes drugs
In a new study, a team of researchers have demonstrated—using fat cells derived from human stem cells—that individual genetic variation can be used to predict whether the TZD rosiglitazone will produce the unwanted side effect of increasing cholesterol levels in certain individuals.
Personalized gene editing is a family affair
A new stem cell-based test aims to decrease the uncertainty of gene variants and their affect on a patient’s health.
Why we have hair here, but not there
A new study answers a fundamental question in human evolution about how and where hair grows on the body, and reveals the existence of a naturally-occurring inhibitor to hair growth.
Multidisciplinary team to develop stem cell-based approaches to restore vision
Gene therapies have had success in treating blindness but can’t save areas of the retina where cells have already died. In a new effort, School of Veterinary Medicine scientists John Wolfe and William Beltran will attempt to develop a stem-cell-based approach that restores vision.
A study in prenatal gene editing with DNA in utero
A Penn Medicine and CHOP team shows the first example of using base-editing tools to treat a disease in animal models in utero.
The next frontier of precision medicine: Parkinson’s disease
The Molecular Integration in Neurological Diagnosis (MIND) Initiative is working to understand the nature of Parkinson's disease with molecular-level accuracy, so doctors can treat the root cause.
Knockdown and replace: A gene therapy twofer to treat blindness
More than 150 different mutations in the light-sensing molecule rhodopsin can cause retinitis pigmentosa, characterized by a progressive loss of night and peripheral vision, and a team of researchers have developed a treatment for the condition. Successful results in dogs set the stage for testing in humans.
Study finds mutation driving deadly brain tumors, and a potential remedy
Researchers at Penn and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research discovered that a mutation in the epidermal growth receptor gene indicates a severe glioblastoma, and targeting this particular gene may further treatment.
In the News
Smithsonian Magazine
Scientists break the rules of reproduction by breeding mice from single-sex parents
The Perelman School of Medicine’s Marisa Bartolomei offered commentary on same-sex reproductive experiments, which have proven easier in bimaternal than bipaternal pairings.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test: How reliable is it? A Penn prof explains
Theodore Schurr of the School of Arts and Sciences said U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s genetic analysis, which used indigenous DNA samples from Peru, Mexico, and Colombia as reference points, was legitimate due to historical migration patterns.
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