Genetics | Penn Today

The New York Times

Mutated DNA restored to normal in gene therapy advance

Kiran Musunuru of the Perelman School of Medicine says that a new infusion offers the hope of precisely treating other genetic diseases by fixing mutations, an alternative to current gene therapies.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn-made AI tool matched a patient’s rare disease with a common inflammation drug. He’s been in remission for over two years

Every Cure, a nonprofit founded by David Fajgenbaum of the Perelman School of Medicine, has received $108 million in federal contracts and private financing to identify promising disease-medication matches and make recommendations for further clinical study.

Researchers create genetic map tied to kidney disease

The creation of the most complete map of more than 1,000 genes that influence kidney function could help experts diagnose and design targeted treatments for kidney disease.

Tyler Daniel using a pipette in a bioengineering lab.

Breakthroughs in gene editing and expression control with mvGPT

Penn Engineers have created a gene editing tool that can address different genetic diseases in the same cell.

a black squirrel perched on a tree trunk

What’s That? Black squirrels

Penn Today spoke to Sarah Tomke in the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Wildlife Futures Program about the black squirrels regularly seen on College Green. They are black because of a genetic mutation in the melanin receptor protein, which regulates pigment.

A pregnant person meeting with their doctor.

New tool puts reproductive risk for BRCA carriers into perspective

A team at Penn Medicine has created a resource to help inform reproductive counseling for cancer gene mutation carriers.

Newsweek

Cancer breakthrough as ‘speckles’ may reveal best treatment

A paper co-authored by PIK Professor Shelley Berger finds that patterns of “speckles” in the heart of tumor cells could help predict how patients with a common form of kidney cancer will respond to treatment options.

NPR

For kids with rare genetic disorders, customized CRISPR treatments offer hope

Scientists at Penn are trying to develop a template for groups of rare conditions that are similar enough to be affected by a single, easily adaptable gene-editing treatment.

Philadelphia Inquirer

A Philly biotech got $60M from a TED initiative for AI in medicine

David Fajgenbaum of the Perelman School of Medicine helped found Every Cure, a biotechnology nonprofit that employs AI to help match existing treatments to new diseases.

An integral T cell pathway helps regulate female gene expression

Penn Vet researchers have revealed a connection between NF-κB signaling pathways and X chromosome inactivation, which has implications for understanding sex-based immune responses during infection.

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