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Protein’s ‘silent code’ affects how cells move
six panels showing cells in green with protein involved in cell movement labeled in red

Protein’s ‘silent code’ affects how cells move

A School of Veterinary Medicine-led study shows how, despite having nearly identical amino acid sequences, two forms of the protein actin differ in function due their distinct nucleotide sequences.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The use and misuse of race in health care
drawing of diverse group of people
  • Q&A

    • The use and misuse of race in health care

    In a Q&A, PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff, the Perelman School of Medicine’s Giorgio Sirugo, and Case Western Reserve University’s Scott Williams shed light on the “quagmire” of race, ethnicity, genetic ancestry, and environmental factors and their contribution to health disparities.

    Katherine Unger Baillie

    Pinpointing how cancer cells turn aggressive
    Concentric circles with different colors inside representing cancer cell lineages

    Pinpointing how cancer cells turn aggressive

    Penn scientists have developed a new method for tracing the lineage and gene expression patterns of metastatic cancer at the single-cell level.

    Katherine Unger Baillie

    How humans evolved a super-high cooling capacity
    Person wiping sweat from their brow with a towel under the sun.

    How humans evolved a super-high cooling capacity

    The higher density of sweat glands in humans is due, to a great extent, to accumulated changes in a regulatory region of DNA that drives the expression of a sweat gland-building gene, explaining why humans are the sweatiest of the Great Apes.

    From Penn Medicine News

    Turning back the clock on a severe vision disorder
    microscopic image of retinal tissue layers labeled in red and blue

    A mutation in the NPHP5 gene leads to a severe blinding disorder, Leber congenital amaurosis. Dogs with the condition that were treated with a gene therapy regrew normal, functional cone cells, labeled in red, that had previously failed to develop. The treatment led to a recovery of retinal function and vision. (Image: Courtesy of Gustavo Aguirre and William Beltran)

    Turning back the clock on a severe vision disorder

    Gene therapy triggered the regrowth of healthy photoreceptor cells and restored vision in dogs with a severe form of Leber congenital amaurosis.

    Katherine Unger Baillie

    New test can detect presence of gene doping in equines
    Blurred sport shot of horses racing in a pack close together on grass.

    New test can detect presence of gene doping in equines

    A team of Penn Vet researchers have created and validated a quantitative test that is able to detect the presence of a gene doping agent in plasma and synovial fluid quickly and conveniently.

    From Penn Vet