Genetics

A few people stand in front of a building talking to a larger group of gathered people listening.

A shared past for East Africa’s hunter-gatherers

PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff, Laura Scheinfeldt, and Sameer Soi use data from 50 populations to study African genetic diversity. Their analysis suggests that geographically far-flung hunter-gatherer groups share a common ancestry.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・

A group of people, some holding sacks, next to a small rustic house and under trees

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.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・

human fat cells

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.

Penn Today Staff ・

one-half of a child's face with a fake mustache

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.

Penn Today Staff ・

3-d-image-of-eyeball-anatomy

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.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・



In the News


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.

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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.

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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.

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Stat

Study of gender-affirming care reveals immune system sex differences

Montserrat Anguera of the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Veterinary Medicine comments on the work to comprehensively examine the impact of gender-affirming care on the immune system.

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The New York Times

A disease that makes children age rapidly gets closer to a cure

Kiran Musunuru of the Perelman School of Medicine says there’s no guarantee that gene editing which worked well in mice will also work with human patients.

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USA Today

She’s fighting to stop the brain disease that killed her mother before it gets her

Kiran Musunuru of the Perelman School of Medicine comments on shutting off genetic signals in the brain to hold off diseases.

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