Menu Close

Articles on Mutations

Displaying 1 - 20 of 37 articles

Most tumors are made up of many different kinds of cancer cells, as shown in this pancreatic cancer sample from a mouse. Ravikanth Maddipati/Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania via National Cancer Institute

Every cancer is unique – why different cancers require different treatments, and how evolution drives drug resistance

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to treating cancer. Understanding how cancer cells evolve could help researchers develop more effective drugs.
Melanoma is a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer. Dlumen/iStock via Getty Images Plus

How cancer cells can become immortal – research finds a mutated gene that helps melanoma defeat the normal limits on repeated replication

One enzyme plays a key role in how tumor cells replicate and divide indefinitely. Identifying the genes that give these cells their immortality could provide new drug targets to treat cancer.
Some vaccines use mRNA to make copies of the triangular red spike proteins to induce immunity. Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

How can scientists update coronavirus vaccines for omicron? A microbiologist answers 5 questions about how Moderna and Pfizer could rapidly adjust mRNA vaccines

The new omicron variant of coronavirus has a number of mutations that may require manufacturers to update vaccines. The unique attributes of mRNA vaccines make updating them fast and easy.
The huge number of active coronavirus infections offers plenty of opportunity for mutations to occur and new variants to arise. Eoneren/E+ via Getty Images

Massive numbers of new COVID–19 infections, not vaccines, are the main driver of new coronavirus variants

When the coronavirus copies itself, there is a chance its RNA will mutate. But new variants must jump from one host to another, and the more infections there are, the better chance this will happen.
Mink can be readily infected with SARS-CoV-2 and then pass the virus to humans. (Shutterstock)

The mink link: How COVID-19 mutations in animals affect human health and vaccine effectiveness

In the disturbing scenario of human-to-mink-to-human COVID-19 transmission, the virus may mutate in mink prior to re-infecting people. That possibility makes vaccine design even more crucial.
Watching bacteria and viruses duke it out, evolving to outwit each other. UC San Diego

Discovery of a surprise multitasking gene helps explain how new functions and features evolve

A core idea in molecular biology is that one gene codes for one protein. Now biologists have found an example of a gene that yields two forms of a protein – enabling it to evolve new functionality.

Top contributors

More