No treatments are currently available to cure Parkinson’s disease. Better understanding the genetic foundation of this condition can help researchers find ways to slow or halt its progression.
FTD leads to changes in personality and behavior. Understanding its genetic and molecular causes could lead to new ways to treat neurodegenerative diseases.
In Canada, 14.4 per cent of South Asians have Type 2 diabetes, the highest prevalence of any other ethnic group in the country. Why is this population so disproportionately affected by diabetes?
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.
Once genetic lesions for diseases such as cystic fibrosis and haemophilia were identified, the idea of replacing or correcting defective genes grew into what we now call “gene therapy”.
Why was one gene mutation that affects hair, teeth, sweat glands and breasts ubiquitous among ice age Arctic people? New research points to the advantage it provided for ancestors of Native Americans.
In 2030, there is a boom in precision medicine, where diseases – from cancer to dementia – are defined and targeted more specifically with a focus on their molecular makeup.
Comparing genomes of more than 200,000 people, researchers identified genetic variants that are less common in older people, suggesting natural selection continues to weed out disadvantageous traits.
A new research paper reports dangerous side effects in CRISPR-edited mice. Some scientists are pushing back, placing blame for the unwanted mutations on the experiment, not the technique.
How do scientists figure out when evolutionary events – like species splitting away from a common ancestor – happened? It turns out our DNA is a kind of molecular clock, keeping time via genetic changes.
What produces the differences between men and women? Are they trivial or profound? Are they genetic or environmental, or both? And are men really closer genetically to chimpanzees than to women?
Professor of Oncology, Head of the RMH Familial Cancer Centre and Joint Head, Breast Cancer Laboratory, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)