A team of scientists from the University of Texas, USA, has recently revealed that the P681R spike mutation is responsible for increased infectivity of the delta variant of severe acute respiratory ...

In a recent study published in PLOS Pathogens, researchers investigated a highly variable region at residues 203 to 205 in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid ...

Many viruses, particularly RNA viruses, mutate at a very high rate per genome per replication. One possible explanation is that high mutation rates are selected to meet the challenge of fluctuating ...

Error-prone DNA replication and repair may lead to mutations and cancer in individuals who inherit a mutant copy of the BRCA1 gene, according to a new study. The discovery has potential implications ...

This transcript has been edited for clarity. For more episodes, download the Medscape app or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast provider. Dr Liu is a ...

A defining characteristic of cancer cells is their immortality. Usually, normal cells are limited in the number of times they can divide before they stop growing. Cancer cells, however, can overcome ...

While most known types of DNA damage are fixed by our cells’ in-house DNA repair mechanisms, some forms of DNA damage evade repair and can persist for many years, new research shows. This means that ...

DNA is known to mutate regularly, for better or worse, driving both evolution and disease. Researchers at the University of Surrey have now found evidence that some of these spontaneous mutations ...

Studying the genome of thale cress, a small flowering weed, led to a new understanding about DNA mutations. (Pádraic Flood) A simple roadside weed may hold the key to understanding and predicting DNA ...

The gene p53 acts as a tumor suppressor and often is called the ‘guardian of the genome.’ This gene is central to maintaining genomic stability, which prevents mutations from accumulating and leading ...