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NEWS
Fighting Cancer: Natural and Synthetic Progestin Therapies in Post-Menopausal Women Help Breast Cancer Grow and Spread
Mizzou researchers find hormone replacement therapies could cause specialized cancer cells to induce growth, metastasis Hormone replacement therapies, or medications containing female hormones that substitute those no longer produced by the body, often are prescribed to reduce the effects of menopausal...
Exposure to BPA Potentially Induces Permanent Reprogramming of Painted Turtles’ Brains
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that is used in a variety of consumer products, such as food storage containers, water bottles and certain resins. In previous studies, Cheryl Rosenfeld, an investigator in the Bond Life Sciences Center, along with other researchers at the University of Missouri, Westminster College and the Saint Louis Zoo, determined that BPA can disrupt sexual function and behavior in painted turtles. Now, the team has identified the genetic pathways that are altered as a result of BPA exposure during early development. Painted turtle eggs were brought from a hatchery in Louisiana, candled to ensure...
Rare Feline Genetic Disorders Identified Through Whole Genome Sequencing at MU
Findings could help feline preservationists implement breeding strategies for rare species Whole genome sequencing (WGS), which is the process of determining an organism’s complete DNA sequence, can be used to identify DNA anomalies that cause disease. Identifying disease-causing DNA abnormalities allows clinicians to better predict an effective course of treatment for the patient. Now, in a series of recent studies, scientists at the University of Missouri are using whole genome sequencing through the 99 Lives Cat Genome Sequencing Consortium to identify genetic variants that cause rare diseases, such as progressive retinal atrophy and Niemann-Pick type 1, a fatal disorder in...
Biomarker Test for Lou Gehrig’s Disease Useful in Diagnosing Canine Neurodegenerative Disease
Mizzou researchers seek clinical trial participants for further treatment study In 2009, Joan Coates, a veterinary neurologist, along with other researchers at the University of Missouri and the Broad Institute at MIT/Harvard, found a genetic link between degenerative myelopathy (DM) in dogs and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease in people. Now, MU researchers Coates and Michael Garcia, an associate professor in the Division of Biological Sciences, have found that a biomarker test that helps diagnose ALS also can assist with determining a...