Improvement of genetic stability in lymphocytes from Fanconi anemia patients through the combined effect of alpha-lipoic acid and N-acetylcysteine

A combination of antioxidants improves the genetic stability of blood cells from patients with Fanconi anemia, which could help block or delay the progression of this rare genetic disorder.

A target based approach identifies genomic predictors of breast cancer patient response to chemotherapy

Two new gene expression signatures can predict how breast cancer tumors will respond to two of the common kinds of chemotherapy, highlighting the potential of target-based gene expression indices to predict patient response to drug therapy.

The nucleotide excision repair (NER) system of Helicobacter pylori: Role in mutation prevention and chromosomal import patterns after natural transformation

Genetic diversification of Helicobacter pylori is controlled, in part, by the nucleotide excision repair system (NER) which contributes to both the bacteria?s high mutation rate and control of the incorporation of imported DNA fragments after natural transformation.

Allelic sequence heterozygosity in single Giardia parasites

Different alleles are present in the nuclei of a single Giardia trophozoite, which explains the high abundance of sequence heterogeneity commonly found when performing sequence based genotyping.

Canalization of the evolutionary trajectory of the human influenza virus

The influenza virus evolves rapidly, but this doesn't usually lead to a genetically diverse population as one might expect. A new model suggests how short-term selection to avoid human immune responses could cause this long-term lack of diversity.