Tag: genes
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Coronagenes: A study of the genes behind severe COVID-19
COVID-19 affects individuals in different ways. Some people are asymptomatic whereas others require intensive care; most cases are short lived, but others experience more long term symptoms. The body’s reaction to COVID-19, like most illnesses, is dictated by both environmental and genetic factors. As COVID-19 emerged, environmental risk factors for severe symptoms, such as old…
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A genetic link between inflammation and depression?
Whilst there are many different cell types in our body, each contains the same DNA. In order to perform their particular roles, the cell types react differently to the DNA’s instructions by controlling when and how much each gene is expressed. There are entire subsets of genes whose only function is to regulate the expression…
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The clock is tic-ing for Tourette’s syndrome
Tourette Syndrome, or simply Tourette’s, has historically captured the public eye, and ear, by being simply too bizarre to ignore. It causes sufferers to perform ‘tics’ – brief involuntary actions such as arm movements and fragments of speech. Notoriously, the vocal tics can sometimes be socially inappropriate, e.g. swear words, horrific obscenities or comments on…