All posts tagged: gene

Gene Shalit, longtime ‘Today’ show movie critic, dies at 100 : NPR

Gene Shalit, longtime ‘Today’ show movie critic, dies at 100 : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Film critic Gene Shalit is seen during a toast with Today show cast and crew at the end of Katie Couric’s final show on May 31, 2006, in New York. Richard Drew/AP hide caption toggle caption Richard Drew/AP NEW YORK — Gene Shalit, a movie critic and arts reporter for the “Today” show over four decades who was known for his puffy hair, oversized handlebar mustache and affection for groan-inducing puns, has died. He was 100. Shalit’s family announced the death Friday to NBC News, saying in a statement that he “passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life.” Shalit joined “Today” as a contributor in 1970 and became arts editor in 1973, later settling in for his segment, “Critic’s Corner.” When he left the show in 2010, he was one of the last high-profile film critics on a major network. “What resonated above his unusual appearance was his incredible wit, his remarkable intelligence. But he didn’t pound you over the head with it. He amused you. He enlightened and amused whatever …

Today Show Icon Gene Shalit Dies at 100

Today Show Icon Gene Shalit Dies at 100

Published by Sam Flores

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. U.S. Men’s National Team makes World Cup debut 02:03 Great Americans: A conversation with Andrés Cantor 03:44 Now Playing Today Show Icon Gene Shalit Dies at 100 01:47 UP NEXT Tornado outbreak devastates Midwest 02:10 Deadly mass shooting in Texas 01:14 SpaceX makes history in largest ever initial public offering 02:29 Mexico opens historic World Cup with a win 01:44 Medicare Advantage plans slammed for denial rates 02:48 California officer shoots colleague in ‘horseplay’ incident 01:13 Severe weather pummels several states across Midwest 01:33 Trump says deal with Iran could be signed in days 02:14 Phil Mickelson banned from golf club over misconduct allegations 01:29 Alarming video of cross burning in Chicago 01:21 Protests erupt after brutal knife attack in Northern Ireland 01:20 Pope Leo blesses world’s tallest church 01:06 Urgent search for girl swept into ocean 01:27 Bill Gates grilled by lawmakers over Epstein ties 02:09 High security for NBA Finals game after clashes 02:10 U.S. launches ‘self defense’ …

A single gene may explain why some males live fast and die young

A single gene may explain why some males live fast and die young

Published by Jenni Sidey

A small fish that lives fast and dies young has given biologists a rare look at one of evolution’s oldest bargains. In the African turquoise killifish, researchers traced that bargain to a single gene called vgll3, which helped push males toward faster growth and earlier sexual maturity. But the same shift also came with a darker side: shorter lives, more age-related tumors, and a higher risk of melanoma-like cancers in old age. The finding offers unusually direct evidence for antagonistic pleiotropy, a long-debated theory of aging that holds that some genes are favored because they improve early-life success, even if they cause damage later on. “We have effectively caught evolution in the act of making a trade-off,” said Dr. Itamar Harel of Hebrew University. “For years, we’ve asked why our bodies can’t just maintain themselves indefinitely. This gene gives us a direct answer: nature doesn’t prioritize longevity; it prioritizes continuity. We are built to sprint, not to marathon.” The killifish is an emerging model for investigating the genetic architecture of aging and age-related pathologies, which …

Breakthrough gene test could help many women with breast cancer avoid chemotherapy

Breakthrough gene test could help many women with breast cancer avoid chemotherapy

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore for tips on living a healthier, happier and longer life Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Breast cancer treatment has come a long way, but one of the hardest questions has always been: who really needs chemotherapy, and who can safely do without it? Chemotherapy saves lives, but it also comes with serious side-effects and long‑term risks. A new study, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago, shows that a DNA‑based test of the tumour can help two‑thirds of certain breast cancer patients safely avoid chemotherapy without significantly compromising their long-term outcomes. Here’s what you need to know. What is the new genetic test for breast cancer? The new approach uses a genetic test to measure the activity of a set of cancer-related genes in the tumour. Instead of just looking at the cancer under a microscope, the test looks inside the cancer cells and measures how strongly certain genes are switched …

New Scientist Book Club: Read an extract from The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

New Scientist Book Club: Read an extract from The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

Published by skeptic

The double helix structure of DNA, the genetic code that makes up genes Shutterstock/Juan Gaertner Intelligent life on a planet comes of age when it first works out the reason for its own existence. If superior creatures from space ever visit earth, the first question they will ask, in order to assess the level of our civilization, is: ‘Have they discovered evolution yet?’ Living organisms had existed on earth, without ever knowing why, for over three thousand million years before the truth finally dawned on one of them. His name was Charles Darwin. To be fair, others had had inklings of the truth, but it was Darwin who first put together a coherent and tenable account of why we exist. Darwin made it possible for us to give a sensible answer to the curious child whose question heads this chapter. We no longer have to resort to superstition when faced with the deep problems: Is there a meaning to life? What are we for? What is man? After posing the last of these questions, the …

The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s evolution classic still holds up

The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s evolution classic still holds up

Published by skeptic

Ryan Wills for New Scientist; Alamy; SPL When The Selfish Gene was published in 1976, The New York Times said it was “the kind of science writing that makes the reader feel like a genius”. Few popular science books have had such an impact. As Richard Dawkins writes in the epilogue to the 50th anniversary edition, it’s rare enough for a book to be in press 50 years later, let alone that the author is still around to write an update about it. There is a strong case that The Selfish Gene has had the biggest influence on our understanding of evolution of any book since Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. It showed, in irresistible prose, how everything we see in biology can be explained by a gene-centred view of life. Yet when it was first published, only a small number of genes had been sequenced and we didn’t even know how many we had or shared with other species. So, half a century on, with the “selfish gene” metaphor still very current, …

Intoxicating and astonishing: Why ‘The Selfish Gene’ almost never was

Intoxicating and astonishing: Why ‘The Selfish Gene’ almost never was

Published by skeptic

The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins’s first book, was published in October 1976 and 50 years on, it is still selling, in more than 30 languages. For a science book – not least one with “gene” in its title – this is truly astonishing. For me, the story began in February 1976. I was a commissioning editor at the Oxford University Press (OUP) and in the post was a handwritten note from Roger Elliott, a physicist and one of the university academics involved with OUP. He wrote: “One of the dons here, Dr C R Dawkins, is writing a popular science book tentatively called ‘The Selfish Gene’… I have no idea whether he or it is any good but it might be worth looking into.” Just under two weeks later, I started to read draft versions of Dawkins’s opening chapters and, with a jolt, my life changed. I knew before reaching the bottom of the first page that here was something extraordinary. It was as if the writing had reached out and grabbed me by the …

Gene Therapy Causes Patient to Grow Alarming Tumor

Gene Therapy Causes Patient to Grow Alarming Tumor

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Gene therapy — attempting to help a patient by modifying a gene expression in their body, basically — has shown immense promise for treating a growing range of severe illnesses and disabilities, from Huntington’s Disease to congenital deafness. But using a gene-hacked virus to tinker with the genetic code of a living human, which has only started in earnest over the past decade or so, is certain to be risky. Now, the first instance of how the practice can backfire is coming to light. In a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers concluded that a young Hurler syndrome patient who received an adeno-associated virus (AAV) — used to deliver a therapeutic gene to the patient’s DNA — later developed a tumor due to the therapy. The patient’s illness, Hurler syndrome, stemmed from a mutation that thwarted an enzyme in his body, impacting brain development. A bone marrow transplant was unable to resolve the …

FDA approves first gene therapy for genetic hearing loss

FDA approves first gene therapy for genetic hearing loss

Published by Sam Flores

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Regeneron’s Otarmeni, the first gene therapy for genetic hearing loss. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. The drugmaker said it will offer the drug for free to U.S. patients. Otarmeni is approved to treat a very rare form of hearing loss that affects about 50 babies born in the U.S. each year and is caused by a mutation in a gene called OTOF. The approval was granted under the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher, an FDA pilot program intended to fast-track drug reviews. “This really is life-changing for families with children with hearing loss,” Dr. Eliot Shearer, a pediatric otolaryngologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and a principal investigator on the Regeneron trial. The only other treatment option for children with genetic deafness is cochlear implants, Shearer said, which restore the ability to hear speech and music, but reduce the fidelity of the sound. With gene therapy, the improved hearing is “on 24/7 and doesn’t rely on batteries,” he added. …