Metastases cause a large majority of cancer deaths, and understanding their mechanisms might offer therapeutic opportunities. A team from Case Western Reserve University investigated a possible role of enhancers, regulatory DNA elements that can influence the transcription of downstream genes.

Activating mutations in the BRAF kinase, such as those targeted by melanoma drug Zelboraf (vemurafenib, Roche Holding AG), are a well-known cause of cancer.

Researchers from the International Mouse Phenotypic Consortium have published the comprehensive phenotypes of more than 3,300 knockout mice, describing mouse models for 360 diseases.

LONDON – A $1 billion program to develop vaccines against emerging infectious diseases that, like Zika and Ebola viruses, have the potential to cause serious epidemics, will be launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Mitochondrial DNA with mutations was sometimes preferentially replicated after spindle transfer to donor eggs, with the end result that the mutated mitochondria were once again dominant after transplantation.

Spinalcyte LLC, of Houston, reported results from phase II animal studies testing human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) for transplantation in intevertebral disc degeneration.