Whole genome sequencing has substantially accelerated the pace of discovery of genes that cause rare diseases, but while this has brought the diagnostic odyssey of some patients to a conclusion, 50% to 80% remain undiagnosed after initial analysis. Researchers in the U.K. have now developed a new framework for analyzing sequence data at a cohort level. Applying this method to almost 35,000 undiagnosed rare disease patients led to the identification of 141 new disease-gene associations.
The most common form of hereditary deafness in humans is caused by mutations in the GJB2 gene, which encodes the gap junction protein connexin 26. That regulates the transport of potassium and metabolites between inner ear cells. The coding sequence of this gene fits in an adenovirus-associated vector (AAV), making it an attractive approach for gene therapy.
Researchers have altered the genetic code in a strain of Escherichia coli, reducing the number of stop codons from three to one and assigning the freed-up stop codons to nonstandard amino acids. They reported on the recoded bacterium, which they named OCHRE, in Nature on Feb. 5, 2025.
A new version of Evo, the AI developed at the Arc Institute that can be used to design genomes as long as that of a bacterium, has been retrained with the DNA sequences of three domains of life – viruses, bacteria and eukaryotes.
Ensoma Inc.’s lead program, EN-374, has been granted orphan drug and rare pediatric disease designations by the FDA for the treatment of X-linked chronic granulomatous disease. Ensoma anticipates filing an IND application for EN-374 in the first half of this year.
Researchers at E-Therapeutics plc recently presented efficacy and safety data on ETX-148, a pan-hemophilia agent in murine models of hemophilia A and B.
Fabry disease is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by a deficiency of the enzyme α-galactosidase A (GLA), which leads to complex multisystemic involvement, with the majority of patients developing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Entos Pharmaceuticals Inc. has been awarded a $4 million grant by California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to support the completion of IND-enabling activities with ENTLEP-001, a durable genetic medicine for the treatment of congenital generalized lipodystrophy.
The way the brain ages is not the same in women and men. A study in mice has observed differences in the expression of the maternal and paternal X chromosomes that could explain variation in brain aging between the sexes and a faster deterioration in some women. Another study has discovered different survival strategies in the microglial cells of females and males. Both studies highlight sex differences that could have implications for several age-related neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.
Mitoribosomes are present in the mitochondria of all eukaryotic cells. Their function is to allow the translation of mitochondrial mRNA that exclusively encodes components of the oxidative phosphorylation complexes (OXPHOS).
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