Genome Advance of the Month

Gene-editing technology harnessed to protect plants from viruses

Scientists are using an exciting gene editing tool called CRISPR/Cas9 to protect plants from harmful DNA viruses. The CRISPR/Cas9 system has previously been adapted for use in many organisms, and this latest iteration develops gene-editing for use in plants. The November Genome Advance of the Month describes how these scientists inserted the code for an ancient bacterial immune system into a plant's genome to successfully strengthen the plant's protection against viruses. Read more

The Genomics Landscape

Future of ENCODE: Looking Deeper into Genome Function

Happy New Year! NIH begins 2016 with a budget increase, its first substantive increase in a very long time and much-need funding for biomedical reearch. Beyond this great budget news, we have plenty of things to highlight as we start the new year. In this month's The Genomics Landscape, I feature the next stage of NHGRI's ENCyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project, along with other informational items I hope will be of interest to you. Read more

NIH unveils FY2016-2020 Strategic Plan

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today released the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2016-2020: Turning Discovery Into Health, which will ensure the agency remains well-positioned to capitalize on new opportunities for scientific exploration and address new challenges for human health. Developed after hearing from hundreds of stakeholders and scientific advisers, and in collaboration with leadership and staff of NIH's Institutes, Centers and Offices (ICO), the plan is designed to complement ICOs' individual strategic plans, which are aligned with their congressionally mandated missions. Read more

Video now available

A Quarter Century after the Human Genome Project's Launch:
Lessons Beyond the Base Pairs

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Human Genome Project (HGP), the NHGRI History of Genomics Program began the first in a series of seminars - A Quarter Century after the Human Genome Project's Launch: Lessons Beyond the Base Pairs on December 3rd. The program featured some of the first Human Genome Project participants, who shared their unique perspectives about the HGP and how the experience affected their careers.
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T-cell transcription factor may offer new pathway for vaccine research

The gold standard for a successful vaccine is the creation of long-lasting antibodies that will defend the body against disease for years. Now, a team headed by scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has found a promising new area for vaccine developers to explore in search of that gold. The new discovery involves a protein called a transcription factor - a molecular switch that turns a gene or a cascade of genes on or off. Read more