Page 43
Biosciences | FEATURE
Understanding Diseases
(Photo of Professor Kingston Mills)
Autoimmune Diseases
Professor of Experimental Immunology, Kingston Mills B.A., PH.D. (1976) and his research team at TCD have discovered new information on how autoimmune diseases develop. The research found that the source of a particular messenger molecule (in technical terms this molecule is a cytokine called IL-17), which is the major cause of cellular inflammation, was produced by a heretofore unsuspected group of cells. These cells called gamma delta T cells orchestrate the inflammatory process. Autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease affect 20 per cent of the population worldwide. The findings were published in the cell press journal, Immunity.
(Photo of Dr Aoife McLysaght)
Discovery of Human-Specific Genes
Six million years since we shared a common ancestor with the chimpanzee, researchers at TCD have made the first discovery of original human-specific genes. The DNA of human and chimpanzee is 99 per cent identical. The small genetic differences between humans and chimpanzees have a major role in determining what it is to be human. Dr David Gonzalez Knowles and Dr Aoife McLysaght B.A., Ph.D. (1998) of the School of Genetics and Microbiology and the Smurfit Institute of Genetics have identified for the first time human-specific genes that originated during the evolution of humans following the separation from chimpanzees. These findings were published in Genome Research.
(Photo of Dr Aiden Corvin)
Genetics of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
New evidence suggests that many common DNA variants contribute to a person’s risk of schizophrenia. Surprisingly, many of the same DNA variants also appear to be involved in bipolar disorder. The findings, reported by the International Schizophrenia Consortium that includes TCD scientists, were published in the journal Nature. The study found evidence that many DNA variants, commonly occurring in the population, combine to increase the risk to develop the disorder. The TCD team is led by Dr Aiden Corvin Ph.D. (2006), Head of the Psychosis Research Group. The other TCD researchers are Professor Michael Gill B.A., M.D., M.R.C. Psych., F.T.C.D. (1981), Dr Gary Donohoe and Dr Derek Morris.
(Photo of Professor Padraic Fallon)
Potential for New Therapies in the Treatment of Eczema
An international collaboration between TCD scientists and researchers in Scotland and Japan has developed a new animal model that reproduces a major genetic cause of human eczema. The TCD team was led by Professor Padraic Fallon, Science Foundation Ireland Stokes Professor of Translational Immunology at the Institute of Molecular Medicine and School of Medicine. This new discovery, which has the potential of assisting the development of new therapies in the treatment of the disease, was published in Nature Genetics.
Trinity Today | 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84