Derailing molecular cargo trains in cilia makes them turn around
Researchers at the Human Technopole and Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics show how molecular cargo trains change direction in cellular micro-antennas. Cilia are antenna-like structures that protrude outwards from the surface of eukaryotic cells. Misassembled cilia in humans can cause numerous diseases from infertility to lung malfunction. The assembly and maintenance […]

Cilia in 3D: Miniature train station discovered
Cilia are hair-like organelles that extend from most eukaryotic cells and perform many functions, including motility and signaling. Together with collaborators at the University of Geneva (Hamel-Guichard lab) and Biozentrum, University of Basel (Engel Lab), Dr. Gaia Pigino’s Group at the Human Technopole in Milan has now revealed that cilia have a specialised transport hub […]
New tools for the analysis of CRISPR-Cas9 screens
Supervised classification methods can be used for the analysis of genetic screens obtained through the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology. Nevertheless, these methods require large sets of reference genes to be included among those targeted with CRISPR. Alessandro Vinceti, of the Iorio Group, presents a novel computational method to identify reference gene sets of minimal size […]
A new approach to investigate the impact of retrotransposon recombination on human genome
Recombination of retrotransposons is known to affect genome stability and evolution, yet the significance of this process and its impact on the genome of human somatic cells are poorly understood. Giovanni Pascarella and Piero Carninci set up a new framework enabling comprehensive studies of retrotransposon recombination-driven genomic diversity in healthy and diseased tissues. The DNA […]
Francesca Ieva on Lombardy Region Taskforce
Our Associate Head of the Health Data Science Centre has been appointed to a new task force created by Lombardy Region which aims to reduce waiting lists and verify the proper management in the provision of health services to citizens. The task force includes members from Lombardy Region Welfare General Management, ATS, ASST, Lombardy Health […]