2022 in genetics: 8 discoveries that are changing our understanding of the world

Credit: Sangharsh Lohakare/Unsplash
Credit: Sangharsh Lohakare/Unsplash

From big discoveries that moved the field forward to work that improved upon existing findings, here are some of the yearโ€™s milestones.

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A Neanderthal family portrait

Deep inside a cave in southern Siberia, a team of researchersย discoveredย the fossilized bone fragments of the first-known Neanderthal family.

DNA analysis of these fragments offered rare insights into Neanderthalsโ€™ lives โ€“ depicting their social structures, migratory patterns, and relationships.

Are you a superdodger?

In 2022, a new term entered the COVID-19 lexicon: superdodger. A superdodger is someone who appears to have avoided COVID infection despite multiple exposures to new variants and waves.

Scientists were so puzzled by these virus evaders they began to look forย genetic clues. Research out of UCSF revealed a genetic variant in a gene called HLA that clears the virus rapidly.

A new era of drug discovery

A 2022ย studyย found that 33 of the 50 drugs recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration were supported with genomic data โ€“ making it clear that genetic insights will play an increasingly important role in developing new therapies for people who need them most.

This is an excerpt. Read the full article here

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