University of Texas Southwestern Labs: Where Breakthroughs Happen

Using gene editing in a preclinical model, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center blocked the symptoms of a rare smooth muscle disease before they developed. Their findings, published in Circulation, could eventually lead to gene therapies for this and other genetic diseases affecting smooth muscle cells.

A gene-editing delivery system developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers simultaneously targeted the liver and lungs of a preclinical model of a rare genetic disease known as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), significantly improving symptoms for months after a single treatment, a new study shows.

Italian medical geneticist Andrea Ballabio, M.D., an internationally recognized scientist who has devoted his career to elucidating the mechanisms underlying genetic diseases, has been named the recipient of the 2025 Beth Levine, M.D. Prize in Autophagy Research from UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Using a cutting-edge imaging technology known as cryo-electron microscopy, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined the structure of a protein called midnolin that’s crucial to the survival of malignant cells in some leukemias, lymphomas, and multiple myelomas.

Using a tool called Automated Meiotic Mapping (AMM) that was developed at UT Southwestern Medical Center, a team of researchers has identified a gene that appears to be key for regulating food intake.