Allele News and Research

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Gene silencing protein discovered

A team of researchers, including biologists at Washington University in St. Louis, has discovered the key role one protein plays in a major turn-off -in this case, the turning off of thousands of nearly identical genes in a hybrid plant.

8 May 2006

Blood cancers may be caused by inactivation of a "tumor suppressor" gene

The discovery of a gene, called PRDM1, as a tumor suppressor sheds new light on the cause - and possible treatment - of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs), a cancer of the blood's B-lymphocytes. DLBCLs comprise about 30 percent of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

25 Apr 2006

Environmental scientists identify new culprits in the cancer equation

In the granite-rich region of Western North Carolina, taking a daily shower could pose a risk of developing lung cancer. So could working from home every day. That's because granite emits a carcinogenic gas, radon.

13 Apr 2006

Gene variant doubles risk for obsessive-compulsive disorder

Scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) have identified a previously unknown gene variant that doubles an individual's risk for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

11 Apr 2006

A history of stroke is related to a progressive decline in memory

A history of stroke may be associated with progressive memory difficulties in patients without dementia or cognitive impairment, according to a study in the April issue of Archives of Neurology.

11 Apr 2006

Doctors must listen when patients talk of a failing memory

A team at the Aging and Memory Research Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, has found that a higher self awareness of memory difficulties may be associated with brain function decline over time, particularly in older adults with a genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease.

6 Apr 2006

Higher self awareness of memory difficulties may be associated with brain function decline over time

Published in the April issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, the study offers a greater understanding of how different types and varying degrees of memory complaints may relate to brain function decline, a finding that may lead to early treatment interventions for people who could develop Alzheimer's disease.

4 Apr 2006

Genetic clues to longevity

In a new study, Drs. Gil Atzmon and Nir Barzilai at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that people harbor alleles--alternative forms of a gene--that confer the same sort of longevity advantage.

4 Apr 2006

Weill Cornell researchers identify tumor-suppressor gene important to diffuse large B-cell lymphomas

Inactivation of a "tumor suppressor" gene could be a major cause of a class of blood cancers called diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, reports a team of researchers at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

30 Mar 2006

Discovery of common genetic variation in an immune system gene that makes people much more likely to develop psoriasis

University of Michigan scientists have found a common genetic variation in an immune system gene that makes people much more likely to develop psoriasis - a disfiguring inflammatory skin disease.

19 Mar 2006

Inefficient cytotoxic T lymphocyte mediated killing of HIV-1 infected cells in vivo

HIV attacks the immune system by infecting and killing helper T lymphocytes (also called CD4 T cells), the white blood cells responsible for mobilizing the mediators of an immune response.

15 Mar 2006

A map of recent positive selection in the human genome

By scanning the entire human genome in search of genetic variations that may signal recent evolution, University of Chicago researchers found more than 700 genetic variants that may be targets of recent natural positive selection during the past 10,000 years of human evolution.

13 Mar 2006

Link between coffee consumption and risk of myocardial infarction greater with certain gene variation

Individuals who have a genetic variation associated with slower caffeine metabolism appear to have an increased risk of non-fatal heart attack associated with higher amounts of coffee intake

9 Mar 2006

Taste genes may yield important information about who smokes and why they smoke

Recent research on the genetics of smoking has focused on genes that are thought to be related to nicotine metabolism, personality traits, and regulation of emotions.

27 Feb 2006

Study finds gene variant is no strong risk factor for osteoporosis

Variations in a number of different genes and environmental factors affect an individual’s risk for osteoporosis. Several gene variants have been linked to osteoporosis, but few have stood the test of time.

24 Feb 2006

Alcoholism, smoking and genetics among Plains American Indians

Alcoholism and smoking have a high rate of co-occurrence in the general population. Yet little is known about the co-morbidity of alcoholism and smoking among American Indians.

23 Feb 2006

Brain scans may detect neurological decline in normal people

Brain scans may detect neurological changes in people who exhibit no outward signs of cognitive decline but who later develop dementia or mental impairment, according to the results of a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

16 Feb 2006

Identity Swap: Finding the variants that human history has favoured

Sequence differences in less than 0.2% of the 3-billion-base human genome play a vital role in a bewildering variety of human disease. Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Cambridge University’s Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, together with international colleagues report in PLoS Genetics their detailed maps of differences implicated in disease as well as genes that are unchanged in recent human history.

26 Jan 2006

Analysis of Fcg Receptor haplotypes in rheumatoid arthritis

People with a specific combination of variants of two genes, encoding two different receptors for the antibody Fc gamma, are three times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than individuals with different variant combinations.

28 Nov 2005