Gene Therapy News and Research

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Gene therapy is an experimental technique that uses genes to treat or prevent disease. In the future, this technique may allow doctors to treat a disorder by inserting a gene into a patient’s cells instead of using drugs or surgery.

Mayo Clinic, Oxford BioMedica collaborate to develop gene therapy for glaucoma

Oxford BioMedica plc, the leading gene-based biopharmaceutical company, today announces that it has entered into a research and development collaboration with Mayo Clinic, Rochester (USA) to develop a novel gene therapy for the treatment of chronic glaucoma.

31 Oct 2011

Researchers uncover biochemical signals that trigger generation of new lung alveoli

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College say they have taken an important step forward in their quest to "turn on" lung regeneration -- an advance that could effectively treat millions of people suffering from respiratory disorders.

29 Oct 2011

Study provides details on genetics behind many metabolic diseases

In what is so far the largest investigation of its kind, researchers uncovered a wide range of new insights about common diseases and how they are affected by differences between two persons' genes. The results from this study could lead to highly targeted, individualized therapies.

27 Oct 2011

HMS, EPFL to collaborate on 6 pioneering neuroengineering projects

Two of the world's leading universities are joining forces to combine neuroscience and engineering in order to alleviate human suffering caused by such neurological disabilities as paralysis and deafness. Scientists, engineers, and clinicians at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Ecole Polytechnique F-d-rale de Lausanne (EPFL) will collaborate on six pioneering neuroengineering projects made possible thanks to a $3.6 million grant from the Bertarelli Foundation.

24 Oct 2011

Weill Cornell researcher to study link between obesity, inflammation and breast cancer

Funded through Bloomingdale's annual Pink Campaign, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) is awarding a grant to Dr. Andrew J. Dannenberg of Weill Cornell Medical College on Oct. 26 to fund research into the link between obesity, inflammation and breast cancer. Dr. Dannenberg has been a BCRF grantee since 2004.

21 Oct 2011

RetroSense, WSU sign license agreement for channelrhodopsin-based approaches

RetroSense Therapeutics, LLC, a Michigan-based company, announced that it has executed its exclusive, worldwide option and signed a license agreement for novel gene-therapy approaches for treating blindness developed at Wayne State University's School of Medicine.

19 Oct 2011

FDA approves Oxford BioMedica's UshStat IND to treat Usher syndrome type 1B

Oxford BioMedica plc, the leading gene-based biopharmaceutical company, today announces that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved its Investigational New Drug application for the Phase I/IIa clinical development of UshStat, a novel gene-based treatment for Usher syndrome type 1B.

18 Oct 2011

NEP successfully inserts specific doses of anti-cancer gene into leukemia cells

For the first time, researchers have found a way to inject a precise dose of a gene therapy agent directly into a single living cell without a needle.

18 Oct 2011

Researchers demonstrate that iPS stem cells may be used for gene therapy

This research, published on Oct. 12 on the Nature review website, provides evidence of a major concept could pave the way for the future use of these stem cells to treat humans, through perspective gene therapies.

14 Oct 2011

ESCs express genes linked with early germ cell specification

Ordinarily, embryonic stem cells exist only a day or two as they begin the formation of the embryo itself. Then they are gone. In the laboratory dish, however, they act more like perpetual stem cells - renewing themselves and exhibiting the ability to form cells of almost any type, a status called totipotency.

14 Oct 2011

New insights into how adenovirus triggers an immune response

A Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study could lead to improved gene therapies for conditions such as heart disease and cancer as well as more effective vaccines for tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases.

13 Oct 2011

Incoming dean of Weill Cornell receives 2011 ICS Honorary Lifetime Membership

Dr. Laurie Glimcher, the incoming dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, has received the 2011 International Cytokine Society (ICS) Honorary Lifetime Membership, the Society's highest honor, for her pivotal contributions to cytokine research, particularly as it relates to immune response.

12 Oct 2011

Tips on how to prevent unnecessary medication/supplement mishaps

Navigating the supplement and medication maze can get confusing especially when you have multiple prescriptions. It is important to organize yourself with your medications and supplements to prevent unnecessary mishaps.

7 Oct 2011

Three Penn labs receive NIH grant to speed translation of medical research into patient care

Three labs from the University of Pennsylvania have received $12.5 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of its $143.8 million national grant program to challenge the scientific status quo with innovative ideas that have the potential to speed the translation of medical research into improved health for the American public.

4 Oct 2011

Third Annual Cape Cod Walk 'n' Roll for FSH Muscular Dystrophy on October 1

Tomorrow, October 1, 2011, FSHD patients and their friends, advocates, and families will join in the Third Annual Cape Cod Walk 'n' Roll for FSHD.

1 Oct 2011

Novel bipartite gene therapy for retinitis pigmentosa

In a paper published in the October 2011 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, a team of researchers at Columbia University Medical Center led by Stephen Tsang, MD, Ph.D have achieved temporary functional preservation of photoreceptors in a mouse model for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) using novel bipartite gene therapy.

1 Oct 2011

Researchers develop HTGTS to map translocatome in the genome

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and the Immune Disease Institute (IDI) have created a method for mapping "hot spots" in the genome where chromosomes are most likely to break and recombine, knowledge that helps define the rules that govern when and where breaks occur.

30 Sep 2011

Researchers use patient's own stem cells to correct genetic alteration that causes SCD

Using a patient's own stem cells, researchers at Johns Hopkins have corrected the genetic alteration that causes sickle cell disease (SCD), a painful, disabling inherited blood disorder that affects mostly African-Americans. The corrected stem cells were coaxed into immature red blood cells in a test tube that then turned on a normal version of the gene.

29 Sep 2011

Weill Cornell receives NIH's T-R01 Award for spina bifida research

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a five-year, $5.5 million Transformative Research Project (T-R01) Award to fund research into risk factors for spina bifida and related congenital defects in which an area of the affected baby's spine or brain is not fully enclosed.

27 Sep 2011

AGTC receives FFB grant to evaluate gene therapy treatment for X-linked Retinoschisis

Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, a privately-held, clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel systems to deliver human therapeutics, announces that it has received a grant of $1.5 million from the Foundation Fighting Blindness to fund a pre-clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a gene therapy treatment for X-linked Retinoschisis (XLRS), a genetic eye disease affecting over 35,000 patients in the US and Europe.

22 Sep 2011