Gene Transfer News and Research

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Gene Transfer is the insertion of genetic material into a cell.

New gene transfer technique can treat beta-thalassemia, sickle cell anemia

A team of researchers led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College has designed what appears to be a powerful gene therapy strategy that can treat both beta-thalassemia disease and sickle cell anemia. They have also developed a test to predict patient response before treatment.

28 Mar 2012

IU biologist to genetically modify variants of chlamydia

An Indiana University biologist has been awarded over $2.3 million from the National Institutes of Health to genetically modify variants of the human pathogen chlamydia in hopes of finding a vaccine for the most commonly reported bacterial infectious disease in the United States.

27 Mar 2012

Cardium commences Generx Phase 3 registration study in myocardial ischemia

Cardium Therapeutics today announced the initiation of the ASPIRE Phase 3 registration study to evaluate the therapeutic effects of Cardium's lead product candidate, Generx (Ad5FGF-4) in patients with myocardial ischemia.

21 Mar 2012

Combination of Toca 511 and 5-FC may prolong survival in glioblastoma

Tocagen Inc. today announced the publication of data showing the company's investigational treatment for high grade glioma eradicates brain tumors and provides a dramatic survival benefit in mouse models of glioblastoma.

4 Feb 2012

Gene therapy for bleeding disorder Hemophilia B

In a landmark study, researchers used gene therapy to successfully treat six patients with severe hemophilia, a blood-clotting disorder. Despite the early nature of the study, it is promising. A single infusion using the new treatment worked in some patients for more than a year, boosting their clotting ability significantly.

12 Dec 2011

Research examines novel treatment techniques for hemophilia B, VTE

Bleeding and clotting disorders affect a large number of patients annually and, while accurate diagnosis is important, timely and effective treatment for these disorders is key, as they have the potential to quickly become life-threatening. Research examining novel treatment techniques for bleeding and clotting disorders will be presented today at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

12 Dec 2011

U-M scientists generate Dravet-derived neurons

Scientists investigating the fundamental cause of Dravet syndrome, a severe childhood epilepsy, have reprogrammed fibroblasts, a type of skin cell, from Dravet patients and generated patient-specific neurons.

5 Dec 2011

New gene therapy approach safe for patients with muscular dystrophy

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have shown that it is safe to cut and paste together different viruses in an effort to create the ultimate vehicle for gene therapy. In a phase I clinical trial, the investigators found no side effects from using a "chimeric" virus to deliver replacement genes for an essential muscle protein in patients with muscular dystrophy.

1 Dec 2011

Bacteria rapidly exchange genetic information related to human disease and antibiotic resistance

Much as people can exchange information instantaneously in the digital age, bacteria associated with humans and their livestock appear to freely and rapidly exchange genetic material related to human disease and antibiotic resistance through a mechanism called horizontal gene transfer (HGT).

2 Nov 2011

Plausible way to circumvent drug resistance in breast cancer cells

Breast cancer cells that mutate to resist drug treatment survive by establishing tiny pumps on their surface that reject the drugs as they penetrate the cell membrane - making the cancer insensitive to chemotherapy drugs even after repeated use.

29 Sep 2011

Mary Ann Liebert launches 'Human Gene Therapy Methods' journal

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. announces the launch of a journal expansion, Human Gene Therapy Methods, to complement the flagship publication Human Gene Therapy.

14 Sep 2011

LYSOGENE launches the first gene therapy clinical trials in Sanfilippo disease

LYSOGENE announces the authorization by AFSSAPS (the French Agency for the Safety of Health Products) and by the Ethical Review Board of SAF-301, its leading intra-cerebral gene therapy phase I/II clinical trial aiming at treating Sanfilippo Type A Syndrome.

16 Aug 2011

NPL scientists mimick the ways viruses infect human cells and deliver genetic material

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have mimicked the ways viruses infect human cells and deliver their genetic material. The research hopes to apply the approach to gene therapy - a therapeutic strategy to correct defective genes such as those that cause cancer.

12 Aug 2011

Humans' desire to kill rats has only made them stronger

Over millennia, mice have thrived despite humanity's efforts to keep them at bay. A Rice University scientist argues some mice have found two ways to achieve a single goal -- resistance to common poison.

22 Jul 2011

Localized one-time gene therapy might effectively protect against atherosclerosis

A one-dose method for delivering gene therapy into an arterial wall effectively protects the artery from developing atherosclerosis despite ongoing high blood cholesterol.

21 Jul 2011

Researchers use clever technique to look at in vivo virus-bacterium interactions

Viruses are the most abundant parasites on Earth. Well known viruses, such as the flu virus, attack human hosts, while viruses such as the tobacco mosaic virus infect plant hosts.

2 Jul 2011

Mary Ann Liebert peer-reviewed journal highlights advances in gene therapy for neurological diseases

Novel tools and methods for delivering therapeutic genes to cells in the central nervous system hold great promise for the development of new treatments to combat incurable neurologic diseases.

30 Jun 2011

Genetic tools that enable cell type-specific delivery hold promise for combating incurable neurologic diseases

Novel tools and methods for delivering therapeutic genes to cells in the central nervous system hold great promise for the development of new treatments to combat incurable neurologic diseases. Five of the most exciting developments in this rapidly advancing field are presented in a series of articles in the June issue of Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc..

29 Jun 2011

Growth-braking tumor-suppressor gene slows growth of childhood brain tumors

Johns Hopkins researchers have found a likely explanation for the slow growth of the most common childhood brain tumor, pilocytic astrocytoma. Using tests on a new cell-based model of the tumor, they concluded that the initial process of tumor formation switches on a growth-braking tumor-suppressor gene, in a process similar to that seen in skin moles.

24 Jun 2011

BGI releases first complete map of Germany E. coli O104:H4 genome

Building upon previous efforts producing a high-quality de novo genome assemblies of deadly 2011 E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain, the BGI and their collaborators at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf have now released the first complete map of the genome and plasmids without any assembly gaps.

17 Jun 2011