Genetic News and Research

RSS

New techniques to search the yeast genome for genes that help keep copied chromosomes together

Johns Hopkins scientists have successfully used new techniques to search the yeast genome for genes that help keep copied chromosomes together, protecting the integrity of the organism's genetic material during cell division.

22 Apr 2004

Genetically engineered bugs to fight cancer

GENETICALLY engineered bacteria could become the latest weapons against cancer, Cancer Research UK scientists suggest in a study published today 22nd April 2004.

22 Apr 2004

Prediction of adult diseases in infancy

A new way of predicting which young children are most at risk of eventually contracting diabetes and heart disease in adult life is being developed by researchers at Cambridge University - with help from Bristol’s Children of the 90s.

22 Apr 2004

Turmeric corrects the cystic fibrosis defect

Scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) and Yale University School of Medicine have found that a compound in the spice turmeric corrects the cystic fibrosis defect in mice. This research is reported in the April 23, 2004 issue of the journal Science.

22 Apr 2004

No relationship between HIV and oral polio vaccine

HIV-AIDS did not come from oral polio vaccine contaminated with chimpanzee virus, reports a research team led by a University of Arizona evolutionary biologist

21 Apr 2004

A promising new therapy for rheumatoid arthritis

A promising new therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) developed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine re-educates the body's immune system to prevent an attack against healthy joint tissue.

21 Apr 2004

Researchers have discovered a genetic mutation associated with an inherited form of motor neuron disease

Researchers have discovered a genetic mutation associated with an inherited form of motor neuron disease in which symptoms first appear in childhood or young adulthood. The finding is slated for publication in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

20 Apr 2004

Functional genomics provide improved drug discovery

Functional genomics and proteomics have been quite successful in identifying functions of potential therapeutic targets such as encoded proteins.

20 Apr 2004

Jefferson scientists learn how HIV causes dementia

Ever since the AIDS epidemic began more than two decades ago, scientists have been trying to understand why as many as one-quarter of those infected with HIV develop dementia.

19 Apr 2004

Black women with high blood pressure during pregnancy have higher homocysteine levels

Black women with pregnancy-induced high blood pressure have more homocysteine (an amino acid linked with atherosclerosis) and less folic acid in their blood than white women.

19 Apr 2004

Estrogen–like drugs may help postmenopausal women

Scientists may debate whether weight gain is a side effect of menopause, but the numbers are clear: On average, women may experience a gain of approximately 10-15 pounds in the years surrounding menopause.

19 Apr 2004

Researchers find drug that may suppress genetic mutation using a novel screening approach

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a way of identifying promising new drugs that may get around a major challenge in drug discovery.

18 Apr 2004

Gene discovery could improve anemia treatment in patients

Patients with inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, chronic infections and some types of cancer, often become anemic – a condition called anemia of chronic disease (ACD). While ACD rarely kills patients, it can make their lives miserable.

18 Apr 2004

New method that will revolutionize the search for genes

Medical researchers know that most common human diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, have a large genetic component. Many genes, interacting with the environment, contribute to these diseases. For researchers, a major challenge is finding all the genes involved with a particular disease.

18 Apr 2004

Lung cancer varies between men and women

Tobacco use in American women rose dramatically during the 20th century, resulting in a 600 percent increase by the year 2003 in the number of women who died of lung cancer. In the same period, the number of lung cancer deaths in men declined.

18 Apr 2004

Genetic connection between humans, mice and dogs

The discovery that humans are genetically close to mice and dogs might make people develop greater respect for life, J. Craig Venter, a major contributor to the historic mapping of the human genome, said.

16 Apr 2004

New information on genetic shuffling before egg or sperm formation rewrites genetic theory

Key decisions in the genetic shuffling that occurs before eggs or sperm are formed are made earlier than thought, rewriting textbook genetics, according to recent papers from researchers at UC Davis, Harvard University and UC San Diego.

16 Apr 2004

Scientists will debate E.coli and the adaption by micro-organisms to modern day drugs

This debate will centre around why humans are constantly under attack from infectious diseases such as E.coli despite medical advances in vaccinations and antibiotics, and how micro-organisms that cause disease evolve and adapt quickly to the many barriers that our bodies' anti-infection strategies and our drugs industry throw at them.

16 Apr 2004

Microbiologists have characterised the DNA in bacteria responsible for vomiting

James Cook University microbiologists have characterised the DNA in bacteria responsible for one of the world's most common forms of food poisoning.

16 Apr 2004

New forensic tool to detect infectious diseases

Tests for the detection of infectious diseases in North Queensland will be faster and cheaper, thanks to the purchase of new equipment in James Cook University's School of Biomedical Sciences.

16 Apr 2004