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Researchers identify potential therapeutic target in treatment of certain AML

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a group of heterogeneous diseases with considerable diversity in terms of genetic abnormalities. Mutations of CEBPA, a tumour suppressor, are found in about 10 per cent of human AML patients. In two separate studies on CEBPA mutations in AML subtypes, researchers successfully identified and validated a gene known as Sox4 as a potential therapeutic target and a class of anti-cancer drugs, histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, as potential candidates in the treatment of certain AML.

25 Nov 2013

CRISPR-Cas-system: A promising tool for genetic engineering

Viruses cannot only cause illnesses in humans, they also infect bacteria. Those protect themselves with a kind of 'immune system' which - simply put - consists of specific sequences in the genetic material of the bacteria and a suitable enzyme. It detects foreign DNA, which may originate from a virus, cuts it up and thus makes the invaders harmless.

25 Nov 2013

Research: Notch protein plays essential role in triggering T-cell development

The lab of Avinash Bhandoola, PhD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, has studied the origins of T cells for many years. One protein called Notch, which has well-known roles in the development of multiple tissues, plays an essential role in triggering T-cell development.

25 Nov 2013

UCL scientists show widespread differences in how genes get expressed in men and women's brains

UCL scientists have shown that there are widespread differences in how genes, the basic building blocks of the human body, are expressed in men and women's brains.

25 Nov 2013

Researchers discover how type 2 diabetes drug metformin actually works

Researchers from St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, in collaboration with researchers at McMaster University in Canada, are reportedly the first to discover how the type 2 diabetes drug metformin actually works, providing a molecular understanding that could lead to the development of more effective therapies. Mass spectrometry technologies from AB SCIEX, a global leader in analytical technologies, played a critical role in the analysis that led to this breakthrough finding.

25 Nov 2013

Researchers identify two gene mutations associated with increased risk of eating disorders

Eating disorders are disturbing and often-heartbreaking ailments that are relatively common, mostly among younger women.

25 Nov 2013

Super cocktail of six natural compounds killed 100% of breast cancer cells without toxic side effects

A study led by Madhwa Raj, PhD, Research Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and its Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, has found that a super cocktail of six natural compounds in vegetables, fruits, spices and plant roots killed 100% of sample breast cancer cells without toxic side effects on normal cells.

25 Nov 2013

Scientists use RNAi technology to reveal genes responsible for treating Parkinson's disease

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have used RNA interference (RNAi) technology to reveal dozens of genes which may represent new therapeutic targets for treating Parkinson's disease. The findings also may be relevant to several diseases caused by damage to mitochondria, the biological power plants found in cells throughout the body.

24 Nov 2013

Genetic diagnostic test for inherited eye diseases now available from Mass. Eye and Ear

The Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology today announced the availability of a comprehensive genetic diagnostic test for inherited eye diseases.

22 Nov 2013

First molecular test developed to detect eosinophilic esophagitis

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have developed the first molecular test to diagnose eosinophilic esophagitis, a chronic upper gastrointestinal disorder. The incidence of EoE has skyrocketed since it was first characterized two decades ago.

22 Nov 2013

New targeted treatments for autism may be possible

Finding major new clues to the origins of autism, a Yale-led team of researchers has pinpointed which cell types and regions of the developing human brain are affected by gene mutations linked to autism. They report their findings in the Nov. 21 issue of the journal Cell.

22 Nov 2013

Studies link hundreds of gene mutations in the brain to increased autism risk

Pity the poor autism researcher. Recent studies have linked hundreds of gene mutations scattered throughout the brain to increased autism risk. Where do you start?

22 Nov 2013

Research paves way towards personalized chronotherapy treatments

Cancer chronotherapy consists in administering treatment at an optimal time. Because the body is governed by precise biological rhythms, the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs can be doubled and their toxicity reduced five-fold depending on the exact timing of their administration.

22 Nov 2013

Researchers identify a group of 39 genes linked with alcoholism

There is good evidence from studies of families and twins that genetics plays an important role in the development of alcoholism. However, hundreds of genes likely are involved in this complex disorder, with each variant contributing only a very small effect. Thus, identifying individual risk genes is difficult.

21 Nov 2013

A High-speed, User-friendly Microplate Reader

An interview with Ville Hasslahti, discussing an advanced microplate reader that can cover a whole plate in 15 seconds or less.

From Hidex Oy 21 Nov 2013

Brown University biologists find way to measure effects of aging

Biologists at Brown University have found a way to measure the effects of aging by watching the ebb and flow of chromatin, a structure along strands of DNA that either silences or permits gene expression. In several newly published experiments they show that gene silencing via chromatin in fruit flies declines with age.

21 Nov 2013

Buck Institute research provides method to study sarcopenia

Our epigenome is a set of chemical switches that turn parts of our genome off and on at strategic times and locations. These switches help alter the way our cells act and are impacted by environmental factors including diet, exercise and stress. Research at the Buck Institute reveals that aging also effects the epigenome in human skeletal muscle. The study, appearing on line in Aging Cell, provides a method to study sarcopenia, the degenerative loss of muscle mass that begins in middle age.

21 Nov 2013

Predicting a person's tall stature from DNA is feasible, shows new study

Predicting adult body height from genetic data is helpful in several areas such as pediatric endocrinology and forensic investigations. However, despite large international efforts to catalogue the genes that influence the stature of humans, knowledge on genetic determinants of adult body height is still incomplete. Now DNA-based prediction of taller-than-average body height is feasible, as reported by researchers from the Netherlands and Sweden in an article published in Springer's journal Human Genetics

21 Nov 2013

Researchers discover new human enzyme that facilitates DNA repair during DNA copying process

Every day, the human body produces new cells to regenerate tissues and repair those that have suffered injury. Each time this happens, the cells make copies of their DNA that they will pass on to the resulting daughter cells. This process of copying the DNA, also called replication, is very delicate, given that it can generate severe alterations in the DNA that are associated with malignant transformation or ageing.

21 Nov 2013

Using radiation models to improve cancer therapies: an interview with Adrian Treverton, COO of Xstrahl and Jean-Pierre Wery, President of Crown Bioscience

What we are trying to do is take a cancer model like the PDX model (patient-derived tumor xenograft), which is a human-derived cancer growing in an in vivo model and apply radiation to that model.

From Xstrahl 20 Nov 2013