Genes News and Research

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Misinterpretation of genetic information may undermine efforts to promote behavioral changes for disease prevention

Does knowing that genes are partly responsible for your health condition mean you are less likely to be motivated to find out about the benefits of behavioral changes? According to Dr. Suzanne O'Neill from the National Human Genome Research Institute/National Institutes of Health, and her colleagues, people on the whole are still interested in how health habits affect disease risk.

10 Jun 2010

Brain stimulation with ultrasound may enhance cognitive function

The ability to diagnose and treat brain dysfunction without surgery, may rely on a new method of noninvasive brain stimulation using pulsed ultrasound developed by a team of scientists led by William "Jamie" Tyler, a neuroscientist at Arizona State University. The approach, published in the journal Neuron on June 9, shows that pulsed ultrasound not only stimulates action potentials in intact motor cortex in mice but it also "elicits motor responses comparable to those only previously achieved with implanted electrodes and related techniques," says Yusuf Tufail, the lead author from ASU's School of Life Sciences.

10 Jun 2010

Copy number variants may cause autism: Study

An international consortium of researchers from more than 70 universities, including the University of Utah, has reported that a study of nearly 2,300 people supports the growing consensus that autism is caused in part by rare genetic changes called copy number variants (CNVs).

10 Jun 2010

New genetic discoveries from Autism Genome Project

An international consortium of researchers working under the auspices of Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization, has announced new genetic discoveries from the second phase of its collaborative study: the Autism Genome Project. The results were published today in the journal Nature, one of the world's most respected peer-reviewed scientific publications.

10 Jun 2010

World's largest DNA scan reveals new genetic changes in autistic children

The world's largest DNA scan for familial autism has uncovered new genetic changes in autistic children that are often not present in their parents. Identified in less than 1 percent of the population, these rare variants occur nearly 20 percent more in autistic children.

10 Jun 2010

Combination therapy appears to improve outcome of women with late-stage ovarian cancer

The combination of decitabine and carboplatin appears to improve the outcome of women who have late-stage ovarian cancer. In an upcoming issue of the journal Cancer (online today), Indiana University researchers report four of 10 patients who participated in a phase I clinical trial had no disease progression after six months of treatment. One patient experienced complete resolution of tumor tissue for a period of time.

10 Jun 2010

Autism is caused in part by CNVs: Study

10 Jun 2010

RCSI scientists make breakthrough in understanding human adaptation to high altitude environments

A group of top international scientists including geneticists from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has made a breakthrough in understanding human adaptation to high altitude environments.

9 Jun 2010

Some commonly used drugs cause bone loss: New research

New research helps to explain why some commonly used drugs come with a serious downside: They up your odds of breaking a bone. The drugs in question, glucocorticoids (e.g. cortisone and prednisone) and the insulin sensitizer rosiglitazone work through entirely different mechanisms as therapies for inflammatory diseases and diabetes respectively, and two studies in the June issue of Cell Metabolism now show that they lead to bone loss in different ways too.

9 Jun 2010

Tel Aviv University researchers invent new tool to control risk of runaway stem cells

Stem cell research holds promise for improving the quality of human life ― especially embryonic stem cells, which can potentially develop into any tissue in the human body. However, basic scientific problems still remain unresolved -- but Tel Aviv University researchers are leading the way to inventive solutions.

9 Jun 2010

Cellectis bioresearch, Lonza collaborate in development, commercialization of bioengineered cell line

Cellectis bioresearch, the French genome customization specialist and a commercial subsidiary of Cellectis, and Lonza, a world leader in biotechnology production, announce today that the companies have entered into an agreement for the development and commercialization of a bioengineered cell line.

9 Jun 2010

Takeda Rika Kogyo to distribute WaferGen's SmartChip Real-Time PCR System in Japan

WaferGen Biosystems, Inc., a leading developer of state-of-the-art genome analysis systems, today announced the signing of an exclusive distribution agreement for the company's SmartChip Real-Time PCR System with Takeda Rika Kogyo Co., Ltd., a leading distributor of innovative products and services in the life science markets within Japan.

8 Jun 2010

Vitiligo associated with genes variations linked to body's immune response

Scientists including researchers from the University of Florida have discovered additional evidence that generalized vitiligo - a disease that typically causes patches of white skin on the face, neck and extremities that pop star Michael Jackson may have experienced - is associated with slight variations in genes that play a role in the body's natural defenses.

8 Jun 2010

Genetic influences play important role in development of gambling disorders: Report

Genetic influences appear important in the development of gambling disorders in both women and men, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

8 Jun 2010

Gene variant linked to ability of Tibetans to cope with low-oxygen conditions identified

A new study pinpoints the genetic changes that enable Tibetans to thrive at altitudes where others get sick.

8 Jun 2010

Researchers discover RAF oncogene that may drive aggressive forms of prostate cancer

The Prostate Cancer Foundation announced today that researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered the RAF oncogene that drives fatal melanomas may also drive the aggressive forms of prostate cancer in the clinic.

8 Jun 2010

Hormone involved in iron metabolism can save mice from deadly acute inflammation: Scientists

In a surprising discovery that someday may lead to new treatments for many inflammatory diseases, University of Utah scientists found that a hormone involved in iron metabolism can save mice from deadly acute inflammation.

8 Jun 2010

Form of epigenetics may play role in pulmonary arterial hypertension: Researchers

A rare but fatal disease of blood vessels in the lung may be caused in part by aberrant silencing of genes rather than genetic mutation, new research reports. Pulmonary arterial hypertension, a syndrome characterized by gradual blockage of blood vessels in the lungs, has been linked to genetic causes in a small percentage of patients. But University of Chicago researchers have now found that a form of epigenetics - the modification of gene expression - causes the disease in an animal model and could contribute to the disease in humans.

8 Jun 2010

Quintiles announces comprehensive suite of PI3K biomarker assays

Quintiles today announced a comprehensive suite of biomarker assays to help biopharmaceutical companies investigate the phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) cancer survival pathway, the focus of numerous anti-cancer therapies under development. Understanding the PI3K pathway is essential in developing new medicines to inhibit or block this pathway, thereby cutting off a metabolic function needed for certain cancers to survive.

8 Jun 2010

Lawsuit to be launched over breast cancer gene patent

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are two genes that have been identified to hold a key to women’s susceptibility to get breast or ovarian cancer. Changes also known as mutations in these genes are significant in women who go on to develop breast or ovarian cancer. Melbourne-based company Genetic Technologies Limited (GTL) has the exclusive license from American biotechnology company Myriad Genetics to carry out testing for the genes in Australia. Myriad holds a patent for these genes.

7 Jun 2010

Genes News and Research

Misinterpretation of genetic information may undermine efforts to promote behavioral changes for disease prevention

Brain stimulation with ultrasound may enhance cognitive function

Copy number variants may cause autism: Study

New genetic discoveries from Autism Genome Project

World's largest DNA scan reveals new genetic changes in autistic children

Combination therapy appears to improve outcome of women with late-stage ovarian cancer

Autism is caused in part by CNVs: Study

RCSI scientists make breakthrough in understanding human adaptation to high altitude environments

Some commonly used drugs cause bone loss: New research

Tel Aviv University researchers invent new tool to control risk of runaway stem cells

Cellectis bioresearch, Lonza collaborate in development, commercialization of bioengineered cell line

Takeda Rika Kogyo to distribute WaferGen's SmartChip Real-Time PCR System in Japan

Vitiligo associated with genes variations linked to body's immune response

Genetic influences play important role in development of gambling disorders: Report

Gene variant linked to ability of Tibetans to cope with low-oxygen conditions identified

Researchers discover RAF oncogene that may drive aggressive forms of prostate cancer

Hormone involved in iron metabolism can save mice from deadly acute inflammation: Scientists

Form of epigenetics may play role in pulmonary arterial hypertension: Researchers

Quintiles announces comprehensive suite of PI3K biomarker assays

Lawsuit to be launched over breast cancer gene patent

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