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DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

Nanodiamonds advance anticancer gene therapy

Gene therapy holds promise in the treatment of cancer as well as a large number of other diseases. However, developing a scalable system for delivering genes to cells both efficiently and safely has been challenging. Now, two teams of researchers have developed versatile nanotechnology-enabled platforms that could get therapeutic genes safely and efficiently into cancer cells.

23 Sep 2009

Interleukin Genetics reports positive results from clinical study on weight management

Interleukin Genetics, Inc. (NYSE Amex: ILI) announced today top-line positive results from a retrospective clinical study on weight management using patients who participated in a diet study previously reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

23 Sep 2009

FDA accepts Sangamo's IND for repeat-dosing in Phase 1 clinical trial of SB-728-T ZFN-based therapeutic

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGMO) announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed and accepted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to initiate an open-label, repeat-dosing Phase 1 clinical trial (SB-728-T-902) of the company's ZFN-based therapeutic, SB-728-T. A single dose Phase 1 clinical study of SB-728-T was initiated in February 2009 and is ongoing at the University of Pennsylvania.

23 Sep 2009

Phase 1b interim clinical trial results of IMO-2055, Tarceva and Avast combination announced

Idera Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: IDRA) today presented interim data from a phase 1b, single arm clinical trial evaluating IMO-2055, an agonist of Toll-like Receptor (TLR) 9, in combination with Tarceva® and Avastin® in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

23 Sep 2009

Researchers make significant advances in the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma

Researchers have made significant advances in the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma - one of the most difficult cancers to treat successfully once it has started to spread - according to a study to be presented at Europe's largest cancer congress, ECCO 15 - ESMO 34, in Berlin on Thursday.

23 Sep 2009

Agilent Technologies introduces SureSelect Human All Exon Kit

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) has chosen the Cambridge Health Institute’s Next-Generation Sequencing Analysis conference today to introduce its SureSelect Human All Exon Kit for target enrichment prior to next-generation DNA sequencing.

23 Sep 2009

Agilent Technologies and Applied Biosystems to co-market SureSelect system

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) and Applied Biosystems, part of Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE), today introduced the Agilent SureSelect Target Enrichment System, which is optimized for the SOLiD™ System, a next-generation advanced genomic analysis sequencing platform.

23 Sep 2009

NIH funding helps to boost sales of DNA sequencers

Rapid increase in output from second-generation DNA sequencers has enabled new levels of productivity and new experiments. This, along with funding from the stimulus bill, has caused rapid adoption of these machines, according to healthcare market research firm Kalorama Information, helping to fuel sales of DNA sequencers to $480 million in 2008. In its report "DNA Sequencing Equipment and Services Markets, 2nd Edition," Kalorama says more changes are on the way and will drives sales growth of 19% annually through 2013.

23 Sep 2009

Technological and scientific initiatives from Helicos BioSciences Corporation

Helicos BioSciences Corporation provided updates on recent scientific findings and progress on Helicos’s technology initiatives. Speaking at the Personal Genomes conference in Cold Spring Harbor, NY, and the CHI Next Generation Sequencing conference in Providence, RI, Patrice Milos, Ph.D. Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer provided an overview of recent technological and scientific initiatives underway at Helicos.

23 Sep 2009

Advancements in the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma

23 Sep 2009

Updates from Pacific Biosciences to its commercial strategy and progress

Pacific Biosciences, a private company developing a disruptive technology platform for real-time detection of biological events at single molecule resolution, today provided a number of updates to its commercial strategy and progress.

22 Sep 2009

Rexahn and Teva sign license and stock purchase agreements

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: RNN), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company commercializing potential best in class oncology and central nervous system (CNS) therapeutics, today announced that it has closed on its previously announced licensing and stock purchase agreements with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, a top 20 pharmaceutical company, for the development of its novel anti-cancer compound, RX-3117. RX-3117 is a small molecule, new chemical entity (NCE), nucleoside compound that has an anti-metabolite mechanism of action, and has therapeutic potential in a broad range of cancers including colon, lung and pancreatic cancer.

22 Sep 2009

GeoVax requests FDA meeting to discuss IND for its therapeutic HIV/AIDS vaccine

GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: GOVX) (the "Company"), an Atlanta-based, biopharmaceutical company developing human vaccines for diseases caused by HIV-1 (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and other infectious agents, today announced that it has requested a pre-Investigational New Drug (IND) meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss a proposed IND for GeoVax's therapeutic vaccine as a treatment for individuals infected with HIV/AIDS.

22 Sep 2009

Importance of residual thymopoiesis in aged adults

Doctor Manuel Leal is managing the Experimental Immune Virology Laboratory (in Virgen del Rocío University Hospital and Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBIS), where clinic and basic science researchers work) where he leads a project to establish the functional nature of the thymus gland in adults. So far, it has been proven that this gland keeps on producing lymphocytes in the old age (Ferrando-Martínez et al. AGE, in press), which is a novelty because until very recently it was considered that this organ lost its immune capacity after the puberty.

22 Sep 2009

Gene variant shows a strong gender bias for cancer predisposition

Cancer predisposition resulting from the presence of a specific gene variant shows a strong gender bias, researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have demonstrated.

22 Sep 2009

Signaling molecules have different effects on key inhibitory protein

Researchers have identified a mechanism that may keep a well known signaling molecule from eroding bone and inflaming joints, according to an early study published online today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

22 Sep 2009

Junk DNA could accelerate development of gene therapies

Scientists have identified how a protein enables sections of so-called junk DNA to be cut and pasted within genetic code - a finding which could speed development of gene therapies.

21 Sep 2009

Maxygen completes joint venture transaction with Astellas Pharma

Maxygen, Inc. (Nasdaq:MAXY) today announced the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the previously announced joint venture agreement between Maxygen and Astellas Pharma Inc. Under the joint venture transaction, which closed on September 18, 2009, the parties established a newly-formed joint venture, Perseid Therapeutics LLC, to focus on the discovery, research and development of multiple protein pharmaceutical programs.

21 Sep 2009

Public offer to holders of Pharming Group's convertible bonds

Biotech company Pharming Group NV ("Pharming" or the "Company") (NYSE Euronext: PHARM) today announces that it has made a public offer to the holders of convertible bonds (issued in 2007) to convert their bonds into a combination of cash and shares.

21 Sep 2009

Increasing the half life of proteins to treat diseases such as hepatitis B

Many biopharmaceuticals comprise small proteins that are quickly eliminated from the body. Scientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) combine such small proteins with a kind of molecular balloon that swells and thus prolongs the half-life of the proteins in the body. The TUM spin-off XL-Protein GmbH has now started to further develop this new technology with blockbuster potential.

21 Sep 2009