Genes News and Research

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WSU's novel gene-therapy for blindness receives $250,000 FFB grant

Technology to restore vision through the use of a component of green algae - developed by a Wayne State University professor and scientific director of the Ligon Research Center of Vision at the Kresge Eye Institute - has attracted additional funding for therapy development.

16 Feb 2012

TFF3 protein plays a more sinister role in breast cancer metastasis

The trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) protein protects and maintains the integrity of the epithelial surface in the normal breast. New research has found that while TFF3 protein expression is higher in well-differentiated low grade tumors and therefore associated with features of a good prognosis, it has a more sinister role in breast cancer invasion and metastasis.

16 Feb 2012

Researchers identify potent regulator of sensitivity to insulin

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a potent regulator of sensitivity to insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels. The new findings may help scientists find better treatments for type 2 diabetes, obesity and other health problems caused by the body's inability to properly regulate blood sugar.

16 Feb 2012

Ovarian cancer subtype may be susceptible to 'anti-angiogenic' drugs

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a subtype of ovarian cancer able to build its own blood vessels, suggesting that such tumors might be especially susceptible to "anti-angiogenic" drugs that block blood vessel formation.

15 Feb 2012

Chemists create new molecule that can tangle inside the DNA for up to 16 days

Chemists at The University of Texas at Austin have created a molecule that's so good at tangling itself inside the double helix of a DNA sequence that it can stay there for up to 16 days before the DNA liberates itself, much longer than any other molecule reported.

15 Feb 2012

23andMe, Cleveland Clinic to discover how genes and environment influence PD

In an effort to study the interactions between genomics and Parkinson's disease, Cleveland Clinic has joined the ongoing efforts of 23andMe, a leading personal genetics company, to recruit Parkinson's patients to participate in research by contributing their DNA to a research database and completing online surveys about their health.

15 Feb 2012

Researchers investigate role of a MYC family gene in ovarian cancer

The role of a known cancer-causing gene in the development of the most lethal type of ovarian cancer is being investigated by researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute after they were awarded a Cure Cancer Australia Foundation (CCAF) grant.

15 Feb 2012

mRNA sequencing reveals transcriptomic landscape of breast cancer

GW Cancer Research Team in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, published a study that is the first of its kind to use mRNA sequencing to look at the expression of genome, at a unprecedented resolution at the current time, in three types of breast cancer.

15 Feb 2012

UPV/EHU biologist analyzes genetic and environmental causes of obesity in Romani families

Esther Rebato is a well-known figure in the field of Physical Anthropology. She not only holds the prestigious Alex Hrdli-ka academic medal of the Czech Republic, but she is also the Chair of the Spanish Association of Physical Anthropology. This lecturer at the Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) has carried out numerous pieces of work into nutritional habits, life quality and other associated aspects.

15 Feb 2012

Study confirms increased risk of cancers linked with Lynch syndrome

People with Lynch syndrome have a genetic mutation that gives them a high risk of several types of cancer including bowel cancer. The genes that are damaged can't repair any errors that occur in our DNA.

15 Feb 2012

Gene sequencing could identify genetic variants of lung cancer and colorectal cancer

Foundation Medicine Inc., a molecular information company that brings comprehensive cancer gene analysis to routine clinical care, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have come up with the results from their collaborative next-generation sequencing (NGS) study to assay cancer-relevant genes in 24 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 40 colorectal cancer (CRC) cases.

14 Feb 2012

Epigenetic mechanisms maintain tolerance in T cells specific for self antigens

At the most basic level, the immune system must distinguish self from non-self, that is, it must discriminate between the molecular signatures of invading pathogens (non-self antigens) and cellular constituents that usually pose no risk to health (self-antigens).

14 Feb 2012

'Targeted' drugs may be effective against lung and colorectal tumors driven by novel gene abnormalities

Novel gene abnormalities discovered in a subpopulation of lung and colorectal tumors could potentially identify patients with a good chance of responding to highly specific "targeted" drugs already in use for treating other cancers, scientists report.

14 Feb 2012

Scientists create fungi with additional foreign genes to produce chemicals for drugs

Usually, mould fungi are nothing to cheer about - but now they can be used as "chemical factories". Scientists at the Vienna University of Technology have succeeded in introducing bacterial genes into the fungus Trichoderma, so that the fungus can now produce important chemicals for the pharmaceutical industry. The raw material used by the fungus is abundant - it is chitin, which makes up the shells of crustaceans.

14 Feb 2012

Scientists create new mouse model for medulloblastoma

Scientists at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) developed a new mouse model for studying a devastating childhood brain cancer called medulloblastoma.

14 Feb 2012

People with Lynch syndrome face increased risks of breast and pancreatic cancers

A new prospective study of patients with Lynch syndrome - an inherited disorder of cancer susceptibility caused by mutations in specific DNA repair genes - provides the first strong evidence that people with Lynch syndrome face significantly increased risks of breast and pancreatic cancers.

14 Feb 2012

Discovery of novel rearrangements and fusions supports role for NGS in treatment of cancer

Foundation Medicine, Inc., a molecular information company that brings comprehensive cancer gene analysis to routine clinical care, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute today announced the Nature Medicine publication of results from their collaborative next-generation sequencing (NGS) study to assay cancer-relevant genes in 24 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 40 colorectal cancer (CRC) cases.

13 Feb 2012

Researchers discover a startling feature of early brain development

Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes. The findings, published February 3 in Cell, may help scientists develop new therapies for neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and provide insight into certain cancers.

13 Feb 2012

Molecular secrets behind halofuginone's power

For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, a compound derived from this extract's bioactive ingredient, could be used to treat many autoimmune disorders as well. Now, researchers from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine have discovered the molecular secrets behind this herbal extract's power.

13 Feb 2012

Cognitive impairment affects majority of non-demented Swedish elderly

Both subjective and objective cognitive impairment are highly common among non-demented elderly Swedes, with an overall prevalence of 39 percent and 25 percent respectively, according to a nation-wide twin-study by researchers at the Aging Research Center of Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. The study confirms higher education as a major protective factor and stresses the importance of environmental aspects over genes in mild cognitive disorders in old age.

13 Feb 2012