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Study shows high-fat diet may increase risk for depression, psychiatric disorders

Can the consumption of fatty foods change your behavior and your brain? High-fat diets have long been known to increase the risk for medical problems, including heart disease and stroke, but there is growing concern that diets high in fat might also increase the risk for depression and other psychiatric disorders.

26 Mar 2015

Iceland paint a genomic picture for an entire nation

Researchers in Iceland have published the largest ever studies of whole-genome data and effectively deduced the genetic code of “an entire nation.”

26 Mar 2015

New Autism-Causing Genetic Variant Identified

Using a novel approach that homes in on rare families severely affected by autism, a Johns Hopkins-led team of researchers has identified a new genetic cause of the disease. The rare genetic variant offers important insights into the root causes of autism, the researchers say. And, they suggest, their unconventional method can be used to identify other genetic causes of autism and other complex genetic conditions.

26 Mar 2015

Position statement on promise, challenges of non-invasive prenatal testing

Two of the world's largest professional societies of human geneticists have issued a joint position statement on the promise and challenges of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), a new procedure to test blood drawn from pregnant mothers for Down syndrome and other chromosomal disorders in the fetus.

26 Mar 2015

Mount Sinai researchers reprogram blood cells into iPSCs to study genetic origins of MDS

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) -- adult cells reprogrammed back to an embryonic stem cell-like state--may better model the genetic contributions to each patient's particular disease. In a process called cellular reprogramming, researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have taken mature blood cells from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and reprogrammed them back into iPSCs to study the genetic origins of this rare blood cancer.

26 Mar 2015

Claritas to present data on Pediatric Neurological Exome Assay and new sequencing approach at ACMG 2015

Claritas Genomics will present data on the quality of parallel multi-technology sequencing, a comparison of the company’s phenotypically driven Pediatric Neurology Exome Assay to whole exome and panel-based approaches, three-part reports for rapid results reporting, and the clinical utility of the Neurology Exome’s tailored approach compared to other tests currently on the market.

26 Mar 2015

Agena Bioscience releases LungFUSION Panel to identify gene fusions in NSCLC tumors

Agena Bioscience today released the LungFUSION Panel for rapid and sensitive identification of oncogenic ALK, RET, and ROS1 gene fusions in non-small cell lung cancer tumors.

25 Mar 2015

Regulus' RG-012 receives orphan medicinal product designation in EU for treatment of Alport syndrome

Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery and development of innovative medicines targeting microRNAs, announced today that the European Commission has granted orphan medicinal product designation for RG-012, a single stranded, chemically modified oligonucleotide that binds to and inhibits the function of microRNA-21 ("miR-21") for the treatment of Alport syndrome, a life-threatening genetic kidney disease with no approved therapy.

25 Mar 2015

Personalized gene therapy to fight against cancer

The fight to treat cancer and eradicate tumors will likely benefit from a new set of treatments if early development phases continue to show promise, according to Kalorama Information. The healthcare market research publisher stated that gene therapies that are able to deliver genetic material to a specific cell population or tumor that will result in the destruction of the tumor.

25 Mar 2015

Multimodality at the Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging: an interview with Professor Mark Lythgoe, UCL

Imaging techniques used to live in medical physics departments, where physicists worked on them, but now we're seeing biologists, cell biologists and developmental biologists looking at cellular processes and it's those advances that are really enabling imaging to move forward in a way that it hasn't previously been able to...

From Bruker BioSpin Group 25 Mar 2015

DNA samples collected from tampons may help detect endometrial cancer

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have shown that it is possible to detect endometrial cancer using tumor DNA picked up by ordinary tampons. The new approach specifically examines DNA samples from vaginal secretions for the presence of chemical "off" switches — known as methylation — that can disable genes that normally keep cancer in check.

25 Mar 2015

Biological clue could help explain why some drinkers can't resist alcohol

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered a biological clue that could help explain why some drinkers develop a dependence on alcohol and others do not.

25 Mar 2015

Brain-somatic-activating mutations in MTOR cause focal cortical dysplasia type II

Epilepsy is a brain disorder that afflicts more than 50 million people worldwide. Many epilepsy patients can control their symptoms through medication, but about 30% suffer from intractable epilepsy and are unable to manage the disease with drugs. Intractable epilepsy causes multiple seizures, permanent mental, physical, and developmental disabilities, and even death.

25 Mar 2015

First randomized, controlled trial of pharmacotherapy in PCD patients now in place

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare, genetic respiratory tract disorder leading to progressive pulmonary dysfunction. It exhibits many problems typical for orphan diseases: delayed diagnosis, limited evidence-based knowledge etc. The European Union is funding BESTCILIA (Better Experimental Screening and Treatment for Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia) to introduce uniform guidelines for PCD treatment and diagnosis across Europe.

25 Mar 2015

Testing APOL1 gene variants in deceased kidney donors may improve transplant outcomes

Kidney transplantation outcomes from deceased African-American donors may improve through rapid testing for apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1) renal risk variants at the time of organ recovery, according to a new study led by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

25 Mar 2015

Discovery opens door to possible new ways to break transmission cycle of schistosomiasis

Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a group of genes in one species of snail that provide a natural resistance to the flatworm parasite that causes schistosomiasis, and opens the door to possible new drugs or ways to break the transmission cycle of this debilitating disease.

25 Mar 2015

University of Michigan scientists grow first 3D mini lungs from human stem cells

Scientists from the University of Michigan have grown the first 3D mini lungs from stem cells. The study, published in eLife, compliments other developments in the field such as growing mainly 2D structures and building lung tissue from the scaffold of donated organs.

25 Mar 2015

Genetic News and Research

Study shows high-fat diet may increase risk for depression, psychiatric disorders

Iceland paint a genomic picture for an entire nation

New Autism-Causing Genetic Variant Identified

Position statement on promise, challenges of non-invasive prenatal testing

Mount Sinai researchers reprogram blood cells into iPSCs to study genetic origins of MDS

Claritas to present data on Pediatric Neurological Exome Assay and new sequencing approach at ACMG 2015

Agena Bioscience releases LungFUSION Panel to identify gene fusions in NSCLC tumors

Regulus' RG-012 receives orphan medicinal product designation in EU for treatment of Alport syndrome

Personalized gene therapy to fight against cancer

Multimodality at the Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging: an interview with Professor Mark Lythgoe, UCL

DNA samples collected from tampons may help detect endometrial cancer

Biological clue could help explain why some drinkers can't resist alcohol

Brain-somatic-activating mutations in MTOR cause focal cortical dysplasia type II

First randomized, controlled trial of pharmacotherapy in PCD patients now in place

Testing APOL1 gene variants in deceased kidney donors may improve transplant outcomes

Discovery opens door to possible new ways to break transmission cycle of schistosomiasis

University of Michigan scientists grow first 3D mini lungs from human stem cells

Cepheid's Xpert Ebola diagnostic test granted FDA Emergency Use Authorization

Early response plus genetic variants strengthen antidepressant outcome prediction

Non-invasive autopsy service nominated for national award

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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