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The Wistar Institute Melanoma Research Center launched to develop new therapies for melanoma

In an effort to meet the rising rates of melanoma head-on, The Wistar Institute today announced the creation of The Wistar Institute Melanoma Research Center. The Center brings together scientists, physicians, the life sciences industry, and melanoma advocates in saving lives by advancing new and better therapies for this deadly disease.

28 May 2010

OHSU partners with UO, Harvard to expedite research into compounds that may prevent Fanconi anemia

Oregon Health & Science University is partnering with the University of Oregon and Harvard Medical School to expedite basic science research into new and existing drugs and compounds that may prevent the complications associated with Fanconi anemia, an inherited condition that can lead to bone marrow failure and cancer.

28 May 2010

Genentech uses Complete Genomics' sequencing service to compare primary lung tumor, adjacent normal tissue

Complete Genomics Inc., a third-generation human genome sequencing company, today announced that Genentech Inc., a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, used the company's sequencing, bioinformatics and analytics services to sequence and compare a patient's primary lung tumor and adjacent normal tissue.

27 May 2010

Small segment of a protein can control normal expression of genes: Research

In a major cancer-research breakthrough, researchers at the McGill University, Department of Biochemistry have discovered that a small segment of a protein that interacts with RNA can control the normal expression of genes - including those that are active in cancer.

27 May 2010

Researchers discover genetic variant that raises risk of CHD

Although congenital heart disease represents the most common major birth defect, scientists have not previously identified the common variation in the genes that give rise to it. Now genetics and cardiology researchers, two of them brothers, have discovered a genetic variant on chromosome 5 that strongly raises the risk of congenital heart disease.

27 May 2010

Space Shuttle Atlantis returns from International Space Station with tenth scientific payload for Astrogenetix

Space Shuttle Atlantis returned from the International Space Station (ISS) landing at the Kennedy Space Center this morning with the tenth scientific payload for Astrogenetix, a commercial biotech company based out of Austin, Texas. Astrogenetix is conducting research on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as part of the ISS National Laboratory Pathfinder Vaccine (NLP-V) missions.

27 May 2010

Bacteria may play wider role in people predisposed to obesity: Researchers

Bacteria may play more of a role in people predisposed to obesity than previously thought, according to studies presented today by University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers at the 110th general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.

27 May 2010

Researchers report key cellular pathway in deadly brain cancer malignant glioma

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School report in the journal Nature Medicine on a cellular pathway in the deadly brain cancer malignant glioma, a pathway essential to the cancer's ability to grow - and a potential target for therapy that would stop the cancer's ability to thrive.

26 May 2010

Good number of natural bypass vessels an 'insurance policy' against blockage

When the arteries delivering oxygen to our vital organs are obstructed by atherosclerosis or clots, the result is almost always a stroke, heart attack or damage to a peripheral tissue such as the legs (peripheral artery disease). But the severity of tissue injury or destruction from a choked-off blood supply varies from person to person, and may depend in large part on whose circulatory system has the best back-up plan to provide alternate routes of circulation.

26 May 2010

Researchers discover gene mutations in autistic, mentally impaired patients

Researchers working with Professor Gudrun Rappold, Director of the Department of Molecular Human Genetics at Heidelberg University Hospital, have discovered previously unknown mutations in autistic and mentally impaired patients in what is known as the SHANK2 gene, a gene that is partially responsible for linking nerve cells.

26 May 2010

Researchers describe carcinogenic effects of EDCs

Longtime environmental health researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine describe the carcinogenic effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, ubiquitous chemicals that have hormone-like effects in the body. In a review article published online May 25 in Nature Reviews Endocrinology, the researchers express the need for more complex strategies for studying how these chemicals affect health but report that ample evidence already supports changing public health and environmental policies to protect the public from exposure to EDCs.

26 May 2010

HDL cholesterol can transform from good to bad actor in heart-disease process

We've all heard about the importance of raising HDL, or the so-called "good" cholesterol, and lowering LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, to improve heart health. While we've come to assume HDL cholesterol is an inherently good thing, a new study shows that for a certain group of patients, this is not always the case. The study is the first to find that a high level of the supposedly good cholesterol places a subgroup of patients at high risk for recurrent coronary events, such as chest pain, heart attack, and death.

26 May 2010

Exiqon, MultiD Analyses partnership leads to advanced GenEx qPCR data analysis program development

Exiqon A/S, a leader in microRNA analysis products and services, and MultiD Analyses AB, a leader in comprehensive software solutions for qPCR data analysis, today announced a Development and Distribution Agreement incorporating a specifically adapted version of the GenEx qPCR analysis software for Exiqon's new microRNA qPCR platform. The agreement allows Exiqon to sell a fully compatible and comprehensive data analysis solution to complete their microRNA qPCR offering.

25 May 2010

Researchers use zebrafish as model to analyze function of every known mutation in BBS

A research team led by scientists from the Duke University Medical Center has developed a way to simultaneously look at the effects of 125 mutations occurring on 14 different genes. They used zebrafish as a model to analyze the function of every known mutation in an inherited syndrome called BBS, Bardet-Biedl Syndrome.

25 May 2010

Influenza A(H1N1) appears milder than seasonal flu in tropical environment: Report

In a tropical environment, influenza A(H1N1) appeared milder than seasonal flu, was less likely to cause fever and upset stomach and more likely to infect younger individuals, according to a report in the May 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

25 May 2010

A unique multi-modal atlas of human brain

The Allen Institute for Brain Science announced today that it has launched the Allen Human Brain Atlas, a publicly available online atlas charting genes at work throughout the human brain.

25 May 2010

Sangamo's ZFP Therapeutics technology highlighted at ASGCT Annual Meeting

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced today that data from research and preclinical programs focused on the development of zinc finger DNA-binding protein Therapeutics were described in fifteen presentations given by Sangamo scientists and collaborators at the 13th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.

24 May 2010

2010 ASCO Annual Meeting highlights new research findings on cancer

Experts from The Cancer Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center will present new research findings at the 46th Annual Meeting of The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, Illinois.

24 May 2010

State roundup: Genetic testing on campus, Texas docs in Mass., and more

"A plan by the University of California, Berkeley to voluntarily test the DNA of incoming freshman has come under fire from critics who said the school was pushing an unproven technology on impressionable students. The university has said it will send test kits to 5,500 new students to analyze genes that help control the body's responses to alcohol, dairy products and folic acid" (Wohlsen, 5/21).

24 May 2010

New national standards issued for newborn screening

New national standards issued today will assist states to align their newborn screening programs with "the most up-to-date research, technology, laboratory and public health standards and practices."

24 May 2010