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Study results may help researchers determine genetic abnormalities that cause lung disease to develop

Patients who encounter serious lung diseases in middle age, despite an absence of family history or other predisposing factors, may still have their genes to blame, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

19 May 2010

Research findings help explain diverse genetic susceptibility for alcohol use disorders

A genetic variant of a receptor in the brain's reward circuitry plays an important role in determining whether the neurotransmitter dopamine is released in the brain following alcohol intake, according to a study led by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health. Dopamine is involved in transmitting the euphoria and other positive subjective effects produced by alcohol.

19 May 2010

Natural molecule in body counters progression of osteoarthritis: Scientists

An international team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute in California and the National Research Institute for Child Health and Development in Japan has discovered that a natural molecule in the body counters the progression of osteoarthritis. The findings could one day lead to new therapies for some common diseases of aging.

19 May 2010

Researchers identify cancer gene that could help fight paediatric glioma

Researchers have identified an important cancer gene that could lead to more effective drugs being developed to fight paediatric high grade glioma, a disease which currently has a poor prognosis.

19 May 2010

Causes and treatment options of mental disorders need to be reassessed: JAMA commentary

It is time to reassess mental disorders, recognizing that these are disorders of brain circuits likely caused by development processes, according to a commentary in the May 19 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on mental health.

19 May 2010

Researchers discover biological pathway signature of ccRCC

By examining expression of every human gene in clear cell renal cell carcinoma compared to normal kidney cells, researchers at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida have discovered gene signatures they say explain much of the biology of this common and difficult-to-treat kidney cancer.

19 May 2010

Study confirms genetic overlap for susceptibility to COPD and lung cancer

New research shows genes that make smokers more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or emphysema, are also closely linked to an increased likelihood of developing lung cancer, according to studies presented today at the American Thoracic Society's annual meeting.

18 May 2010

Combination therapy proves to be effective treatment for lethal form of leukemia: Research

New research discovers a combination of drugs that may prove to be a more effective treatment for a lethal form of leukemia. The study, published by Cell Press in the May issue of the journal Cancer Cell, reports that the new therapeutic strategy effectively targets notoriously intractable leukemia stem cells that often escape standard treatment and are a main factor in disease relapse.

18 May 2010

New research shows link between mental health and creativity

New research shows a possible explanation for the link between mental health and creativity. By studying receptors in the brain, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have managed to show that the dopamine system in healthy, highly creative people is similar in some respects to that seen in people with schizophrenia.

18 May 2010

VBI researchers establish new tree of life for gamma-proteobacteria

A new "tree of life" has been constructed by researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech for the gamma-proteobacteria, a large group of medically and scientifically important bacteria that includes Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and other disease-causing organisms.

18 May 2010

Population Diagnostics receives NINDS grant for identifying genetic causes of Parkinson's Disease

Population Diagnostics, Inc. ("PDx"), a private company with a novel approach to revealing the genetic causes of disease and predicting drug response, announced today it has been awarded a federal grant to identify the genetic causes of Parkinson's Disease. Funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the National Institutes of Health, the project is being led by Eli Hatchwell, MD, PhD, an Associate Professor at Stony Brook University Medical Center and a co-founder of PDx.

18 May 2010

152 research and training grants awarded to researchers at 93 institutions nationwide

The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has awarded 152 new national research and training grants totaling $50,717,000 in the first of two grants cycles for 2010. The grants, primarily to early career researchers, cover a broad range of investigator-initiated ideas at 93 institutions nationwide, from whether cadmium exposure increases the risk of endometrial cancer, to studies of plant and bacterial-bourne compounds, to a study on a protein called survivin that could lead to novel drugs targeting prostate cancer.

18 May 2010

WaferGen Biosystems first-quarter revenues increase to $389,785

WaferGen Biosystems, Inc., a leading developer of state-of-the-art genome analysis systems, today reported performance results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

17 May 2010

Blood-flow fMRI to be used to study brain-wide impact of neural circuitry changes

Like a motorist who knows that the "check engine" light indicates something important but ill-defined is happening, neuroscientists have relied heavily on an incompletely understood technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging to show them what the brain is doing when people respond to different stimuli.

17 May 2010

UNC-developed technique has broad applications in cancer, biomedical research

A precise understanding of cellular growth and movement is the key to developing new treatments for cancer and other disorders caused by dysfunctional cell behavior. Recent breakthroughs in genetic medicine have uncovered how genes control whether cellular proteins are turned 'on' or 'off' at the molecular level, but much remains to be understood about how protein signaling influences cell behavior.

17 May 2010

Genes living in the outskirts of chromosomes more prone to duplication: Study

The ability of yeast cells to convert sugar to alcohol, the key process in the production of beer and wine, can be attributed to a remarkable evolutionary process. The genes that allow yeast to digest sugars in fruits and grains have been duplicated several times over the course of time - allowing for optimal conversion of different types of sugars (such as sucrose and maltose) into alcohol.

17 May 2010