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Malaria: Nose of mosquito transplanted

Scientists at Vanderbilt and Yale universities have successfully transplanted most of the "nose" of the mosquito that spreads malaria into frog eggs and fruit flies and are employing these surrogates to combat the spread of the deadly and debilitating disease that afflicts 500 million people.

16 Feb 2010

Study: Common underlying mechanism causes complex defects in brain development and function

A new study reveals that a common underlying mechanism is shared by a group of previously unrelated disorders which all cause complex defects in brain development and function. Rett syndrome (RTT), Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) and Alpha-Thalassemia mental Retardation, X-linked syndrome (ATR-X) have each been linked with distinct abnormalities in chromatin, the spools of proteins and DNA that make up chromosomes and control how genetic information is read in a cell.

16 Feb 2010

Tinnitus not a highly inherited condition, says study

Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, does not appear to be a highly inherited condition (i.e., does not pass frequently from parents to offspring), according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

16 Feb 2010

Stem cells intentionally cut and then repair their own DNA to develop new tissues

A new study from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa suggests that stem cells intentionally break their own DNA as a way of regulating tissue development. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), could dramatically change how researchers think about tissue development, stem cells and cancer.

15 Feb 2010

Allele-specific DNA methylation a widespread phenomenon, reveals IoP study

Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), King's College London, have identified numerous novel regions of the genome where the chemical modifications involved in controlling gene expression are influenced by either genetic variation or the parental origin of that particular stretch of DNA. This contradicts previous assumptions that epigenetic signals are generally equal across both copies of a given region of the genome, except at a small number of known imprinted genes.

15 Feb 2010

Researchers identify defective signaling pathway that contributes to the severity of cystic fibrosis

In a study that could lead to new therapeutic targets for patients with the cystic fibrosis, a research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has identified a defective signaling pathway that contributes to disease severity.

15 Feb 2010

Researchers use $1.3M grant from NIH to study on obesity and Type 2 diabetes

A team of Northern Arizona University-led researchers is using nearly $1.3 million in new funding from the National Institutes of Health to continue with the world's longest-running study on obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

15 Feb 2010

Researchers describe the structure of ToxT that controls virulent nature of Vibrio cholerae

In a new study, Dartmouth researchers describe the structure of a protein called ToxT that controls the virulent nature of Vibrio cholerae, the bacteria that causes cholera. Buried within ToxT, the researchers were surprised to find a fatty acid that appears to inhibit ToxT, which prevents the bacteria from causing cholera.

14 Feb 2010

New project to unravel secret lives of cancer cells may help produce new cancer therapies

A team of scientists from Princeton University and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey has embarked on a major new project to unravel the secret lives of cancer cells that go dormant and self-cannibalize to survive periods of stress. The work may help produce new cancer therapies to stem changes that render cancer cells dangerous and resistant to treatment.

12 Feb 2010

Treating bacteria with insufficient levels of antibiotics leads to multidrug resistance in 'superbugs'

For years, doctors have warned patients to finish their antibiotic prescriptions or risk a renewed infection by a "superbug" that can mount a more powerful defense against the same drug. But a new study by Boston University biomedical engineers indicates that treating bacteria with levels of antibiotics insufficient to kill them produces germs that are cross-resistant to a wide range of antibiotics.

12 Feb 2010

Low doses of antibiotics may serve as active mutagens and lead to multidrug resistance

Multidrug resistant bacteria such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pose a major problem for patients, doctors, and the pharmaceutical industry. To combat such bacteria, it is critical to understand how resistance is developed in the first place. It is commonly thought that an incomplete course of antibiotics would lead to resistance to that particular antibiotic by allowing the bacteria to make adaptive changes under less stringent conditions.

12 Feb 2010

IBM, VLSCI scientists to use Blue Gene supercomputer to study human disease

IBM today announced a Research collaboratory in Melbourne, Australia, where scientists from the Victorian Life Sciences Computational Initiative at the University of Melbourne and the IBM Research Computational Biology Center will use high performance computing – including IBM's Blue Gene supercomputer – to study human disease.

12 Feb 2010

Researchers discover cancer gene in ancestral metazoan

To find the causes for cancer, biochemists and developmental biologists at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, retraced the function of an important human cancer gene 600 million years back in time. For the first time, they have identified the oncogene myc in a fresh water polyp and they have shown that this oncogene has similar biochemical functions in ancestral metazoan and in humans.

12 Feb 2010

Scientists uncover new gene that could help save sight of patients with inherited blindness

The international research team led by the University of Leeds found that the TSPAN12 gene is faulty in patients with a disease known as FEVR (Familial Exudative Vitreoretinopathy), which affects the development of the eye.

12 Feb 2010

Neurotoxin study may help find new therapies to block hyperactive ion channels

There are approximately 500 species of cone snails, each producing 50 - 200 different conotoxins. A similar number of peptide toxins are produced by snakes, spiders, sea anemones, scorpions and other venomous animals. The animals use the neurotoxins to paralyze their prey.

11 Feb 2010

New genetic 'hotspots' may help doctors devise therapies for bowel cancer patients

Cancer Research UK scientists have identified the frequency of new genetic 'hotspots' which could help doctors to tailor therapies to as many as 3,000 additional bowel cancer patients each year, according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer today.

11 Feb 2010

Oncogene has similar biochemical functions in ancestral metazoan and in humans

11 Feb 2010

ALSF commemorates "a decade of standing for hope" by holding high profile lemonade stands

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer (ALSF) is commemorating "a decade of standing for hope" by holding a string of high profile lemonade stands, the first taking place at the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl. 2010 marks 10 years since cancer patient Alexandra "Alex" Scott (1996-2004) held her first front yard lemonade stand to find a cure for childhood cancer.

11 Feb 2010

New research solves mystery behind speech disorder

The mystery behind a complex disorder called stuttering became a little clearer today with the announcement of the discovery of three genes for stuttering by Dennis Drayna, Ph.D., a director of the Stuttering Foundation and researcher for the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

11 Feb 2010

Researchers investigate risk factors for childhood obesity

Both genetics and parents who comfort their infants with food are the focus of a study funded for $1 million by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestion and Kidney Disease investigating risk factors for childhood obesity.

11 Feb 2010

Genes News and Research

Malaria: Nose of mosquito transplanted

Study: Common underlying mechanism causes complex defects in brain development and function

Tinnitus not a highly inherited condition, says study

Stem cells intentionally cut and then repair their own DNA to develop new tissues

Allele-specific DNA methylation a widespread phenomenon, reveals IoP study

Researchers identify defective signaling pathway that contributes to the severity of cystic fibrosis

Researchers use $1.3M grant from NIH to study on obesity and Type 2 diabetes

Researchers describe the structure of ToxT that controls virulent nature of Vibrio cholerae

New project to unravel secret lives of cancer cells may help produce new cancer therapies

Treating bacteria with insufficient levels of antibiotics leads to multidrug resistance in 'superbugs'

Low doses of antibiotics may serve as active mutagens and lead to multidrug resistance

IBM, VLSCI scientists to use Blue Gene supercomputer to study human disease

Researchers discover cancer gene in ancestral metazoan

Scientists uncover new gene that could help save sight of patients with inherited blindness

Neurotoxin study may help find new therapies to block hyperactive ion channels

New genetic 'hotspots' may help doctors devise therapies for bowel cancer patients

Oncogene has similar biochemical functions in ancestral metazoan and in humans

ALSF commemorates "a decade of standing for hope" by holding high profile lemonade stands

New research solves mystery behind speech disorder

Researchers investigate risk factors for childhood obesity

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