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New gene therapy can nearly eliminate arthritis pain

Early-stage research has found that a new gene therapy can nearly eliminate arthritis pain, and significantly reduce long-term damage to the affected joints, according to a study published today in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism.

28 May 2007

Researchers identify a function of neuregulin1 - impact on schizophrenia

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) researchers have identified a function of neuregulin1 (NRG1), a gene previously linked to schizophrenia but whose role in the disease was unknown.

28 May 2007

College attendance and its effect on drinking behaviors in a longitudinal study of adolescents

New research suggests that college attendance exacerbates the inborn propensity of certain young adults to become heavy alcohol users.

28 May 2007

Detailed portrait of 700 proteins that help maintain DNA integrity

Cells have the remarkable ability to keep track of their genetic contents and -- when things go wrong, to step in and repair the damage before cancer or another life-threatening condition develops.

28 May 2007

Genome detectives discover four more breast cancer genes

An international team of scientists say they have identified another four genes that increase a woman's likelihood of developing breast cancer.

28 May 2007

Scientists 'home in' on new breast cancer genes

Cancer Research UK scientists have isolated five regions of the genome containing genes which can increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, reveals a major international study published online in Nature.

27 May 2007

MicroRNAs may increase cancer susceptibility

New evidence indicates that small pieces of noncoding genetic material known as microRNAs (miRNAs) might influence cancer susceptibility.

24 May 2007

Researchers find alteration in gene associated with uterine cancer

Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) today announced the discovery of previously unrecognized alterations in a gene called FGFR2 in a subset of endometrial cancers, the most common gynecologic cancer in the United States.

24 May 2007

Could the food we eat be contributing to the continuing rise of antibiotic-resistant infections?

Harmless and even beneficial bacteria that exist in our food supply may also be carrying genes that code for antibiotic resistance.Once in our bodies, could they transmit the resistance genes to disease-causing bacteria?

24 May 2007

Genetic data overturns long-held theory of limb development

Long before animals with limbs (tetrapods) came onto the scene about 365 million years ago, fish already possessed the genes associated with helping to grow hands and feet (autopods) report University of Chicago researchers in Nature.

24 May 2007

New findings on jet lag

Circadian clocks regulate the timing of biological functions in almost all higher organisms.

24 May 2007

In utero exposure to smoking associated with ADHD problems in genetically susceptible children

Women smokers who become pregnant have long been encouraged to reduce or eliminate their nicotine intake.

24 May 2007

Check and balance for neuron activity provides insight into schizophrenia, seizures

Two genes important for human development and implicated in cancer and schizophrenia also help keep a healthy balance between excitation and inhibition of brain cells, researchers say.

24 May 2007

Tool will revolutionise functional genomic studies in clostridia

The genome of the organism that produces the world's most lethal toxin has been revealed.

24 May 2007

More evidence found indicating potassium channels play a critical role in sleep

A gene that controls the flow of potassium into cells is required to maintain normal sleep in fruit flies, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH).

24 May 2007

Diets high in salt may increase stomach ulcers

Scientists from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) have discovered that diets high in salt may increase the virulence of the pathogen Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), which is the most common cause of ulcers in the stomach and duodenum.

24 May 2007

High salt intake increases gene activity in the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori

Scientists have identified yet another risk from a high-salt diet. High concentrations of salt in the stomach appear to induce gene activity in the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori, making it more virulent and increasing the likelihood of an infected person developing a severe gastric disease.

24 May 2007

Scientists evolve new proteins from scratch

Nature, through the trial and error of evolution, has discovered a vast diversity of life from what can only presumed to have been a primordial pool of building blocks.

24 May 2007

Targeted nanoparticles offer promising techniques for cancer treatment

Researchers in the laboratory of Mark E. Davis at the California Institute of Technology have been using small interfering RNA (siRNA), sometimes known as silencing RNA, to "silence" specific genes that are implicated in certain malignancies.

22 May 2007

Peering into the body and visualizing its molecular secrets one step closer to reality

Peering into the body and visualizing its molecular secrets, once the stuff of science fiction, is one step closer to reality with a study from researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

22 May 2007