Genes News and Research

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DNA analysis could boost accuracy of thyroid tests

By fine-tuning "fine-needle aspiration" biopsies with a super-fast genetic microarray technology, a team of surgeons from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City says they can greatly enhance the accuracy of these tests.

14 Nov 2006

Scientists shed light on the roll of junk DNA

University of Iowa scientists have made a discovery that broadens understanding of a rapidly developing area of biology known as functional genomics and sheds more light on the mysterious, so-called "junk DNA" that makes up the majority of the human genome.

13 Nov 2006

Muscle protein myosin VI involved in the development of prostate cancer

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have for the first time implicated the muscle protein myosin VI in the development of prostate cancer and its spread.

8 Nov 2006

Inhibiting a particular cancer-causing gene improves radiation effectiveness

Inhibiting a particular cancer-causing gene can enhance the cell-killing effects of radiation, a team of radiation oncologists and cancer biologists at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia has found.

8 Nov 2006

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus tricks cells to become tumors

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered how the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) subverts a normal cell process in order to promote tumor growth.

8 Nov 2006

Turmeric for prevention of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis

An ancient spice, long used in traditional Asian medicine, may hold promise for the prevention of both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis, according to a recently completed study at The University of Arizona College of Medicine.

30 Oct 2006

Amgen, Brigham and Women's Hospital, NIH to launch women's health genome study

Biotechnology company Amgen, Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital and NIH plan to launch the Women's Health Genome Study -- which aims to discover the genetic causes of disorders affecting women, including breast cancer -- the Wall Street Journal reports.

24 Oct 2006

Researchers uncover new way in which the aging process is linked to DNA damage

Researchers have uncovered a new way in which the aging process is linked to DNA damage--which occurs normally as a result of cell metabolism and environmental influences--and the various ways in which cells repair that damage.

23 Oct 2006

Common gene variant increases risk of developing diabetes

Carrying two copies of a common variant of a particular gene doubles your chances of developing diabetes and puts you in a similar risk category to being clinically obese, according to a collaborative study led by UCL (University College London) researchers.

23 Oct 2006

Race is associated with unfavorable breast cancer tumor biology

African-American women with breast cancer were more likely to have larger, later-stage tumors that were more difficult to treat and also had lower survival rates than Hispanic and Caucasian women who received the same treatment in two independent series of clinical trials examined by researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

23 Oct 2006

Genomic test decides which drug is best for cancers

Scientists at Duke University, North Carolina have developed a panel of tests which are able to analyze a cancerous tumor and then decide which chemotherapy will most efficiently attack the cancer.

23 Oct 2006

Too much TV for tots could lead to autism?

A new study has come up with the rather bizarre theory that watching too much television at an early age may trigger autism.

23 Oct 2006

Otoferlin, defective in a human deafness form, is essential for exocytosis at the auditory ribbon synapse

By studying a gene earlier linked to deafness in humans, researchers now have new insight into the molecular process by which components of the inner ear send messages to the brain.

20 Oct 2006

PGC-1 alpha implicated in Huntington's disease neurodegeneration

A metabolic disorder underlies the brain effects found in those with Huntington's disease, researchers report in an advance article publishing online October 19, 2006. The article will appear in the November 2006 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, published by Cell Press.

20 Oct 2006

Gene mutation explains type of brittle bone disease

A newly identified gene mutation helps explain a subset of cases of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), or brittle bone disease, whose origin had until now remained mysterious.

20 Oct 2006

Blood clotting protein appears to also play a role in fertility

A protein known to play a role in blood clotting and other cell functions is also critical for proper sperm formation in mice, according to researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

20 Oct 2006

New Purdue biochip may speed drug development

Purdue University researchers have developed a biochip that measures the electrical activities of cells and is capable of obtaining 60 times more data in just one reading than is possible with current technology.

20 Oct 2006

$74 million allocated to study environmental causes of disease

As part of the new Exposure Biology Program, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a component of the National Institutes of Health, today announced $74 million in grant opportunities for the development of new technologies that will improve the measurement of environmental exposures that contribute to human disease.

19 Oct 2006