Genetic News and Research

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Researchers reveal genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates

University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine researchers have uncovered a genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates that could also help explain why humans are susceptible to diseases not found in other species.

21 Dec 2012

Androgen deprivation therapies may have adverse effects in men with precancers

The use of androgen deprivation therapies to prevent precancerous prostate abnormalities developing into aggressive prostate cancer may have adverse effects in men with precancers with specific genetic alterations, according to data from a preclinical study recently published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

21 Dec 2012

NFKB gene variations could play a key role in helping to determine survival rate of sepsis patients

A study in the January 2013 issue of Anesthesiology offers evidence that variations in what is called the NFKB gene could play an important role in helping to determine the survival rate of patients who acquire sepsis, a condition in which the body is overwhelmed by infection, and which is the leading cause of death in hospitals.

21 Dec 2012

Melanoma patients may benefit from microRNA-26a replacement therapy

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study in this month's edition of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology describes a new target and potential treatment for melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. MicroRNA can decide which genes in a cell's DNA are expressed and which stay silent. Melanoma tends to lack microRNA-26a, which makes the gene SODD go silent.

21 Dec 2012

Scientists design small molecules that recognize myotonic dystrophy-associated RNAs

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a new approach to alter the function of RNA in living cells by designing molecules that recognize and disable RNA targets. As a proof of principle, in the new study the team designed a molecule that disabled the RNA causing myotonic dystrophy.

21 Dec 2012

Researchers develop game-changing diagnostic and prognostic genetic tests for prostate cancer

Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson (KCC) have developed potentially game-changing diagnostic and prognostic genetic tests shown to better predict prostate cancer survival outcomes and distinguish clinically-relevant cancers.

21 Dec 2012

New work on Akt's role in cancer stem cell biology

The protein kinase Akt is a key regulator of cell growth, proliferation, metabolism, survival, and death. New work on Akt's role in cancer stem cell biology from the lab of senior author Honglin Zhou, MD, PhD and Weihua Li, co-first author, both from the Center for Resuscitation Sciences, Department of Emergency Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and Xiaowei Xu, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, appears in Molecular Cell.

21 Dec 2012

Researchers report seroprevalence of three avian flu virus strains in pigs in southern China

Researchers report for the first time the seroprevalence of three strains of avian influenza viruses in pigs in southern China, but not the H5N1 avian influenza virus. Their research, published online ahead of print in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, has implications for efforts to protect the public health from pandemics.

20 Dec 2012

Scientists uncover TDP-43 protein as possible target for treatment of ALS, FTD

Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center say they have new evidence that challenges scientific dogma involving two fatal neurodegenerative diseases - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) - and, in the process, have uncovered a possible therapeutic target as a novel strategy to treat both disorders.

20 Dec 2012

Researcher explores new PCR system to discover dangerous foodborne pathogens

Pina Fratamico is on the quest to find the easiest and fastest way to test for harmful Escherichia coli in ground beef. In an article published in Frontiers in Microbiology on the 20th of December, she explores using a next-generation real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system to discover specific gene targets that indicate the presence of dangerous foodborne pathogens. The results show that assays performed using this PCR system are rapid, sensitive, and reliable.

20 Dec 2012

West African human population genomes provide important clues about evolution of HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may have affected humans for much longer than is currently believed. Alfred Roca, an assistant professor in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois, thinks that the genomes of an isolated West African human population provide important clues about how the disease has evolved.

20 Dec 2012

Scientists map sensory nerves in mouse skin

Johns Hopkins scientists have created stunning images of the branching patterns of individual sensory nerve cells. Their report, published online in the journal eLife on Dec. 18, details the arrangement of these branches in skin from the backs of mice.

20 Dec 2012

Link made between muscular dystrophy and defective nerve wiring

Working with mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that a particular protein helps nerve cells extend themselves along the spinal cord during mammalian development. Their results shed light on the subset of muscular dystrophies that result from mutations in the gene that holds the code for the protein, called dystroglycan, and also show how the nerve and muscle failings of the degenerative diseases are related.

20 Dec 2012

Genetic News and Research

Researchers reveal genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates

Androgen deprivation therapies may have adverse effects in men with precancers

NFKB gene variations could play a key role in helping to determine survival rate of sepsis patients

Melanoma patients may benefit from microRNA-26a replacement therapy

Scientists design small molecules that recognize myotonic dystrophy-associated RNAs

Researchers develop game-changing diagnostic and prognostic genetic tests for prostate cancer

New work on Akt's role in cancer stem cell biology

Researchers report seroprevalence of three avian flu virus strains in pigs in southern China

Scientists uncover TDP-43 protein as possible target for treatment of ALS, FTD

Researcher explores new PCR system to discover dangerous foodborne pathogens

West African human population genomes provide important clues about evolution of HIV

Scientists map sensory nerves in mouse skin

Link made between muscular dystrophy and defective nerve wiring

AAV-based gene therapy cocktail may help extend lives of children with Canavan disease

Lou Gehrig's disease may be treatable using neural stem cells

Genomic technology revolutionizes gene discovery and disease understanding in autism

Few alcohol-related story ideas from The Methodist Hospital

The association alfa-enolase/plasmin is a new selective target for treating muscular pathologies

New antibiotic principle for fighting bacterial infections

Georgia State researcher discover new process to make one-time flu vaccine

Genetics & Genomics - Second Edition eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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