Genetic News and Research

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Diabetes risk increased in relatives of schizophrenia patients

The prevalence of diabetes is increased in the unaffected relatives of patients with non-affective psychosis, results from a Dutch study show.

14 Dec 2012

Researchers question animal models that measure generalized anxiety disorder

Pre-clinical trials - the stage at which medications or therapies are tested on animals like laboratory mice - is a crucial part of drug development. It's only then that scientists can assess benefits and side effects before a drug is administered to patients.

14 Dec 2012

Harmonic generation microscopy can help measure natural age-related changes in skin cells

Wrinkles, dryness, and a translucent and fragile appearance are hallmarks of old skin, caused by the natural aging of skin cells. But while most of us can recognize the signs of lost youth when we peer into the mirror each morning, scientists do not have a standardized way to measure the extent of age damage in skin. Now a group of Taiwanese researchers has used a specialized microscope to peer harmlessly beneath the skin surface to measure natural age-related changes in the sizes of skin cells.

14 Dec 2012

Biological factors, cell behaviour drive tumour growth contributing to therapy failure and relapse

Cancer scientists led by Dr. John Dick at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre have found a way to follow single tumour cells and observe their growth over time. By using special immune-deficient mice to propagate human colorectal cancer, they found that genetic mutations, regarded by many as the chief suspect driving cancer growth, are only one piece of the puzzle. The team discovered that biological factors and cell behaviour - not only genes - drive tumour growth, contributing to therapy failure and relapse.

14 Dec 2012

Cedars-Sinai scientist to study Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

A Cedars-Sinai physician-scientist has been awarded a $3 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to study with new stem cell technology Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, the most common inherited neurological disorder and which damages nerves that control muscles.

14 Dec 2012

TUBB5 gene responsible for microcephaly: IMP study

Neurobiologists at the Research institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna have discovered one of the key genes required to make a brain. Mutations in this gene, called TUBB5, cause neurodevelopmental disease in children.

14 Dec 2012

Pairing statins with cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors might effectively treat melanomas

A novel approach to identifying potential anticancer drug combinations revealed that pairing cholesterol-reducing drugs called statins with cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors might provide an effective approach to treating intractable melanomas driven by mutations in the NRAS and KRAS gene.

14 Dec 2012

MicroRNA-218 especially low in medulloblastoma

Between the blueprint of the genome and the products of its expression lie microRNAs, which can boost or lower the rate at which genes become stuff. In fact, many cancers use microRNA to magnify the expression of faulty genes or shrink the expression of helpful genes that would otherwise suppress tumors. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in the December issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry shows that in medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor of children, microRNA-218 is especially low.

14 Dec 2012

Scientists identify new mutation in a gene that causes Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency

Scientists have identified a new mutation in the gene that causes the inherited disease known as Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (Alpha-1), which affects roughly one in 2,500 people of European descent.

14 Dec 2012

Computer simulation can predict risk of irregular heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death

A computer model of the heart wall predicted risk of irregular heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death in patients, paving the way for the use of more complex cardiac models to calculate the consequences of genetic, lifestyle and other changes to the heart.

14 Dec 2012

UCL scientists discover more than 200 gene locations for Crohn's disease

More than two hundred gene locations have now been identified for the chronic bowel condition Crohn's Disease, in a study that analysed the entire human genome.

13 Dec 2012

Scientists isolate cancer stem cells that lead to growth of Wilms' tumours

Scientists have isolated cancer stem cells that lead to the growth of Wilms' tumours, a type of cancer typically found in the kidneys of young children. The researchers have used these cancer stem cells to test a new therapeutic approach that one day might be used to treat some of the more aggressive types of this disease.

13 Dec 2012

Breast cancer patients' recurrence fear distorted

The majority of women who undergo contralateral prophylactic mastectomy do so out of fear that their breast cancer will recur, rather than because they have a clinically high risk for recurrence, indicate US study results.

13 Dec 2012

LED light instantly triggers or reverses depression-like behavior in rodents

A specific pattern of neuronal firing in a brain reward circuit instantly rendered mice vulnerable to depression-like behavior induced by acute severe stress, a study supported by the National Institutes of Health has found. When researchers used a high-tech method to mimic the pattern, previously resilient mice instantly succumbed to a depression-like syndrome of social withdrawal and reduced pleasure-seeking - they avoided other animals and lost their sweet tooth.

13 Dec 2012

TU Darmstadt’s biosensor can diagnose African sleeping sickness before it breaks out

African sleeping sickness is an infectious disease that is widespread south of the Sahara Desert. Although the around sixty million people residing in tropical Africa run the risk of becoming infected with the disease every day, only around four million of them are monitored for the disease by disease-control authorities.

13 Dec 2012

New way to effectively make designer drugs that hit collections of protein targets simultaneously

An international research collaboration led by scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and the University of Dundee, in the U.K., have developed a way to efficiently and effectively make designer drugs that hit multiple protein targets at once.

13 Dec 2012

Study focuses on nontraditional lifestyle of Retinoblastoma tumor suppressor proteins

Researchers at Michigan State University have discovered a protein that does its best work with one foot in the grave.

13 Dec 2012

Study investigates different approaches to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases

A special issue of Pathogens and Global Health, published by Maney Publishing, investigates different approaches to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases. Mosquitoes can transmit a number of pathogenic diseases including dengue fever, yellow fever, and malaria.

13 Dec 2012

Dantrolene may help combat Duchenne muscular dystrophy in boys

Drugs are currently being tested that show promise in treating patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), an inherited disease that affects about one in 3,600 boys and results in muscle degeneration and, eventually, death.

13 Dec 2012

TKI-resistant human leukemia stem cells are the source of genomic instability

An international team of scientists, led by researchers from Temple University School of Medicine, has found that a source of mounting genomic chaos, or instability, common to chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) may lie in a pool of leukemia stem cells that are immune to treatment with potent targeted anticancer drugs.

12 Dec 2012

Genetic News and Research

Diabetes risk increased in relatives of schizophrenia patients

Researchers question animal models that measure generalized anxiety disorder

Harmonic generation microscopy can help measure natural age-related changes in skin cells

Biological factors, cell behaviour drive tumour growth contributing to therapy failure and relapse

Cedars-Sinai scientist to study Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

TUBB5 gene responsible for microcephaly: IMP study

Pairing statins with cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors might effectively treat melanomas

MicroRNA-218 especially low in medulloblastoma

Scientists identify new mutation in a gene that causes Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency

Computer simulation can predict risk of irregular heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death

UCL scientists discover more than 200 gene locations for Crohn's disease

Scientists isolate cancer stem cells that lead to growth of Wilms' tumours

Breast cancer patients' recurrence fear distorted

LED light instantly triggers or reverses depression-like behavior in rodents

TU Darmstadt’s biosensor can diagnose African sleeping sickness before it breaks out

New way to effectively make designer drugs that hit collections of protein targets simultaneously

Study focuses on nontraditional lifestyle of Retinoblastoma tumor suppressor proteins

Study investigates different approaches to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases

Dantrolene may help combat Duchenne muscular dystrophy in boys

TKI-resistant human leukemia stem cells are the source of genomic instability

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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