Genetic News and Research

RSS

Promising path to Parkinson’s disease treatment

Using adult stem cells, Johns Hopkins researchers and a consortium of colleagues nationwide say they have generated the type of human neuron specifically damaged by Parkinson’s disease (PD) and used various drugs to stop the damage.

17 Jul 2012

WCMC receives NHLBI grant to study smoking-induced COPD

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College were awarded a $6.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for a five-year investigation into metabolic changes occurring within airway epithelial cells in the lungs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients caused by cigarette smoking. In addition, researchers aim to identify which cigarette smokers are at highest risk of developing COPD as well as novel biomarkers to assist in the development of new therapeutic treatments for the disease.

17 Jul 2012

Healthier levels of vitamin C can reduce inflammatory conditions

The recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, of vitamin C is less than half what it should be, scientists argue in a recent report, because medical experts insist on evaluating this natural, but critical nutrient in the same way they do pharmaceutical drugs and reach faulty conclusions as a result.

17 Jul 2012

New Alzheimer's model derived from skin cells of patients may prove to be more accurate

Researchers at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2012 (AAIC 2012) today reported the creation of a new model of Alzheimer's derived from the skin cells of people with the disease that were reprogramed into Alzheimer's brain cells.

17 Jul 2012

Relationship between two biological risk factors for schizophrenia

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered a cause-and-effect relationship between two well-established biological risk factors for schizophrenia previously believed to be independent of one another.

17 Jul 2012

Life Technologies acquires Navigenics

Life Technologies Corporation today announced the acquisition of Navigenics, Inc. This acquisition represents Life Technologies' first step in executing against a strategy to build out its molecular diagnostics business through internal development, partnerships and select acquisitions.

17 Jul 2012

Scientists develop first cell-based model of Alzheimer's disease

A team of scientists at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Laboratory led by Scott Noggle, PhD, NYSCF-Charles Evans Senior Research Fellow for Alzheimer's Disease, has developed the first cell-based model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) by reprogramming skin cells of Alzheimer's patients to become brain cells that are affected in Alzheimer's.

17 Jul 2012

Genetic tests for Alzheimer’s disease a comfort for the majority

Several genetic tests are available for Alzheimer’s disease, both for the general public and for those with a family history of the disease. As direct-to-consumer testing over the internet rises, so have concerns over how people will handle information related to their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

17 Jul 2012

New CD141hi DC subset plays a critical role in activating immune response against pathogens

Scientists at A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), in collaboration with Newcastle University, UK, the Singapore Institute of Clinical Sciences and clinicians from multiple hospitals in Singapore, have identified a new subset of dendritic cells (DCs) in human peripheral tissue which have a critical role in activating our immune response against harmful pathogens.

17 Jul 2012

Introducing missing gene could help extend lives of patients with SMA

A team of University of Missouri researchers has found that introducing a missing gene into the central nervous system could help extend the lives of patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) - the leading genetic cause of infantile death in the world.

17 Jul 2012

InvivoSciences, WUSTL to construct artificial tissue models for heart failure

The National Institutes of Health has awarded more than $2 million to a team of scientists from Washington University in St. Louis and InvivoSciences, a biotechnology startup with WUSTL roots, to construct artificial tissue models that will allow the rapid testing of new drugs for heart failure.

17 Jul 2012

New IOS Press journal integrates broad areas of spectroscopy and imaging

IOS Press is pleased to announce the launch of Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging, the first journal to integrate the broad areas of spectroscopy and imaging. It will provide timely publication of basic and applied research that uses spectroscopic and imaging techniques across all areas of life sciences.

17 Jul 2012

Research reveals how metformin reduces HCC risk

For every year that a patient with diabetes takes metformin, their risk for hepatocellular carcinoma reduces, say the authors of a study that also sheds light on the cellular pathway it uses.

16 Jul 2012

Mitochondrial gene regulators involved in Huntington’s disease pathology

Researchers have identified two molecules involved in mitochondrial function that appear to be important in the pathogenesis of Huntington’s disease.

16 Jul 2012

Positive results from Alnylam’s ALN-TTR02 Phase I trial on TTR-mediated amyloidosis

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the achievement of positive clinical results from its Phase I trial with ALN-TTR02, an RNAi therapeutic targeting the transthyretin (TTR) gene for the treatment of TTR-mediated amyloidosis.

16 Jul 2012

UMMS scientists identify new genetic mutation that causes familial ALS

A new genetic mutation that causes familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurological disorder also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, has been identified by a team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS).

16 Jul 2012

The Alzheimer's Association recognizes four leading scientists with Lifetime Achievement Award

The Alzheimer's Association recognized four leading scientists for their extraordinary contributions to Alzheimer's disease research at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC 2012) in Vancouver, Canada.

16 Jul 2012

IDH mutation drives aggressive form of acute myeloid leukemia

Many patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) share a mutation in a gene called IDH. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published this week in the journal Leukemia & Lymphoma shows that this IDH mutation may be the first domino in a chain that leads to a more aggressive form of the disease.

16 Jul 2012

Cleveland Clinic receives NHLBI grant to identify new pathways linked with cardiovascular diseases

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has awarded a $4.78 million grant to researchers at Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute to use metabolomics - a new approach that focuses on the small-molecule byproducts of metabolism - for discovery of novel pathways linked to the development of cardiovascular diseases.

14 Jul 2012

Scientists clone tannin gene in sorghum

They might be called a blessing or a curse -- tannins, which are present in certain sorghums, contain health-promoting antioxidant properties, but also provide a bitter taste and decreased protein digestibility. To better understand tannins, their role in sorghum and how they can be altered to improve sorghum's use as food and feed, a team of scientists led by Kansas State University and U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers, has cloned the tannin gene in sorghum.

14 Jul 2012