Genetic News and Research

RSS

Researchers identify predictive biomarker for Parkinson's disease

Because there is currently no laboratory test that can diagnose Parkinson's disease, it is practically impossible to detect those individuals who are in the earliest stages of the disease. As a result, Parkinson's disease can only be diagnosed by a clinical neurological examination based on findings suggestive of the disease.

5 Jun 2012

Religious practices more successful at promoting certainty about paternity

Religious practices that strongly control female sexuality are more successful at promoting certainty about paternity, according to a study published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

5 Jun 2012

New region on the X chromosome plays a role in migraine

New hope has arrived for migraine sufferers following a Griffith University study with the people of Norfolk Island. Led by Professor Lyn Griffiths from the University's Griffith Health Institute, the team has identified a new region on the X chromosome as playing a role in migraine.

5 Jun 2012

Variation in microRNAs may explain survival differences in breast cancer

Researchers and doctors at the North Shore-LIJ Health System and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered a potential explanation for why breast cancer is not experienced the same way with African American and Caucasian patients.

4 Jun 2012

Innovative strategy for regenerating skeletal muscle tissue

An innovative strategy for regenerating skeletal muscle tissue using cells derived from the amniotic fluid is outlined in new research published by scientists at the UCL Institute of Child Health.

2 Jun 2012

NIH awards $1.9M grant to study genetic control of cell migration

Developmental biologists Dominique Alfandari and Hélène Cousin at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently received a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to investigate craniofacial development in a frog model to better understand genetic control of cell migration.

2 Jun 2012

High costs can limit access to potentially life-saving technology

More than one-fifth of people who have received referrals to test for cancer-causing genes say they will only undergo testing if their insurance covers the cost-just as more insurers are instituting cost-sharing for medical services like genetic testing, according to new findings from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia released at this year's 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Saturday, June 2.

2 Jun 2012

Engineered proteins demonstrate flu-fighting potency

Computer-designed proteins are under construction to fight the flu. Researchers are demonstrating that proteins found in nature, but that do not normally bind the flu, can be engineered to act as broad-spectrum antiviral agents against a variety of flu virus strains, including H1N1 pandemic influenza.

2 Jun 2012

Clinical trial to examine effectiveness of combined vaccine and hormone treatment for prostate cancer

Investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) have partnered with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and launched a clinical trial examining the effectiveness of a combined vaccine and hormone treatment for prostate cancer that is resistant to hormone therapy and not visible on imaging tests such as a CT scan and a bone scan.

2 Jun 2012

UH CNRCS students achieve significant milestones in cancer therapy research

Four University of Houston (UH) students are well on their way to emerging cancer research careers upon achieving significant milestones this spring in their work toward new therapies for prostate and breast cancer.

2 Jun 2012

Two pharma companies plan international trials into targeted cancer treatments in the UK

A Cancer Research UK initiative to improve cancer gene testing has prompted two pharmaceutical companies to plan pioneering international trials into targeted cancer treatments in the UK.

2 Jun 2012

Study identifies new genetic factor associated with lean diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is popularly associated with obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. However, just as there are obese people without type 2 diabetes, there are lean people with the disease.

2 Jun 2012

Distinctive protein pathways in certain leukemia patients

Scientists at Rice University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have successfully profiled protein pathways found to be distinctive to leukemia patients with particular variants of the disease.

1 Jun 2012

Mothers who smoke during pregnancy increase risk of asthma in children

African-American and Latino children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are more likely to suffer from acute asthma symptoms in their teens than asthma sufferers whose mothers did not smoke, according to a new study led by a research team at UCSF.

1 Jun 2012

Promega launches novel luciferase more versatile than current bioluminescent enzyme

Promega Corporation announces the launch of a novel luciferase that is smaller, brighter, and more versatile than any current bioluminescent enzyme. These attributes of the NanoLuc Luciferase provide new capabilities in reporter assays with potential in biologically complex applications that require greater sensitivity.

1 Jun 2012

New Lupus Insight Prize to be awarded to outstanding investigator

Lupus organizations have come together to launch a first-of-a-kind initiative to encourage scientific advances in lupus research.

1 Jun 2012

NYUCD receives NIH grant for ‘Biomarkers of Periodontal Disease Progression’ project

New York University College of Dentistry has been selected as one of five institutions that are sharing a $20.7 million grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIH) to the Forsyth Institute to find new ways to diagnose and fight periodontal disease.

1 Jun 2012

Scientists discover genetic basis for CLOVES syndrome

Using advanced technologies for rapidly sequencing and analyzing DNA from clinical and pathologic samples, a multidisciplinary research team consisting of geneticists, pathologists and surgeons at Boston Children's Hospital has identified the genetic basis for CLOVES syndrome, a rare congenital malformation and overgrowth disorder.

1 Jun 2012