Genes News and Research

RSS

Temperature sensing protein implicated in mediating thermotaxis

The songwriter Noel Coward once declared that only mad dogs and Englishmen went out in the midday sun. MIT biologists Mark Rosenzweig, Paul Garrity and their colleagues now have a third candidate for the lyric—fruit flies with defects in a gene called dTrpA1.

4 Dec 2004

Oral targeted therapy shows benefit in treating high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome

An oral targeted therapy gentle enough to be used by patients in their 70s or 80s is showing benefit in treating high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a pre-leukemic disorder that can progress to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)

4 Dec 2004

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs)

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) have been the subject of a great deal of investigation in recent years. It has been established that HERVs cause some genetic diseases and there is strong circumstantial evidence for a link to some types of cancer and autoimmune diseases, but what else do we need to know about these unique organisms?

4 Dec 2004

DNA provides key to successful quitting smoking

Smokers who want to quit now have up to nine times greater chance of doing so, thanks to new DNA testing launched today by Oxford University’s newest spin-out, G-Nostics.

4 Dec 2004

Low level exposure to Benzene causes lower blood cell counts

A new study found that white blood cell counts were lowered in workers exposed to less than 1 ppm of the chemical benzene (part benzene per million parts air).

3 Dec 2004

Important step in understanding why some of us can eat fatty foods and not suffer from cardiac disease

Doctors and their patients have puzzled over why certain cholesterol-lowering drugs work better in some people than others. In research results published in the December issue of the journal Nature Genetics, the common minnow helps provide an answer.

2 Dec 2004

African Americans more likely to carry genetic variants known to stimulate inflammatory response

Specific variants in genes that encode proteins regulating inflammation may hold a key to explaining a host of disease processes known to cause increased risk of illness and death among African Americans, according to a study from the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH).

1 Dec 2004

Salmonella pathogen uses molecular hydrogen to grow and become virulent

New research, headed by microbiologists from the University of Georgia, show for the first time that Salmonella – a widespread and often deadly bacterial pathogen – use molecular hydrogen to grow and become virulent.

29 Nov 2004

Computer program helps decode cancer

Researchers at the University of Newcastle, Australia have developed a computer program that implements a novel algorithm, which will aid in the identification of specific cancer causing genes.

29 Nov 2004

Fathers' genes play an equal part in the spread of eczema

Doctors have known for many years that eczema - also known as atopic dermatitis - runs in families. In the past, it was thought that if a baby suffered from eczema, it was more likely to have come from the mother's side.

29 Nov 2004

New research into nicotine addiction

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded a $2.1 million contract to Perlegen Sciences, Inc., to investigate the human genome for DNA variations and candidate genes associated with nicotine addiction.

24 Nov 2004

Scientists have given blind nerve cells the ability to detect light

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have given "blind" nerve cells the ability to detect light, paving the way for an innovative therapy that could restore sight to those who have lost it through disease.

24 Nov 2004

Study links a novel protein pathway to the aggressive progression of breast cancer

Cytogen Corporation today announced the publication of a study linking a novel protein pathway to the aggressive progression of breast cancer.

24 Nov 2004

Discovery of a new cancer gene, which, when damaged, may promote prostate cancer

Together with an international research team, researchers from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have developed an effective method for the screening and identification of genes that under normal conditions suppress cancer growth.

24 Nov 2004

Experimental compound prevents cholesterol gallstone disease

A promising experimental compound prevents cholesterol gallstone disease in mice by stimulating the biochemical pathway that controls bile acid secretion by the liver, according to new studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers.

23 Nov 2004

Breast conserving therapy safe for hereditary breast cancer

Women with hereditary breast cancer treated with breast conserving therapy appear to have no increased risk for recurrence in the treated breast, according to results from a prospective study published in the January 1, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

23 Nov 2004

Overexpression of a protein called Down Syndrome Critical Region 1 (DSCR-1) reduces tumor growth

Scientists have found that overexpression of a protein called Down Syndrome Critical Region 1 (DSCR-1) blocks the formation of new blood vessels and thus reduces tumor growth. Therapeutics based on this finding may potentially lead to new cancer treatments.

19 Nov 2004

New genetic test has proven useful as a prognostic tool for ovarian cancer

The identification of a gene expression profile using microarray technology may help clinicians better determine the prognosis of patients with advanced stage ovarian cancer and may eventually help provide targeted therapies for this hard-to-treat disease, according to a study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

18 Nov 2004

Understanding the signals that delay the spread of follicular lymphoma could provide new therapeutic targets

Scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), have created a model that predicts the survival of follicular lymphoma patients based on the molecular characteristics of their tumors at diagnosis.

18 Nov 2004

70% of cases of spina bifida are preventable by folic-acid supplementation

A seminar in this week’s issue of THE LANCET discusses the causes, symptoms, and treatments relating to spina bifida, and reinforces an important public-health message for women about to become pregnant

18 Nov 2004