Genetic News and Research

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Largest, most detailed protein interaction map of multicellular organism

Researchers have built a map that shows how thousands of proteins in a fruit fly cell communicate with each other. This is the largest and most detailed protein interaction map of a multicellular organism, demonstrating how approximately 5000, or one third, of the proteins cooperate to keep life going.

28 Oct 2011

Fasudil drug shows promise against cerebral cavernous malformation

A drug treatment has been proven to prevent lesions from cerebral cavernous malformation — a brain blood vessel abnormality that can cause bleeding, epilepsy and stroke — for the first time in a new study.

28 Oct 2011

C21orf91 gene associated with susceptibility to herpes simplex labialis

Investigators have identified a human chromosome containing a specific gene associated with susceptibility to herpes simplex labialis (HSL), the common cold sore.

28 Oct 2011

AD risk genes impact Aβ toxicity in neurons

In a development that sheds new light on the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a team of Whitehead Institute scientists has identified connections between genetic risk factors for the disease and the effects of a peptide toxic to nerve cells in the brains of AD patients.

28 Oct 2011

Inhibition of protein kinase B suppresses IKBKE's oncogenic transformation

Publishing in the current issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry (Vol. 286, No 43), researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have discovered additional mechanisms of "Akt" activation and suggest a component of that activation mechanism - inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B kinase subunit epsilon (IKBKE) - could be targeted as a therapeutic intervention for treating cancer.

28 Oct 2011

Advanced papillary thyroid cancer patients with BRAFV600E gene mutation at higher risk

Individuals with advanced papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) that are associated with the BRAFV600E gene mutation have a higher risk of recurrent disease and progression to more advanced, poorly differentiated thyroid cancer, according to data presented today at the 81st Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association (ATA).

28 Oct 2011

Lenvatinib may achieve partial response in thyroid, endometrial, and renal cancers

Phase 1 clinical studies of the experimental anticancer drug lenvatinib indicate that it may achieve at least a partial response in thyroid, endometrial, and renal cancers and melanoma.

28 Oct 2011

Beneficial intestinal bacteria can activate immune cells and trigger MS

Multiple sclerosis is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. For a long time, pathogens were believed to be such external influences. According to scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried, however, it is apparently not harmful bacteria that trigger multiple sclerosis, but beneficial ones - specifically, the natural intestinal flora, which every human being needs for digestion.

28 Oct 2011

Taking regular aspirin halves risk of hereditary cancers

Scientists including those from Queen's University have discovered that taking regular aspirin halves the risk of developing hereditary cancers.

28 Oct 2011

Researchers uncover molecular pathway critical to cardiac arrhythmia

University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers have uncovered a previously unknown molecular pathway that is critical to understanding cardiac arrhythmia and other heart muscle problems.

27 Oct 2011

New MRSA strains are not directly descended from old ones: Study

Check into a hospital and you run the risk of infection with a methicillin-resistant strain of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. But present day MRSA might have been worse if it had descended directly from a 1950s version of the bug, according to a study co-authored by Barry N. Kreiswirth, PhD, a professor at the Public Health Research Institute of UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

27 Oct 2011

E. coli asparaginase linked to relapses in ALL patients with special form of ATF5 gene

One of the causes of resistance to cancer treatment in children is now beginning to be elucidated. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients with a particular form of the ATF5 gene are at higher risk of having a relapse when treated with E. coli asparaginase, a key chemotherapy drug for this type of leukemia.

27 Oct 2011

BROCA test identifies 12 gene mutations linked to ovarian and related cancers

More patients with ovarian carcinoma carry cancer-predisposing mutations, and in more genes, than previously thought.

27 Oct 2011

Clinical and genetic risk factors associated with early stent thrombosis

Patients with certain genes or specific factors related to use of the anti-clotting drug clopidogrel are more likely to experience a blood clot within a coronary stent shortly after placement, according to a study in the October 26 issue of JAMA.

27 Oct 2011

Super broccoli on the shelves to protect from heart disease

British scientists unveiled a new breed of broccoli that experts say packs heavy on nutritional values. The new broccoli was specially grown to contain two to three times the normal amount of glucoraphanin, a nutrient believed to help ward off heart disease. Glucoraphanin breaks fat down in the body, preventing it from clogging the arteries.

27 Oct 2011

Scientists studying complete genetic profiles of centenarians to find the secret of longevity

Scientists have announced Wednesday that they would examine some of the oldest citizens with one of the newest scientific tools: whole-genome sequencing, the deciphering of a person’s complete collection of DNA. They speculate that DNA from very old healthy people could offer clues to how they lived so long. And that could one day lead to medicines to help people stay disease-free longer.

27 Oct 2011

Medco, Pfizer and UBC collaborate to enhance precision medicine approach

Pfizer Inc. announced today that it has established a research collaboration with Medco Health Solutions, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, United BioSource Corporation (UBC), aimed at more effectively matching patients with treatments that will benefit them the most, thereby improving patient outcomes.

27 Oct 2011

Study provides details on genetics behind many metabolic diseases

In what is so far the largest investigation of its kind, researchers uncovered a wide range of new insights about common diseases and how they are affected by differences between two persons' genes. The results from this study could lead to highly targeted, individualized therapies.

27 Oct 2011

Scientists discover gene variants that contribute to early stent thrombosis

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered several gene variants contributing to early stent thrombosis (ST), a devastating and often deadly complication after coronary stent implantation in people with coronary artery disease.

27 Oct 2011

Abzyme Therapeutics licenses SUMOpro from LifeSensors

Abzyme Therapeutics, a new biotechnology company dedicated to developing methods to generate human monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of disease, announced today that they have entered into an exclusive agreement with LifeSensors to license their proprietary protein expression platform, SUMOpro™. Enhanced protein expression is key to the evolution and development of antibodies and the LifeSensors

24 Oct 2011