Genetic News and Research

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Pink or blue – now find out at 7 weeks of pregnancy

Now a simple blood test can determine a baby’s sex as early as seven weeks into pregnancy and is highly accurate if used correctly. Experts believe this will have a great impact on parents concerned about gender-linked diseases and those who are merely curious, as well as people considering the more ethically controversial step of selecting the sex of their children.

10 Aug 2011

New genetic cause of retinitis pigmentosa

Combining the expertise of several different labs, University of Iowa researchers have found a new genetic cause of the blinding eye disease retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and, in the process, discovered an entirely new version of the message that codes for the affected protein.

10 Aug 2011

Research shows six-fold risk of autism in grandchildren of acrodynia survivors

Researchers from Australia have identified an ancestry of Pink Disease (Infantile Acrodynia) as a risk factor for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

10 Aug 2011

Enobia raises US$40M through private placement

Enobia Pharma Inc., a clinical stage biotech company focused on developing novel therapeutics for serious bone disorders, today announced that it has raised US$40 million through the private placement of approximately 13,724,000 shares of its common stock to new pharmaceutical and financial investors.

10 Aug 2011

MAVS prion-like proteins are involved in innate immunity: Discovery

A person's ability to battle viruses at the cellular level remarkably resembles the way deadly infectious agents called prions misfold and cluster native proteins to cause disease, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

9 Aug 2011

New study focuses on Anopheles gambiae to prevent spread of malaria

A female mosquito cannot tell if the male that she has mated with is fertile or 'spermless' and unable to fertilise her eggs, according to a new study from scientists at Imperial College London.

9 Aug 2011

Study finds key influential factors linked with risk of allergies in babies

Prenatal pet exposure, a mother's delivery mode and race are influential factors in a child's risk of developing allergies by age 2, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

9 Aug 2011

Smoking first thing in the morning ‘ups’ cancer stakes

Scientists have found that people who need a cigarette within the first half hour of waking up are at a higher risk for lung, head and neck cancers. Actually this indicates a higher nicotine addiction.

8 Aug 2011

Response Genetics second quarter total revenue increases 18.8% to $6.7 million

Response Genetics Inc., a company focused on the development and sale of molecular diagnostic tests for cancer, today announced its consolidated financial results and business progress for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011.

8 Aug 2011

Researchers discover gene variant linked to meningiomas

The causes of brain tumours have been hard to discern in most cases. But Umeå researchers have previously identified an inherited predisposition for brain tumours, and now, in an international collaboration, they have also discovered a genetic variation that increases the risk of a certain type of brain tumour, called meningiomas.

8 Aug 2011

Affymetrix announces commercialization of next-generation human transcriptome array

Affymetrix, Inc. today announced commercialization of the next-generation human transcriptome array demonstrated by Stanford University researchers to be superior to mRNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) in gene expression profiling studies.

8 Aug 2011

Schizophrenia not always inherited – Genetic links found

Researchers have found that more than half the cases of non-hereditary or sporadic schizophrenia are caused by “new” protein-altering gene mutations. These mutations are new genetic errors that appear in patients but not in either of their parents, the researchers explained in the report published in the Aug. 7 online edition of the journal Nature Genetics.

8 Aug 2011

NHS doctors’ use of genetic tests leading to infringement of patent rights

NHS doctors are in trouble for over use of diagnostic genetic tests as these infringe upon patents. The British law now recognizes patents on the application of DNA discoveries. But doctors developing genetic tests in NHS hospitals tend to pay no heed to intellectual property.

8 Aug 2011

Study: Early morning smokers more likely to develop lung, head and neck cancer

Two new studies have found that smokers who tend to take their first cigarette soon after they wake up in the morning may have a higher risk of developing lung and head and neck cancers than smokers who refrain from lighting up right away.

8 Aug 2011

De novo mutations account for 50% of sporadic cases of schizophrenia

Columbia University Medical Center researchers have shown that new, or "de novo," protein-altering mutations—genetic errors that are present in patients but not in their parents—play a role in more than 50 percent of "sporadic" —i.e., not hereditary—cases of schizophrenia.

8 Aug 2011

Women with RAD51D gene fault more likely to develop ovarian cancer

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have discovered that women who carry a faulty copy of a gene called RAD51D have almost a one in 11 chance of developing ovarian cancer, the most significant ovarian cancer gene discovery for more than a decade, reveals a study in Nature Genetics1 today.

8 Aug 2011

Scientist urges federal officials to decide on genetically engineered salmon for consumption

A Purdue University scientist is urging federal officials to decide whether genetically engineered salmon would be allowed for U.S. consumption and arguing that not doing so may set back scientific efforts to increase food production.

6 Aug 2011

Diet and genetics dictate adult jaw shape

Researchers at Johns Hopkins found that use over time and not just genetics informs the structure of jaw bones in human populations. The researchers say these findings may be used to predict the diet of an ancient population, even if little evidence exists in the fossil record. It can also make it easier for scientists to pinpoint the genetic relationship between fossils.

6 Aug 2011

Novel studies explore new targets to prevent spread of breast cancer

Research into new methods to prevent and slow metastatic breast cancer will be presented this week at the Era of Hope conference, a scientific meeting hosted by the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.

5 Aug 2011

Human brain cells created from skin cells: Potential for Alzheimer’s

This feat comes a year after researchers at Stanford University performed the same feat in mice, turning cells from the rodents' skin into neurons. The lab-created brain cells act the same as normal human brain cells, the researchers found. These cells have the same ability to send electric signals; they seem to express the same genes in the same ways; and they are able to communicate with other brain cells, as demonstrated in a lab dish and when implanted into mice.

5 Aug 2011