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Life Technologies announces winners of European Ion Torrent PGM Sequencer Grants Program

Life Technologies Corporation, today announced Dr. Angel Carracedo and Dr. Mark Pallen as the winners of the European Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM™) Sequencer Grants Program.

19 Feb 2011

Biologist investigates CAPV-EAE population for hereditary breast and ovary cancer

Between 5 % and 10 % of breast cancer cases are hereditary, arising because the patient inherits from the father or mother a mutation in a gene that is susceptible to causing the illness. BRCA1 and BRCA2 have already been identified as two of the genes to be monitored. It is estimated that 30 % of hereditary breast cancer cases are due to mutations in one of these two genes.

19 Feb 2011

Genzyme reports 3-year follow-up data from eliglustat tartrate Phase 2 trial for Gaucher disease

Genzyme Corporation today announced three-year follow-up data from patients enrolled in the phase 2 clinical trial for its investigational oral therapy for Gaucher disease type 1 known as eliglustat tartrate. Sustained or further improvements were observed across all endpoints, including bone disease, at the three-year timepoint.

19 Feb 2011

Medical students can bebefit from ACMG Summer Genetics Scholar Program

Medical students from around the country will have an opportunity to experience firsthand the new frontier of medicine in a revolutionary new genetics summer training program just announced by the American College of Medical Genetics Foundation, a prominent non-profit genetics foundation.

19 Feb 2011

Depression doesn't decline with age in addiction-prone women

Unlike alcohol abuse problems and antisocial behavior, depression doesn't decline with age in addiction-prone women in their 30s and 40s - it continues to increase, a new study led by University of Michigan Health System researchers found.

18 Feb 2011

USPTO issues two patents to VIRxSYS SMaRT RNA platform technology

VIRxSYS Corporation, a privately-held biotechnology company with proprietary RNA payload and lentiviral vector delivery platform technologies, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued the Company two patents for its SMaRT RNA platform technology, capable of reprogramming or repairing genes to create, increase or change protein expression.

18 Feb 2011

Cyclacel's CYC065 CDK inhibitor demonstrates potential against breast cancer resistant to trastuzumab

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced the publication of preclinical data in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), demonstrating that cyclin E plays a major role in making Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2 positive (HER2+) breast cancer resistant to trastuzumab (Herceptin®), a widely used medicine for breast cancer patients who test positive for HER2.

18 Feb 2011

New approaches for controlling sleeping sickness caused by trypanosomes

The research could eventually lead to new approaches for controlling sleeping sickness in humans and wasting diseases in livestock which are caused by trypanosomes carried by the bloodsucking tsetse fly.

18 Feb 2011

U.S. FDA approves Corifact to prevent bleeding in people with Factor XIII deficiency

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Corifact, the first product intended to prevent bleeding in people with the rare genetic defect congenital Factor XIII deficiency.

18 Feb 2011

Study: Cigarette smoking linked to mucus overproduction in patients with chronic bronchitis

Cigarette smoking has been linked with overproduction of mucus associated with chronic bronchitis, according to a study conducted by researchers in New Mexico. The study indicates cigarette smoke suppresses a protein that causes the natural death of mucus-producing cells in the airways of bronchitis patients.

17 Feb 2011

Benitec strengthens patent position in RNAi

Benitec Limited (ASX: BLT), (PINK:BNIKF), a world leader in expressed gene silencing for human therapeutics, is pleased to announce that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has today indicated that it is issuing the Re-examination Certificate, the formal final step in the USPTO’s confirmation of patentability of claims in the key ‘099 Graham Patent [US Patent No. 6,573,099] "Genetic Constructs for Delaying or Repressing the Expression of a Target Gene", the wide-ranging platform technology patent covering the use of expressed RNA interference (RNAi) in human therapeutic applications.

17 Feb 2011

Two researchers receive Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research 2011

Today, the Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research 2011 goes to two researchers who have contributed to better understanding of the genetics underlying the growth of tumors.

17 Feb 2011

Researchers discover substance that reinforces brain's self-healing functions after stroke

The only acute treatment for a stroke currently available is thrombolysis. This uses drugs that dissolve the blood clot responsible for the stroke, but it only reaches around 10 per cent of stroke patients in time to prevent lasting damage. For other patients, there are no other effective drugs that reduce the loss of brain function following a stroke.

17 Feb 2011

Metallic copper surfaces kill bacteria on contact

Metallic copper surfaces kill microbes on contact, decimating their populations, according to a paper in the February 2011 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. They do so literally in minutes, by causing massive membrane damage after about a minute's exposure, says the study's corresponding author, Gregor Grass of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. This is the first study to demonstrate this mechanism of bacteriocide.

17 Feb 2011

FAK enzyme plays a key role in preparing lung tissue for metastatic development

A Massachusetts General Hospital study has identified a new role for an important enzyme in preparing lung tissue for the development of metastases.

17 Feb 2011

Rare bleeding disorder misdiagnosed

A rare bleeding disorder that can lead to life-threatening bleeding episodes is misdiagnosed in 15 per cent of cases according to findings from a new international research project led by a Queen's professor.

17 Feb 2011

Deactivation of CRTC1 protein increases lifespan

Substantial evidence suggests that lifespan is increased if an organism restricts its daily calorie intake, a spartan regime that some say works by just making life seem longer. A team of scientists from the Salk Institute of Biological Studies has discovered a molecular switch flipped by hunger that could not only make longevity more appetizing but identify drug targets for patients with aging-related diseases such as type II diabetes or cancer.

17 Feb 2011

Muscle, aptly enough, is born of cellular bullying, and not mutual consent

In fact, according to new research from Johns Hopkins, the fusion of muscle cells is a power struggle that involves a smaller mobile antagonist that points at, pokes and finally pushes into its larger, stationary partner using a newly identified finger-like projection.

17 Feb 2011

New method may eliminate colonoscopies

Nobody enjoys colonoscopies, including mice. University of Missouri researchers are excited about the potential of using genetic biomarkers to predict colon cancer caused by inflammation. A new method developed at the MU Research Animal Diagnostic Laboratory (RADIL) could eventually lead to a method that might eliminate colonoscopies altogether.

17 Feb 2011

Study sheds light on novel functions of certain PCSK enzymes

Recent studies conducted at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montr-al on a group of PCSK enzymes could have a positive impact on health, from cholesterol to osteoporosis.

17 Feb 2011