Genetic News and Research

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Human model of rare genetic disease reveals new clues to aging process

Scientists from A*STAR's Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) in Singapore and the University of Hong Kong's Department of Medicine have produced the world's first human cell model of progeria, a disease resulting in severe premature ageing in one in four to eight million children worldwide. This model has allowed them to make new discoveries concerning the mechanism by which progeria works.

25 Jan 2011

University of California study may shed light on human ability to adapt hypoxia

In an important study that may shed light on human ability to adapt to hypoxia, or inadequate levels of oxygen, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have proven that the genome of flies exposed to long-term hypoxia are changed to permanently affect gene expression.

24 Jan 2011

Contagious cancer repairs own genetic mutations

A curious contagious cancer, found in dogs, wolves and coyotes, can repair its own genetic mutations by adopting genes from its host animal, according to a new study in the journal Science.

24 Jan 2011

Nutrient 'biomarkers' may help assess nutrient status of elderly people at risk for dementia

Research is trying to determine whether Alzheimer's disease might be slowed or prevented with nutritional approaches, but a new study suggests those efforts could be improved by use of nutrient "biomarkers" to objectively assess the nutrient status of elderly people at risk for dementia.

24 Jan 2011

Mystery of 'inactive' defensin solved

Under standard laboratory conditions, the human beta-defensin 1 (hBD-1), a human antibiotic naturally produced in the body, had always shown only little activity against microbes. Nevertheless the human body produces it in remarkable quantities.

24 Jan 2011

Research findings reveal HIV's hiding spot, new way to stop the virus

HIV adapts in a surprising way to survive and thrive in its hiding spot within the human immune system, scientists have learned. While the finding helps explain why HIV remains such a formidable foe after three decades of research - more than 30 million people worldwide are infected with HIV - it also offers scientists a new, unexpected way to try to stop the virus.

24 Jan 2011

Functional tests are necessary to understand human disease despite genetic sequencing

Despite what you might have heard, genetic sequencing alone is not enough to understand human disease. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have shown that functional tests are absolutely necessary to understand the biological relevance of the results of sequencing studies as they relate to disease, using a suite of diseases known as the ciliopathies which can cause patients to have many different traits.

24 Jan 2011

FibroGen announces FG-3019 interim results from phase 1/2 trial against pancreatic cancer

FibroGen, today announced interim results of a phase 1/2 trial of FG-3019, a therapeutic antibody against connective tissue growth factor, in combination with gemcitabine and erlotinib in individuals with unresectable pancreatic cancer.

23 Jan 2011

Bird flu outbreak in Japan

After six birds were confirmed to have avian flu, the Miyazaki Prefectural Government has begun culling more than 10,000 chickens at a local poultry farm southwest Japan.

23 Jan 2011

Mutation of microRNA miR-96 causes deafness

New research from the University of Sheffield has revealed that the molecular mechanism underlying deafness is caused by a mutation of a specific microRNA called miR-96. The discovery could provide the basis for treating progressive hearing loss and deafness.

21 Jan 2011

Researchers reveal how genetic mutation contributes to cancer development

Scientists around the world have been hot on the trail of a genetic mutation closely associated with some brain cancers and leukemia since the mutation's discovery in 2008. The hunt is now yielding fruit. In the Jan. 18, 2011 issue of Cancer Cell, researchers reveal how the mutation contributes to cancer development and suggest potential ways to counter its effects.

21 Jan 2011

$Medicare reimbursed for only a fraction of the services recommended by government task force, study finds$

Medicare reimbursed for only a fraction of the services recommended by government task force, study finds

Health care reform should be able to mend a disconnect that has existed between the recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a task force charged by the government to review clinical preventive health services for older adults, and Medicare coverage for those services, a new UCLA-led study finds.

21 Jan 2011

How genetic abnormalities transform normal cells into leukemic cells

Cancer scientists led by Dr. John Dick at the Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) and collaborators at St Jude Children's Research Hospital (Memphis) have found that defective genes and the individual leukemia cells that carry them are organized in a more complex way than previously thought.

21 Jan 2011

What protects certain diabetics from complications?

Much research has been carried out on why diabetics develop complications. Now researchers are asking the question the other way around. They want to know why some diabetic patients do not develop complications. What is it that protects them? The PROLONG study could provide the answer.

21 Jan 2011

Researchers discover several key mutations in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors

Through a grant provided by the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered several key mutations in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

21 Jan 2011

INF2 gene mutation is a major cause for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis

Mutations in a gene called INF2 are by far the most common cause of a dominantly inherited condition that leads to kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology. The results may help with screening, prevention, and therapy.

21 Jan 2011

Major breakthrough: Genome-based medicine for treatment of alcoholism

For the first time in alcohol addiction research, UVA investigators have successfully treated alcohol-dependent individuals with medication that is tailored specifically to match their genetic profile.

21 Jan 2011

Fat linked with DNA chemical changes may help identify risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes

Fat appears to associate with some distinctive chemical changes in the DNA - a finding that may help explain why obesity can increase the risk for chronic problems such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, researchers report.

21 Jan 2011

Repligen enters exclusive license agreement with UCI for use of HDAC3 inhibitors for memory disorders

Repligen Corporation announced today that it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with the University of California, Irvine (UCI) for a patent application covering the use of histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) inhibitors for the treatment of disorders involving preservation or extinction of memory including Alzheimer's disease, memory impairment and post traumatic stress disorder.

21 Jan 2011

Researchers believe driver mutations promote development, growth of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is known to occur typically in older men. Yet some patients are younger than 50 years at the time of diagnosis. Scientists assume that these cases might be the key to understanding the biology of this disease. Early prostate cancer might be a subtype which is characterized by a relatively small number of genetic modifications.

21 Jan 2011