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Winners of BioMed Central Annual Research Awards announced

The winners of BioMed Central's 4th Annual Research Awards were announced at London's Swiss Re Tower last night. The event was attended by shortlisted authors, eminent researchers, publishers, open access advocates and science journalists from around the world.

14 Jun 2010

Researchers find new way to prevent blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have found a way to use a radical new type of gene therapy to prevent blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa, giving hope to the estimated 100,000 Americans who suffer from this debilitating disease.

14 Jun 2010

CNVs increases patients' susceptibility to severe sepsis

Genetic makeup has been identified as a key factor leading to the development of sepsis, a systemic inflammatory reaction that occurs during infection. Sepsis is considered severe when associated with organ dysfunction.

14 Jun 2010

Genetic variation can predict how people infected with hepatitis C react to treatment: Scientists

A small genetic change can predict how people infected with hepatitis C react to treatment, paving the way to personalised therapy for this difficult to treat disease, the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics will hear today (Sunday 13 June). Dr. Zoltan Kutalik, from the Department of Medical Genetics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, will tell delegates that individuals with this change, in a gene encoding for the antiviral cytokine (cell-signalling molecule) interferon lamda, reacts less well to treatment.

14 Jun 2010

TIME series examines global health

As part of a special package about global health, TIME magazine visits what is known as "the most malarial town on earth" - Apac, Uganda - and examines global malaria control and efforts to eradicate the disease.

14 Jun 2010

Research on genetic mutations could lead to accurate diagnosis of USH, says scientist

Usher syndrome, an inherited condition involving both hearing and vision loss, is not a simply recessively inherited disease, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Saturday). Dr. Hanno Bolz, Associate Medical Director of the Bioscientia Centre for Human Genetics, Ingelheim, Germany, and active in teaching and research at the University Hospital of Cologne, will say that his team's research challenges the traditional view that USH was inherited as a single gene disorder, and shows that it may result from at least two different genetic mutations.

14 Jun 2010

DFG sets up new Research Training Groups for German researchers

To further enhance the promotion of young researchers in Germany, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) has established twelve new Research Training Groups.

14 Jun 2010

White blood cells with receptors for both virus and nerve proteins may assault nerves after fighting infection

A virus infection can incite the body to attack its own nerve tissue by activating unusual, disease-fighting cells with receptors for both viral and nerve proteins. The dual-receptor observation suggests a way brain and spinal cord nerve damage might be triggered in susceptible young adults afflicted with multiple sclerosis.

11 Jun 2010

Interactions between human and microbial cells determine health, physical well-being: Researchers

At birth, your body was 100-percent human in terms of cells. At death, about 10-percent of the cells in your body will be human and the remaining 90-percent will be microorganisms. That makes you a "supraorganism," and it is the interactions between your human and microbial cells that go a long way towards determining your health and physical well-being, especially your resistance to infectious diseases.

11 Jun 2010

New study to use genetic 'chips' for examining DNA from over 20,000 heart disease patients

New research at the University of Leicester will use the latest genetic techniques to examine DNA from over 20,000 patients with heart disease.

11 Jun 2010

Emerging science of epigenetics offers new insights at crossroads of genes and the environment: Article

An emerging arm of molecular biology is introducing a new interpretation of traditional concepts of human disease, explains an article published today in Nature. According to author Dr. Arturas Petronis at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the emerging science of epigenetics is offering new insights at the crossroads of genes and the environment, or nature and nurture. Dr. Petronis is head of the Krembil Family Epigenetics Laboratory at CAMH and an international expert in the field.

11 Jun 2010

Researchers to present advanced treatment strategies for eye diseases at NEI symposium

The National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is bringing together premier researchers who translate molecular and genetic approaches from the laboratory to visual system diseases in the clinic.

11 Jun 2010

UK scientists discover cancer-blocking activity in Down's syndrome chromosome

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered cancer-blocking activity for genes carried on chromosome 21 - an extra copy of which is carried by people with Down's syndrome, reveals research published in Nature.

11 Jun 2010

Interpretation of multiple gene function may hold clue to autism

Deciphering the functions of multiple rare genes may be at the core of understanding the genetic factors that cause autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), according to a new study published June 9 in the journal Nature by dozens of top autism researchers around the world, including Yale Child Study Center Director Fred R. Volkmar, M.D.

11 Jun 2010

Telomere length can act as stopwatch to predict progression of leukaemia: Research

Scientists have pinpointed key changes to the telomeres in the cells of leukaemia patients which could play a crucial role in the earliest stages of the disease, according to research published online in the journal Blood.

11 Jun 2010

UAB researchers win grant to study metastasis of dead cancer cells

Researchers with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Comprehensive Cancer Center and UAB Department of Chemistry have won an $805,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program to study whether dead cancer cells left over after treatment encourage cancer's spread to other parts of the body.

11 Jun 2010

New methodology may help control influenza

Scientists have uncovered the flu's secret formula for effectively evolving within and between host species: balance. The key lies with the flu's unique replication process, which has evolved to produce enough mutations for the virus to spread and adapt to its host environment, but not so many that unwanted genomic mutations lead to the flu's demise (catastrophic mutagenesis).

11 Jun 2010

Ion Torrent extends Ion PGM Sequencer Grant Program to Europe

Ion Torrent today announced that it is extending its Ion PGM Sequencer Grant Program to Europe, and will award two sequencers to scientists there in the second half of 2010. This spring Ion Torrent received hundreds of grant proposals from scientists in North America, and in April two winners were each awarded an Ion PGM sequencer.

11 Jun 2010

Study offers new insights into how brain chooses between behaviors that are critical for survival

A team of biologists has isolated genes that regulate the sleep-feeding conflict. The study, which appears in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology, offers new insights into how the brain chooses between behaviors that are critical for survival.

11 Jun 2010

Study identifies mechanism that interrupts normal p53 gene function leading to tumor development

The p53 gene has been a well-documented player in the prevention of tumors. It is considered the most frequently mutated gene in human tumors with more than half harboring p53 mutations (Bennett et al., 1999). These mutations often can be caused by disruption in normal p53 function.

11 Jun 2010

Genetic News and Research

Winners of BioMed Central Annual Research Awards announced

Researchers find new way to prevent blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa

CNVs increases patients' susceptibility to severe sepsis

Genetic variation can predict how people infected with hepatitis C react to treatment: Scientists

TIME series examines global health

Research on genetic mutations could lead to accurate diagnosis of USH, says scientist

DFG sets up new Research Training Groups for German researchers

White blood cells with receptors for both virus and nerve proteins may assault nerves after fighting infection

Interactions between human and microbial cells determine health, physical well-being: Researchers

New study to use genetic 'chips' for examining DNA from over 20,000 heart disease patients

Emerging science of epigenetics offers new insights at crossroads of genes and the environment: Article

Researchers to present advanced treatment strategies for eye diseases at NEI symposium

UK scientists discover cancer-blocking activity in Down's syndrome chromosome

Interpretation of multiple gene function may hold clue to autism

Telomere length can act as stopwatch to predict progression of leukaemia: Research

UAB researchers win grant to study metastasis of dead cancer cells

New methodology may help control influenza

Ion Torrent extends Ion PGM Sequencer Grant Program to Europe

Study offers new insights into how brain chooses between behaviors that are critical for survival

Study identifies mechanism that interrupts normal p53 gene function leading to tumor development

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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