Genetic News and Research

RSS

Muscular dystrophy: $1M grant for study of erectile dysfunction drugs in improving muscle blood flow

A Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute cardiologist has been awarded a three-year, nearly $1 million grant from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) to study whether drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction could also be used to improve muscle blood flow and reduce fatigue in muscular dystrophy patients.

26 Mar 2010

NellOne's lead candidate for skeletal muscle wound healing and myocardial infarction demonstrates potential efficacy

Two key, independent proof-of-concept studies conducted for NellOne Therapeutics, Inc. demonstrate the potential efficacy of the company’s lead therapeutic candidate for both skeletal muscle wound healing and myocardial infarction.

26 Mar 2010

Data on Argos Therapeutics' Phase 2a AGS-004 immunotherapy trial presented at Banff HIV Vaccines meeting

Argos Therapeutics today announced the presentation of data from the Phase 2a trial of AGS-004, providing information on rebound viral genetic diversity in HIV patients treated with the personalized immunotherapy following antiretroviral therapy (ART) interruption. The data were discussed in a poster session at the Keystone Symposia Global Health Series HIV Vaccines meeting, held March 21-26, 2010 in Banff, Canada.

26 Mar 2010

New topical drug may help treat diabetic eye disease

Early-stage human clinical trials showed that a new topical drug was safe and had biological effects in a type of diabetic eye disease, and may offer researchers a new approach to prevent and treat diabetic macular edema.

26 Mar 2010

Insulin receptor vital for keeping neural stem cells alive

University of California, Berkeley, biologists have found a signal that keeps stem cells alive in the adult brain, providing a focus for scientists looking for ways to re-grow or re-seed stem cells in the brain to allow injured areas to repair themselves.

26 Mar 2010

Targeting Wnt/beta-catenin pathway may prevent growth and development of AML: Study

About 40 percent of children and up to 70 percent of adults in remission from acute myelogenous leukemia will have a relapse. In recent years, doctors have come to believe that this is due to leukemia stem cells, endlessly replicating cancer cells that generate the immature blood cells characteristic of leukemia and are resistant to typical cancer treatments.

26 Mar 2010

New research may help advance treatment strategies for common liver disease

A research article published in the journal PloS Pathogens could lead to improvements in the production of vaccines for hepatitis A, the most widespread viral disease in the world.

26 Mar 2010

Genetic variants in brain proteins may increase autism risk

Two genes have been associated with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in a new study of 661 families. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's newly launched journal Molecular Autism found that variations in the genes for two brain proteins, LRRN3 and LRRTM3, were significantly associated with susceptibility to ASD.

26 Mar 2010

Fluidigm, SABiosciences partner to create pathway-focused gene expression panels for BioMark system

Fluidigm Corporation and SABiosciences (a QIAGEN Company) today announced that they have teamed up to create over 100 pathway-focused gene expression panels validated for real-time PCR analysis on the Fluidigm BioMark™ System for Genetic Analysis. These kits are named the RT² Profiler™ PCR Arrays for the Fluidigm BioMark system.

26 Mar 2010

Standard HCV therapy less effective in urban minority patients: Study

A recent study confirms that the standard hepatitis C therapy, pegylated interferon and ribavirin, is significantly less effective in urban minority patients treated in an ordinary clinical practice setting compared with results produced during clinical trials.

26 Mar 2010

GPC5 gene associated with lung cancer in 'never-smokers'

US scientists have identified a gene that may be responsible for a proportion of lung cancer cases among people who have never smoked.

26 Mar 2010

Body lice and head lice have same origin

Body lice, which cause highly lethal epidemics (trench fever, typhus and relapsing fever Borrelia), originate from head lice. This has recently been shown by a team from the Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Unit (CNRS/IRD/Université de la Méditerranée), in collaboration with researchers from the Universities of Florida and Illinois (US).

26 Mar 2010

Hepatitis C treatment less effective in urban minority patients

A recent study confirms that the standard hepatitis C (HCV) therapy, pegylated interferon and ribavirin, is significantly less effective in urban minority patients treated in an ordinary clinical practice setting compared with results produced during clinical trials. Results of this study appear in the April issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

25 Mar 2010

Tips offered in April 2010 issue of American Journal Of Pathology

A group led by Dr. Massimo Loda at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA has generated a preclinical model of human prostate cancer that mimics the genetic and growth behavior of primary tumors. Their report can be found in the April 2010 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

25 Mar 2010

Genetic variation associated with lower risk of sudden cardiac arrest:Study

Physician-scientists at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have found that a genetic variation is associated with lower risk of sudden cardiac arrest, a disorder that gives little warning and is fatal in about 95 percent of cases. Findings will be published tomorrow by the Public Library of Science (PloS One).

25 Mar 2010

Techulon, UC sign worldwide exclusive license agreements to market Glycofect-Transfection Reagent

Techulon Inc., a life sciences company, has signed worldwide exclusive license agreements with the University of Cincinnati to manufacture and sell novel transfection reagents used for research and therapeutic delivery of nucleic acids.

25 Mar 2010

EMA accepts MAA filing of ViroPharma's Cinryze for HAE

ViroPharma Incorporated today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted the filing of its Marketing Authorization Application for Cinryze for acute treatment and prophylaxis against hereditary angioedema, which was submitted through the centralized procedure in March 2010. ViroPharma is seeking European approval for both prevention and treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema.

25 Mar 2010

Study on zebrafish regenerate tissues links human heart implications

In a paper published in the March 25, 2010 issue of Nature, researchers working at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona (CMRB) identified a fish heart cell population that is the source of this astonishing healing feat, a finding that could provide insight into how mammalian hearts might be coaxed into repairing themselves after injury brought on by heart attack.

25 Mar 2010

Committee recommends inclusion of genetic diseases in newborn screening program

The experts who make recommendations for genetic disease screening in newborns face a challenging task: To make conclusions based on the most authoritative available evidence, while considering gaps in the research on such rare conditions, as well as their human impact. An overview of the steps followed by the expert panels tasked with making these recommendations is presented in a special section of the current issue of Genetics in Medicine, the official peer-reviewed journal of The American College of Medical Genetics.

25 Mar 2010