Genetic News and Research

RSS

40% of African-Americans with diabetes delay a visit to a podiatrist: APMA

New national survey results show that nearly 40 percent of African-Americans with diabetes delay a visit to a podiatrist -- a critical member of a diabetes management team -- because they cannot afford the necessary medical care, according to the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA).

3 Nov 2009

Individuals who had experienced trauma exposure in both childhood and adulthood likely to develop PTSD

Individuals who experience both childhood adversity and traumatic events in adulthood appear more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than those exposed to only one of these types of incidents, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, the risk was further increased in individuals with a certain genetic mutation.

3 Nov 2009

Roche Applied Science to launch the NimbleGen CGX arrays in Europe and Japan

Roche Applied Science will announce the European and Asia Pacific launch of the NimbleGen CGX arrays for microarray-based cytogenetic analysis at a workshop series in four European cities and seven cities in Asia Pacific. The CGX arrays are designed by Signature Genomic Laboratories (Signature Genomics) and provide high-resolution, genome-wide analysis of chromosomal abnormalities.

3 Nov 2009

Phase 1 study of STX107 for Fragile X syndrome begins

NIH-supported scientists at Seaside Therapeutics in Cambridge, Mass., are beginning a clinical trial of a potential medication designed to correct a central neurochemical defect underlying Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability. There has to date been no medication that could alter the disorder's neurologic abnormalities. The study will evaluate safety, tolerability, and optimal dosage in healthy volunteers.

3 Nov 2009

ISB and Complete Genomics embark on the largest complete human genome disease association study

The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) and Complete Genomics Inc. announced today that they are embarking on a large-scale human genome sequencing study of Huntington’s disease (HD). ISB has engaged Complete Genomics to sequence 100 genomes, the majority of which will be used to investigate this disease, with samples from affected individuals, family members, and matched controls to study modifiers of disease presentation and progression.

2 Nov 2009

VEGF from the retinal pigment epithelium to the choriocapillaris leads to degeneration of the CC, study finds

Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute have found that when the eye is missing a diffusible form of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), i.e. one that when secreted can reach other cells at a distance, the retina shows defects similar to "dry" macular degeneration, also called geographic atrophy (GA).

2 Nov 2009

Arrayit Corporation joins federal government in their efforts to help control health care costs

Arrayit Corporation is pleased to join the federal government in their efforts to help control health care costs by leveraging Arrayit's leading edge health care platform.

2 Nov 2009

Dietary cholesterol is not a primary factor for coronary heart disease

Contrary to the established view, current data suggest that dietary cholesterol is not a primary factor of or causes heart disease - with the possible exception of the genetic forms of familial hypercholesterolemias. For instance, recent clinical trials evaluating the effect of cholesterol-lowering drugs on the development of chronic heart failure, diabetes and stroke have yielded disappointing results.

2 Nov 2009

WCMC-Q's biomedical research program makes significant progress

The biomedical research program of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar has made significant progress in its dual goals of advancing basic science and building a sustainable research community in Qatar since it was launched less than a year and a half ago.

2 Nov 2009

HCV progresses more rapidly after liver transplantation in African-Americans compared to whites

Previous studies have shown that hepatitis C virus (HCV) progresses slower prior to liver transplantation in African Americans than in whites. However, researchers demonstrate in this study, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, that the opposite is true after transplantation, in that recurrent HCV in the transplanted liver progresses faster in African Americans than in whites.

1 Nov 2009

Employment discrimination based on genetic information prohibited: GINA Title II regulations

The Poster Compliance Center Research Department advises U.S. employers that a revised “Equal Employment Opportunity Is the Law” poster including new information about GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008) was issued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The new GINA Title II regulations are effective Nov. 21, 2009.

31 Oct 2009

London Genetics enters an intensive partnering programme

London Genetics Limited, an expert in the use of pharmacogenetics in clinical drug discovery and development, has entered an intensive partnering programme following on from its successful pharmacogenetic conference in September.

31 Oct 2009

Nu Skin Enterprises celebrates 25th Anniversary Convention in LA

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: NUS) concluded its 25th Anniversary Convention in Los Angeles with record attendance, record product sales and record contributions to its nonprofit foundation. The biannual global distributor convention attracted more than 12,000 distributors from the company's 48 international markets. The largest delegations of sales representatives came from the United States, Japan and Korea.

31 Oct 2009

Shire announces third quarter 2009 financial results

Shire plc, the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announces results for the three months to September 30, 2009.

31 Oct 2009

Study: Gene therapy can reduce symptoms of Huntington's disease

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have shown that a highly specific intrabody (an antibody fragment that works against a target inside a cell) is capable of stalling the development of Huntington's disease in a variety of mouse models.

31 Oct 2009

Genetic susceptibility study for Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma awarded $7.9M grant

Thomas Vaughan, M.D., head of the Epidemiology Program in the Public Health Sciences Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has received a three-year, $7.9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study genetic susceptibility for Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma, a rapidly fatal cancer whose incidence has increased more than 500 percent in the past 30 years, faster than any other cancer in the United States.

31 Oct 2009

NCI awards $4.8M for project to measure all the proteins in the human body

An expert in cancer proteomics at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has received $4.8 million in federal stimulus funding from the National Cancer Institute to co-lead a pilot study to assess the feasibility and scalability of a project that aims to measure all of the proteins in the human body.

31 Oct 2009

Scientists present new perspective on antigenic drift of flu viruses

Influenza viruses evade infection-fighting antibodies by constantly changing the shape of their major surface protein. This shape-shifting, called antigenic drift, is why influenza vaccines-which are designed to elicit antibodies matched to each year's circulating virus strains-must be reformulated annually.

30 Oct 2009

USANA’s Active Calcium Chewable supplement improves bone health in young girls

USANA Health Sciences, Inc. announced today that a third-party clinical study led by Dr. David Greene at Australian Catholic University (ACU National) found that use of USANA’s Active Calcium™ Chewable supplement improves bone health in young girls.

30 Oct 2009

TGen to secure emergency FDA approval for 2009 H1N1 flu test

The Phoenix-based non-profit Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) announced today that, along with a business collaborator, it will submit a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use of a new test to diagnose the 2009 H1N1 swine flu virus.

30 Oct 2009