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Two organochlorine pesticides associated with increased risk of endometriosis

A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center-led study has found that two organochlorine pesticides are associated with an increased risk of endometriosis, a condition that affects up to 10 percent of reproductive-age women.

5 Nov 2013

‘Distinct’ bipolar pathways revealed

A genetic analysis reported in Nature suggests two mechanisms that could lead to bipolar disorder.

25 Oct 2013

Ohio State's Heart and Vascular Center names Garret FitzGerald as recipient of Schottenstein Prize

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Center has named Dr. Garret FitzGerald, professor of Medicine and Pharmacology; chair of the Department of Pharmacology and director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, the recipient of the 2013 Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Prize in Cardiovascular Sciences.

26 Sep 2013

Glutathione peroxidase activity protects against symptoms of Huntington's disease

Leicester geneticists have discovered a potential defence against Huntington's disease - a fatal neurodegenerative disorder which currently has no cure.

26 Aug 2013

Bacterial strains that delay cell division might be used to design drugs that stop division entirely

In 1958 a group of scientists working in Denmark made the striking observation that bacterial cells are about twice as large when they are cultured on a rich nutrient source than when they are cultured on a meager one.

13 Aug 2013

Protein on surface of human breast tumour cells may serve as drug target for breast cancer

Scientists have identified higher levels of a receptor protein found on the surface of human breast tumour cells that may serve as a new drug target for the treatment of breast cancer.

19 Jul 2013

Innovative X-ray method advances new treatments for genetic diseases

An international team of scientists using a new X-ray method recorded the internal structure and cell movement inside a living frog embryo in greater detail than ever before.

18 May 2013

Scientists create animal models by altering specific genes associated with a given disease

Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch, who helped transform the study of genetics by creating the first transgenic mouse in 1974, is again revolutionizing how genetically altered animal models are created and perhaps even redefining what species may serve as models.

6 May 2013

Fralin Life Science Institute researchers use TALENS to alter mosquito genome

Virginia Tech researchers successfully used a gene disruption technique to change the eye color of a mosquito - a critical step toward new genetic strategies aimed at disrupting the transmission of diseases such as dengue fever.

22 Mar 2013

Tau release from healthy neurons can be regulated by neuronal activity

Researchers from King's College London have discovered that neuronal activity can stimulate tau release from healthy neurons in the absence of cell death.

16 Feb 2013

Scientists demonstrate how glowing fish can help screen drugs that control metabolic disorders

A tiny, translucent zebrafish that glows green when its liver makes glucose has helped an international team of researchers identify a compound that regulates whole-body metabolism and appears to protect obese mice from signs of metabolic disorders.

2 Dec 2012

DFG to establish 11 Collaborative Research Centres in Jan 2013

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish eleven Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs) as of 1 January 2013. This was decided by the responsible Grants Committee during its fall session in Bonn.

30 Nov 2012

UiO researchers discover enzyme critical for spread of cancer

Enzyme hunters at UiO have discovered the function of an enzyme that is important in the spreading of cancer. Cancer researchers now hope to inhibit the enzyme.

15 Nov 2012

Oskar gene emerged far earlier in insect evolution than previously believed

Harvard scientists have solved the long-standing mystery of how some insects form the germ cells - the cellular precursors to the eggs and sperm necessary for sexual reproduction - and the answer is shedding new light on the evolutionary origins of a gene that had long been thought to be critical to the process.

2 Nov 2012

Two CUMC studies provide new insights into spinal muscular atrophy

A study by scientists from the Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) suggests that spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic neuromuscular disease in infants and children, results primarily from motor circuit dysfunction, not motor neuron or muscle cell dysfunction, as is commonly thought.

12 Oct 2012

BUSM leads genome-wide evaluation of genetic variants associated with Parkinson's disease

Boston University School of Medicine investigators have led the first genome-wide evaluation of genetic variants associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). The study, which is published online in PLOS ONE, points to the involvement of specific genes and alterations in their expression as influencing the risk for developing PD.

6 Oct 2012

EphA4 receptor may be promising target for future ALS drug

Leuven scientists (VIB/KU Leuven) are using zebrafish as a model in their search for genes that play a role in the mechanism of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). As a result, they have identified a molecule that could be the target for a future ALS treatment.

28 Aug 2012

Research focuses on evolution of sex and gamete function

The propagation of every animal on the planet is the result of sexual activity between males and females of a given species. But how did things get this way? Why two sexes instead of one? Why are sperm necessary for reproduction and how did they evolve? These as-yet-unresolved issues fascinate Timothy Karr, a developmental geneticist and evolutionary biologist at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute.

13 Aug 2012

Nematode worms help identify potential cancer targets

Through novel experiments involving small nematode worms, scientists from Wyoming have discovered several genes that may be potential targets for drug development in the ongoing war against cancer. Specifically, researchers hypothesize that inhibiting these genes could reverse certain key traits associated with cancer cells.

10 Aug 2012

Researchers uncover 9 new genes associated with bone health

Researchers have uncovered 9 new genes associated with bone health. This collaborative study found clues to the cause of bone disorders such as osteoporosis, osteogenesis imperfecta, and high bone density syndromes by investigating the bone mineral content, strength and flexibility.

3 Aug 2012