Genetic News and Research

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Smoking's effects on genes may play a role in lung cancer development and survival

Smoking plays a role in lung cancer development, and now scientists have shown that smoking also affects the way genes are expressed, leading to alterations in cell division and regulation of immune response.

21 Feb 2008

New method for detecting HER2 breast cancer

Generations of mothers have served up chicken soup to remedy the common cold, but now the therapeutic fowl may find use in diagnosis as well.

21 Feb 2008

March of Dimes implores legislators to vote in favor of hearing screen

The March of Dimes is making a House call -- House of Representatives that is. On February 21, 2008, the March of Dimes and volunteers from around the state will meet with legislators to discuss several issues, the most important of which is passage of House Bill 1177.

21 Feb 2008

Study looks at bisphenol A exposure in boys and prostate cancer later in life

Does exposure of baby boys -- in utero or in infancy -- to bisphenol A, a man-made chemical which mimics natural estrogens, predispose them to prostate cancer later in life?

21 Feb 2008

Discovery of gene expression pathway that influences process of oxidative stress

The same chemical reaction that causes iron to rust plays a similarly corrosive role in our bodies.

21 Feb 2008

Genetic and environmental hormonal response to stress in children depends on family context

A study conducted on 346 19-month-old twins by an international team led by Universite Laval professor of psychology Michel Boivin reveals that the genetic and environmental bases of hormonal response to stress depend on the context in which a child grows up.

21 Feb 2008

Wyeth wins Maryland thimerosal autism case

Wyeth has announced that The Honorable Stuart R. Berger of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City in Baltimore, Maryland, has granted Wyeth's motion for summary judgment in the case of Blackwell, et al. v. Sigma Aldrich, Inc., et al - an alleged vaccine injury case claiming that Jamarr Blackwell's exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccines caused him to become autistic.

20 Feb 2008

Heat shock protein 90 helps explain the speed of evolution

Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) has a greater impact on the appearance of new traits than previously expected, according to two articles published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) by researchers in Whitehead Member Susan Lindquist's lab and their colleagues in Christine Queitsch's lab at Harvard University's FAS Center for Systems Biology.

20 Feb 2008

Scientists shed light on long-distance signaling in developing neurons

A longstanding puzzle in neurodevelopment may have yielded up a key secret.

20 Feb 2008

Evidence supports bats as SARS virus source

Scientists who have studied the genome of the virus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) say their comparisons to related viruses offer new evidence that the virus infecting humans originated in bats.

20 Feb 2008

New key finding in neurodevelopment

A longstanding puzzle in neurodevelopment may have yielded up a key secret. A team led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College says they have determined how events at the very tips of the developing neuron's long, skinny axon affect gene transcription back in the cell's distant nucleus.

20 Feb 2008

Pre-eclampsia linked to herpes virus

Australian researchers have discovered a viral link which they believe may help explain high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia) and pre-term birth.

18 Feb 2008

Obese teens need more help and U.S. expert says surgical solutions should not be dismissed

A recent report which has found Victorian hospitals are having to treat hundreds of obese children each year, has highlighted the seriousness of the obesity epidemic and how ill equipped and under-resourced services treating childhood obesity are.

18 Feb 2008

Study offers insight into possible cause of lymphoma

The immune system's powerful cellular mutation and repair processes appear to offer important clues as to how lymphatic cancer develops, Yale School of Medicine researchers report this week in Nature.

18 Feb 2008

Stanford researchers make first direct observation of 3-D molecule folding in real time

All the crucial proteins in our bodies must fold into complex shapes to do their jobs.

18 Feb 2008

Personalized medicine can cut breast cancer risk

The time has come for breast cancer risk assessment, counseling and genetic testing to move from cancer specialists to the realm of primary care, according to a presentation at the AAAS annual meeting, held this year in Boston.

17 Feb 2008

Discovery of new cataract gene

The international team of researchers was able to identify the location and defect in the coding region of the gene through analysis of genetic material (DNA) from members of a large Swiss family, the majority of whom suffered from autosomal dominant juvenile cataract.

17 Feb 2008

Metabolic syndrome linked to climate

Researchers from the University of Chicago have discovered that many of the genetic variations that have enabled human populations to tolerate colder climates may also affect their susceptibility to metabolic syndrome, a cluster of related abnormalities such as obesity, elevated cholesterol levels, heart disease, and diabetes.

17 Feb 2008

Fighting the global obesity epidemic

According to Rena Wing, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and director of the Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center at The Miriam Hospital, people who are most successful in preventing weight gain, and dieters who lose weight and keep the pounds off, have made major changes in their in diet and exercise routines.

17 Feb 2008