Genetic News and Research

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Chromosome glue repairs damaged DNA

When a strand of DNA breaks in the body's cells, it normally does not take long until it has been repaired.

16 Jul 2007

ACMG recognizes progress made in newborn screening

In support of the latest March of Dimes Newborn Screening Report Card, the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) strongly urges every state to require complete testing of all newborns for a 'core panel' of genetic and congenital conditions.

16 Jul 2007

Hope for cure for insulin-dependent diabetes

A diagnosis of type I diabetes means a life sentence of medical follow-up. While treatments have become simpler and less restrictive in recent years, they are still a burden, especially for young patients.

16 Jul 2007

DNA' s double helix shape explained

Researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have uncovered a missing link in scientists' understanding of the physical forces that give DNA its famous double helix shape.

13 Jul 2007

Breakthough in understanding of how mutations occur in genes

For the first time, it can now be shown what enzyme copies the genetic make-up of cells.

13 Jul 2007

New DNA sequencing technology at University of Liverpool

Unique technology, that uses the enzymes of fireflies to read the genetic code of DNA, has been installed at the University of Liverpool.

13 Jul 2007

Drinking behaviour is affected by culture, upbringing and the immediate social environment.

Men, extrovert people and those with positive expectations regarding alcohol use drink more than others, says Dutch psychologist Sander Bot.

13 Jul 2007

Curing canine cancer - human cancer benefit

One of the major issues associated with longer life expectancy in man and his best friend is an increase in the incidence of cancer.

13 Jul 2007

Scientists develop largest ever series of human breasts cancers grafted into mice

At the Institut Curie, Inserm researchers and physicians have established the largest ever panel of human breast cancer xenografts in animal models.

13 Jul 2007

Rochester now offers gene test to detect Batten disease

Rochester has become one of only a handful of communities around the world to offer a genetic test to detect Batten disease, a deadly inherited disorder.

12 Jul 2007

New data about the laws governing embryo development in organisms

Research aimed at understanding the mechanisms underlying embryo development has taken a step forward thanks to collaborative work between biologists specialized in the study of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) and scientists specialized in the design of mathematical models that simulate the functioning of biological systems.

12 Jul 2007

Some smokers have genetic predisposition to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Some people have a genetic variation that makes them more susceptible to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) if they smoke tobacco, according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues.

12 Jul 2007

Genes play a large role in sour taste perception

Scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center report that genes play a large role in determining individual differences in sour taste perception.

12 Jul 2007

New evidence of very recent human adaptation

A Cornell study of genome sequences in African-Americans, European-Americans and Chinese suggests that natural selection has caused as much as 10 percent of the human genome to change in some populations in the last 15,000 to 100,000 years, when people began migrating from Africa.

12 Jul 2007

A genetically informed study of the intergenerational transmission of marital instability

The first study to examine genetics as a culprit in the higher-than-usual divorce rate among children of divorced parents found that the parents' divorce itself, not genes or even problems such as parental substance abuse or delinquency, played a key role in the failed unions.

12 Jul 2007

Chemotherapy may benefit all women with a BRCA1 mutation

Breast cancer patients who possess one of the so-called "breast cancer" or BRCA genetic mutations do not have a higher risk of dying than patients with no BRCA mutations, according to a detailed study by researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the University of Toronto.

12 Jul 2007

Simple blood test for newborns would save lives

The president of the March of Dimes Dr. Jennifer Howse says a simple blood test could save many newborns from premature death or mental retardation.

12 Jul 2007

New genetic function involved in embryo development in organisms

11 Jul 2007

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy for breast cancer

The American Cancer Society recently issued new recommendations for women with a higher risk of developing breast cancer, including those with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, and those who may carry genetic mutations (BRCA1 or BRCA2) that make them more likely to develop the disease.

11 Jul 2007

Cicardian system suffers and protects from prenatal cocaine exposure

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that prenatal cocaine exposure in zebrafish (which share the majority of the same genes with humans) can alter neuronal development and acutely dysregulate the expression of circadian genes and those affecting melatonin signaling, growth and neurotransmission.

11 Jul 2007