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Worm study sheds light on how the human body ages

Microscopic worms used for scientific research are living longer despite cellular defects, a discovery that is shedding light on how the human body ages and how doctors could one day limit or reverse genetic mutations that cause inherited diseases, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study.

2 Oct 2007

Researchers demonstrate safety of synthetic siRNAs

Researchers from MIT, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and other institutions have demonstrated the safety of a promising type of genetic therapy that could lead to treatments for a wide range of diseases such as cancer.

27 Sep 2007

New target for Hodgkin lymphoma

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have identified a protein that prevents the body's immune system from recognizing and attacking Hodgkin lymphoma cells.

1 Aug 2007

Scientits devise dimmer swith to regulate gene expression in mammal cells

Three Boston University biomedical engineers have created a genetic dimmer switch that can be used to turn on, shut off, or partially activate a gene's function. Professor James Collins, Professor Charles Cantor and doctoral candidate Tara Deans invented the switch, which can be tuned to produce large or small quantities of protein, or none at all.

27 Jul 2007

Roche and Alnylam form RNAi therapeutics alliance

Roche and the US-based biopharmaceutical company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a major alliance in which Roche obtains a non-exclusive license to Alnylam's technology platform for developing RNAi (RNA interference) therapeutics.

9 Jul 2007

A new system for collaboration in cell communication

Investigators from the Institute of Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) have identified a new signalling mechanism among cells in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster.

27 Jun 2007

New targets for Leishmaniasis

A comparison of three parasite species that cause Leishmaniasis has identified a small number of genes, many new to biology, that will provide a framework to target the search for new treatments.

19 Jun 2007

Zorro-LNA stops genetic disorders in their tracks

A study to appear in the June 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal describes a new agent, called "Zorro-LNA," which has the potential to stop genetic disorders in their tracks.

1 May 2007

More effective therapies for individual cancers - personalized medicine

Genetic and epigenetic variations ensure that no two people are exactly alike, and the same holds true for any two cancers.

18 Apr 2007

Expression Genetics completes phase I trial of lead drug candidate, EGEN-001

Expression Genetics, Inc., has announced the completion of a Phase I clinical study evaluating the Company's lead drug candidate, EGEN-001.

17 Apr 2007

RNAi shows promise in gene therapy

Three years ago Mark Kay, MD, PhD, published the first results showing that a biological phenomenon called RNA interference could be an effective gene therapy technique. Since then he has used RNAi gene therapy to effectively shut down the viruses that cause hepatitis and HIV in mice.

19 Feb 2007

Sigma-Aldrich grants Pfizer license to use ddRNAi

Sigma-Aldrich has announced that it has granted Pfizer a worldwide non-exclusive research license to utilize DNA-directed RNAi (ddRNAi) technology. Applications of the ddRNAi technology for research activities have been licensed exclusively by Sigma- Aldrich from Benitec Limited of Australia.

3 Jan 2007

Scientists discover function for antisense RNA

Researchers have found that a class of RNA molecules, previously thought to have no function, may in fact protect sex cells from self-destructing. These findings will be published in the November 17 issue of the journal Cell.

20 Nov 2006

Molecular switch that regulates fat and cholesterol production identified

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital have identified how a molecular switch regulates fat and cholesterol production

2 Aug 2006

Objections to Kreutzer-Limmer patent by Sirna Therapeutics accepted by the European Patent Office

Sirna Therapeutics has announced that its objections to the Kreutzer-Limmer patent in Europe were accepted by the European Patent Office.

29 Jun 2006

AUA podium session on stone disease

2-phase randomized crossover study on a constant diet with calcium carbonate supplementation at 250 mg 4 times daily.

13 Jun 2006

Effective gene suppression using small interfering RNA in hard-to-transfect human T cells

A technical advance in laboratory techniques may provide biology researchers broader access to RNA interference, a process of blocking the activity of targeted genes. RNA interference has recently emerged as an important tool in studying how genes function in normal biological processes and in disease.

9 May 2006