Mutation News and Research

RSS

Genetic engineering breakthrough

In a genetic engineering breakthrough that could help everyone from bed-ridden patients to elite athletes, a team of American researchers - including 2007 Nobel Prize winner Mario R. Capecchi - have created a "switch" that allows mutations or light signals to be turned on in muscle stem cells to monitor muscle regeneration in a living mammal

30 Mar 2009

Mutations within a conservative region of hepatitis C virus affect therapy

At least 200 million individuals are currently infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) worldwide.

30 Mar 2009

Hundreds of published studies on natural selection may have drawn incorrect conclusions

Scientists at Penn State and the National Institute of Genetics in Japan have demonstrated that several statistical methods commonly used by biologists to detect natural selection at the molecular level tend to produce incorrect results.

30 Mar 2009

New cancer genomics web-based tools provide researchers a powerful new to visualize and analyze data

A Cancer Genomics Browser developed by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, provides a new way to visualize and analyze data from studies aimed at improving cancer treatment by unraveling the complex genetic roots of the disease.

30 Mar 2009

Potential therapeutic strategy for fulminant hepatic failure

Fulminant hepatic failure is a serious clinical disease and may threaten the life of patients. However, because of the damage of mass liver cells, the organ function is often irreversible due to the liver cell degeneration, swelling, or apoptosis.

30 Mar 2009

The spread of drug resistant HIV-1

Drug-resistant forms of HIV can be spread between individuals who have not received anti-retroviral treatment, according to Professor Deenan Pillay from University College, London and the Health Protection Agency, speaking at the Society for General Microbiology meeting at Harrogate.

30 Mar 2009

Targeted drug therapy prevents exercise-induced arrhythmias

A 12-year-old Dutch boy - bedridden for three years because of an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome - can now join his friends on the soccer field thanks to a discovery made by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers.

30 Mar 2009

Discovery of new tumor suppressor gene

National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have identified a gene that suppresses tumor growth in melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

30 Mar 2009

Discovery of new cancer gene

Researchers have identified a new cancer gene - one that is common to many cancers and affects the most basic regulation of our genes.

29 Mar 2009

Amicus Therapeutics presents positive results from phase 2 extension study of Amigal for Fabry disease

Amicus Therapeutics has announced positive results from its ongoing Phase 2 extension study of its investigational drug, Amigal (migalastat HCL) for Fabry disease.

29 Mar 2009

'Gene hunters' find two new breast cancer genes

Cancer Research UK scientists have found two new regions of the genome that alter a woman's risk of breast cancer, according to a study in Nature Genetics.

29 Mar 2009

Scientists create vector, exotic genes from induced stem cells

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers reports that it has created induced human pluripotent stem (iPS) cells completely free of viral vectors and exotic genes.

29 Mar 2009

Data suggesting that omacetaxine can eradicate leukemic stem cells may offer a breakthrough for CML

Data showing the ability of omacetaxine to kill leukemic stem cells in mouse models with drug-resistant chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) are the subject of an advance online publication in the journal Leukemia, ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX:CXS and NASDAQ:CXSP) announced today.

29 Mar 2009

Mutations in a gene may stunt lung development in children

Mutations in a gene may cause poor lung development in children, making them more vulnerable to diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) later in life, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and the German Research Center for Environmental Health.

29 Mar 2009

Recently identified genetic heart disorder often deadly for young patients

A study that included young patients with a recently recognized rare type of cardiomyopathy (a disorder of the heart muscle) linked to a genetic mutation finds that progression of this disease may be rapid and often results in early death, according to a study in the March 25 issue of JAMA.

24 Mar 2009

Rewrite of the recipe for life - new type of DNA

In a dramatic rewrite of the recipe for life, scientists from Florida today described the design of a new type of DNA with 12 chemical letters instead of the usual four.

23 Mar 2009

Common gene variations found to influence risk factor for sudden cardiac death

A new study has identified several common genetic variants related to a risk factor for sudden cardiac death.

23 Mar 2009

Tiny genetic change keeps nicotine from binding to muscle cells

A tiny genetic mutation is the key to understanding why nicotine--which binds to brain receptors with such addictive potency--is virtually powerless in muscle cells that are studded with the same type of receptor.

23 Mar 2009

Discovery of genetic link to blood cancers

The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, has shown that susceptibility to a series of blood cancers, known as myeloproliferative disorders (MPDs), is linked to a particular area of the patient's DNA, which is prone to developing mutations.

22 Mar 2009

Researchers investigate new way to block reproduction of the hepatitis C virus

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers are investigating a new way to block reproduction of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) - targeting not the virus itself but the human genes the virus exploits in its life cycle.

20 Mar 2009