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Personal environment influences effects of genes and risk of disease

Personalized medicine centers on being able to predict the risk of disease or response to a drug based on a person's genetic makeup. But a study by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that, for most common diseases, genes alone only tell part of the story.

4 Dec 2010

Graphene: A new genome sequencing technique

Genome sequencing will have a profound effect on our understanding of genetic biology and could usher in a day when doctor and patient are able to review individual genome sequences to fully personalise medical treatment.

2 Dec 2010

Researchers reveal ultra-fast processes of DNA photostability

The genetic material of DNA contains shielding mechanisms to protect itself from the exposure to the UV light emitted by the sun. This is of crucial importance, since without photostability i.e. without programmed defense mechanisms against UV irradiation a rapid degradation of DNA and RNA would be the consequence. As part of a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) a group of researchers led by Hans Lischka, Quantum Chemist of the University of Vienna, Austria, could, for the first time, comprehensively unravel these ultra-fast processes of the photostability of the nucleobases.

30 Nov 2010

Pharmasset commences combination study of PSI-7977 and PSI-938 nucleotide analogs in HCV

Pharmasset, Inc. announced today that dosing has begun in Part 2 of a Phase 1 study. This is the first clinical study combining a purine (PSI-938) and a pyrimidine (PSI-7977) nucleotide analog for HCV, and is designed to evaluate once daily doses of PSI-7977 and PSI-938 in patients with HCV who have not been treated previously.

30 Nov 2010

Drugs that target DNA in later-stage cancers could be effective in treating breast tumors

Breast cancers that arise sporadically, rather than through inheritance of certain genes, likely start with defects of DNA repair mechanisms that allow environmentally triggered mutations to accumulate, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

30 Nov 2010

Overexpression of microRNA 125b can cause leukemia: Research

Whitehead Institute researchers have shown in mouse models that overexpression of the microRNA 125b (miR-125b) can independently cause leukemia and accelerate the disease's progression. Their results are published in this week's online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

30 Nov 2010

K.U.Leuven researchers receive ERC Advanced Grants

K.U.Leuven researchers Peter Carmeliet and Bart De Strooper have both been awarded Advanced Grants from the European Research Council. ERC Advanced Grants are the most prestigious European research grants, spanning a period of 5 years. Peter Carmeliet of the VIB Vesalius Research Centre, K.U.Leuven, will receive approximately 2.5 million euro for research focused on stopping the energy supply into blood vessels.

20 Nov 2010

Scientists identify gene variants associated with eating disorder

Scientists at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have identified both common and rare gene variants associated with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa.

20 Nov 2010

New pharmacogenetic test enables a personalized medicine approach

Luminex Corporation, today announced that it has commercially launched its first pharmacogenetic test, the xTAG CYP2D6 Kit, which recently received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

From Luminex 17 Nov 2010

Garvan Institute professor receives 2010 Prime Minister's Prize for Science

Professor John Shine AO FAA, Executive Director of Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, received the 2010 Prime Minister's Prize for Science, the nation's most highly respected award for scientific achievement, in Parliament House tonight.

17 Nov 2010

Researchers suggest that genetic screening may predict heart attack risk

Testing for 11 specific genetic variations in hundreds of people with no history of heart disease provided information that led to revision of their estimated heart attack risk, say Mayo Clinic researchers.

17 Nov 2010

Scientists discover new genetic variants linked to bowel cancer

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have discovered four new genetic variants linked to bowel cancer by combining data from three major genome studies, reveals a study published in Nature Genetics.

16 Nov 2010

Research on fruit flies reveal novel human pain gene

While it has become clear in recent years that susceptibility to pain has a strong inherited component, very little is known about actual "pain genes" and how they work. In the November 12th issue of Cell, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and their collaborators report on a novel human pain gene. People with minor variations in this gene showed clear differences in susceptibility to acute heat pain and chronic back pain.

12 Nov 2010

New findings could help scientists devise optimal therapies for Friedreich's ataxia

Scripps Research Institute scientists have taken a step closer to understanding the cause of Friedreich's ataxia, a debilitating neurological condition that affects tens of thousands of people worldwide, and so far has no cure.

8 Nov 2010

Scientists identify genes that enable some immune systems to halt HIV; finding could spur drug, vaccine development

Tiny variants in a protein that alerts the body to infection could explain how one in 300 HIV-infected people are able to resist the onset of AIDS for years without needing any treatment, researchers said Thursday in a study published online in the journal Science, Agence France-Presse reports

8 Nov 2010

Affymetrix to contribute genotyping data to 1000 Genomes Project

Affymetrix, Inc. today announced that it will contribute genotyping data for a large set of validated rare and common genomic variants to the 1000 Genomes Project. This powerful data consists of genotyping information from more than 2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and insertions/deletions (indels), many of which were not previously available from any source.

4 Nov 2010

New Ovation systems improve nucleic acid extraction from FFPE tissue samples

NuGEN Technologies, the provider of innovative RNA and DNA sample preparation solutions for genomic analysis, today announced the availability of the Ovation WGA FFPE System and the Ovation RNA-Seq FFPE System. These are the first commercially available products designed specifically to enable researchers to utilize next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies to analyze nucleic acids extracted from Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) tissues.

3 Nov 2010

Inhibitex to present INX-189 data for HCV infections at AASLD Meeting

Inhibitex, Inc. announced today that three posters describing preclinical data on INX-189, the Company's nucleotide polymerase inhibitor in clinical development for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infections, will be presented by various scientists from the Company at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in Boston, MA.

2 Nov 2010

Rubicon's PicoPlex kits provide DNA methylation profiling using next-generation sequencing

Rubicon Genomics today reported data demonstrating that its PicoPlex kits currently marketed for the analysis of single cells for research and diagnostic applications also provide important advantages for genetic and epigenetic profiling using next-generation sequencing (NGS).

2 Nov 2010

454 Life Sciences and DNA Electronics partner to develop high-throughput DNA sequencing system

454 Life Sciences, a Roche Company, announced today that it has entered an exclusive partnership with DNA Electronics for the development of a low-cost, high-throughput DNA sequencing system. As part of the agreement, Roche has signed a non-exclusive license for relevant IP from DNA Electronics' proprietary semiconductor technology portfolio, which enables sensitive detection of nucleotide incorporation during sequencing.

1 Nov 2010