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Scientists discover potential strategy for pancreatic cancer therapy

By determining what goes missing in human cells when the gene that is most commonly mutated in pancreatic cancer gets turned on, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered a potential strategy for therapy.

15 Dec 2010

Pharmasset initiates dosing in PSI-7977 exploratory study in HCV

Pharmasset, Inc. announced today that dosing has begun in an exploratory study of PSI-7977, a nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (HCV). The trial will evaluate PSI-7977 400mg QD in combination with ribavirin (RBV), with 0, 4, 8, or 12 weeks of pegylated interferon alfa 2a (Peg-IFN) in treatment-naive patients infected with HCV genotype 2 or 3.

14 Dec 2010

Novel labeling technique helps researchers to explore DNA chemical modification

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine and the University of Chicago have developed a method for labeling and mapping a "sixth nucleotide," whose biological role scientists are only beginning to explore.

14 Dec 2010

Complete Genomics announces CNV and SV results as part of complete human genome sequencing service

Complete Genomics Inc. announced today that its customers will now receive copy number variation (CNV) and structural variation (SV) results as part of the CGA™ Service. This new enhancement includes additional types of variation data including quantitative, large-scale copy number measurements and larger inter- and intrachromosomal rearrangements.

10 Dec 2010

Haitian cholera pathogen closely related to 'El Tor O1' variant from South Asia

Scientists from Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. and Harvard Medical School have successfully employed single molecule, real-time (SMRT™) DNA sequencing technology to rapidly characterize the pathogen responsible for the recent deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti. Published online Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the results provide the first whole genome sequence analysis and most detailed genetic profile to date of the Haitian Vibrio cholerae outbreak strain.

10 Dec 2010

Medication and blood transfusion reduce risk of recurrent strokes in young patients with sickle cell anemia

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators discuss results of research into managing iron overload associated with stroke prevention in young sickle cell patients and the search for genetic predictors of stroke risk.

7 Dec 2010

Study compares efficacy of two treatments for iron overload caused by chronic transfusion therapy

Monthly blood transfusions combined with daily medication to remove the resulting excess iron remains the best approach for reducing the risk of recurrent strokes in young patients with sickle cell anemia, according to a preliminary analysis of a multicenter trial that includes St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

6 Dec 2010

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