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3 new genes in genetic research of suicidal behaviour

Three genes that have barely been studied to date have now provided fresh knowledge about patients with suicidal backgrounds. This is the result of a study by a team of Spanish researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital and Columbia University in the City of New York (United States), which found that several mutations are involved. This finding could help to develop future genetic tests to identify predisposition to suicide, without ignoring the importance of social and cultural factors.

16 Jun 2010

CNVs increases patients' susceptibility to severe sepsis

Genetic makeup has been identified as a key factor leading to the development of sepsis, a systemic inflammatory reaction that occurs during infection. Sepsis is considered severe when associated with organ dysfunction.

14 Jun 2010

Genetic variation can predict how people infected with hepatitis C react to treatment: Scientists

A small genetic change can predict how people infected with hepatitis C react to treatment, paving the way to personalised therapy for this difficult to treat disease, the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics will hear today (Sunday 13 June). Dr. Zoltan Kutalik, from the Department of Medical Genetics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, will tell delegates that individuals with this change, in a gene encoding for the antiviral cytokine (cell-signalling molecule) interferon lamda, reacts less well to treatment.

14 Jun 2010

New study to use genetic 'chips' for examining DNA from over 20,000 heart disease patients

New research at the University of Leicester will use the latest genetic techniques to examine DNA from over 20,000 patients with heart disease.

11 Jun 2010

Idenix initiates IDX320 proof-of-concept study for HCV infection

Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of drugs for the treatment of human viral diseases, today announced that it has initiated a 3-day proof-of-concept study of IDX320, a protease inhibitor for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, under a Clinical Trial Application (CTA). The study is evaluating IDX320 in treatment-naive hepatitis C genotype 1-infected patients.

10 Jun 2010

Two variants of LPA gene associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease

Celera Corporation and its collaborators at the University of California at San Francisco today announced the publication of a paper confirming the association of an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and two variants of the LPA gene. The two LPA single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are Ile4399Met, a polymorphism in the protease-like domain of LPA, and rs10455872, a SNP located in a non-coding region of the LPA gene.

9 Jun 2010

June Cold Spring Harbor Protocols features electrophoresis in RNA analysis and avian embryos

Gel electrophoresis is one of the most important and frequently used techniques in RNA analysis. Electrophoresis is used for RNA detection, quantification, purification by size and quality assessment. Gels are involved in a wide variety of methods including northern blotting, primer extension, footprinting and analyzing processing reactions. The two most common types of gels are polyacrylamide and agarose.

5 Jun 2010

Roche, ATCC partner to research real-time endogenous GPCR function with xCELLigence System

G-coupled protein receptors (GPCRs), also known as 7-transmembrane proteins, constitute the single largest class of therapeutic targets for clinical and investigational drugs. There are ~800 predicted members of this class in the human genome, involved in diverse signaling pathways in a wide array of cells and tissue types. Modulation of GPCR function has proven to have therapeutic benefit in a wide variety of diseases in immunology, neurology, cardiology, and oncology.

2 Jun 2010

Alnylam, Mount Sinai scientists discover svRNAs that play a critical role in influenza A virus replication

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the publication of new research findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by Alnylam scientists and collaborators from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. In the new study, Alnylam and Mount Sinai scientists discovered a novel class of virus-produced small non-coding RNAs, called small viral RNAs (svRNAs), which play a critical role in the replication of influenza A virus.

2 Jun 2010

Corvalen M introduced for treatment of fibromyalgia symptoms

Fibromyalgia affects as many as one in 50 Americans, 90 percent of whom are women. Yet, despite its nearly epidemic status, patients still often rely on pharmaceutical options solely for treatment. That's why Bioenergy Life Science, Inc. has introduced Corvalen M, a natural treatment option for fibromyalgia symptoms.

28 May 2010

Genentech uses Complete Genomics' sequencing service to compare primary lung tumor, adjacent normal tissue

Complete Genomics Inc., a third-generation human genome sequencing company, today announced that Genentech Inc., a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, used the company's sequencing, bioinformatics and analytics services to sequence and compare a patient's primary lung tumor and adjacent normal tissue.

27 May 2010

Researchers discover genetic variant that raises risk of CHD

Although congenital heart disease represents the most common major birth defect, scientists have not previously identified the common variation in the genes that give rise to it. Now genetics and cardiology researchers, two of them brothers, have discovered a genetic variant on chromosome 5 that strongly raises the risk of congenital heart disease.

27 May 2010

Silence Therapeutics deepens diverse portfolio of RNAi intellectual property

Silence Therapeutics plc announces the issuance of United States patent 7,723,316, titled Compositions and Methods of RNAi Therapeutics For Treatment of Cancer and Other Neovascularization Disease, by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

26 May 2010

Research on new types of anti-HIV drugs presented at International Microbicides Conference

Researchers testing a vaginal microbicide based on a new type of anti-HIV drug found it provided monkeys significant protection against infection with a virus similar to HIV, according to a study reported at the International Microbicides Conference in Pittsburgh today.

24 May 2010

Boston University biomedical engineers develop new nanopore method for DNA sequencing

Sequencing DNA could get a lot faster and cheaper - and thus closer to routine use in clinical diagnostics - thanks to a new method developed by a research team based at Boston University. The team has demonstrated the first use of solid state nanopores - tiny holes in silicon chips that detect DNA molecules as they pass through the pore - to read the identity of the four nucleotides that encode each DNA molecule.

20 May 2010

EPO rules in favor of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ Kreutzer-Limmer '945 patent

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the Board of Appeals of the European Patent Office (EPO) has ruled that claims of the Kreutzer-Limmer '945 (EP 1214945) patent meet needed requirements under European patent law. The '945 patent comprises broad claims covering the length and certain structural requirements for siRNAs that are important for advancement of RNAi therapeutics.

20 May 2010

Study confirms genetic overlap for susceptibility to COPD and lung cancer

New research shows genes that make smokers more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or emphysema, are also closely linked to an increased likelihood of developing lung cancer, according to studies presented today at the American Thoracic Society's annual meeting.

18 May 2010

Inhibitex reports net loss of $4.8M for first-quarter 2010

Inhibitex, Inc. today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. The Company also announced that it has initiated a Phase I single ascending dose trial of INX-189, its lead HCV nucleotide polymerase inhibitor, in healthy volunteers under an Investigational New Drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

14 May 2010

Chimerix commences first-in-human study of CMX157 for HIV

Chimerix, Inc., a biotechnology company developing orally-available antiviral therapeutics, announced the commencement of a first-in-human study of CMX157, a novel lipid conjugate of the nucleotide tenofovir with in vitro activity against both tenofovir-sensitive and tenofovir-resistant human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). CMX157 has the potential to increase efficacy and decrease toxicity as compared to tenofovir, and may enable the creation of new 'one pill, once-a-day', fixed-dose combination regimens for the treatment of HIV infection.