Mutation News and Research

RSS

Public and private sector players ready to tackle North America’s upcoming flu season

An MIT Sloan School of Management expert on U.S. vaccine markets is “cautiously hopeful” that public and private sector players are far better prepared for North America’s upcoming flu season than they have been for earlier flu pandemics.

26 Aug 2009

Mutations of gene regulators can result in growth disorders

A specific gene is particularly frequently involved in the development of short stature. Researchers in Heidelberg have now discovered that sequences of genetic material on the X and Y chromosome that regulate this gene are also crucial for growth in children.

26 Aug 2009

WHO appeals for donated, low-cost H1N1 vaccines

The WHO's flu chief Keiji Fukuda on Saturday called upon wealthy nations and vaccine manufacturers to donate H1N1 (swine) flu vaccines to developing countries, the Associated Press reports.

24 Aug 2009

Primary cilia can suppress or promote skin cancer

Tiny, solitary spikes that stick out of nearly every cell in the body play a central role in a type of skin cancer, new research has found. The discovery in mice shows that the microscopic structures known as primary cilia can either suppress or promote this skin cancer, depending on the mutation triggering the disease.

24 Aug 2009

Research reveals that diarrheal bacteria can cause colon cancers

Johns Hopkins scientists say they have figured out how bacteria that cause diarrhea may also be the culprit in some colon cancers. The investigators say that strains of the common Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) dupe immune system cells into permitting runaway colon tissue inflammation, a precursor for malignant growth.

24 Aug 2009

Microbiologists discover new therapies for human respiratory syncytial virus and influenza A virus

A cellular molecule that not only can sense two common respiratory viruses but also can direct cells to mount a defense has been identified by microbiologists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

24 Aug 2009

Discovery of genetic biomarkers enable targeted personalised medication for Colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world. Fortunately physicians today have an abundance of drug therapies available to improve survival length for more advanced cancer patients. Now the discovery of genetic biomarkers relevant to CRC means that targeted personalised medication is increasingly common.

24 Aug 2009

Gene discovery unveils a new protein that protects against hearing loss

Discovery of a deafness-causing gene defect in mice has helped identify a new protein that protects sensory cells in the ear, according to a study by University of Iowa and Kansas State University researchers. The findings appear in the August 21 issue of the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

24 Aug 2009

Discovery of mutation in AIP gene associated with acromegaly

An indigenous family living in a mountainous area of Malaysian Borneo helped Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers to discover information about genetic mutations associated with acromegaly, a form of gigantism that often results in enlarged hands, feet, and facial features.

24 Aug 2009

Role of HPRT genes detected in Lesch Nyan X-linked inherited disorders

A study from the Center for Molecular Genetics at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows that a gene called HPRT plays an important role in setting the program by which primitive or precursor cells decide to become normal nerve cells in the human brain. This unconventional view of metabolic genes known as "housekeeping" genes is now online at the journal Molecular Therapy.

21 Aug 2009

CEL-SCI expands work on current H1N1 virus vaccine

CEL-SCI Corporation has announced that it is expanding the scope of its work towards creating a novel treatment and vaccination against the current H1N1 virus, as well as a future mutated form in which the virus has acquired greater morbidity and mortality.

19 Aug 2009

Genetic mutation that helps regulate high blood pressure is a cause of inherited kidney disease

The discovery provides insight into a protein, renin, that is important in blood pressure regulation, and reveals the cause of one type of inherited kidney disease occurring in adults and children, said co-investigator Anthony Bleyer, M.D., professor of internal medicine-nephrology at the School of Medicine.

19 Aug 2009

Research study highlights the biological importance of Vitamin D in humans and other primates

A new study has concluded that one key part of the immune system, the ability of vitamin D to regulate anti-bactericidal proteins, is so important that is has been conserved through almost 60 million years of evolution and is shared only by primates, including humans - but no other known animal species.

19 Aug 2009

New production technology to develop vaccine for norovirus

Scientists have used a new vaccine production technology to develop a vaccine for norovirus, a dreaded cause of diarrhea and vomiting that may be the second most common viral infection in the United States after the flu. Sometimes called the "cruise ship virus," this microbe can spread like wildfire through passenger liners, schools, offices and military bases.

19 Aug 2009

Gloucester Pharma announces FDA Advisory Committee Meeting to discuss Romidepsin NDA

Gloucester Pharmaceuticals will discuss the New Drug Application for romidepsin to treat patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) at the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) meeting on September 2, 2009.

18 Aug 2009

Novel genome-analysis strategy to speed search for gene-disease links

University of Washington (UW) researchers have successfully developed a novel genome-analysis strategy for more rapid, lower cost discovery of possible gene-disease links. By saving time and lowering expenses, the approach makes it feasible for scientists to search for disease-causing genes in people with the same inherited disorder but without any family ties to each other.

18 Aug 2009

Associated Press examines use of oral polio vaccine in Nigeria

The Associated Press examines how the oral polio vaccine, "made from a live polio virus — albeit weakened," is contributing to the spread of the disease in Nigeria.

17 Aug 2009

New target for Alzheimer's disease

For close to a decade, pharmaceutical researchers have been in hot pursuit of compounds to activate a key nicotine receptor that plays a role in cognitive processes. Triggering it, they hope, might prevent or even reverse the devastation wrought by Alzheimer’s disease.

16 Aug 2009

Scientists create new method to detect genetic causes of complex diseases

Computational biologists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an analytical technique to detect the multiple genetic variations that contribute to complex disease syndromes such as diabetes, asthma and cancer, which are characterized by multiple clinical and molecular traits.

14 Aug 2009

New tumour theory could change cancer treatment

University of Sydney researcher Dr Guy Lyons has come up with a new theory of cancer tumours that could change the way we treat cancer and conduct research into its causes.

13 Aug 2009