Mutation News and Research

RSS

Should children be tested for gene mutations linked to cancers?

It's an ethical dilemma with serious implications. Should children be tested for gene mutations that predispose them to developing breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer later in life?

16 Jan 2008

Molecules might identify high-risk acute-leukemia patients

New research suggests that certain small molecules used by cells to control the proteins they make might also help doctors identify adult acute-leukemia patients who are likely to respond poorly to therapy.

16 Jan 2008

Genetic differences may explain response to multiple sclerosis treatment

By comparing the DNA of patients with multiple sclerosis whose symptoms are reduced by interferon beta therapy to the DNA of those who continue to experience relapses, researchers may have identified important genetic differences between the two, according to an article posted online that will appear in the March 2008 print issue of Archives of Neurology.

16 Jan 2008

New research advancements in the treatment of premature ovarian failure

Scientific Director of the Meharry Center for Women's Health Research and a team of researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch and the University of Saskatchewan have recently discovered that the gene mutation believed to be a possible cause of premature ovarian failure may be corrected when an adenovirus compensating for the mutated gene is introduced. Findings were reported in the recent issue of Molecular Human Reproduction.

15 Jan 2008

Sickle cell disease pain study

A new prospective study of pain in adults with sickle cell disease finds that daily pain is far more prevalent and severe than previous large studies have indicated.

15 Jan 2008

Genetic differences may help explain response to multiple sclerosis treatment

15 Jan 2008

Bird flu death toll in Indonesia reaches 95

The death toll in Indonesia from bird flu has risen to 95 following the death of a woman in West Java.

15 Jan 2008

Top expert says bird flu risk overestimated

According to a top animal health expert the H5N1 bird flu virus has now stabilised but the risk that it could mutate into a new dangerous form remains.

14 Jan 2008

Bird flu strikes again in Bangladesh and India

According to officials in Bangladesh bird flu has killed nearly 500 chickens at a poultry farm in the northeast of the country and as a result another 20,000 chickens have been culled.

14 Jan 2008

Dissecting the genetic components of adaptation of E. coli to the mouse gut

New insights into the evolutionary mechanisms that facilitate the remarkably fast adaptation of intestinal bacteria within their natural environment are provided in the January issue of PLoS Genetics by researchers from INSERM and INRA at University Paris Descartes.

14 Jan 2008

Researchers move 2 steps closer to understanding genetic underpinnings of autism

Today's issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics (AJHG), describes what might be a corner piece of the autism puzzle the identification and subsequent validation of a gene linked to the development of autism by three separate groups of scientists.

11 Jan 2008

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis - potential clues into the treatment and diagnosis

Studies published in the Jan. 10 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) are providing clues into the treatment and diagnosis of LAM, or lymphangioleiomyomatosis, a progressive and deadly lung disease that affects women in their childbearing years.

11 Jan 2008