Genome News and Research

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DNA sensors found to be an effective artificial nose

In designing artificial noses modeled after biological olfaction, the challenge has been to generate a similarly large sensor repertoire with the requisite combinatorial complexity to detect odors in the real world.

24 Jan 2008

Most dangerous form of staph infection comes from single strain

Researchers have discovered that the most dangerous form of staph infection now occurring in the United States originates from a single strain of bacteria, not multiple strains as previously believed.

23 Jan 2008

Johns Hopkins to participate in 1000 Genomes Project

Researchers at the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine (IGM) at Johns Hopkins will join other national and international scientists in the 1000 Genomes Project, an ambitious effort that will involve sequencing the genomes of numerous people from around the world to create the most detailed and medically useful picture to date of human genetic variation.

23 Jan 2008

Food peptides activate bitter taste receptors

Researchers from the Monell Center and Tokyo University of Agriculture have used a novel molecular method to identify chemical compounds from common foods that activate human bitter taste receptors.

23 Jan 2008

Studies highlight MRSA evolution and resilience

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections are caused primarily by a single strain USA300 of an evolving bacterium that has spread with "extraordinary transmissibility" throughout the United States during the past five years, according to a new study led by National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists.

22 Jan 2008

New knowledge base of gene-disease relationships

The 12 Million Euro 'GEN2PHEN' project, funded by the European Commission, aims to harness the web to capture and unify genetic information that fundamentally impacts on a person's health and disease processes.

22 Jan 2008

Genetics behind the disease systemic lupus erythematosus almost completed

A new study has mapped the risk factors behind the autoimmune disease SLE in the entire human genome.

22 Jan 2008

Minute genetic differences have major consequences

A study led by McGill University researchers has demonstrated that small differences between individuals at the DNA level can lead to dramatic differences in the way genes produce proteins.

21 Jan 2008

Discovery of multiple genes linked to systemic lupus erythematosus

A landmark genetic study has identified multiple genes linked to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), or lupus, a debilitating autoimmune disease that affects an estimated 1.4 million Americans.

21 Jan 2008

Genome scan shows Polynesians and Micronesians have almost no genetic relation to Melanesians

The origins and current genetic relationships of Pacific Islanders have generated interest and controversy for many decades.

21 Jan 2008

Genetic diversity of European Americans and disease gene mapping

Labels such as "European American", "white", or "Caucasian" are often viewed as representing a homogeneous category in gene mapping studies and census reports, but each of these labels actually groups together multiple populations, which have diverse origins due to the complex history of European immigration to the United States.

21 Jan 2008

Previously unknown Merkel cell polyomavirus linked to deadly skin cancer

A new strategy to hunt for human viruses described in this week's issue of the journal Science by the husband-and-wife team who found the cause of Kaposi's sarcoma has revealed a previously unknown virus strongly associated with another rare but deadly skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma.

18 Jan 2008

Previously unknown chromosomal abnormalities play substantial role in autism

Genome-wide scans of families affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have revealed new evidence that previously unknown chromosomal abnormalities have a substantial role in the prevalent developmental disorder, according to a report published online Jan. 17th in the American Journal of Human Genetics, a publication of Cell Press.

18 Jan 2008

Scientists focus on Epstein-Barr virus

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human-pathogenic virus which belongs to the herpes virus family.

18 Jan 2008

New technique could dramatically lower costs of DNA sequencing

Using computer simulations, researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstrated a strategy for sequencing DNA by driving the molecule back and forth through a nanopore capacitor in a semiconductor chip.

16 Jan 2008

Gender differences in liver cancer

A fundamental difference in the way males and females respond to chronic liver disease at the genetic level helps explain why men are more prone to liver cancer, according to MIT researchers.

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