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Accumulation of genetic changes is not solely determined by natural selection

New data suggest that the accumulation of genetic changes is not solely determined by natural selection. A study by University of Chicago researchers contradicts conventional theory by showing that the percentage of mutations accepted in evolution is also strongly swayed by the speed at which new mutations arrive at a gene: the faster the speed of new mutations, the greater the percentage of those mutations accepted.

9 Jun 2005

Study of glial cells in the roundworm C. elegans may provide insight into a variety of human brain diseases

The key to understanding our brains may lie within a one-millimeter long worm, new research from Rockefeller University indicates. Reporting in the June issue of Developmental Cell, Shai Shaham, Ph.D., and graduate student Elliot Perens use the roundworm, C. elegans, to investigate the mysterious glial cell, which makes up 90 percent of the human brain and, when it malfunctions, can contribute to diseases like Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.

9 Jun 2005

Exposing SMA-affected cells to aminoglycoside drugs can increase SMN

MDA grantee Christian Lorson at the University of Missouri was on a team that found that exposing cells carrying a mutation that causes spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) to drugs in the aminoglycoside family helps them produce more of the needed SMN protein, a lack of which leads to SMA.

9 Jun 2005

Research opens up new directions for studying prion diseases in humans

The mysterious, highly infectious prions, which cause the severe destruction of the brain that characterizes "mad cow disease" and several human brain degenerative disorders, can be rendered harmless in the laboratory by a slight alternation of the three-dimensional conformation or shape of the prion protein's structure.

9 Jun 2005

Prototype drug shows promise in slowing replication of the virus responsible for SARS

A prototype drug created by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago shows promise in slowing replication of the virus responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

8 Jun 2005

Test accurately predicts aggressiveness of breast cancer

A test that measures how quickly cells are dividing is an accurate way for doctors to predict the aggressiveness of breast cancer tumors, even among women with very early stages of the disease, researchers told the 2nd ESMO Scientific & Educational Conference (ESEC) in Budapest, Hungary.

6 Jun 2005

Toxic chemicals that poisoned your great-grandparents may also damage your health

New U.S. research is suggesting that chemicals can change the way genes work and that toxic chemicals that poisoned your great-grandparents may also damage your health.

5 Jun 2005

Gene research may help explain how adorable children become surly teenagers

University of Utah researchers showed that a fruit fly gene is crucial for determining when juveniles begin to mature into adults, and how the transformation initially proceeds. Understanding this process in humans may help explain how adorable children become surly teenagers.

3 Jun 2005

Introgen wins European patent decision on p53 gene therapeutic

Introgen Therapeutics has announced that it was successful in winning the decision regarding its opposition of European Patent 0 390 323 before the European Patent Office (EPO) in which all claims directed to therapeutic applications of the p53 gene, the active component of Introgen's Advexin molecular therapy, were finally revoked by the EPO's Technical Board of Appeals.

3 Jun 2005

Role of toxins in inherited disease

A disease you are suffering today could be a result of your great-grandmother being exposed to an environmental toxin during pregnancy.

3 Jun 2005

Research explains why Shigella and E. coli are rapidly becoming resistant to fluoroquinolones

Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have discovered a novel strategy by which the bacterium that causes tuberculosis may soon be able to resist the effects of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones.

3 Jun 2005

Lactose intolerance linked to ancestral environment

Got milk? Many people couldn't care less because they can't digest it. A new Cornell University study finds that it is primarily people whose ancestors came from places where dairy herds could be raised safely and economically, such as in Europe, who have developed the ability to digest milk.

1 Jun 2005

A drug used to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 induces resistance more often than previously thought

The incidence of drug resistance associated with single-dose nevirapine, a drug used to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1, may be substantially higher than previously thought and of particular risk for those infected with HIV-1 subtype C, according to three new studies published in the July 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

1 Jun 2005

Newly discovered gene could provide targets for diabetes therapies

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has announced that JDRF-funded researchers in Australia and the United Kingdom have identified a gene called Roquin that regulates the immune system and keeps harmful T cells in check.

1 Jun 2005

Lafora disease can be caused by mutations in a gene that regulates the concentration of the protein laforin

Researchers at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have found that Lafora disease, an inherited form of epilepsy that results in death by the age of 30, can be caused by mutations in a gene that regulates the concentration of the protein laforin. These findings are reported in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

1 Jun 2005

Targepeutics issued new U.S patent

Targepeutics has announced the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 6,884,603 for its genetically modified, mutated Interleukin 13 (IL-13) technology platform for the treatment of malignant glioma, a brain tumor (17,500 people annually; $200 million annual market).

31 May 2005

New gene shows way for autoimmune disease

A new gene suspected to contribute to autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and lupus - a condition in which the body’s own immune system attacks organs such as the kidneys and skin - has been discovered by Australian National University (ANU) immunologists.

30 May 2005

New understanding of DNA repair processes may pave way to cancer treatments

A Burnham Institute study has found that a protein known for its role in gene regulation has another important function, that of initiating DNA repair. The study, published in the May 27th edition of Molecular Cell, points to new targets for treatment of cancer.

30 May 2005

Artificial cobweb proteins for medicine

A unique material based on cobweb proteins is being created by Russian researchers of the State Research Center of Russian Federation GosNIIgentics, Scientific Research Center “Coal-Chemical Fiber”, State Research Center of Applied Microbiology in cooperation with their colleagues from Michigan University with support form the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) (project 1033.2).

30 May 2005

China's bird flu vaccine already on trial amid forecasts of disaster

As scientists in the west warned of a possible global pandemic killing millions, China has apparently developed vaccines that block the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu among birds and mammals.

26 May 2005