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BAI and Novartis determine whether investigational drugs can prevent symptoms of Alzheimer's

Researchers from the Banner Alzheimer's Institute (BAI) today announced a partnership with Novartis in a pioneering medical trial to determine whether two investigational anti-amyloid drugs-an active immunotherapy and an oral medication-can prevent or delay the emergence of symptoms of Alzheimer's in people at particularly high risk for developing the disease at older ages.

15 Jul 2014

New genetic programs for taking blank-slate stem cells and turning them into human blood

The ability to reliably and safely make in the laboratory all of the different types of cells in human blood is one key step closer to reality.

14 Jul 2014

New knowledge may expand treatments for patients with lung cancer

Studying the most common type of lung cancer, researchers have uncovered mutations in a cell-signaling pathway that plays a role in forming tumors.

10 Jul 2014

NCGR, Simbiot join forces to create new solutions for handling genomic data

On Tuesday, the National Center for Genome Resources and Simbiot announced a strategic partnership to create new solutions for handling 'big data' in the genomics space.

9 Jul 2014

CWRU receives $12.6 million from NIA to identify rare genetic variants that contribute to Alzheimer's

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine are part of a five-university collaboration receiving a $12.6 million, four-year grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to identify rare genetic variants that may either protect against, or contribute to Alzheimer's disease risk.

8 Jul 2014

Scientists develop chip for detection of RNA strand of dengue fever virus

Scientists at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav) in Mexico developed a chip (also known as cDNA microarray) that allows detection of the RNA strand of the dengue fever virus.

7 Jul 2014

Study uncovers new information on genes that may increase risk of cardiac arrhythmias

Two international research studies, both led by investigators affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, have uncovered new information about genes that may increase the risk of serious cardiac arrhythmias.

1 Jul 2014

CNIO researchers identify over 40 genes that predict aggressiveness of melanoma

Researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre have discovered more than 40 genes that predict the level of aggressiveness of melanoma and that distinguish it from other cancers with a poor prognosis. The discovery, published in Cancer Cell, will help to identify unique aspects of melanoma that could contribute to determine the risk of developing metastasis in patients with this disease.

28 Jun 2014

Researchers find way to diagnose aggressiveness of oral cancer

Studying mouth cancer in mice, researchers have found a way to predict the aggressiveness of similar tumors in people, an early step toward a diagnostic test that could guide treatment, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

28 Jun 2014

Low vitamin D may play a role in high blood pressure

A new genetic study has provided the most solid evidence to date that a low vitamin D level plays a causal role in the development of high blood pressure (hypertension).

26 Jun 2014

SLAC research reveals rapid DNA changes that act as molecular sunscreen

The molecular building blocks that make up DNA absorb ultraviolet light so strongly that sunlight should deactivate them - yet it does not. Now scientists have made detailed observations of a "relaxation response" that protects these molecules, and the genetic information they encode, from UV damage.

24 Jun 2014

UK scientists unlock untapped genetic information to better understand Intellectual Disability in children

Teams of leading UK scientists have joined forces to unlock an untapped source of genetic information in a bid to better understand and treat children with Intellectual Disability. Experts from Cambridge, Cardiff, and UCL (University College London) will be given unprecedented access to genetic information on intellectual disability from NHS Regional Genetics Centres across the UK as part of a first phase study funded by the Medical Research Council and Medical Research Foundation.

24 Jun 2014

Definiens closes €15M financing round to expand into digital tissue diagnostics

Definiens AG, which offers a unique approach to tissue diagnostics aimed at helping physicians improve treatment, said that it has closed a round of financing for € 15 million.

23 Jun 2014

DNA sequencing does not reveal the pathogenicity of bacteria

While more and more genomic information is becoming available at a drastically increasing pace, the knowledge we can gain about how microorganisms interact with their surrounding, infect hosts and alter their molecular programs in accordance to changing environmental conditions remains widely not deducible from genomic data alone, the researchers from University of Southern Denmark claim.

19 Jun 2014

Fragile Y hypothesis explains the factors behind chromosome loss

A UT Arlington research team says their study of genetic information from more than 4,000 beetle species has yielded a new theory about why some species lose their Y chromosome and others, such as humans, hang on to it.

18 Jun 2014

A new approach to treating whipworm infections

Researchers have deduced essential biological and genetic information from the genome sequence of the whipworm, an intestinal parasitic worm that infects hundreds of millions of people in developing countries.

18 Jun 2014

Cancer drug offers protection against thrombosis

Case Western Reserve University researchers have discovered that an existing drug used to help cancer patients has the potential to protect thousands of others from the often-deadly impact of vascular clots.

12 Jun 2014

Study examines effect of phthalate exposure in humans’ sperm epigenetics

A new three-year, $440,000 study led by environmental health scientist Richard Pilsner at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is now underway to investigate whether phthalate levels in expectant fathers have an effect on the couples' reproductive success, via epigenetic modifications of sperm DNA.

12 Jun 2014

Researchers study structural aspects of DNA-particle/lipid interface directly using x-ray scattering

Scientists seeking ways to engineer the assembly of tiny particles measuring just billionths of a meter have achieved a new first-the formation of a single layer of nanoparticles on a liquid surface where the properties of the layer can be easily switched.

11 Jun 2014

Researchers discover strong genetic risk factor for type 2 diabetes in Latin American patients

In the largest study of its kind published to date, an international team of researchers in Mexico and the United States has discovered a strong genetic risk factor for type 2 diabetes that primarily affects Latin American patients, but is rare elsewhere.