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TSRI scientists identify new gene variants closely associated with bipolar disorder

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified small variations in a number of genes that are closely linked to an increased risk of bipolar disorder, a mental illness that affects nearly six million Americans, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

11 Oct 2012

Spanish and British scientists design new blood test to identify aggressive prostate cancer

Scientists from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in Madrid, along with British colleagues from the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, have developed a test that studies genetic patterns in blood cells to detect advanced-stage prostate cancer.

10 Oct 2012

New screening method may lead to more efficient RNA drug development

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a new method of screening more than three million combinations of interactions between RNA and small molecules to identify the best targets on RNA as well as the most promising potential drug compounds.

10 Oct 2012

Study compares gene expression levels in two key hippocampal regions affected by Alzheimer's

Researchers from the Computational Intelligence Group based at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid's Facultad de Informática have used machine learning and data mining techniques to compare gene expresssion levels in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients in two key regions of the hippocampus: the dentate gyrus, where the disease appears to have little or no effect, and the entorhinal cortex, where Alzheimer's disease produces major neuronal damage.

10 Oct 2012

RMND1 gene mutations responsible for severe neurodegenerative disorders

Scientists at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro, McGill University working with a team at Oxford University have uncovered the genetic defect underlying a group of rare genetic disorders.

10 Oct 2012

Study sheds light on fundamental cellular process

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have mapped the precise frequency by which genes get turned on across the human genome, providing new insight into the most fundamental of cellular processes-and revealing new clues as to what happens when this process goes awry.

9 Oct 2012

BDNF deletion plays a critical role in psychiatric disease and obesity

McGill researchers have identified a small region in the genome that conclusively plays a role in the development of psychiatric disease and obesity. The key lies in the genomic deletion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, a nervous system growth factor that plays a critical role in brain development.

9 Oct 2012

New blood test can read genetic changes in prostate cancer

Scientists have designed a blood test that reads genetic changes like a barcode - and can pick out aggressive prostate cancers by their particular pattern of gene activity.

9 Oct 2012

Genetic basis of uterine fibroids uncovered

A mutation located near the fatty acid synthase gene is associated with an increased predisposition for uterine leiomyomata or fibroids, suggest US study findings.

8 Oct 2012

Harvard announces ExxonMobil Malaria Scholar in Residence

The Harvard School of Public Health announced on Thursday that Regina Rabinovich, former director of infectious diseases at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been chosen to be the ExxonMobil Malaria Scholar in Residence, "where she will focus on innovative strategies to combat malaria," according to a Harvard press release.

8 Oct 2012

Morphine inhibits BDNF protein, whereas cocaine enhances BDNF

Chronic morphine exposure has the opposite effect on the brain compared to cocaine in mice, providing new insight into the basis of opiate addiction, according to Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers. They found that a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is increased in cocaine addiction, is inhibited in opioid addiction. The research is published in the October 5 issue of Science.

8 Oct 2012

NFKB1 gene variant may reduce risk of lung cancer

A variant in a gene involved with inflammation and the immune response is linked with a decreased risk of lung cancer. That is the finding of an analysis published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The results add to the growing body of literature implicating these processes in the development of lung cancer.

8 Oct 2012

New insight into basis of opiate addiction

8 Oct 2012

New ways of how biological clock's neurons use electrical activity to keep behavioral rhythms in order

Biologists from New York University have uncovered new ways our biological clock's neurons use electrical activity to help keep behavioral rhythms in order. The findings, which appear in the journal Current Biology, also point to fresh directions for exploring sleep disorders and related afflictions.

6 Oct 2012

Gene-silencing mechanism may occur later in life and lead to cancer

There are some genes that are only activated in the very first days of an embryo's existence. Once they have accomplished their task, they are shut down forever, unlike most of our genes, which remain active throughout our lives. EPFL scientists have unveiled part of this strange mechanism. The same process, accidentally initiated later in life, could be responsible for many kinds of cancer.

6 Oct 2012

Without B-Raf and C-Raf proteins mice's fur turns white

These proteins are required for melanocyte stem cell self-maintenance and, as such, correct pigmentation throughout the mice's life span. Without these two proteins, the mice's fur turns white. Their research is published in the review 'Cell Report' and paves the way for serious possibilities in terms of stopping the formation of melanomas, tumours that originate from melanocyte cells.

6 Oct 2012

BUSM leads genome-wide evaluation of genetic variants associated with Parkinson's disease

Boston University School of Medicine investigators have led the first genome-wide evaluation of genetic variants associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). The study, which is published online in PLOS ONE, points to the involvement of specific genes and alterations in their expression as influencing the risk for developing PD.

6 Oct 2012

Two genes linked to increased risk of diabetes-associated kidney disease

An international group of researchers has discovered two genes that increase the risk of developing diabetes-associated kidney disease.

6 Oct 2012

Researchers determine function of new IKKα enzyme variant in colorectal cancer

Researchers from IMIM, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, have succeeded in determining the function of a new variant of enzyme IKKalpha (IKKα) to activate some of the genes taking part in the tumor progressions of colorectal cancer.

5 Oct 2012

Mouse genome consists of 10-nm chromatin fibres

Scientists in Canada and the United States have used three-dimensional imaging techniques to settle a long-standing debate about how DNA and structural proteins are packaged into chromatin fibres. The researchers, whose findings are published in EMBO reports, reveal that the mouse genome consists of 10-nm chromatin fibres but did not find evidence for the wider 30-nm fibres that were previously thought to be important components of the DNA architecture.

5 Oct 2012