DNA News and Research

RSS

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

DNA sequencing identifies new altered genes that drive CLL

The most comprehensive search to date of DNA abnormalities in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has unearthed several new altered genes that drive this common blood cancer, a finding that could potentially help doctors predict whether an individual patient's disease will progress rapidly or remain indolent for years, say scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute.

13 Dec 2011

LTCRT participates in GPS study that seeks to personalize cancer care

The Lawson Translational Cancer Research Team (LTCRT) of the Lawson Health Research Institute is one of five groups participating in a new study that seeks to personalize cancer drug treatment.

13 Dec 2011

NIH, Autism Speaks announce addition of AGRE as data federation site for NDAR

Autism Speaks - North America's largest autism science and advocacy organization - joins the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in announcing the addition of Autism Speaks Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) as a data federation site for the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR). The addition of AGRE data will help create the largest multidisciplinary source of autism research data to date.

13 Dec 2011

Celgene reports final results from REVLIMID plus VIDAZA phase II study on higher-risk MDS

Celgene International Sàrl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, today reported final results from the phase II portion of a multi-center phase I/II study evaluating combination therapy with REVLIMID (lenalidomide) and VIDAZA (azacitidine) in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) not previously treated with either drug.

13 Dec 2011

Scientists identify genetic alteration behind anophthalmia

Scientists at University College Dublin, Ireland, have identified a genetic alteration which causes a child to be born with no eyes - a condition called anophthalmia.

13 Dec 2011

Gene therapy for bleeding disorder Hemophilia B

In a landmark study, researchers used gene therapy to successfully treat six patients with severe hemophilia, a blood-clotting disorder. Despite the early nature of the study, it is promising. A single infusion using the new treatment worked in some patients for more than a year, boosting their clotting ability significantly.

12 Dec 2011

Research assesses safety and efficacy of pre-operative transfusions, hydroxyurea therapy for SCD

Research assessing the safety and efficacy of hydroxyurea therapy in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) and the use of pre-operative transfusions for patients with SCD who undergo low- and moderate-risk elective surgery will be presented today at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

12 Dec 2011

Onconova announces data from five rigosertib clinical trials on MDS

Onconova Therapeutics announces three presentations relating to clinical trials of its Phase III-stage anticancer agent, rigosertib sodium (Estybon or ON 01910.Na), at the 53rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA, December 10-13, 2011.

12 Dec 2011

Suppressing STARD9 protein could be a novel strategy to fight cancers

Suppressing a newly identified and characterized protein involved in regulating cell division could be a novel strategy to fight certain cancers because it stops the malignant cells from dividing and causes them to die quickly, according to a study by researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

12 Dec 2011

Researchers shown how BRCA1 inactivation raises cancer risk

Working with human breast cells, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have shown how the inactivation of a single copy of the breast cancer gene BRCA1 leaves breast cells vulnerable to cancer by reducing their ability to repair DNA damage, causing genetic instability.

12 Dec 2011

Gene therapy can reduce painful bleeding episodes in patients with hemophilia B

Symptoms improved significantly in adults with the bleeding disorder hemophilia B following a single treatment with gene therapy developed by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis and demonstrated to be safe in a clinical trial conducted at the University College London (UCL) in the U.K.

12 Dec 2011

Study describes miR-124 can prevent and treat liver cancer

Cancer of the liver - rare in the United States but the third-leading cause of cancer death worldwide - can result from environmental exposures or infections like chronic hepatitis, but the link is poorly understood.

12 Dec 2011

Exact Sciences completes underwritten public offering of common stock

Exact Sciences Corp. today announced that it has completed its previously announced underwritten public offering of its common stock at a price of $8.00 per share to the public.

12 Dec 2011

Researchers reveal contribution of telomerase in controlling genetic code integrity

Researchers have revealed how a molecule called telomerase contributes to the control of the integrity of our genetic code, and when it is involved in the deregulation of the code, its important role in the development of cancer.

9 Dec 2011

New methods speed up process of identifying harmful E. coli bacteria

New methods speed up the process of identifying the subgroup of E. coli bacteria responsible for an outbreak of illness. Swift identification may spare lives.

9 Dec 2011

Women with non-melanoma skin cancers more likely to have smoked cigarettes

Women who have non-melanoma skin cancers are more likely to have smoked cigarettes compared to women without skin cancer, said researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., who published study results in a recent issue of Cancer Causes & Control.

9 Dec 2011

Scientists uncover three new locations for Crohn's Disease genes

Three new locations for Crohn's Disease genes have been uncovered by scientists at UCL using a novel gene mapping approach.

9 Dec 2011

High gut flora protects children against allergies

High diversity and a variety of bacteria in the gut protect children against allergies as opposed to some individual bacterial genera. These are the findings of a comprehensive study of intestinal microflora (gut flora) in allergic and healthy children, which was conducted at Linköping University in Sweden.

9 Dec 2011

New gene editing technique can heal sickle cell patients with their own cells

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a way to use patients' own cells to potentially cure sickle cell disease and many other disorders caused by mutations in a gene that helps produce blood hemoglobin.

8 Dec 2011

Treating 'brain tsunamis' could stop many victims of major head injury from further damage

Treating 'brain tsunamis' or 'killer waves' could stop many victims of major head injury from suffering additional brain damage, a study published in Lancet Neurology has found.

8 Dec 2011