Chromosome 2 News and Research

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Chromosome 2 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. People normally have two copies of this chromosome. Chromosome 2 is the second largest human chromosome, spanning more than 237 million base pairs (the building material of DNA) and representing almost 8% of the total DNA in cells.

Variation in CHI3L1 gene increases risk of asthma

A tiny variation in a gene known as CHI3L1 increases susceptibility to asthma, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and decline in lung function, researchers report early online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

10 Apr 2008

New technique traces ancestry of disease genes

A team of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis and the Israeli Institute of Technology (Technion) in Haifa has developed a technique to detect the ancestry of disease genes in hybrid, or mixed, human populations.

9 Apr 2008

Discovery of new genetic links to psoriasis

In the first comprehensive study of the genetic basis of psoriasis, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered seven new sites of common DNA variation that increase the risk of the troublesome skin condition.

4 Apr 2008

Surviving without sex - Bdelloid rotifers do!

Birds and bees may do it, but the microscopic animals called bdelloid rotifers seem to get along just fine without sex, thank you.

3 Apr 2008

Genetic variations raise lung cancer risk for smokers and ex-smokers

Two common inherited genetic variations are associated with increased risk of lung cancer for smokers and former smokers, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports April 2 in the online edition of Nature Genetics.

3 Apr 2008

Link between variant in the sequence of the human genome and susceptibility to nicotine dependence

Cigarette smoking is a major public health problem that contributes to millions of deaths around the world each year.

3 Apr 2008

Y chromosome provides new insights into human ancestry

The Y chromosome retains a remarkable record of human ancestry, since it is passed directly from father to son.

2 Apr 2008

Researchers examine human embryonic stem cell genome

Stem cell researchers from UCLA used a high resolution technique to examine the genome, or total DNA content, of a pair of human embryonic stem cell lines and found that while both lines could form neurons, the lines had differences in the numbers of certain genes that could control such things as individual traits and disease susceptibility.

31 Mar 2008

Potential new genetic markers for Crohn's disease

What is believed to be the largest study of its kind for the genetic roots of inflammatory bowel diseases has suggested new links to Crohn's Disease as well as further evidence that some people of Jewish descent are more likely to develop it.

28 Mar 2008

Study examines association between type of genetic characteristics and cancer

Persons with a certain type of homozygosity (having two identical copies of the same gene, one inherited from each parent), may have a greater predisposition to cancer, according to a study in the March 26 issue of JAMA.

26 Mar 2008

Stanford researchers unmask proteins in telomerase

One of the more intriguing workhorses of the cell, a protein conglomerate called telomerase, has in its short history been implicated in some critical areas of medicine including cancer, aging and keeping stem cells healthy.

24 Mar 2008

Toxic organophosphates appear to contribute to motor neuron disease

Motor neuron disease is a rare, devastating illness in which nerve cells that carry brain signals to muscles gradually deteriorate.

24 Mar 2008

Low levels of dietary folate linked to sperm abnormalities

Healthy men who report lower levels of the nutrient folate in their diets have higher rates of chromosomal abnormalities in their sperm, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

20 Mar 2008

New study confirms that PROGENSA PCA3 can improve accuracy of prostate cancer diagnosis

New clinical data from a study of 570 men published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Urology support the use of PROGENSA PCA3 as a tool for diagnosing prostate cancer. The study confirms that PROGENSA PCA3, the world's first gene-based urine test to help detect prostate cancer, can provide clinicians with valuable information that helps guide diagnosis.

20 Mar 2008