Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy News and Research

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Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive muscle disorder that causes the loss of both muscle function and independence. DMD is perhaps the most prevalent of the muscular dystrophies and is the most common lethal genetic disorder diagnosed during childhood today. Each year, approximately 20,000 children worldwide are born with DMD (one of every 3,500 male children).

New cell-based technologies could help improve understanding of muscle-wasting disease

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have developed new cell-based technologies which could help improve understanding of the muscle-wasting disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and test potential drugs for the disease.

6 Jun 2018

Mapping the Genes Responsible for Pluripotency

Dr. Atilgan Yilmaz and his team have developed a method by which they can produce haploid human embryonic stem cells from oocytes. They combined this technique with CRISPR-Cas9 to generate an atlas of the genome, containing the functions of over 18,000 genes.

23 May 2018

BU postdoctoral researcher wins competitive NIH Pathway to Independence Award

Duo Zhang, PhD, a postdoctoral associate at Boston University School of Medicine, has received the highly competitive National Institutes of Health Pathway to Independence Award.

15 May 2018

MSU students develop exoskeleton app for patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Zach Smith has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder marked by progressive muscle degeneration. His lack of muscle control and being in a wheelchair made him a prime candidate for a computer-controlled exoskeleton arm.

3 May 2018

Research establishes use of chimeric cells as potential therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Cells made by fusing a normal human muscle cell with a muscle cell from a person with Duchenne muscular dystrophy --a rare but fatal form of muscular dystrophy -- were able to significantly improve muscle function when implanted into the muscles of a mouse model of the disease.

16 Mar 2018

New guidelines intend to provide template for optimal, most up-to-date DMD care

Diagnostic and treatment advances are helping patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy-;one of nine major types of muscular dystrophy that affects males-;live into their 30s and beyond, raising challenges in such areas as education, vocation, levels of independence, personal relationships, emotional health, and intimacy.

13 Mar 2018

Plymouth researcher receives grant to further investigate causes of hereditary neuro-tumors

The University of Plymouth will be continuing its research into the advancement of neuro-tumor treatments thanks to more than £100,000 from Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity and Sparks, the medical research charity.

5 Mar 2018

Cell therapy for heart disease caused by muscular dystrophy also improves limb strength, study shows

Injections of cardiac progenitor cells help reverse the fatal heart disease caused by Duchenne muscular dystrophy and also lead to improved limb strength and movement ability, a new study shows.

23 Feb 2018

New CRISPR gene-editing technique can correct majority of mutations that cause DMD

Scientists have developed a CRISPR gene-editing technique that can potentially correct a majority of the 3,000 mutations that cause Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) by making a single cut at strategic points along the patient's DNA, according to a study from UT Southwestern Medical Center.

6 Feb 2018

Scientists create artificial human muscles

Researchers have successfully created artificial human muscles in the laboratories that are tiny but fully functional. These small muscles actually respond to the nerve stimulations, says the latest study reporting this scientific breakthrough.

10 Jan 2018

FDA chief says he’s open to rethinking incentives on orphan drugs

The commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration questions whether the right financial incentives are in place for drugmakers who develop orphan drugs for rare diseases.

22 Dec 2017

Researchers discover how high glucose levels in pregnancy affect baby's heart

Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have discovered how high glucose levels -- whether caused by diabetes or other factors -- keep heart cells from maturing normally.

12 Dec 2017

SLU scientists provide promising approach in designing new drugs for DMD

In a paper published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, Saint Louis University researchers report that a new drug reduces fibrosis (scarring) and prevents loss of muscle function in an animal model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), providing a promising approach in designing new medications for those suffering from DMD.

8 Dec 2017

UT Southwestern researchers develop improved gene-editing technique to correct DMD mutations

Regenerative medicine researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center developed an improved and simplified gene-editing technique using CRISPR/Cas9 tools to correct a common mutation that causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

30 Nov 2017

New initiative aims to improve chances of medicines receiving positive HTA decisions

A unique initiative launched today by muscular dystrophy charity Duchenne UK is set to radically simplify the way necessary evidence is generated for submissions made to health technology appraisals bodies such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Haute Autorité de Santé.

22 Nov 2017

Clinical trial results could lead to treatment of heart disease in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients

After boys and young men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy received cardiac progenitor cell infusions, medical tests indicated that the patients' hearts appeared improved, results from a new study show. Patients in the study also scored higher on arm strength tests after receiving the cell infusions.

15 Nov 2017

Study identifies predictors of poor outcomes in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients

A new study from UT Southwestern suggests that more people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy could live longer by identifying and more aggressively treating patients with certain risk factors.

20 Oct 2017

CRISPR-Gold corrects gene mutations in mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have engineered a new way to deliver CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology inside cells and have demonstrated in mice that the technology can repair the mutation that causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a severe muscle-wasting disease.

4 Oct 2017

University Of Minnesota scientists describe breakthrough in research related to FSHD

A new study published in the journal Nature Communications describes a breakthrough in research related to facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). The debilitating genetic disease - which has no approved treatment - affects an estimated 38,000 Americans and causes degeneration and wasting of the skeletal muscles.

15 Sep 2017

Penn researchers find abnormally shortened telomeres in young DMD patients’ muscle stem cells

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have made a discovery about muscular dystrophy disorders that suggest new possibilities for treatment.

7 Sep 2017