Gene Transfer News and Research

RSS

Gene Transfer is the insertion of genetic material into a cell.

Researchers discover cardiac molecule that could provide key to treating, preventing heart failure

Researchers have discovered a previously unknown cardiac molecule that could provide a key to treating, and preventing, heart failure.

11 Aug 2014

WIRB-Copernicus Group acquires Alliance Biosciences

WIRB-Copernicus Group, the world's largest provider of regulatory and ethical review services for clinical research, announced today that it has acquired Alliance Biosciences. Formerly a division of Richmond, VA-based Alliance Engineering, Alliance Biosciences was the leading biosafety and biosecurity consulting firm in the United States.

24 Jul 2014

Splice-switching oligonucleotide drugs alter editing of gene transcript

In splice-switching, an innovative therapeutic approach, targeted oligonucleotide drugs alter the editing of a gene transcript to produce the desired form of a protein.

18 Jul 2014

Gene therapy offers potential alternative to pacemakers

Researchers have developed a gene transplant procedure that can transform ordinary heart muscle cells into “biological pacemaker” cells that maintain heart rhythm.

17 Jul 2014

New gene therapy may be effective for fighting fungal infections in cancer patients

Sleeping Beauty and fungal infections - not two items one would normally associate together, but for immunocompromised cancer patients they may prove to be a helpful combination.

9 Jul 2014

Frederic Bushman gets Pioneer Award from Human Gene Therapy

Frederic D. Bushman, PhD's (University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine) early pioneering work in understanding how HIV reproduces by inserting its genetic material into the DNA of a host cell led to key advances in the ability to move pieces of DNA and whole genes between cells.

25 Jun 2014

Researchers solve structure of key protein that drives DNA copying in plasmids

Staph infections that become resistant to multiple antibiotics don't happen because the bacteria themselves adapt to the drugs, but because of a kind of genetic parasite they carry called a plasmid that helps its host survive the antibiotics.

10 Jun 2014

Leukemia researcher wins 2014 Taubman Prize for Excellence in Translational Medical Science

A physician-scientist who developed a personalized immunotherapy for leukemia using patients' own T cells is the recipient of the 2014 Taubman Prize for Excellence in Translational Medical Science, awarded by the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute at the University of Michigan Medical School.

4 Jun 2014

Study: Sufficient copies of SMN1 gene extend survival in animals with spinal muscular atrophy

To make up for insufficient amounts of SMN protein, the cause of the inherited neuromuscular disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), researchers have successfully delivered a replacement SMN1 gene directly to the spinal cords of animal models of SMA.

23 May 2014

Manure from dairy cows contains newly identified antibiotic resistance genes

Manure from dairy cows, which is commonly used as a farm soil fertilizer, contains a surprising number of newly identified antibiotic resistance genes from the cows' gut bacteria. The findings, reported in mBio- the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, hints that cow manure is a potential source of new types of antibiotic resistance genes that transfer to bacteria in the soils where food is grown.

22 Apr 2014

Biologists find ways to address antibiotic resistance

Biologists could gain a deeper understanding about how species have evolved - and even find ways to address antibiotic resistance - using tools that were developed recently at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

8 Apr 2014

Marina Cavazzana, Adrian J. Thrasher honored with Pioneer Award for gene therapy

Marina Cavazzana, MD, PhD, Paris Descartes University, France and Adrian J. Thrasher, MD, PhD, University College London Institute of Child Health, UK, have been honored with the Pioneer Award for basic and clinical gene therapy for immunodeficiency disorders.

25 Mar 2014

Trimethoprim is more effective against streptococci than expected, says research

The focus of his team was also on samples, in which the bacteria failed to respond to the agent. They discovered two types of resistance. "Spontaneous mutations can occur in the gene for dihydrofolate reductase rendering trimethoprim no longer able to attack the changed enzyme, which means it becomes ineffective," Nitsche-Schmitz explained.

20 Mar 2014

MD Anderson collaborates with MedImmune to develop therapies that unleash patients' immune systems to attack cancers

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, will collaborate through MD Anderson's Moon Shots Program to develop therapies that unleash patients' immune systems to attack their cancers.

14 Mar 2014

European Commission invests nearly $475 million in gene transfer and gene therapy projects

Over the past three funding stages, the European Commission has invested nearly $475 million in 100 projects in the gene transfer and gene therapy field.

25 Feb 2014

IRSF announces new research grants for translational research program and clinical trials

The International Rett Syndrome Foundation (IRSF) announces today ten (10) new research grants at leading global research institutions; a new Translational Research Program; and additional funding for current human clinical trials.

24 Feb 2014

Researcher receives Pioneer Award for engineering herpes simplex virus gene delivery systems

Joseph C. Glorioso, III, PhD (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, PA) devoted much of his research career to developing herpes viruses as efficient vectors for delivering therapeutic genes into cells.

20 Feb 2014

Ronald G. Crystal wins Pioneer Award from Human Gene Therapy

In recognition of his seminal work on adenoviral vectors, which accelerated the translation of gene therapy from the research laboratory to the clinic, Ronald G. Crystal, MD (Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, New York City), has received a Pioneer Award from Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

31 Jan 2014

MD Anderson collaborates with Johnson & Johnson to develop immunology-based cancer treatments

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will collaborate with Johnson & Johnson Innovation, LLC, and its affiliate Janssen Biotech, Inc., to develop immunology-based cancer treatments through the MD Anderson Moon Shots Program immunotherapy platform.

23 Jan 2014

Researchers identify molecular mechanism by which cocaine alters brain's reward circuits, causes addiction

Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified a new molecular mechanism by which cocaine alters the brain's reward circuits and causes addiction.

21 Jan 2014