Gene Transfer News and Research

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

Scientists map core genes involved during DNA uptake in strep bacteria

Bacteria possess the ability to take up DNA from their environment, a skill that enables them to acquire new genes for antibiotic resistance or to escape the immune response. Scientists have now mapped the core set of genes that are consistently controlled during DNA uptake in strep bacteria, and they hope the finding will allow them to cut off the microbes' ability to survive what doctors and nature can throw at them.

21 Apr 2016

Researchers observe increase in antibiotic resistance genes

Around the world, antibiotic use and resistance is increasing while the discovery of new antibiotics has nearly halted.

13 Apr 2016

Researchers develop innovative method for gene transfer

Researchers have developed a new and highly efficient method for gene transfer. The technique, which involves culturing and transfecting cells with genetic material on an array of carbon nanotubes, appears to overcome the limitations of other gene editing technologies.

7 Apr 2016

CCN5 protein reverses cardiac fibrosis in heart failure models

CCN5, a matricellular protein, has been found to reverse established cardiac fibrosis in heart failure models, according to a study led by Roger J. Hajjar, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Woo Jin Park, PhD, Professor of Life Sciences at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea.

29 Mar 2016

Whole genome sequencing of chimpanzee parasite reveals clues about human malaria

Understanding the origins of emerging diseases - as well as more established disease agents -- is critical to gauge future human infection risks and find new treatment and prevention approaches. This holds true for malaria, which kills more than 500,000 people a year. Symptoms, including severe anemia, pregnancy-associated malaria, and cerebral malaria, have been linked to the parasite's ability to cause infected red blood cells to bind to the inner lining of blood vessels.

22 Mar 2016

Researchers describe antibiotic resistance as either selfish or co-operative

Trace concentrations of antibiotic, such as those found in sewage outfalls, are enough to enable bacteria to keep antibiotic resistance, new research from the University of York has found. The concentrations are much lower than previously anticipated, and help to explain why antibiotic resistance is so persistent in the environment.

15 Mar 2016

Combining photoimmunotherapy and gene transduction effective against elusive gastric cancer cells

Researchers report photoimmunotherapy to be effective against elusive gastric cancer cells following transduction with the gene that expresses the extracellular domain protein of HER2. The results are published in the journal Small Molecule Therapeutics in February 2016.

15 Mar 2016

New research shows copper can destroy MRSA in touch contamination

New research from the University of Southampton shows that copper can destroy MRSA spread by touching and fingertip contamination of surfaces.

24 Feb 2016

UIC researchers discover molecular switch that allows salmonella bacteria to fight immune system

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a molecular regulator that allows salmonella bacteria to switch from actively causing disease to lurking in a chronic but asymptomatic state called a biofilm.

7 Feb 2016

Leading researchers reject proposed link between adeno-associated virus 2 and hepatocellular carcinoma

The conclusion drawn from a recent study that insertion of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) into human DNA causes mutations leading to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was resoundingly rejected by leading researchers in the fields of gene therapy and molecular genetics.

7 Jan 2016

Oxford University researchers unlock the secret behind bacterial sex

Migration between different communities of bacteria is the key to the type of gene transfer that can lead to the spread of traits such as antibiotic resistance, according to researchers at Oxford University.

23 Nov 2015

CHOP researchers delay symptoms, extend lifespan in animal model of Batten disease

Researchers have taken a significant step forward in developing gene therapy against a fatal neurodegenerative disease that strikes children. By delivering a working version of a gene to produce a key enzyme that is lacking in Batten disease, the scientists delayed symptoms and extended lifespan in dogs with a comparable disease.

12 Nov 2015

New gene therapy approach to treating DMD reduces symptoms, extends life span in mouse model

A gene therapy approach to treating the progressive muscle wasting disorder Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) that does not replace the mutated DMD gene but instead delivers the gene for ITGA7, a protein in skeletal muscle, led to reduced symptoms and significantly extended life span in a mouse model of severe DMD. Over-expression of ITGA7 did not elicit an immune reaction, further supporting its potential as a novel treatment for DMD, according to a new study published in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

30 Sep 2015

$Gene transfer therapy not beneficial for heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction$

Gene transfer therapy not beneficial for heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction

Gene transfer therapy aimed at correcting an enzyme abnormality involved in myocardial contraction and relaxation did not improve outcomes in heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction, results of the CUPID 2 study show.

1 Sep 2015

Gene therapy restores visual function in mouse model of LCA1

Mice lacking the protein retGC1, which is deficient in humans suffering Leber congenital amaurosis-1 (LCA1), a disorder that causes severe visual impairment beginning in infancy, received gene therapy to replace retGC1 and showed fully restored visual function that persisted for at least 6 months.

1 Sep 2015

Rice University scientists identify genetic mechanism that allows bacteria to resist antibiotics

Rice University scientists are developing strategies to keep germs from evolving resistance to antibiotics by heading them off at the pass.

5 Aug 2015

First biodegradable gene delivery system efficiently penetrates human airway mucus barrier of lung tissue

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil have designed a DNA-loaded nanoparticle that can pass through the mucus barrier covering conducting airways of lung tissue — proving the concept, they say, that therapeutic genes may one day be delivered directly to the lungs to the levels sufficient to treat cystic fibrosis (CF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and other life-threatening lung diseases.

4 Aug 2015

Researchers reconstruct ancient virus to improve gene therapy

Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Schepens Eye Research Institute have reconstructed an ancient virus that is highly effective at delivering gene therapies to the liver, muscle, and retina. This discovery, published July 30 in Cell Reports, could potentially be used to design gene therapies that are not only safer and more potent than therapies currently available, but may also help a greater number of patients.

31 Jul 2015

Acceleration of cell cycle transition kinetic can make human blood stem cells more powerful

For the first time, the research group of Prof. Claudia Waskow at the Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine at Dresden Technical University is now describing a new mechanism in which the length of the G1 phase of the cell cycle has a dramatic impact on the fitness of human blood stem cells.

13 Jul 2015

Innovative gene transfer-based treatment for kids with giant axonal neuropathy

University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers have developed an innovative, experimental gene transfer-based treatment for children with giant axonal neuropathy (GAN).

26 Jun 2015