Genes News and Research

RSS

Lipid-based nanocarrier can improve cancer treatments

Scientists seeking to improve cancer treatments have created a tiny drug transporter that maximizes its ability to silence damaging genes by finding the equivalent of an expressway into a target cell.

27 Jul 2011

Scientists identify possible genetic variations linked to eating disorders

A substantial number of people with eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa have a chronic course. They are severely underweight and have a high likelihood of dying from malnutrition. No treatment has been found that helps people who are chronically ill. Now, a new study sheds light on the reason that some people have poor outcome.

27 Jul 2011

New preclinical data suggests microRNA-15 inhibits cardiomyogenesis

miRagen Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patients' lives by developing innovative microRNA (miRNA)-based therapeutics for cardiovascular and muscle disease, announced today that new preclinical data published in the online edition of Circulation Research suggests that microRNA-15 (miR-15) inhibits cardiomyogenesis, the process whereby new heart muscle cells are formed.

27 Jul 2011

Lack of genetic screening for cancers

In a new study published Monday in the journal Cancer, it was noted that while genetic testing to check if a woman has the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations can be a useful tool for preventing breast cancer and ovarian cancer in some cases, many doctors are not referring patients.

26 Jul 2011

Researchers identify elusive gene responsible for Grey Platelet Syndrome

Researchers have identified an elusive gene responsible for Grey Platelet Syndrome, an extremely rare blood disorder in which only about 50 known cases have been reported. As a result, it is hoped that future cases will be easier to diagnose with a DNA test.

26 Jul 2011

Two genetic variations can identify children at higher risk of radiation-induced second cancers

A genome-wide association study published in the August issue of Nature Medicine has found two tiny genetic variations that can predict which patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma are most likely to develop radiation-induced second cancers years after treatment.

25 Jul 2011

Report on versatility of nitric oxide in arming hosts against pathogens

A new target for nitric oxide has been revealed in studies of how it inhibits the growth of Salmonella. This bacterium is a common cause of food-poisoning.

25 Jul 2011

First high-resolution genetic maps for African American populations

UCLA life scientists and colleagues have produced one of the first high-resolution genetic maps for African American populations. A genetic map reveals the precise locations across the genome where DNA from a person's father and mother have been stitched together through a biological process called "recombination." This process results in new genetic combinations that are then passed on to the person's children.

25 Jul 2011

Strategies toxins use to invade human host cells

Toxins produced by plants and bacteria pose a significant threat to humans, as emphasized by the recent effects of cucumber-borne Shiga toxin in Germany. Now, new research published on July 21st by the Cell Press journal Developmental Cell provides a clearer view of the combination of similar and divergent strategies that different toxins use to invade a human host cell.

22 Jul 2011

Sigma Life Science releases breast cancer-specific knockout and knockin cell lines for drug research

Sigma Life Science, the innovative biological products and services research business of Sigma-Aldrich, today announced the expansion of its CompoZr® Oncology Disease Model portfolio with the release of the first in its collection of breast cancer-specific knockout and knockin cell lines for drug discovery and research.

22 Jul 2011

Humans' desire to kill rats has only made them stronger

Over millennia, mice have thrived despite humanity's efforts to keep them at bay. A Rice University scientist argues some mice have found two ways to achieve a single goal -- resistance to common poison.

22 Jul 2011

UCSF, Kaiser Permanente achieve first major milestone in genomics project

One of the nation's largest and most diverse genomics projects has reached its first major milestone in just 15 months. Scientists have genotyped the DNA and analyzed the length of chromosome tips in more than 100,000 Kaiser Permanente members who agreed to be part of the research.

22 Jul 2011

Scientists discover new bases of DNA

For decades, scientists have known that DNA consists of four basic units -- adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine. Those four bases have been taught in science textbooks and have formed the basis of the growing knowledge regarding how genes code for life.

22 Jul 2011

First genome-wide mapping of DNA modification in embryonic stem cells

Stem cell researchers at UCLA have generated the first genome-wide mapping of a DNA modification called 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in embryonic stem cells, and discovered that it is predominantly found in genes that are turned on, or active.

22 Jul 2011

FDA approves U.S. launch of Wiskott-Aldrich gene therapy clinical trial

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved the launching in the U.S. of a clinical trial for gene therapy for a rare immunodeficiency, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.

22 Jul 2011

Neuroscience 2011 to explore latest advances in brain research

The Society for Neuroscience's Annual Meeting, Neuroscience 2011, Nov. 12-16 at the Washington Convention Center. The event will include more than 16,000 study abstracts on new discoveries in aging, stress, mental illness, learning, disease, and more.

22 Jul 2011

Isis commences ISIS-PTP1BRx Phase 1 study in type 2 diabetes

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has initiated a Phase 1 clinical study for ISIS-PTP1BRx, an antisense drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes targeting protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B, PTP-1B.

21 Jul 2011

Researchers discover novel combination of two mutations in a patient with ADHD

Often enough, in science as in life, unexpected knowledge has a personal impact. Researchers seeking rare gene variants in just a few individuals with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) discovered that one patient had a novel combination of two mutations.

21 Jul 2011

World's best genetic map now built in African-Americans

A group of researchers from the University of Oxford, Harvard Medical School and the University of Mississippi Medical Center has constructed the world's most detailed genetic map, a tool scientists can use to better understand the roots of disease and how DNA is passed generationally to create diversity in the human species.

21 Jul 2011