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Many Huntington's disease patients suffer from weight loss, sleeping problems

An aggregating protein causes many of the symptoms of Huntington's disease, an incurable and frequently fatal brain disorder. Mosaic winner Ahmad Aziz discovered that the abnormal protein also aggregates in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system.

16 Jun 2010

Study demonstrates mechanism behind hijacking of TNF controlled response to tumours

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered how two genes can 'hijack' control of part of the body's defences against cancer, helping them grow and spread.

16 Jun 2010

University of Montreal scientists discover free radical mechanism to viral invasion

Canadian researchers have discovered a new way the body combats respiratory viral infections. In the prestigious journal PLoS Pathogens, scientists from the University of Montreal and the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center explain how the NOX2 molecule, an enzyme that generates a burst of highly reactive oxygen derivatives (or free radicals), activates defense genes and molecules when viruses invade lung cells.

16 Jun 2010

ISB, GIND collaborate on whole-genome sequencing to identify drug targets for Huntington's Disease

The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) of Seattle, WA, is collaborating with the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) and its Taube-Koret Center for Huntington's Disease Research to use whole-genome sequencing to identify genes and novel drug targets related to the onset and progression of Huntington's disease (HD). The research team, led by GIND associate director and senior investigator Steven Finkbeiner, MD, PhD, will also use induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from patients with HD to screen for drugs that might delay, prevent, or even reverse this devastating condition.

16 Jun 2010

Eating Mediterranean-style diet reduces heart disease risk: Research

A study of twins shows that even with genes that put them at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, eating a Mediterranean-style diet can improve heart function, according to research reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

16 Jun 2010

New insight into sleeping sickness parasite

Fresh discoveries about the parasite that causes sleeping sickness could lead to new avenues of research into treatments for the disease.

15 Jun 2010

Tel Aviv University research suggests link between IVF treatments and autism

The first "test tube baby" was born in 1978. With advances in reproductive science, an estimated one percent of all American babies are now born each year through in vitro fertilization. But IVF and other assisted fertility treatments may be solving one problem by creating another, suggests new evidence from Tel Aviv University.

15 Jun 2010

Sulindac shuts down cancer cell growth, initiates cell death: Study

Without knowing exactly why, scientists have long observed that people who regularly take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin have lower incidences of certain types of cancer. Now, in a study appearing in Cancer Cell on June 15, investigators at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and their colleagues have figured out how one NSAID, called Sulindac, inhibits tumor growth.

15 Jun 2010

Researchers discover microRNA biomarkers to treat patients with SCLC

Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute, the Van Andel Research Institute and the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare have discovered a biomarker that could help in the treatment of patients with an aggressive type of lung cancer.

15 Jun 2010

ExonHit Therapeutics, Genmab A/S sign agreement for selection of novel splice variants

ExonHit Therapeutics today announced the signing of an exclusive agreement with Genmab A/S for a selection of novel splice variants, identified as part of a successful pilot study, that have the potential to be therapeutic targets for breast cancer. Genmab retains exclusive development and commercialization rights on 10 events out of a breast cancer database developed using ExonHit's genome-wide SpliceArray technology (RNA splicing analysis platform covering the entire genome).

15 Jun 2010

Entomologists to develop genetically engineered bacteria for killing mosquito larvae

Roughly half the world's population still lives in areas at risk of malaria transmission. Even in the United States, 1500 cases of malaria are reported annually on average.

15 Jun 2010

Parkinson’s disease linked to gene variant and pesticide: Study

Researchers from France reported in their new study that bad genes and exposure to certain banned pesticides could be blamed for development of Parkinson’s disease in men. In their study, published in the Archives of Neurology journal they show that men exposed to pesticides such as DDT and who had inherited genes for Parkinson’s disease were three and a half times more likely to develop Parkinson's than those with the normal version of the gene.

14 Jun 2010

Children born after ART at increased risk of congenital malformation

Couples considering undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment should be informed about the increased risk of congenital malformation posed by the use of ART, the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics will hear today (Monday). Dr. G-raldine Viot, a clinical geneticist at the Maternit- Port Royal hospital, Paris, France, will say that she believed that most doctors working in ART clinics in France only told couples about such risks if they were asked specific questions.

14 Jun 2010

In vitro fertilization ups the risk of birth defects: study

Researchers have found from a large scale study that in vitro fertilization of IVF is associated with an increased risk of birth defects in the baby. They urge doctors treating patients with infertility to routinely warn them about these risks. The study involved 33 centers for IVF in France and covered over 15,000 births from 2003 to 2007. This study is the largest till date.

14 Jun 2010

CNVs increases patients' susceptibility to severe sepsis

Genetic makeup has been identified as a key factor leading to the development of sepsis, a systemic inflammatory reaction that occurs during infection. Sepsis is considered severe when associated with organ dysfunction.

14 Jun 2010

New breakthrough in stem cell and tissue engineering

The mechanism by which 'polycomb' proteins critical for embyronic stem cell function and fate are targeted to DNA has been identified by UCL scientists.

14 Jun 2010

Research on genetic mutations could lead to accurate diagnosis of USH, says scientist

Usher syndrome, an inherited condition involving both hearing and vision loss, is not a simply recessively inherited disease, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Saturday). Dr. Hanno Bolz, Associate Medical Director of the Bioscientia Centre for Human Genetics, Ingelheim, Germany, and active in teaching and research at the University Hospital of Cologne, will say that his team's research challenges the traditional view that USH was inherited as a single gene disorder, and shows that it may result from at least two different genetic mutations.

14 Jun 2010

White blood cells with receptors for both virus and nerve proteins may assault nerves after fighting infection

A virus infection can incite the body to attack its own nerve tissue by activating unusual, disease-fighting cells with receptors for both viral and nerve proteins. The dual-receptor observation suggests a way brain and spinal cord nerve damage might be triggered in susceptible young adults afflicted with multiple sclerosis.

11 Jun 2010

Interactions between human and microbial cells determine health, physical well-being: Researchers

At birth, your body was 100-percent human in terms of cells. At death, about 10-percent of the cells in your body will be human and the remaining 90-percent will be microorganisms. That makes you a "supraorganism," and it is the interactions between your human and microbial cells that go a long way towards determining your health and physical well-being, especially your resistance to infectious diseases.

11 Jun 2010

Study results of genes regulated by ERB published in Journal of Biological Chemistry

Bionovo Inc. today announced the publication of results from a study demonstrating the three distinct classes of genes regulated by estrogen receptor beta. The results are published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. This is an important discovery for future development of selective drugs regulating this pathway.

11 Jun 2010

Genes News and Research

Many Huntington's disease patients suffer from weight loss, sleeping problems

Study demonstrates mechanism behind hijacking of TNF controlled response to tumours

University of Montreal scientists discover free radical mechanism to viral invasion

ISB, GIND collaborate on whole-genome sequencing to identify drug targets for Huntington's Disease

Eating Mediterranean-style diet reduces heart disease risk: Research

New insight into sleeping sickness parasite

Tel Aviv University research suggests link between IVF treatments and autism

Sulindac shuts down cancer cell growth, initiates cell death: Study

Researchers discover microRNA biomarkers to treat patients with SCLC

ExonHit Therapeutics, Genmab A/S sign agreement for selection of novel splice variants

Entomologists to develop genetically engineered bacteria for killing mosquito larvae

Parkinson’s disease linked to gene variant and pesticide: Study

Children born after ART at increased risk of congenital malformation

In vitro fertilization ups the risk of birth defects: study

CNVs increases patients' susceptibility to severe sepsis

New breakthrough in stem cell and tissue engineering

Research on genetic mutations could lead to accurate diagnosis of USH, says scientist

White blood cells with receptors for both virus and nerve proteins may assault nerves after fighting infection

Interactions between human and microbial cells determine health, physical well-being: Researchers

Study results of genes regulated by ERB published in Journal of Biological Chemistry

Achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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