Genes News and Research

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Proof that proteins can be custom-designed

Ever since the advent of recombinant-DNA technology, scientists have conceived that it will be feasible to create entirely new enzymes for specific needs.

27 Jan 2006

First large-scale bird flu genome study

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have completed the first large-scale study of bird flu virus genomes, thereby doubling the amount of genetic information available on the genes and proteins of these viruses.

26 Jan 2006

Identity Swap: Finding the variants that human history has favoured

Sequence differences in less than 0.2% of the 3-billion-base human genome play a vital role in a bewildering variety of human disease. Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Cambridge University’s Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, together with international colleagues report in PLoS Genetics their detailed maps of differences implicated in disease as well as genes that are unchanged in recent human history.

26 Jan 2006

Faster method for detecting disease-causing mutations developed by Pitt researchers

University of Pittsburgh researcher Alexander Star and colleagues at a California-based company, Nanomix, Inc., have developed devices made of carbon nanotubes that can find mutations in genes causing hereditary diseases, they report in the Jan. 16 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

24 Jan 2006

New tool for genetic research

In an article appearing online today in the journal Nature Methods, researchers at the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fidirale de Lausanne) unveil a powerful new tool that will facilitate genetic research and open up new avenues for the clinical treatment of genetic disease.

23 Jan 2006

Discovery of gene that causes Meckel-Gruber syndrome

The discovery of a gene that causes a rare, inherited and always fatal disorder, Meckel-Gruber (MKS) syndrome, may provide researchers with the common thread to unravel the mysteries of other birth defects.

23 Jan 2006

New insights into tube size morphogenesis

The function of tubular organs like the kidneys, lungs, and vessels of the vascular system is critically dependent on the length and diameter of the tubular branches of which they are composed.

23 Jan 2006

Gene therapy to turn off Parkinson's

A group of Northwestern University researchers is developing a novel gene therapy aimed at selectively turning off one of the genes involved in the development of Parkinson's disease.

23 Jan 2006

First-of-its-kind study in heart attack patients seeks to prevent heart failure with stem cells

University of Rochester Medical Center researchers have announced the launch of a study that will examine whether transplanted stem cells can be safely used to treat damaged heart muscle in patients just after their first heart attack.

23 Jan 2006

New method to find new metabolites

Ever since penicillin, a byproduct of a fungal mold, was discovered in 1929, scientists have scrutinized fungi for other breakthrough drugs. As reported Jan. 20 in the Journal of Chemistry and Biology, a team led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher has developed a new method that may speed the ongoing quest for medically useful compounds in fungi.

23 Jan 2006

Scientists discover method to multiply an adult stem cell 30-fold

Adult stem cells may be free of the ethical concerns that hamper embryonic stem cell research, but they still pose formidable scientific challenges.

23 Jan 2006

Identification of Gli protein degradation signals that directly affect tumor latency

Dr. Anthony E. Oro and colleagues (Stanford University) have identified two key Gli protein degradation signals that directly affect tumor latency in a mouse model of human skin cancer.

22 Jan 2006

Genetics plays a role in drug-seeking behavior

Inbred strains of rats differ in how aggressively they seek cocaine after a few weeks of use, researchers say.

18 Jan 2006

New findings about messenger molecule raise hopes for new drug

Uppsala University scientists have developed a new method for measuring the concentration of the messenger substance for cells, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), in individual living cells.

18 Jan 2006

TCF21 gene shown to be a tumor suppressor

Researchers have identified a new and unusual tumor suppressor gene that may be important in cancers of the lung and head and neck. The study shows that restoring the inactivated gene can slow the growth of tumor cells.

18 Jan 2006

Mutated oncogene triggers aggressive breast cancer

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a molecular interaction that triggers a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer, and suggest that attacking this target with selective drugs might improve treatment.

18 Jan 2006

Growth hormone helps children with sleep apnea

Growth hormone helps hundreds of children with a rare disorder that causes them to gorge on food, but for some, starting treatment can worsen a dangerous nighttime breathing problem, University of Florida researchers have found.

18 Jan 2006

Retinal degeneration - researchers advance understanding

Researchers have labored for decades to understand blindness-inducing neurodegenerative diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

18 Jan 2006

Genetic risk factor for West Nile virus infection identified

People who lack a cell surface protein called CCR5 are highly resistant to infection by HIV but may be at increased risk of developing West Nile virus (WNV) illness when exposed to the mosquito-borne virus, report researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

18 Jan 2006

Cloned stem cells are perfectly normal

Scientists generally agree that all cloned animals are biologically flawed. But they don't agree about what that means for stem cells derived from cloned embryos, the basis for therapeutic cloning.

18 Jan 2006