Genes News and Research

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Important skin color gene identified

With help from a common aquarium pet and a recently released online database of human genetic variation, a collaborative team of Penn State researchers has found what could be the most important skin color gene identified to date.

15 Dec 2005

New cell findings have implications for cancer, immune disorders

It all started 5 years ago when a University of Calgary neuroscientist sent blood from a patient with a neurological disorder to the laboratory of Dr. Marvin Fritzler, professor of medicine / biochemistry & molecular biology at the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine.

15 Dec 2005

Gene mapping project promises new targeted cancer therapies

Government researchers in the United States have this week launched a pilot project to find all the little genetic changes that cause cancer in the hope it will lead to a whole new world of targeted cancer therapy.

14 Dec 2005

Chlamydia loves lipid droplets

Invasive bacterial pathogens, the Chlamydiae know us very, very well. The Chlamydiae learned to parasitize eukaryotic cells half a billion years ago by reprogramming cellular functions from within.

13 Dec 2005

Streptococcus mutans copes without pathway

Leave it to the bacteria that cause tooth decay to be able to live without something all cells were thought to require.

13 Dec 2005

SPARC promotes heart muscle formation from stem cells

The protein SPARC plays a key role in the development of heart muscle in the embryo. An Austrian Science Fund FWF project has discovered this previously unknown role of SPARC.

12 Dec 2005

Dog gene map may help explain human diseases

U.S. scientists say a detailed analysis of the dog genome answers such questions as how dogs of a different breed still belong to the same species, and may also explain some aspects of human health and biology.

11 Dec 2005

Cancer, genes and broccoli

People who gain less protection from cancer by eating broccoli may be able to compensate for the difference in their genetic make-up by eating 'super broccoli', a variety with higher levels of the active plant chemical sulforaphane, or by eating larger portions.

7 Dec 2005

Genetic testing for Parkinson disease, is there a point?

Should we start being genetically tested for Parkinson’s disease (PD)? According to research just published in the December issue of the "journal Movement Disorders" this might be a possibility in the future if you belong to a family affected by G2019S, a genetic mutation responsible for some PD cases.

7 Dec 2005

New type of sulfite reductase

Biswarup Mukhopadhyay and Eric Johnson from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have discovered a novel enzyme that represents an ancient detoxification system and provides a clue to the development of early metabolism on earth.

7 Dec 2005

Hippocampal myo-inositol and cognitive ability in adults with Down Syndrome

Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London have identified a molecule that could be targeted to treat the cognitive impairment in people with Down syndrome.

7 Dec 2005

MicroRNAs greatly influence the evolution of genes

RNA continues to shed its reputation as DNA's faithful sidekick. Now, researchers in the lab of Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel have found that a class of small RNAs called microRNAs influence the evolution of genes far more widely than previous research had indicated.

7 Dec 2005

Liver plays crucial role in iron metabolism

A new study in the December Cell Metabolism reveals an unexpected connection between a tumor suppressor gene in the liver and the normally careful control over the amount of iron absorbed from the diet.

7 Dec 2005

Humans have ancient genes

Species evolve at very different rates, and the evolutionary line that produced humans seems to be among the slowest.

7 Dec 2005

UK DNA Banking Network

Doctors and scientists nationwide wil for the first time be able to join together over the internet to start the search for genes that underlie a range of chronic diseases.

From The University of Manchester 6 Dec 2005

Fibroblast research could lead to alternatives to implanted electronic pacemakers

In guinea pig experiments, Johns Hopkins scientists fused common connective tissue cells taken from lungs with heart muscle cells to create a safe and effective biological pacemaker whose cells can fire on their own and naturally regulate the muscle's rhythmic beat.

5 Dec 2005

LEDGF protein controls the location of HIV integration in human cells

A human DNA-associated protein called LEDGF is the first such molecule found to control the location of HIV integration in human cells, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

5 Dec 2005

Researchers link microRNA - miR 196 - to limb development

A tiny strand of molecules plays a role in how our arms and legs develop and grow - a finding that sheds light on perplexing bits of material once dismissed as genetic "junk," say scientists at the University of Florida and Harvard University.

5 Dec 2005

Researchers move in on novel therapeutics to inhibit melanoma

Northwestern University researchers have developed a novel, three-dimensional model that allows scientists to observe how interacting with the microenvironment of metastatic melanoma cells induces normal skin cells to become similar to aggressive cancer cells that migrate and spread throughout the body.

5 Dec 2005

HRAS mutation analysis in Costello Syndrome

Gene mutations in the HRAS sequence are present in most patients affected with Costello syndrome, according to a new study in the American Journal of Medical Genetics. The mutations occurred de novo in patients, meaning, they were not observed in their parents' genes.

5 Dec 2005