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Scientists focus on genes linked with autism spectrum disorders

With the "Refrigerator Mother" notion about the cause of autism a distant and discredited memory, scientists are making remarkable progress in untangling the genetic roots of the condition, which affects millions of children and adults, according to an article in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

8 Mar 2012

Doctors identify promising new treatment for hypophosphatasia

Doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, working with Shriners Hospital for Children and other institutions, have identified a promising new treatment for a rare and sometimes life-threatening bone disorder that can affect infants and young children.

8 Mar 2012

Queen's receives NICH&S grant to create vaccine against Pseudomonas

Queen's University Belfast scientists working on a vaccine to combat Pseudomonas have received a financial boost from Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke.

8 Mar 2012

Women with chronic heart failure survive longer than their male counterparts

Women with chronic heart failure survive longer than their male counterparts, according to a large analysis of studies comprising data on more than 40,000 subjects. The analysis represents the largest assessment of gender and mortality risk in heart failure - and provides evidence which many randomised trials have failed to do because they have been dominated by male patients.

8 Mar 2012

Ordinary fat cells can be reengineered to burn calories

In the war against obesity, one's own fat cells may seem an unlikely ally, but new research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) suggests ordinary fat cells can be reengineered to burn calories.

8 Mar 2012

Researchers identify key molecular player in mouse model of kidney disease

In findings that may lead to clinical trials of a promising new drug for kidney disease, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and their colleagues have identified a key molecular player and shown how a targeted experimental drug can reverse kidney damage in mouse models of diabetes, high blood pressure, genetic kidney disease, and other kidney injuries.

8 Mar 2012

Researchers make significant strides in the study of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center's James P. Wilmot Cancer Center have made significant strides in the study of a primary cancer of the liver- Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC), also called biliary tract cancer.

8 Mar 2012

Transgenomic fourth quarter total revenue increases 68% to $8.6M

Transgenomic, Inc. today reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2011 and provided a business update.

7 Mar 2012

Novel set of genes linked with epithelial ovarian cancer patient survival

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues from 11 other institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom have used two genome-wide association studies (GWAS) - one from the U.S. and one from the U.K. - to detect a novel set of genes found to be associated with epithelial ovarian cancer patient survival.

7 Mar 2012

A&G, Mayo Medical sign license agreement for new progranulin blood test for FTD

Mayo Clinic today announced that Mayo Medical Laboratories has signed an agreement with A&G Pharmaceutical, Inc. and will receive a non-exclusive license to certain patent rights and proprietary antibody reagents for the detection and measurement of progranulin in blood.

7 Mar 2012

African Americans more likely to develop keloid after head and neck surgery

African Americans are seven times more likely than Caucasians to develop an excessive growth of thick, irregularly shaped and raised scarring on their skin - known as a keloid - following head and neck surgery, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

7 Mar 2012

CU Cancer Center aims to make progress against squamous cell lung cancer

Recent advances in targeted cancer treatments greatly bolster the prognosis for many types of lung cancer, but according to a University of Colorado Cancer Center investigator, "practically nothing has improved in squamous cell lung cancer in the last decades."

7 Mar 2012

Altogen launches new pancreas-targeted in vivo RNAi transfection system

Altogen Biosystems announced the launch of its new pancreas-targeted in vivo RNAi transfection system in the company's popular in vivo delivery product line for use in laboratories and research facilities for development of new medicines and testing in cells and animals.

7 Mar 2012

Bevacizumab drug improves cardiac output in patients with HHT

In a small study that included 25 patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (a genetic disorder that leads to abnormalities of blood vessels) and severe liver involvement with this disease, patients who received the drug bevacizumab had improved cardiac output and a reduction in the duration and number of episodes of nose bleeds, a potentially life-threatening complication for patients with this disorder, according to a study in the March 7 issue of JAMA.

6 Mar 2012

New imaging tool reveals subtle changes in breast tissue

Purdue University researchers have created a new imaging technology that reveals subtle changes in breast tissue, representing a potential tool to determine a woman's risk of developing breast cancer and to study ways of preventing the disease.

6 Mar 2012

Study evaluates link between genetic and environmental factors and risk of drug abuse

In a national Swedish adoption study, the risk for drug abuse appears to be increased among adopted children whose biological parents had a history of drug abuse, according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

6 Mar 2012

Persistent depression may increase risk of cognitive decline in older patients with CAD

Persistent depression symptoms may be associated with significantly greater declines in cognitive performance in older patients with coronary artery disease who underwent cardiac catheterization, according to a study published in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

6 Mar 2012

Dysfunctional family environment increases genetic risk for drug abuse

The risk of abusing drugs is greater - even for adopted children - if the family environment in which they are raised is dysfunctional, according to a new study conducted by a collaborative team from Virginia Commonwealth University and Lund University in Sweden.

6 Mar 2012

New DNA-reading technology could lead to correct genetic diagnosis for muscle-wasting diseases

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have used a revolutionary new DNA-reading technology for a research project that could lead to correct genetic diagnosis for muscle-wasting diseases.

6 Mar 2012

New, freely available Web-based program helps predict effect of mutations on mRNA splicing

In a brief paper in the journal Bioinformatics, Brown University researchers describe a new, freely available Web-based program called Spliceman for predicting whether genetic mutations are likely to disrupt the splicing of messenger RNA, potentially leading to disease.

6 Mar 2012