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Study: Dyslexia gene controls cilia in brain neurons

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered that a gene linked to dyslexia has a surprising biological function: it controls cilia, the antenna-like projections that cells use to communicate.

20 Jun 2011

Surgeons demonstrate potential genetic basis for varying outcomes of leg vein bypass surgery

Vascular Cures, a leading non-profit investing in research to develop breakthrough treatments for vascular disease, announced results that indicate there may be a genetic basis for the varying outcomes of bypass surgery in the legs.

20 Jun 2011

Novel vaccine approach for prostate cancer

Mayo Clinic investigators and collaborators from the United Kingdom cured well-established prostate tumors in mice using a human vaccine with no apparent side effects. This novel cancer treatment approach encourages the immune system to rid itself of prostate tumors without assistance from toxic chemotherapies and radiation treatments.

20 Jun 2011

New insight into progressive supranuclear palsy

There are new genetic clues on risk factors and biological causes of a rare neurodegenerative disease called progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), according to a new study from an international genetics team led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

20 Jun 2011

Genomic study identifies MCU that regulates calcium transport into mitochondria

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and collaborators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the Broad Institute, and the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), today announced new findings published in Nature.

20 Jun 2011

Miracle cures on the horizon for genetic disease

In a latest break through, scientists have found a new technique to alter the genetic code behind hundreds of diseases and this was hailed by U.S. scientists as a “miracle of modern medicine.” Genes responsible for devastating diseases can be corrected by controlling faulty messenger cells that are central to the body's protein production, researchers said Wednesday.

17 Jun 2011

First genetic, biochemical tests for Idiopathic Infantile Hypercalcemia

A breakthrough in genetic research has uncovered the defect behind a rare hereditary children's disease that inhibits the body's ability to break down vitamin D. This discovery has led researchers to develop the first genetic and biochemical tests that positively identify the disease.

17 Jun 2011

Transgenomic introduces Nuclear Mitome Test for diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders

Transgenomic, Inc. today announced the launch of the Nuclear Mitome Test, a genetic test to aid physicians in the diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders.

17 Jun 2011

Adaptimmune melanoma trial opening

Adaptimmune announced today that it has opened a Phase I/II, two cohort, open label clinical trial in metastatic melanoma at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

16 Jun 2011

Cancer Research UK to launch genetic testing programme

Cancer Research UK's chief executive Harpal Kumar today spoke of a 'golden era' for cancer research as the UK is poised to lead the world in individualising the practice of medicine by understanding which treatments are best suited to an individual patient's particular genetic type of cancer.

16 Jun 2011

Stem cell technology corrects genetic defect in rare blinding disorder

Researchers have used cutting-edge stem cell technology to correct a genetic defect present in a rare blinding disorder, another step on a promising path that may one day lead to therapies to reverse blindness caused by common retinal diseases such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa which affect millions of individuals.

16 Jun 2011

Study establishes potential genetic link to human REM sleep behaviour disorder

Researchers at the University of Toronto are the first to indentify a potential cause for a severe sleep disorder that has been closely linked to Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

16 Jun 2011

ISSCR honors UCSF cancer scientist with 2011 Outstanding Young Investigator Award

UCSF's Robert Blelloch, MD, PhD, has received the 2011 Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Stem Cell Research, for his pioneering research on the role of molecular tools known as microRNAs in embryonic stem cells and cancer.

16 Jun 2011

Potential new drug therapies targeting genetic mutations benefit lung-cancer patients

Some lung-cancer patients at UT Southwestern Medical Center are responding well to potential new drug therapies targeting genetic mutations. Their participation in a national study is helping to forge new avenues to attack the disease.

16 Jun 2011

ViroPharma receives European Centralized Marketing Authorization for Cinryze for treatment of HAE

ViroPharma Incorporated today announced that the European Commission has granted ViroPharma Centralized Marketing Authorization for Cinryze (C1 inhibitor [human]) in adults and adolescents with hereditary angioedema (HAE) for routine prevention, pre-procedure prevention and acute treatment of angioedema attacks.

16 Jun 2011

Exposure to asbestos can cause genetic somatic mutations in mammals

Mice inhabiting an area known for its high concentration of asbestos-contaminated dust, have a higher level of genetic somatic mutations, compared with other regions where asbestos pollution levels are lower.

16 Jun 2011

Overactive mTOR can result in serious disruption of kidney filter in diabetes patients

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common secondary diseases in modern society. And because it is on the rise, it is also one of the greatest challenges facing medicine today. Diabetes patients do not die as a direct result of the increase in blood sugar, but from the long-term complications of their disease, in which the increase in blood sugar causes damage to blood vessels and organs.

15 Jun 2011

ESC publishes position paper to raise the profile of vulnerable plaques

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Working Group of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Biology has published a position paper to raise the profile of vulnerable plaques and the need for greater use of therapies to promote plaque stabilisation.

15 Jun 2011

Wnt signaling may help target hair pigmentation

A new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center has shown that, for the first time, Wnt signaling, already known to control many biological processes, between hair follicles and melanocyte stem cells can dictate hair pigmentation. The study was published in the June 11, 2011 issue of the journal Cell.

15 Jun 2011

Ventana Medical receives FDA approval for new breast cancer genetic test

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new genetic test that will help health care professionals determine if women with breast cancer are HER2-positive and, therefore, candidates for Herceptin, a commonly used breast cancer treatment.

15 Jun 2011