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Study: Genetic ancestry has no influence on how African-Americans with asthma respond to medication

Genetic ancestry has no discernible influence on how African American patients with asthma respond to medication, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

28 Sep 2010

OpGen completes Series B equity financing

OpGen, Inc., a commercial phase genomics company, today announced the successful completion of a $17 million Series B equity financing.

28 Sep 2010

USC, Las Encinas Hospital to study on schizophrenia, bipolar disorder in younger, older adults

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder affect 3% to 4% of the world's population, or about 222 million adults worldwide. In the United States, bipolar disorder affects about 5.7 million adult Americans 18 and older. Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, is a serious brain disorder that causes extreme shifts in mood, energy and functioning. People with the disorder experience episodes of mania and depression that can last from days to months. These symptoms usually begin in late adolescence, but can begin in early childhood or as late as a person's 40s or 50s. There is a strong genetic component related to bipolar disorder.

28 Sep 2010

Sanofi Pasteur signs agreement to acquire VaxDesign

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group announced today that it has signed a binding agreement for the acquisition of VaxDesign, a privately held U.S. biotechnology company, based in Orlando, Florida, that develops, manufactures and markets in vitro models of the human immune system.

28 Sep 2010

Study finds increasing number of elderly people are prone to celiac diseases

Working to solve the puzzle of when people develop celiac disease has led researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Celiac Research to some surprising findings. They have found that the autoimmune disorder is on the rise with evidence of increasing cases in the elderly.

27 Sep 2010

JAMA issue unveils genetic signature of brain cancer

A pair of studies in the July 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) spell out how much closer science has come to unraveling the genetic signature of brain cancer, according to a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

27 Sep 2010

People with Parkinson's disease have high levels of beta-HCH pesticide

People with Parkinson's disease have significantly higher blood levels of a particular pesticide than healthy people or those with Alzheimer's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

27 Sep 2010

Researchers find no correlation between genetic ancestry and cancer stage

Head and neck cancer outcomes associated with race may be more closely linked to social and behavioral factors than biological differences, especially for African Americans, according to a new Henry Ford Hospital study.

27 Sep 2010

Signaling pathway inhibition enhances autologous bone marrow transplant: Research

Identification of a molecular communications pathway that influences the mobilization of hematopoietic (blood) stem cells could lead to targeted therapies for improving bone marrow transplant success rates.

27 Sep 2010

Progenika receives CE Mark approval to market LPLchip in Europe

Progenika Biopharma S.A., a pioneer in the field of personalized medicine, announced today that it has obtained the CE Mark allowing the sale in Europe of its LPLchip(R), the first DNA chip to detect mutations in the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene.

27 Sep 2010

Researchers synthesize molecule to block abnormal protein in cancer cells

In the quest to arrest the growth and spread of tumors, there have been many attempts to get cancer genes to ignore their internal instruction manual. In a new study, a team led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists has created the first molecule able to prevent cancer genes from "hearing" those instructions, stifling the cancer process at its root.

27 Sep 2010

Alzheimer's treatments may prove effective if started in middle-aged people: Study

Memory lapses that occur with normal aging are a source of worry for many who fear Alzheimer's disease. Now a new Mayo Clinic-led study published in the July 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the carriers of a common genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease begin to have memory declines in their mid-50s, far earlier than previously thought.

27 Sep 2010

Researchers find stress-activating factors can control genes

Stress has become one of the major disease states in the developed world. Researchers from Dr.Klaus Hansen's group at BRIC, University of Copenhagen, have just shown that external factors can stress our cells through the control of our genes. "We found that stress-activating factors can control our genes by turning on certain genes that were supposed to be silenced.

27 Sep 2010

Gene alteration impacts brain tumor development: Study

The interaction between a network of altered genes appears to play an important role in the development and progression of brain tumors, according to a study in the July 15 issue of JAMA.

27 Sep 2010

Researchers publish evidence behind evolution of jaws in vertebrates

A half-billion years ago, vertebrates lacked the ability to chew their food. They did not have jaws. Instead, their heads consisted of a flexible, fused basket of cartilage.This week, an international team of researchers led by a faculty member from the University of Colorado at Boulder published evidence that three genes in jawless vertebrates might have been key to the development of jaws in higher vertebrates.

27 Sep 2010

Research Roundup: Medical homes; Drug samples and prescribing; The health law and disparities; Women's health; CBO projections

Institute of Medicine: Women's Health Research: Progress, Pitfalls, and Promise -"Substantial progress has been made since the expansion of investment in women's health research. Research findings have changed the practice of medicine and public-health recommendations in several prominent contexts, including changes in standards of care for women. There have also been decreases in mortality in women from breast cancer, heart disease, and cervical cancer. In other contexts, however, there has been less progress..."

24 Sep 2010

LSU researchers receive Rapid Response Grants from National Science Foundation

Since the Deepwater Horizon disaster began in the Gulf of Mexico, experts have debated the potential impact of the oil and the dispersants used to break it up. What will it do to seafood? Or the delicate wetland ecosystems lining the Gulf of Mexico, particularly those already in danger near the mouth of the Mississippi? Two groups of LSU researchers have received Rapid Response Grants from the National Science Foundation, or NSF, to study these and other implications relating to the oil and dispersants now in the Gulf of Mexico.

24 Sep 2010

Origin Biotechnology reaches worldwide agreement with Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for Bt-gene

Origin Biotechnology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Origin Agritech Limited announced it has reached an comprehensive, worldwide agreement with the Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). CAAS jointly own the rights to the internally developed Bt-gene.

24 Sep 2010

Center for Prenatal Pediatrics: A comprehensive care center for women and children

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center today announced the opening of The Carmen and John Thain Center for Prenatal Pediatrics. The new unit will provide high-risk pregnant women and their babies the most comprehensive care currently available, all in one location.

24 Sep 2010

Legislation to help speed research for cystic fibrosis and other rare diseases

Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act" (I-ACT), in a victory for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, its advocates and 120 other health advocacy organizations.

24 Sep 2010