Genetic News and Research

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Lab testing is backbone of prevention: ACLA president

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and long-time advocate of prevention, will keynote a National Journal Policy Summit focused on unraveling the complexities of the cost and value of prevention in a post health reform world. The Sept. 21 event is being underwritten by the American Clinical Laboratory Association and its educational arm, Results for Life.

18 Sep 2010

Hastings Center Report examines ethical controversies over use of personalized medicine

As government support for personalized medicine grows, a consumer advocate, a patient, and bioethicists explore ethical controversies. Direct-to-consumer genetic tests, privacy, targeted cancer therapies, and Henrietta Lacks are among topics in a special issue of the Hastings center Report

18 Sep 2010

CINJ, NJDHSS partner to create Center of Excellence for Cancer Surveillance

A new partnership between The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state's only National Cancer Institute -designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services will create a Center of Excellence for Cancer Surveillance to help track, examine, prevent and control cancer. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

18 Sep 2010

Scientists develop computer model to examine genetic switch for TB dormancy

An examination of a portion of the tuberculosis genome that responds to stress has allowed Rice University bioengineers Oleg Igoshin and Abhinav Tiwari to zero in on a network of genes that may "switch" the disease into dormancy.

18 Sep 2010

Effective strategies to combat obesity epidemic among children and teenagers needed

September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, drawing attention to the epidemic of obesity among children and adolescents in the United States. A multidisciplinary approach to assessment and intervention is crucial for effective weight management and should draw from the latest medical evidence, best practices, and innovative educational and policy initiatives, all of which are presented and debated in the new bimonthly, print and online journal Childhood Obesity, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The inaugural issue is available free online.

18 Sep 2010

Penn study reveals structure of cell division's key molecule

On average, one hundred billion cells in the human body divide over the course of a day. Most of the time the body gets it right but sometimes, problems in cell replication can lead to abnormalities in chromosomes resulting in many types of disorders, from cancer to Down Syndrome.

18 Sep 2010

Researchers awarded funds to assess effects of omega-3 fatty acids on breast cancer development

Two researchers at Marshall University have been awarded federal funds totaling more than $1 million to assess the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on breast cancer development.

18 Sep 2010

Researchers identify new target for cystic fibrosis

The lab of Kevin Foskett, PhD, the Isaac Ott Professor of Physiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has found a possible new target for fighting cystic fibrosis (CF) that could compensate for the lack of a functioning ion channel in affected CF-related cells. Their finding appears in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

18 Sep 2010

Researchers discover evolutionary nature of bacteria to spread chronic infectious disease

Researchers from the Center for Genomic Sciences at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) in Pittsburgh have made a landmark discovery about the evolutionary nature of bacteria in the setting of chronic infectious disease. Reporting today in the journal PLos Pathogens, the AGH team documents for the first time that bacteria engage in a process called horizontal gene transfer to evolve rapidly during the course of a single infection.

18 Sep 2010

Blood vessel growth promoting microRNA predicts diabetes: Study

For the first time, scientists have found that blood levels of some ribonucleic acids (microRNAs) are different among people with type 2 diabetes and those who subsequently develop the disease compared to healthy controls, according to research reported in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association.

17 Sep 2010

Global regulator for DNA trade needed

Amid growing concern that synthetic life sciences pose biosecurity and biosafety risks, scrutiny is increasing into the burgeoning DNA sequence trade. Research published today in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by SAGE, looks at the necessity of a global regulator for DNA trade, and the significant barriers to creating one.

17 Sep 2010

Prometheus, Tarrot announce exclusive agreement for Crohn's Disease treatment

Prometheus Laboratories Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical and diagnostic company, and Tarrot Laboratories, a business unit of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, today announced the execution of an exclusive research collaboration and license agreement. The collaboration will focus on identifying genetic or serologic markers associated with clinical responses to anti-TNF therapies such as Cimzia, Humira and Remicade utilized in the treatment of Crohn's Disease, and the subsequent development of diagnostic tests.

17 Sep 2010

PCF applauds new prostate cancer legislation

As hundreds of prostate cancer researchers, advocates and supporters Advance on Washington this week and push for more progress in fighting the disease, the Prostate Cancer Foundation applauds the prostate cancer legislation introduced on Tuesday by Senator Jon Tester of Montana.

17 Sep 2010

New genetic analysis technique isolates culprit gene in families with inherited single-gene kidney diseases

A University of Michigan-led research team has identified a gene responsible in some families for a devastating inherited kidney disorder, thanks to a new, faster method of genetic analysis not available even two years ago. The success offers hope that scientists can speed the painstaking search for the genes responsible for many rare diseases and test drugs to treat them.

17 Sep 2010

Simian immunodeficiency virus is at least 32,000 to 75,000 years old

An ancestor of HIV that infects monkeys is thousands of years older than previously thought, suggesting that HIV, which causes AIDS, is not likely to stop killing humans anytime soon, finds a study by University of Arizona and Tulane University researchers.

17 Sep 2010

Research on signaling pathways may help to design therapy for neurodevelopmental disorders

Researchers at the Center for Neuroscience Research at Children's National Medical Center have discovered that the two major types of signaling pathways activated during brain cell development-the epidermal growth factor receptor pathway and the Notch pathway-operate together to determine how many and which types of brain cells are created during growth and repair in developing and adult brains.

17 Sep 2010

Researchers decode key DNA in evolution of aging, development and fertility

UC Irvine researchers have deciphered how lowly fruit flies bred to rapidly develop and reproduce actually evolve over time. The findings, reported in the Sept. 15 online issue of Nature, contradict the long-held belief that sexual beings evolve the same way simpler organisms do and could fundamentally alter the direction of genetic research for new pharmaceuticals and other products.

17 Sep 2010

Scientists discover simple molecular test to block GOAT enzyme

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have designed a new molecular test that will allow researchers to look for potential drugs targeting a human metabolic enzyme believed to stimulate the appetite and play a role in diabetes.

17 Sep 2010

Metabolism imbalance increases asthma risk in children: Research

Even children of a healthy weight who have an imbalanced metabolism due to poor diet or exercise may be at increased risk of asthma, according to new research, which challenges the widespread assumption that obesity itself is a risk factor for asthma.

17 Sep 2010

FDA grants AGTC $1M for Phase II human clinical trial in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, a privately-held, clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel systems to deliver human therapeutics, announces that it has received a grant of $1 million from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA Orphan Drugs Program) to fund a Phase II Human Clinical Trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a treatment for Alpha 1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AAT), a genetic disease known to result in serious lung and/or liver disease.

17 Sep 2010