Genetic Engineering News and Research

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GM mice live longer and give hope for anti-aging treatments

U.S. scientists have produced genetically modified mice that live 20 per cent longer than normal and may have possibly discovered an approach to extending the human lifespan.

8 May 2005

Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers (MADM) - A powerful new tool to study diseases and genetics

A powerful laboratory technique used by fruit fly geneticists for more than a decade is now available to scientists studying genes and diseases in mice.

5 May 2005

Genetically modified rice in China benefits farmers' health

Farmers growing genetically modified rice in field trials in China report higher crop yields, reduced pesticide use and fewer pesticide-related health problems, according to a study by researchers in China and at the University of California, Davis, and Rutgers University.

4 May 2005

Researchers make new advances in determining the structure of all possible DNA sequences

Oregon State University researchers have made significant new advances in determining the structure of all possible DNA sequences – a discovery that in one sense takes up where Watson and Crick left off, after outlining in 1953 the double-helical structure of this biological blueprint for life.

3 May 2005

Substantially more effective therapy than current treatments for Alzheimer's disease

PET scans and cognitive tests have suggested that Alzheimer's disease patients with genetically modified tissue inserted directly into their brains show a reduction in the rate of cognitive decline and increased metabolic activity in the brain, according to a study published in the April 24, 2005 online issue of the journal Nature Medicine by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

25 Apr 2005

Maxim Pharmaceuticals issued patent for method of identifying therapeutically effective immunosupressive agents

Maxim Pharmaceuticals have announced the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. patent number 6,828,091 B2, entitled "Method of Identifying Immunosuppressive Agents."

23 Apr 2005

Insights could yield new approaches to nerve regeneration

Nervous system development requires billions of neurons to migrate to the appropriate locations in the brain and grow nerve fibers (axons) that connect to other nerve cells in an intricate network.

20 Apr 2005

Researchers insert engineered human stem cells into the spinal cords of ALS-afflicted rats

Unveiling a delivery method that may one day help surgeons treat the deadly neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have inserted engineered human stem cells into the spinal cords of ALS-afflicted rats.

19 Apr 2005

New findings about insulin-signaling in the liver could prove useful in understanding type 2 diabetes

A collaborative effort led by The Burnham Institute's Gen-Sheng Feng has created a mouse with improved glucose tolerance and insulin activity in the liver, and generated new findings about insulin-signaling in the liver that could prove useful in understanding the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.

12 Apr 2005

Protein that regulates cholesterol levels may lead to new drug targets in the fight against obesity

A protein that regulates cholesterol levels in the body also is responsible for maintaining a healthy balance between fat storage and fat burning, according to a UT Southwestern Medical Center study that may lead to new drug targets in the fight against obesity.

12 Apr 2005

New medical uses for the Kunjin virus

Queensland Government scientists at the Department of Health Services have collaborated with scientists at the University of Queensland (UQ) and The Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) to discover new medical uses for the Kunjin virus.

12 Apr 2005

Cardiac stem cells come closer to clinic

The laboratory of MDA grantee Kenneth Chien at the University of California-San Diego announced in a recent issue of Nature that its researchers have discovered in the hearts of mice, rats and humans a new type of stem cell that can become a mature cardiac cell.

12 Apr 2005

Alteration of steroid receptor genes creates fat burning muscle

The Salk Institute scientist who earlier discovered that enhancing the function of a single protein produced a mouse with an innate resistance to weight gain and the ability to run a mile without stopping has found new evidence that this protein and a related protein play central roles in the body's complex journey to obesity and offer a new and specific metabolic approach to the treatment of obesity related disease such as Syndrome X (insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis).

4 Apr 2005

Gene mutation protecting against malaria linked to prostate cancer incidence in African-American men

Research from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine suggests that the 60 percent greater incidence of prostate cancer among African-American men is related to a gene mutation developed generations ago in West Africa as nature's way of providing protection from the malaria infection endemic in that part of the world.

4 Apr 2005

Step toward a potential treatment for Huntington's disease

Researchers at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine have taken another step toward a potential treatment for Huntington's disease (HD). Using an approach called RNA interference (RNAi), the scientists reduced levels of the disease-causing HD protein in mice and significantly improved the movement and neurological abnormalities normally associated with the disease.

4 Apr 2005

Chronic inflammation caused by too little stomach acid leads to gastric cancer

When it comes to gastric cancer, too little stomach acid can be just as dangerous as too much, according to scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School. Both extremes create inflammatory changes in the stomach lining and a condition called chronic atrophic gastritis, which over time often leads to cancer.

4 Apr 2005

New miniature sensors for analysing DNA

The sensors have the same size and thickness as a fingernail and reduce the time needed to identify DNA chains to several minutes or a few hours, depending on each chain.

3 Apr 2005

SERPINE2 identified as novel candidate gene for COPD susceptibility

Using a combination of genetic linkage, microarray gene expression and genetic association studies, a group of Brigham and Women’s Hospital/ Harvard Medical School researchers have identified a serine protease inhibitor clade E, member 2, or SERPINE2, “as a novel candidate susceptibility gene for COPD,” according to Sorachai Srisuma

3 Apr 2005

Discovery could lead to new drug targets for heart disease

Mice with glowing green hearts have yielded the latest clue in the search for molecules involved in structural heart disease. Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators found that blocking the activity of a single protein, called CaM kinase, in the mouse heart protects against the damaging effects of a heart attack.

30 Mar 2005

A circadian rhythm gene discovered

A few rare people who consistently nod off early, then wake up wide-eyed much before dawn, can blame a newly-found mutant gene for their sleep troubles, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers announced today.

30 Mar 2005

Genetic Engineering News and Research

GM mice live longer and give hope for anti-aging treatments

Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers (MADM) - A powerful new tool to study diseases and genetics

Genetically modified rice in China benefits farmers' health

Researchers make new advances in determining the structure of all possible DNA sequences

Substantially more effective therapy than current treatments for Alzheimer's disease

Maxim Pharmaceuticals issued patent for method of identifying therapeutically effective immunosupressive agents

Insights could yield new approaches to nerve regeneration

Researchers insert engineered human stem cells into the spinal cords of ALS-afflicted rats

New findings about insulin-signaling in the liver could prove useful in understanding type 2 diabetes

Protein that regulates cholesterol levels may lead to new drug targets in the fight against obesity

New medical uses for the Kunjin virus

Cardiac stem cells come closer to clinic

Alteration of steroid receptor genes creates fat burning muscle

Gene mutation protecting against malaria linked to prostate cancer incidence in African-American men

Step toward a potential treatment for Huntington's disease

Chronic inflammation caused by too little stomach acid leads to gastric cancer

New miniature sensors for analysing DNA

SERPINE2 identified as novel candidate gene for COPD susceptibility

Discovery could lead to new drug targets for heart disease

A circadian rhythm gene discovered

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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