Genetic Information News and Research

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New biobank at Qatar helps research of major diseases

A "biobank" of samples and clinical measurements from tens of thousands of people is to be established in Qatar to help scientists understand the causes of major diseases and develop new treatments, it is announced today.

29 Oct 2010

Report notes potential for African agriculture, European partnerships

A new report highlights concerns about donors, especially from Europe, following through on funding pledges for the G8's $22 billion global food security fund, Business Daily reports.

28 Oct 2010

Golden Helix accelerates copy number variation detection methodology

Golden Helix, Inc., today announced the incorporation of technologies that will greatly accelerate genetic research. By enabling the company's SNP & Variation Suite software to run on off-the-shelf video graphics cards, or GPUs, operations that took hours or days can now be completed in a fraction of the time - and without the need for expensive compute clusters or resorting to cloud-based computing. This novel ability will dramatically accelerate many forms of computationally expensive genetic analyses, including that of next generation sequencing data.

27 Oct 2010

Scientists complete genetic blueprints for 13 different strains of Lyme disease bacteria

Scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have determined the complete genetic blueprints for 13 different strains of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The achievement should lead to a better understanding of how genetic variations among strains may result in different courses of illness in people with Lyme disease, the most common tickborne disease in North America. The wealth of new genetic data will also help scientists develop improved ways to diagnose, treat and prevent Lyme disease.

19 Oct 2010

Cancer Research UK launches programme to turn genetic revolution into better treatment for cancer patients

Cancer Research UK has launched a multimillion pound programme, alongside the Technology Strategy Board's Innovation Platform, to help turn the genetic revolution into better treatment for cancer patients.

13 Oct 2010

Akonni receives NIJ grant to develop HCID system for SNP identification

Akonni Biosystems, a molecular diagnostics company that develops, manufactures, and plans to market sophisticated genetic testing devices for diagnosing complex infectious and human diseases, today announced receipt of a nearly $500,000 Phase III Grant from the National Institutes of Justice (NIJ).

13 Oct 2010

HSV1716 clinical trial for childhood cancer receives FDA grant

A clinical trial testing a genetically reprogrammed herpes simplex virus as treatment for deadly forms of childhood cancer has received a U.S. Food and Drug Administration grant to support the research.

13 Oct 2010

Researchers develop new method to identify chemical histone modifications

Test system on Drosophila should provide the key to histone function. The genetic inherited material DNA was long viewed as the sole bearer of hereditary information. The function of its packaging proteins, the histones, was believed to be exclusively structural. Additional genetic information can be stored, however, and passed on to subsequent generations through chemical changes in the DNA or histones. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen have succeeded in creating an experimental system for testing the function of such chemical histone modifications and their influence on the organism.

12 Oct 2010

Study to uncover genetic basis of obesity

An international consortium has made significant inroads into uncovering the genetic basis of obesity by identifying 18 new gene sites associated with overall obesity and 13 that affect fat distribution. The studies include data from nearly a quarter of a million participants, the largest genetic investigation of human traits to date.

11 Oct 2010

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center named Centers of Excellence for Molecular Hematology

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has been named one of five national Centers of Excellence for Molecular Hematology to find new gene and cell therapies for inherited diseases affecting blood cells.

8 Oct 2010

Immune reaction to dystrophin may contribute to muscle disease: Study

An immune reaction to dystrophin, the muscle protein that is defective in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, may pose a new challenge to strengthening muscles of patients with this disease, suggests a new study appearing in the October 7, 2010, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

7 Oct 2010

NIEHS awards grant to study environmental impact on genetic information

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has awarded $2.27 million to Indiana University researcher Joseph Shaw for a five-year study of how the environment alters genetic information through mutation and natural selection.

5 Oct 2010

UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center wins $11.5M grant for pancreatic cancer research

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota, has won an $11.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to explore groundbreaking pancreatic cancer research, prevention and treatment.

1 Oct 2010

ASU receives grant to unravel membrane proteins in host-pathogen interaction

Arizona State University has been awarded a $7.7 million grant for the next five years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, to unravel the structures of membrane proteins that play a key role in protection against infectious diseases.

30 Sep 2010

New genetic screening program to reduce risk associated with Plavix

Beginning this month, all patients undergoing cardiac catheterization at Vanderbilt University Medical Center will be tested for a genetic variation that can affect their response to Plavix, the most commonly prescribed clot-preventing drug for heart patients and one of the most commonly prescribed drugs worldwide.

29 Sep 2010

Research: SorCS1 gene is linked to Alzheimer's disease, Type 2 diabetes

A research team led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine has identified the mechanism behind a single gene linked to the causes of both Alzheimer's disease and Type 2 diabetes.

29 Sep 2010

Interleukin Genetics announces clinical study data on osteoarthritis progression

Interleukin Genetics, Inc. and the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced today findings from a large clinical study to evaluate the role of genetic factors in osteoarthritis progression which showed patients with radiographic evidence of knee osteoarthritis who inherited a specific pattern of genetic variations in the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) gene were almost twice as likely to progress to severe disease as other patients.

23 Sep 2010

Signal Genetics, Array BioPharma partner to advance personalized medicine in multiple myeloma

Signal Genetics, a privately held predictive genetic testing company focused on oncology, today announced the company will work with Array BioPharma to help push forward both companies' goals of markers for patient selection, helping bring personalized medicine and companion diagnostics to patients with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow and antibody producing cells.

23 Sep 2010

Study links progressive osteoarthritis to IL-1Ra gene variations

Scientists from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and Interleukin Genetics, Inc. announced today findings from a large clinical study to evaluate the role played by genetic factors in the worsening of osteoarthritis.

22 Sep 2010