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Genetic variant increases risk of lung cancer for light and heavy smokers, say researchers

Individuals with a certain type of genetic susceptibility to lung cancer face a greatly increased risk for the deadly disease with even a small exposure to cigarette smoke, a study team that includes researchers from the University of Cincinnati has concluded.

10 Mar 2010

Gene involved in susceptibility and resistance to TB identified

University of Washington researchers have identified a gene involved in susceptibility and resistance to tuberculosis. This same gene, they have found, has a role in the severity of leprosy, which is caused by a related pathogen. The researchers also have learned why this gene is important for susceptibility.

5 Mar 2010

Study: Genetic variant of LTA4H offers protection against TB and leprosy

A study into why some people are more resistant than others to diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy has identified a new genetic variant which affects susceptibility to these diseases. The findings, published today in the journal Cell, may have implications for future treatments for the two conditions.

5 Mar 2010

New gene locus influencing risk for atrial fibrillation identified

Atrial fibrillation is a cardiac arrhythmia - a chronic irregularity of heartbeat - which affects an estimated 1 million people in Germany. Although the condition is not acutely life-threatening, it does increase the risk of developing more serious illnesses, such as cardiac insufficiency, stroke and dementia. In the third of a series of genomewide asssociation studies, an international team of researchers, led by LMU physician PD Dr. Stefan K--b, now reports the identification of a new gene locus that has a significant influence on risk for atrial fibrillation.

22 Feb 2010

Emerging concepts from gene regulation studies in immune cells

The seventh meeting in the “Emergence and Convergence” series jointly organized by La Fondation IPSEN and Nature brings together today in San Antonio (Texas, USA) leading experts to discuss concepts emerging from gene regulation studies in immune cells that have led to insights into the initiation and maintenance of epigenetic chromatin marks necessary for proper differentiation and function of these cells in the immune system.

19 Feb 2010

Rubicon Genomics reaches agreement with ZyGEM to market its PicoPlex single-cell amplification kits

Rubicon Genomics, Inc., a developer of pre-analytical amplification products that enable more comprehensive genetic analysis of clinical and research samples, announced today that it has reached agreement with ZyGEM to non-exclusively market Rubicon's PicoPlex™ single-cell amplification kits in Australia and New Zealand.

30 Jan 2010

New genetic findings may lead to better interventional therapies for obsessive compulsive disorders

A collaboration between the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has identified a genetic locus on canine chromosome 7 which coincides with an increased risk of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) susceptibility.

7 Jan 2010

Scientists rediscover Cyclin G1 gene as prime target for anti-cancer therapies

Epeius Biotechnologies Corporation, an emerging leader in the field of targeted genetic medicine, gained international validation of the cutting-edge science behind its lead oncology product, Rexin-G, when scientists around the world rediscovered the Cyclin G1 gene to be a major locus of cancer pathogenesis and disease progression, and thus a prime target for anti-cancer therapies.

16 Dec 2009

Findings suggest severity of atherosclerosis depends on the rate of white blood cell migration

By measuring the total gene activity in organs relevant for coronary artery disease (CAD), scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have identified a module of genes that is important for the recruitment of white blood cells into the atherosclerotic plaque.

4 Dec 2009

MUHC researchers identify first genetic resistance factor against TB infection

Why do some people who are exposed to tuberculosis not become infected or develop the disease? Dr. Erwin Schurr and his team at the Research Institute from the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), in collaboration with Dr. Alexandre Alcais, from the Institut national de la sant- et de la recherche m-dicale (INSERM) in Paris, has shed light on this question for the first time. Their

2 Dec 2009

Possible new approach to slow the progression of cognitive decline in Down's syndrome

A study by neuroscientist William C. Mobley, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues at Stanford University Medical School has demonstrated a possible new approach to slowing the inevitable progression of cognitive decline found in Down's syndrome.

19 Nov 2009

Research team identifies five new gene regions that raise the risk of childhood-onset IBD

In the largest, most comprehensive genetic analysis of childhood-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an international research team has identified five new gene regions, including one involved in a biological pathway that helps drive the painful inflammation of the digestive tract that characterizes the disease.

16 Nov 2009

Locus Pharmaceuticals creates a new division, Ansaris

Locus Pharmaceuticals, a drug company that has developed its own internal and partnered pipeline, focusing on oncology, immunology, and inflammatory targets, today announced that in conjunction with a transformation to a drug discovery collaboration business model, it has created a new division, Ansaris, which will include most of its operations and personnel.

7 Nov 2009

Locus Pharmaceuticals enters into discovery research collaboration with Novartis

Locus Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has entered into a discovery research collaboration with Novartis. Locus will collaborate with Novartis to discover novel chemotypes on targets of interest to Novartis’ select therapeutic areas.

12 Oct 2009

Three genes linked to Lou Gehrig's disease

Michigan Technological University researchers have linked three genes to the most common type of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), generally known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

10 Sep 2009

Kane Biotech announces Harvard Medical School's research publication on its DispersinB product

Kane Biotech Inc. (TSX VENTURE:KNE), a biotechnology company engaged in the development of products that prevent and disperse microbial biofilms is pleased to announce a recent research publication by Harvard Medical School on their finding of DispersinB® enzyme specific substrate in Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii).

3 Sep 2009

Opinion piece outlines new model for foreign aid

President Obama's "comments on foreign aid [in Ghana] make it all the more surprising that the only real change in our foreign assistance programs under his administration so far is in indicated spending" - Carol Adelman, director of the Center for Global Prosperity at the Hudson Institute, and Nicholas Eberstadt, a political economy scholar at the American Enterprise Institute - write in a Weekly Standard opinion piece.

28 Aug 2009