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Genetic variations raise lung cancer risk for smokers and ex-smokers

Two common inherited genetic variations are associated with increased risk of lung cancer for smokers and former smokers, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports April 2 in the online edition of Nature Genetics.

3 Apr 2008

Racial differences in response to bowel cancer genetic risk factor

Scientists have for the first time discovered that people with the same cancer susceptibility genes respond differently depending on their race.

1 Apr 2008

New genetic marker of risk for breast cancer discovered

An international group of investigators led by scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and the National Cancer Institute has identified a new genetic marker of risk for breast cancer.

4 Mar 2008

Genomatix integrates genome-wide open chromatin from next generation sequencing

Genomatix Software GmbH, a Systems Biology company focussed on high quality annotation and the understanding of gene regulation, has begun showcasing its abilities in the analysis of data generated by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology.

26 Feb 2008

New understanding on the mechanics of gene transcription

The molecular machinery behind gene transcription -- the intricate transfer of information from a segment of DNA to a corresponding strand of messenger RNA -- isn't stationed in special "transcription factories" within a cell nucleus, according to Cornell researchers.

9 Jan 2008

Brain abnormalities found underlying borderline personality disorder

Using new approaches, an interdisciplinary team of scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City has gained a view of activity in key brain areas associated with a core difficulty in patients with borderline personality disorder -- shedding new light on this serious psychiatric condition.

20 Dec 2007

Evolution with a restricted number of genes

The development of higher forms of life would appear to have been influenced by RNA polymerase II.

17 Dec 2007

Variant of a tumor suppressor gene associated with aggressive prostate cancer

A variant of a tumor suppressor gene may be associated with an increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer, according to a study published online December 11 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

13 Dec 2007

Researchers identify gene behind rheumatoid arthritis

University of Manchester researchers have identified a genetic variant in a region on chromosome 6 that is associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most common inflammatory arthritis affecting 387,000 people in the UK.

From The University of Manchester 5 Nov 2007

Discovery of gene variant linked to prostate cancer in African Americans

Researchers report a newly identified genetic variation that is linked to higher incidence of prostate cancer in African American men.

1 Nov 2007

New genetic variant associated with prostate cancer in African-Americans

Two tiny genetic variations may provide the best clues yet for finding more precise ways to estimate prostate cancer risk and improve screening and early detection for men of African descent, report researchers from the University of Chicago and the Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, in the December 2007 issue of Genome Research, published early online.

1 Nov 2007

New insight on jumping genes

Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) announced that Dr. Animesh Ray, KGI professor and director of KGI's PhD program, has published a paper in the international online journal PLoS ONE that sheds new light on the evolution of moveable genetic elements, or "jumping genes."

9 Oct 2007

New genetic risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus

A genetic variation has been identified that increases the risk of two chronic, autoimmune inflammatory diseases: rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus).

10 Sep 2007

Genomic factors may play a role in alcohol and tobacco use

Alcohol and smoking can be harmful, if not deadly. While the desire for these substances can be due to environmental cues, genomic factors also play an important role.

13 Aug 2007

New gene found for type 1 diabetes in children

Pediatrics researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and McGill University in Montreal have identified a gene variant that raises a child's risk for type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes.

16 Jul 2007

Discovery of one important function of junk DNA

Scientists have only recently begun to speculate that what's referred to as junk DNA , the 96 percent of the human genome that doesn't encode for proteins and previously seemed to have no useful purpose , is present in the genome for an important reason.

13 Jul 2007

Notch2 locus predicts prognosis in brain tumor patients

PLoS ONE has just published a study which defines a gene locus on chromosome 1 that predicts prognosis of brain tumor patients and may even set the basis for the development of more efficient drugs to combat brain cancer.

28 Jun 2007

Gene variant increases risk for alcoholism following childhood abuse

Girls who suffered childhood sexual abuse are more likely to develop alcoholism later in life if they possess a particular variant of a gene involved in the body's response to stress, according to a new study led by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

27 Jun 2007

New understanding of C. difficile bacteria

Researchers studying the genetics behind why C. difficile causes disease have come to a simple conclusion -- the bacteria do it because they are starving.

28 May 2007

Largest ever Affymetrix GeneChip Microarray study

The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech has announced that it has completed the largest ever Affymetrix GeneChip Microarray study for a plant experimental system in an academic research setting.

28 May 2007