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Study links mutations in essential genes with orphan diseases

Mutations in genes essential to survival are behind so-called orphan diseases, explaining in part why these diseases are rare and often deadly, according to a study appearing in The American Journal of Human Genetics.

10 Jun 2011

Research provides better understanding of interplay between genomes of malaria parasites, humans

For tens of thousands of years, the genomes of malaria parasites and humans have been at war with one another. Now, University of Pennsylvania geneticists, in collaboration with an international team of scientists, have developed a new picture of one way that the human genome has fought back.

10 Jun 2011

NKI, Agendia and MD Anderson collaborate for colorectal cancer research

Agendia, a commercial-stage molecular cancer diagnostics company, announces today that it has entered into a research collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, one of the world's leading cancer centers and whose research program is considered one of the most productive in the world aimed solely at cancer, and the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) with the aim of improving diagnosis and treatment options of colorectal cancer patients.

10 Jun 2011

NIH awards $1.9M grant to Scripps Research scientist for malaria study

A scientist from The Scripps Research Institute has won a four-year, $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to better understand the parasite that causes malaria, laying the groundwork to develop better drugs to combat the widespread and deadly disease.

10 Jun 2011

Promising results from VX-770 and VX-809 Phase 2 study for cystic fibrosis

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation today announced promising results from an ongoing Phase 2 study evaluating combinations of VX-770 and VX-809, potential medicines designed to treat the defective protein that causes cystic fibrosis.

9 Jun 2011

Synaptophysin controls replacement of vesicles

A University of Wisconsin-Madison research team has solved a 25-year mystery that may lead to better treatments for people with learning deficits and mental retardation.

9 Jun 2011

CLC Bio unveils new framework for visualizing, combining and analyzing genome data

Today at the Copenhagenomics conference, CLC bio has revealed Genomics Gateway - a new framework for visualizing, combining and analyzing genome data.

9 Jun 2011

Vertex announces interim results from VX-770 and VX-809 Phase 2 study on cystic fibrosis

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced interim results from the first part of a Phase 2 study designed to evaluate multiple combination regimens of VX-770 and VX-809, Vertex's lead medicines in development that aim to treat the defective protein that causes cystic fibrosis.

9 Jun 2011

Clovis, Avila select CO-1686 drug candidate for EGFR Mutant-Selective Inhibitor program

Avila Therapeutics, Inc. a biotechnology company developing targeted covalent drugs that treat diseases through protein silencing, announced that it has achieved a significant goal in its alliance with Clovis Oncology, Inc.

9 Jun 2011

Research provides new insights into how cilia are assembled on the cell surface

Body cells detect signals that control their behavior through tiny hairs on the cell surface called cilia. Serious diseases and disorders can result when these cilia do not work properly.

9 Jun 2011

Adjuvant combination generates memory CD8 T cells which could kill infected cells

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered how to prime a second arm of the immune system to potentially boost influenza vaccine effectiveness. A combination of two adjuvants, chemicals used to boost the effectiveness of some vaccines, induced CD8, or killer, T cells to join antibodies in response to influenza infection.

9 Jun 2011

Valuable insight into how people develop B-cell lymphoma

Researchers from the University of Sheffield have discovered valuable insight into how people develop B-cell lymphoma, one of the most common cancers in the UK.

9 Jun 2011

Autism caused by hundreds of different genetic mutations: Study

New research shows that autism is not caused by one or two gene defects but probably by hundreds of different mutations, many of which arise spontaneously. This comes from the study that has examined the genes of more than 1,000 families.

9 Jun 2011

NYU Cancer Institute scientists present new research findings at ASCO 2011

Experts from The Cancer Institute, an NCI-designated cancer center, at NYU Langone Medical Center presented new research findings at the 47th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2011 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.

8 Jun 2011

New research on spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is the leading genetic cause of death in children under 2, with no treatment other than supportive care. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston show how loss or mutation of the SMA gene causes progressive muscle degeneration and weakness, and suggest a promising approach to treating the condition, sometimes referred to as a "Lou Gehrig's disease of babies."

8 Jun 2011

As health care technology advances, costs increase

The device industry has launched an aggressive campaign to avoid tighter Food and Drug Administration rules that would help generate the information needed to show whether newer devices are actually superior to the ones they replace.

8 Jun 2011

Increased blood clotting tendency linked to elevated bowel cancer risk

Back in the mid 19th century, a French doctor, Armand Trousseau, discovered a connection between cancer and thrombosis - the formation of often dangerous blood clots that can lead to venous occlusion.

7 Jun 2011

Faults in p53 gene could help predict beneficial drug combination for ovarian cancer

FAULTS in a gene commonly inactivated in many different types of cancer could be used to predict which drug combination ovarian cancer patients are most likely to benefit from, according to results presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology.

7 Jun 2011

Non-steroidal, oral contraceptive for men

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center are honing in on the development of what may be the first non-steroidal, oral contraceptive for men. Tests of low doses of a compound that interferes with retinoic acid receptors (RARs), whose ligands are metabolites of dietary vitamin A, showed that it caused sterility in male mice.

7 Jun 2011

Cancer risk assessment in Lynch syndrome

Among various genetic mutations for individuals with Lynch syndrome, a hereditary cancer syndrome that carries a high risk of colon cancer and an above-normal risk of other cancers, researchers have identified mutations associated with a lower cancer risk and mutations associated with an increased risk for ovarian and endometrial cancer, according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer.

6 Jun 2011