Mutation News and Research

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Researcher to look for genes that can suppress epileptic seizures in fruit flies

"Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration" - is the name of a rare and competitive grant that Reenan recently won from the National Institutes of Health. Beginning April 1, Reenan will use the four-year, $1.3-million award to look for genes that can suppress seizures in fruit flies that he has cleverly engineered to mimic human epilepsy.

22 Mar 2011

Scientists develop new method for gene regulation study

Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, have developed a new method for studying gene regulation, by employing a jumping gene as an informant. Published online today in Nature Genetics, the new method is called GROMIT.

22 Mar 2011

Research outlines how cilia disease gene products regulate early cilium formation

An international collaboration jointly led by University College Dublin, University of Alabama and Simon Fraser University, British Columbia has outlined in the Journal of Cell Biology how cilia disease gene products regulate important aspects of early cilium formation and the integrity of the ciliary transport gate.

21 Mar 2011

Genentech's vismodegib Phase II clinical study in advanced basal cell carcinoma meets primary endpoint

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced that a pivotal Phase II clinical study of its investigational Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitor, vismodegib (RG3616/GDC-0449), showed positive results in people with advanced basal cell carcinoma (aBCC), a particularly severe and debilitating form of skin cancer.

21 Mar 2011

Insight into hereditary diseases

Hereditary diseases such as epilepsy or various coordination disorders may be caused by changes in nerve cells of the cerebellum, which do not set in until after birth. This is reported by Bochum's neuroscientists in the Journal of Neuroscience.

19 Mar 2011

Scientists devise new strategy to prevent spread of drug-resistant bacteria

A team of scientists from the University of Oxford, U.K. have taken lessons from Adam Smith and Charles Darwin to devise a new strategy that could one day slow, possibly even prevent, the spread of drug-resistant bacteria. In a new research report published in the March 2011 issue of GENETICS, the scientists show that bacterial gene mutations that lead to drug resistance come at a biological cost not borne by nonresistant strains.

19 Mar 2011

New insight into Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Armed with a zebrafish model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and a library of 1,200 chemicals already approved for human use, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have identified a compound that reverses the loss of muscle structure and function associated with DMD, seemingly by compensating for the loss of a critical protein.

19 Mar 2011

RainDance Technologies launches ASDSeq and XSeq Research Screening Panels

RainDance Technologies, Inc., today announced the commercial availability of the ASDSeq™ and XSeq™ Research Screening Panels. Developed in collaboration with Emory University and Greenwood Genetic Center, the two comprehensive panels enable researchers to simultaneously interrogate key genes known to be linked to X-chromosome disorders and syndromic forms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using next-generation sequencing.

18 Mar 2011

EMA CHMP adopts negative opinion for Amgen's Vectibix in treatment of wild-type KRAS metastatic colorectal cancer

Amgen has received notice that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a negative opinion for Amgen's application to extend the marketing authorization in Europe for Vectibix® (panitumumab) to include combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with wild-type KRAS metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

18 Mar 2011

Medical expert offers tips to protect from nuclear radiation exposure

As the world watches the nuclear tragedies unfold in Japan, fears are rising regarding the potential for radioactive fallout to travel to the United States, particularly the West Coast. Could this really happen and can we protect ourselves from a nuclear event? The general answer to both questions is yes, according to Medical Expert Dr. Isaac Eliaz.

18 Mar 2011

Modified mRNA raises hope for safe and effective cancer drugs

Modern gene therapies raise hopes of combating many diseases until now considered terminal. Nowadays, however, the methods are expensive and carry a risk of severe complications.

18 Mar 2011

Researchers update 'Hallmarks of Cancer' seminal review

Renowned cancer researchers Robert Weinberg, a Founding Member of Whitehead Institute, and Douglas Hanahan, Director of the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research have updated their seminal review, "Hallmarks of Cancer," which has influenced the study of cancer and the development of therapeutics for more than a decade.

17 Mar 2011

Skyline Diagnostics launches unique test to detect patients with AML

Each year over eight million people die of cancer worldwide. Patients' chances of survival vary widely: depending on the type of cancer involved, the stage at which it is diagnosed and the speed with which appropriate treatment is launched.

17 Mar 2011

Pig model reveals how cystic fibrosis gene mutation causes disease

It's been more than 20 years since scientists first discovered the gene that causes cystic fibrosis (CF), yet questions about how the mutated gene causes disease remain unanswered.

17 Mar 2011

Ventana, CST enter license agreement for personalized cancer diagnostics

Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. of Danvers, MA, announced today that it has granted Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., a worldwide non-exclusive license to CST patent rights and proprietary antibody reagents relating to the detection of epidermal growth factor receptor mutations for the field of tissue-based in vitro diagnostic testing.

From Cell Signaling Technology 16 Mar 2011

Protein folding may aid in developing new therapies for brain diseases

Misfold an origami swan and the worst that happens is you wind up with an ugly paper duckling. Misfold one of the vital proteins in your body - each of which must be folded in a particular way to perform its function - and the result can be a debilitating neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's or Huntington's.

16 Mar 2011

Plexxikon selects Clinipace to manage 4 clinical trials for RA treatment

Clinipace Worldwide, a global digital clinical research organization, announced today that Plexxikon Inc., a leader in the structure-guided discovery and development of novel small molecule pharmaceuticals to treat human disease, has selected Clinipace to manage all aspects of four clinical trials comprising a Phase 1 healthy volunteer study, a Phase 1b rheumatoid arthritis study, and two phase 2 oncology studies.

16 Mar 2011

Enzo Life Sciences introduces ELISA system to detect SMN protein

Enzo Biochem, Inc. and the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation today announced that Enzo's wholly owned subsidiary, Enzo Life Sciences Inc., has launched a unique immunoassay system which can be used for the identification and detection of Survival Motor Neuron protein.

16 Mar 2011

Researchers develop novel system to show how specific mutations can induce glioblastoma

Mutations in three pathways important for suppressing tumors cooperate to launch glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor that strikes children and adults. But new research from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists shows those changes alone are not sufficient to cause cancer.

15 Mar 2011

Elevated p21 expression may block key steps in viral life cycle

Elevated levels of p21, a protein best known as a cancer fighter, may be involved in the ability of a few individuals to control HIV infection with their immune system alone.

15 Mar 2011