Mutation News and Research

RSS

Study finds second skin barrier structure may play a role in eczema development

Like a fence or barricade intended to stop unwanted intruders, the skin serves as a barrier protecting the body from the hundreds of allergens, irritants, pollutants and microbes people come in contact with every day.

20 Dec 2010

Bio-IS and HSS sign 5-year partnership to deliver Bio-Intervention Disinfection Service to hospitals

Bio-Intervention Specialists (Bio-IS) and HSS Inc. (HSS) announced today that their companies have signed a five-year partnership to deliver the Bio-Intervention Disinfection Service to hospitals across the United States.

17 Dec 2010

Researchers contribute important expertise to new landmark study of medulloblastoma

Pediatric cancer researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia contributed important expertise to a new landmark study of medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor typically found in children. The large multicenter study defines the genetic landscape of this cancer, and holds intriguing clues to gene changes on signaling pathways that may become fruitful targets for future therapies.

17 Dec 2010

Prions responsible for BSE can survive in new host environment

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have shown that prions, bits of infectious protein that can cause fatal neurodegenerative disease such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or "mad cow disease," have the ability to adapt to survive in a new host environment.

17 Dec 2010

Pediatric cancer researchers study medulloblastoma for new treatment

Pediatric cancer researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia contributed important expertise to a new landmark study of medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor typically found in children.

17 Dec 2010

Iowa moves forward on health exchange; Texas medical school highlights geriatrics; Concerns grow about prisoners' mental health needs

Republican lawmakers on the state level are largely against the new health reform law—but they aren't against all of the behemoth legislation. Virginia dominated headlines this week when a federal judge ruled the individual mandate to buy insurance unconstitutional on Monday. Much less noticed: the very next day, a task force appointed by Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell recommended that the state implement a health insurance exchange earlier than federal guidelines require (Kliff, 12/16).

17 Dec 2010

Scientists decipher genetic code for pediatric medulloblastoma

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have deciphered the genetic code for medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric brain cancer and a leading killer of children with cancer.

16 Dec 2010

Researchers begin placebo-controlled trial to test drug treatment for Rett syndrome

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have begun a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to test a potential drug treatment for Rett syndrome, the leading known genetic cause of autism in girls.

16 Dec 2010

Genetic breakthrough in lung cancer

For the study the team studied samples of lung tumors and nearby healthy lung tissue from 30 patients and examined the samples for the presence of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) associated with 48 known genes for molecules called nuclear hormone receptors. Then they compared the active genes with patient outcomes and found that the expression of genes for certain nuclear hormone receptors helped predict patient survival.

16 Dec 2010

HIV patient cured!

German researchers working with stem cell therapy have claimed they have cured an American patient with HIV and leukemia. Experts are wary of accepting the development at its face value and caution that there is a need for further research. Dr David Scadden, a co-director of the Harvard University Stem Cell Institute added, “Cured is a strong word. But this is very encouraging… from all indications, there was no residual virus… It’s as good an outcome as one could hope for.”

16 Dec 2010

Genome is one more factor to blame for unwanted pounds

In addition to fast food, desk jobs, and inertia, there is one more thing to blame for unwanted pounds-our genome, which has apparently not caught up with the fact that we no longer live in the Stone Age.

16 Dec 2010

Study demonstrates BRACAnalysis testing for women with breast carcinoma in situ

Myriad Genetics, announced today that an article entitled "Prevalence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations In Women With Carcinoma In Situ of the Breast Referred for Genetic Testing" will appear in the December 2010 issue of the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

16 Dec 2010

$Phase 1b clinical trial of JX-594 in metastatic, refractory colorectal cancer commences in Korea$

Phase 1b clinical trial of JX-594 in metastatic, refractory colorectal cancer commences in Korea

Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic products for cancer, and Transgene, a bio-pharmaceutical company specialized in the development of immunotherapeutic products, today announced that enrollment and treatment of patients in a Phase 1b clinical trial has been initiated to evaluate JX-594 in patients with advanced metastatic, refractory colorectal cancer (CRC).

16 Dec 2010

New finding sheds light on how HIV eludes treatment by mutating

The virus that causes AIDS is chameleon-like in its replication. As HIV copies itself in humans, it constantly mutates into forms that can evade even the best cocktail of current therapies. Understanding exactly how HIV cells change as they reproduce is key to developing better tests and treatments for patients.

16 Dec 2010

AmoyDx receives SFDA approval for its EGFR and BRAF mutations detection kits

Amoy Diagnostics announced today that its EGFR and BRAF mutation detection kits received market approval from China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). The SFDA is the competent authority for regulating drugs and in vitro diagnostics in mainland China. The approval allows AmoyDx to market the EGFR and BRAF tests for clinical use in China.

15 Dec 2010

Protein p53 plays crucial role in coordinated growth of organ parts

In studies conducted on the fruit fly, researchers at IRB Barcelona headed by ICREA Professor Marco Milán have revealed that organs have the molecular mechanisms to control their proportions. In this process the protein p53 plays a crucial role. The study is published today in the prestigious journal PLoS Biology.

15 Dec 2010

Targeting mutant BRAF can kill cancer cells, but cannot finish off melanoma

This past summer saw a revolution in melanoma therapy. Patients whose melanoma lesions contain a mutation in the BRAF gene were successfully treated with a BRAF-specific inhibitor, PLX4032. Reports of the drug trial described shrinking tumors and improved health. Yet seven months after therapy began the tumors returned and resumed growing. Now, scientists at The Wistar Institute explain why: the tumor learns to signal around the blocked gene by adjusting its molecular wiring.

15 Dec 2010

Study broadens understanding of role of IDH1 and IDH2 mutations in AML

Agios Pharmaceuticals, the leading biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel drugs in the rapidly emerging field of cancer metabolism, today announced the publication of a paper in Cancer Cell that illuminates the mechanism by which 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), and the mutations in the metabolic genes IDH1 and IDH2 that produce it, may be driving the growth of tumors in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

15 Dec 2010

Tumor suppressor p53 may serve as 'Guardian against Genome Reprogramming'

A close collaboration between researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Institute for Advanced Study found that the tumor suppressor p53, long thought of as the "Guardian of the Genome," may do more than thwart cancer-causing mutations. It may also prevent established cancer cells from sliding toward a more aggressive, stem-like state by serving as a "Guardian against Genome Reprogramming."

15 Dec 2010

FP/TMEM127 gene germline mutations associated with adrenal gland tumors

Analysis has identified variations of a gene that are associated with a type of tumor that forms within the adrenal gland, according a study in the December 15 issue of JAMA. The age group in which these variations were found are frequently excluded from genetic screening models for this type of tumor.

15 Dec 2010