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Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biologically important type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate.

RXi’s RXI-109 IND receives FDA clearance to proceed into clinical trials

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation today announced that it has received clearance for its investigational new drug application (IND) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate clinical trials with RXI-109, a self-delivering RNAi compound that selectively targets Connective Tissue Growth Factor.

1 Jun 2012

Top-line results from Alnylam’s ALN-RSV01 Phase IIb trial on RSV infection

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today top-line results from a Phase IIb trial with ALN-RSV01 for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in lung transplant patients.

31 May 2012

Sequenom MassARRAY System detects EML4/ALK fusion gene in NSCLC

Sequenom, Inc., a life sciences company providing innovative genetic analysis solutions, today reported on a recently released publication in which the Sequenom MassARRAY System (for research use only) was used in a groundbreaking independent study that detected the transforming fusion gene EML4/ALK in non-small cell lung cancer.

30 May 2012

QCMG establishes Illumina technology as core sequencing platform

Illumina today announced that the Queensland Centre for Medical Genomics (QCMG), home of Australia's International Cancer Genomics Consortium program, has established Illumina technology as its core sequencing platform in an expanded facility.

30 May 2012

Secreted vesicles play role in spread of cancer

Cancer researchers have known for well over a century that different tumor types spread only to specific, preferred organs. But no one has been able to determine the mechanisms of organ specific metastasis, the so-called "soil and seed" theory of 1889. New details that could help shed light on this hypothesis have been provided by a team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and their collaborators, proposing a new mechanism controlling cancer metastasis that offers fresh diagnostic and treatment potential.

29 May 2012

Short hairpin RNAi gene silencing technology receives CSIRO's foundational patents

Australia's leading science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), has been granted foundational patents in the US and Europe for short hairpin RNAi (shRNA) gene silencing technology.

29 May 2012

UCSD scientists receive new CIRM grants to conduct stem cell-based research

Five scientists from the University of California, San Diego and its School of Medicine have been awarded almost $12 million in new grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to conduct stem cell-based research into regenerating spinal cord injuries, repairing gene mutations that cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and finding new drugs to treat heart failure and Alzheimer's disease.

28 May 2012

Researchers uncover series of biological events that implicate stem cells' surroundings

Stem cells are essential building blocks for all organisms, from plants to humans. They can divide and renew themselves throughout life, differentiating into the specialized tissues needed during development, as well as cells necessary to repair adult tissue.

25 May 2012

Breakthrough in understanding the causes of unexplained male infertility

The diagnosis of male fertility is usually performed through the observation of the sperm in the microscope. However, a normal quality semen does not guarantee an adequate fertility. In fact, there is a considerable proportion of cases of unexplained infertility and data suggest that abnormal sperm function may have a genetic or molecular origin.

24 May 2012

Study shows how chromosomal mutation likely contributes to early development of prostate cancer

Up to half of all prostate cancer cells have a chromosomal rearrangement that results in a new "fusion" gene and formation of its unique protein -- but no one has known how that alteration promotes cancer growth. Now, Weill Cornell Medical College researchers have found that in these cancer cells, the 3-D architecture of DNA, wrapped up in a little ball known as a chromatin, is warped in such a way that a switch has been thrown on thousands of genes, turning them on or off to promote abnormal, unchecked growth. Researchers also found that new chromosomal translocations form, further destabilizing the genome.

23 May 2012

HS6ST2 enzyme an important regulator of breast cancer cell-bone interactions

Researchers from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have in collaboration with the University of Turku, Indiana University and two Finnish companies, Biotie Therapies Corp. and Pharmatest Services Ltd, discovered a novel mechanism regulating the development of breast cancer bone metastases and showed that heparin-like compounds can potentially be used to inhibit breast cancer metastasis to bone.

21 May 2012

Childhood cancer research computing cluster to support precision medicine clinical trial

The childhood cancer research computing cluster created and donated by Dell for the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is ready to support the world's first precision medicine clinical trial for pediatric cancer.

19 May 2012

ScreenCell, Affymetrix partner to distribute CTC platform

Affymetrix, Inc. and ScreenCell, a privately-held company, today announced the signing of a worldwide distribution agreement for ScreenCell's isolation devices and dilution buffers, designed for the collection of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood.

18 May 2012

Researchers identify novel base modification in RNA

Over the past decade, research in the field of epigenetics has revealed that chemically modified bases are abundant components of the human genome and has forced us to abandon the notion we've had since high school genetics that DNA consists of only four bases.

18 May 2012

Breast cancer cell surface protein blows cover of potent tumor-generating cells

Breast cancer stem cells wear a cell surface protein that is part nametag and part bull's eye, identifying them as potent tumor-generating cells and flagging their vulnerability to a drug, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report online in Journal of Clinical Investigation.

17 May 2012

Radiation oncology researchers revise glioblastoma classification system

Radiation oncology researchers have revised the system used by doctors since the 1990s to determine the prognosis of people with glioblastoma, which is the most devastating of malignant brain tumors.

17 May 2012

Final results from Alnylam’s ALN-TTR01 Phase I trial on TTR-mediated amyloidosis

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today final results from its completed Phase I clinical trial with ALN-TTR01, an RNAi therapeutic targeting transthyretin (TTR) for the treatment of TTR-mediated amyloidosis.

11 May 2012

Researchers identify over 2500 mRNA along dendrites and axons

How do we build a memory in the brain? It is well known that for animals (and humans) new proteins are needed to establish long-term memories. During learning information is stored at the synapses, the junctions connecting nerve cells.

11 May 2012

RNP granules exit the nucleus via new budding mechanism akin to herpes-type viruses

New evidence published in Cell by Vivian Budnik, PhD, Melissa J. Moore, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, reveals a novel budding mechanism, similar to the process used by some viruses, capable of exporting large ribonucleoprotein particles from the nucleus to the cytoplasm.

11 May 2012

Trovagene receives European patent titled, ‘Methods for Detection of Nucleic Acid Sequences in Urine’

Trovagene, Inc., a developer of trans-renal molecular diagnostics, announced it has received notice of issuance of European Patent No. 2216416 entitled "Methods for Detection of Nucleic Acid Sequences in Urine."

11 May 2012