Telomerase News and Research

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Reduced calories increase human cell lifespan

Going back for a second dessert after your holiday meal might not be the best strategy for living a long, cancer-free life say researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. That's because they've shown exactly how restricted calorie diets-specifically in the form of restricted glucose-help human cells live longer. This discovery, published online in The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) could help lead to drugs and treatments that slow human aging and prevent cancer.

23 Dec 2009

Calorie-intake restriction can benefit longevity and help prevent cancer

Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have discovered that restricting consumption of glucose, the most common dietary sugar, can extend the life of healthy human-lung cells and speed the death of precancerous human-lung cells, reducing cancer's spread and growth rate.

18 Dec 2009

Nobel Prize discovery opens new perspectives for detection and prevention of age-related diseases

This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three American scientists Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for the discovery of "how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”. The research contributed to the understanding of how telomeres protect chromosomes from degradation and identified telomerase, the enzyme that preserves telomere length and integrity.

11 Dec 2009

Interim data from Geron's GRNVAC1 phase II trial for AML presented

Geron Corporation today announced the presentation of interim data from its phase II trial of GRNVAC1, an autologous dendritic cell vaccine targeting telomerase, in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in New Orleans, Louisiana.

8 Dec 2009

Interim data from Geron's ongoing imetelstat trial presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC conference

Geron Corporation today announced the presentation of interim data from its ongoing trial of imetelstat (GRN163L), a telomerase inhibitor drug, in patients with refractory, advanced solid cancers at the 2009 AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Boston.

19 Nov 2009

Researchers find link between telomeres and longevity

A team led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has found a clear link between living to 100 and inheriting a hyperactive version of an enzyme that rebuilds telomeres - the tip ends of chromosomes. The findings appear in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

12 Nov 2009

Cellular mechanisms that may impact immune functions in the elderly discovered

Investigators discover cellular mechanisms that may impact the decline of both innate and adaptive immune functions that increase the susceptibility to various infectious agents, cancer and diseases in the elderly say experts at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Miami Beach, Fla.

9 Nov 2009

Professor Suzanne Cory receives award for her work in cancer and immunogenetics

Professor Suzanne Cory, the former director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, has been named the recipient of the 2009 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize.

24 Oct 2009

DKC establishes link between genetic mutation affecting telomerase function and human disease

The human genetic disease dyskeratosis congenita (DKC) is an autosomal dominant disease that leads to abnormalities in tissues with a rapid cell turnover - the skin, nails, bone marrow, lungs and gut. Patients with DKC experience life-threatening symptoms. Bone marrow failure increases their risk of fatal infections and cancer. Many die before the age of 30 and management of the disease is limited to trying to treat its symptoms.

19 Oct 2009

Molecular biologist receives 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Molecular biologist Elizabeth H. Blackburn, PhD, 60, of the University of California, San Francisco, today was named to receive the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

6 Oct 2009

Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak receive 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine

The 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine has been awarded to Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.

5 Oct 2009

New study on behaviour of telomeres during cell division in cancerous human cells

A process that limits the number of times a cell divides works much differently than had been thought, opening the door to potential new anticancer therapies, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center report in the Aug. 7 issue of the journal Cell.

2 Sep 2009

Geron to present updates on product development programs at four investor conferences in September

Geron Corporation today announced that the company will present updates of its product development programs at four investor conferences in the month of September.

31 Aug 2009

Handle with care: Telomeres resemble DNA fragile sites

Telomeres, the repetitive sequences of DNA at the ends of linear chromosomes, have an important function: They protect vulnerable chromosome ends from molecular attack.

9 Jul 2009

Researchers target telomeres to attack tumors

Hoping to develop more effective long-term attacks on cancer, researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine are conducting the first human tests of a breast cancer drug regimen that includes a compound meant to force cancer cells to grow old and die.

5 May 2009

Stem cells from human testes can change into other body tissues

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and at UC-San Francisco have succeeded in isolating stem cells from human testes.

5 Jan 2009

Researchers identify gene linked to inherited form of fatal lung disease

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined that a mutation in a gene known for its role in defending the lungs against invading pathogens is responsible for some inherited cases of a lethal lung disease affecting older adults. The same mutation may also be associated with lung cancer, the researchers said.

21 Dec 2008