Chromosome News and Research

Latest Chromosome News and Research

Researchers break new ground in understanding what causes autism

In a collaboration involving 13 institutions around the world, researchers have broken new ground in understanding what causes autism. The results are being published in Cell magazine July 3, 2014: "Disruptive CHD8 Mutations Define a Subtype of Autism in Early Development."

3 Jul 2014

Studies show increased risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension in egg donation patients

With an ever-ageing female patient population, egg donation is an increasingly common treatment in infertility. ESHRE's own annual reports on fertility treatments in Europe show a rise in egg donation cycles from 15,028 in 2007 to 24,517 in 2010 (to 4.05% of all treatments). This proportion is still some way behind the USA, where egg donation now accounts for around 12% of all treatments.

2 Jul 2014

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma subgroups found to have different survival rates

A Mayo Clinic-led group of researchers has discovered three subgroups of a single type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that have markedly different survival rates. These subgroups could not be differentiated by routine pathology but only with the aid of novel genetic tests, which the research team recommends giving to all patients with ALK-negative anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL). Findings are published in the journal Blood.

27 Jun 2014

UCSB researchers explore genetic underpinnings of nerve-cell spacing

The functional organization of the central nervous system depends upon a precise architecture and connectivity of distinct types of neurons.

27 Jun 2014

Current sequencing protocols overlook DNA crucial to bacterial virulence

Genomic sequencing is supposed to reveal the entire genetic makeup of an organism. For infectious disease specialists, the technology can be used to analyze a disease-causing bacterium to determine how much harm it is capable of causing and whether or not it will be resistant to antibiotics.

26 Jun 2014

Gene partnership may be fueling cancer spread in as much as 20% of cancers

A key cancer-causing gene, responsible for up to 20 percent of cancers, may have a weak spot in its armor, according to new research from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota.

25 Jun 2014

Study: Cohesin mutations are common in melanoma and bladder cancer

Massive sequencing of cancer genomes brings to light new genes every day that could be involved in the process of tumour formation.

25 Jun 2014

Pew, Stewart Trust announce new scholars program for cancer research

The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust announced the inaugural class of Pew-Stewart Scholars for Cancer Research. Five promising early-career scientists will receive funding for research aimed at finding cures for cancer using approaches that include genetics, pharmacology, and structural biology.

24 Jun 2014

UK scientists unlock untapped genetic information to better understand Intellectual Disability in children

Teams of leading UK scientists have joined forces to unlock an untapped source of genetic information in a bid to better understand and treat children with Intellectual Disability. Experts from Cambridge, Cardiff, and UCL (University College London) will be given unprecedented access to genetic information on intellectual disability from NHS Regional Genetics Centres across the UK as part of a first phase study funded by the Medical Research Council and Medical Research Foundation.

24 Jun 2014

Researchers identify two oncogenes that drive the development of medulloblastoma

A new collaborative study carried out by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, UC San Diego, the German Cancer Research Center, the University of Heidelberg (Germany), and 33 other research institutions has identified two oncogenes, called GFI1 and GFI1B, that drive the development of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children.

23 Jun 2014

Overlooked DNA shuffling drives deadly paediatric brain tumour

One of the deadliest forms of paediatric brain tumour, Group 3 medulloblastoma, is linked to a variety of large-scale DNA rearrangements which all have the same overall effect on specific genes located on different chromosomes.

23 Jun 2014

Fragile Y hypothesis explains the factors behind chromosome loss

A UT Arlington research team says their study of genetic information from more than 4,000 beetle species has yielded a new theory about why some species lose their Y chromosome and others, such as humans, hang on to it.

18 Jun 2014

Entomologists develop chromosome map to find ways to prevent dengue fever, yellow fever

Virginia Tech entomologists have developed a chromosome map for about half of the genome of the mosquito Aedes agypti, the major carrier of dengue fever and yellow fever.

18 Jun 2014

Domestic violence or trauma ages children's DNA, shortens their chromosomes

A new Tulane University School of Medicine study finds that the more fractured families are by domestic violence or trauma, the more likely that children will bear the scars down to their DNA.

18 Jun 2014

Genomic study reveals striking contrasts that may aid disease prevention

Virginia Tech entomologists have developed a chromosome map for about half of the genome of the mosquito Aedes agypti, the major carrier of dengue fever and yellow fever.

17 Jun 2014

Modified mosquitoes produce sperm that only creates males

Scientists have modified mosquitoes to produce sperm that will only create males, pioneering a fresh approach to eradicating malaria.

11 Jun 2014

Gene variants that lead to longer telomeres boost brain cancer risk

New genomic research led by UC San Francisco scientists reveals that two common gene variants that lead to longer telomeres, the caps on chromosome ends thought by many scientists to confer health by protecting cells from aging, also significantly increase the risk of developing the deadly brain cancers known as gliomas.

9 Jun 2014

Brain circuit problem may contribute to auditory hallucinations of schizophrenia

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have identified problems in a connection between brain structures that may predispose individuals to hearing the "voices" that are a common symptom of schizophrenia. The work appears in the June 6 issue of the journal Science.

6 Jun 2014

Scientists reproduce chromosomal modifications in human cells that cause certain cancer

Scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) and the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncol-gicas (CNIO) have succeeded in reproducing, in human cells, the chromosomal translocations that cause two types of cancer: acute myeloid leukemia and Ewing's sarcoma.

5 Jun 2014

Researchers reproduce tumor chromosomal translocations in human cells

Scientists from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre and the Spanish National Cardiovascular Research Centre have been able to reproduce, for the first time in human cells, chromosomal translocations associated with two types of cancer: acute myeloid leukaemia and Ewing's sarcoma.

4 Jun 2014