Epigenetics News and Research

Latest Epigenetics News and Research

Cancer found grow by switching off DNA - may lead to new generation treatments

Cancer researchers have formulated a new concept for how cancer cells can escape normal growth controls by turning off DNA. These findings may have far-reaching implications for the new generation of cancer therapies.

25 Apr 2006

Active ingredient in soy may explain why Asians have lower rates of obesity and cancer

A single nutrient found in soy products elicits changes in gene behavior that permanently reduce an embryo's risk of becoming obese later in life, according to an animal study at Duke University Medical Center.

13 Apr 2006

Environmental scientists identify new culprits in the cancer equation

In the granite-rich region of Western North Carolina, taking a daily shower could pose a risk of developing lung cancer. So could working from home every day. That's because granite emits a carcinogenic gas, radon.

13 Apr 2006

Researchers identify the role of a protein in hemoglobin gene silencing

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have identified the role of a protein in hemoglobin gene silencing that may one day be a potential target for the treatment of genetic blood disorders like sickle-cell anemia and beta-thalassemia on the molecular level.

11 Apr 2006

Research shows promise for the advancement of cancer and stem-cell research

The paper explains how proteins, known as epigenetic activators (such as Ash1 from the fruit fly Drosophila), bind to their target DNA and activate genes that determine what function a cell will have in the body.

1 Mar 2006

World's deadliest malaria parasite cloaking gene revealed

The world's deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, sneaks past the human immune system with the help of a wardrobe of invisibility cloaks. If a person's immune cells learn to recognize one of the parasite's many camouflage proteins, the surviving invaders can swap disguises and slip away again to cause more damage. Malaria kills an estimated 2.7 million people annually worldwide, 75 percent of them children in Africa.

29 Dec 2005

Researchers move in on novel therapeutics to inhibit melanoma

Northwestern University researchers have developed a novel, three-dimensional model that allows scientists to observe how interacting with the microenvironment of metastatic melanoma cells induces normal skin cells to become similar to aggressive cancer cells that migrate and spread throughout the body.

5 Dec 2005

Lupus discovery may improve treatment

Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Virginia hope to reset part of the "epigenetic code" in lupus patients and thus improve treatment.

7 Nov 2005

Stem cells appear to play a role in repairing organs

Not least because undifferentiated cells with features typical of stem cells are being increasingly found in organs like the liver, brain, and muscles, scientists are beginning to assume that these cells play a role in repairing organs.

3 Nov 2005

Gene found only in men is altered by a chemical process, which is in turn linked to aggressive forms of melanoma

New scientific evidence that may shed light on why men are more likely than women to develop aggressive forms of skin cancer has been published in Carcinogenesis.

23 Oct 2005

Discovery of agent that can suppress cancer development

In a case of basic science detective work, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have solved the puzzle of the "inconsistent biomarker" and, in the process, may have discovered an agent that can suppress cancer development.

13 Oct 2005

Obesity associated with a threefold increase in SCD1 expression in obese muscle

The gene encoding an enzyme that hinders muscle from burning fat manufactures three times more enzyme in the muscle of obese people than lean people, researchers from Duke University Medical Center and Louisiana State University have found. This causes the obese muscle tissue to both store more fat and burn less fat, the researchers said.

11 Oct 2005

Sleletal muscle findings highlight the importance of exercise in obese people

The findings suggest that muscle bears a metabolic memory of obesity, which may help to explain why sustained weight loss can be difficult despite cutting calories, according to the researchers. Exercise might more successfully override the aberrant metabolic program in muscle, they suggest, thereby improving the long-term prognosis of those prone to obesity.

11 Oct 2005

Human embryonic stem cell lines accumulate changes in their genetic material over time

The findings do not limit the utility of the cells for some types of research or for some future clinical applications, the researchers say, but draw attention to the need to closely monitor stem cell lines for genetic changes and to study how these alterations affect the cells' behavior.

6 Sep 2005

Human embryonic stem cell lines accumulate changes in their genetic material over time

5 Sep 2005

New search method could aid in the discovery of biomarkers for breast cancer

Using a super-efficient method they invented to search for a type of cancer-related change in all genes of a cell, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers have discovered new evidence about how the "microenvironment" of breast cancers helps drive the cancers' growth and migration.

13 Jul 2005