Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Genetic testing in women with ovarian cancer helps determine prognosis

A study examining mutations in DNA repair genes in women with advanced ovarian cancer found that the disease remained at bay longer in women with the mutations than without, and that women having cancers with these mutations lived longer.

24 Mar 2016

Defective PTCHD1 gene in brain creates symptoms associated with autism and ADHD

Evidence is mounting that a gene called PTCHD1 helps the brain sort between important sights and sounds — and distractions. This gene is active in a brain region that attaches more attention to a conversation with your boss, for instance, than to an air conditioner buzzing in the background.

24 Mar 2016

NIHR research program aims to increase safety, well-being of victims of DVA

Researchers at the University of Bristol have received more than £2.5 million from the National Institute for Health Research to carry out research that aims to increase the safety and well-being of victims of domestic violence and abuse (DVA).

24 Mar 2016

Research: X and Y DNA swapping may occur more often than previously thought

It turns out that the rigid "line in the sand" over which the human sex chromosomes---the Y and X--- go to avoid crossing over is a bit blurrier than previously thought. Contrary to the current scientific consensus, Arizona State University assistant professor Melissa Wilson Sayres has led a research team that has shown that X and Y DNA swapping may occur much more often.

24 Mar 2016

Blood test can predict risk of developing TB disease long before it manifests

A landmark study published this month in the leading medical journal, The Lancet, reports the discovery of a blood test that can predict whether someone is likely to develop tuberculosis (TB) disease, long before the disease manifests.

23 Mar 2016

Penn neurologists uncover new genetic cause of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease

Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease (CMT) is a family of inherited disorders of the peripheral nervous system, affecting approximately one in 2,500 Americans. Its most common iteration, CMT1, comes in many forms, most of which have to date been linked to a small set of causative genes.

23 Mar 2016

Deleting microRNA-155 prevents diet-induced obesity in female mice

Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center seeking a way to combat the growing epidemic of obesity have found that deleting microRNA-155 in female mice prevents diet-induced obesity.

23 Mar 2016

Research findings offer new way to differentiate, treat patients with lung cancer

Research in Manchester has identified mutations in lung cancer that is key to tumour growth, offering a new way to differentiate and treat some patients with the disease.

23 Mar 2016

Addition of just two DNA bases to LdAQP1 gene helps Black Fever parasite to overcome antimonial drugs

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute scientists show how the parasite responsible for the neglected tropical disease Black Fever (visceral leishmaniasis) can become resistant to drug treatment. Studying the whole genomes of more than 200 samples of Leishmania donovani revealed that the addition of just two bases of DNA to a gene known as LdAQP1 stops the parasite from absorbing antimonial drugs.

23 Mar 2016

SLU researchers discover compound that disrupts fibrotic process

Saint Louis University researchers have found that a type of compound that disrupts the process that causes fibrosis (scarring) in the lungs and liver also shows promise in preventing and treating fibrosis in yet another organ, the pancreas. The research was conducted in an animal model.

23 Mar 2016

Pediatric researchers find gene variants that can strongly increase bone strength in girls

Pediatric researchers have found that rare genetic changes strongly increase the likelihood that a child will have higher bone density, but only in girls.

23 Mar 2016

UC San Diego Health participates in nationwide clinical study on hemophilia B gene therapy

The Hemophilia and Thrombosis Treatment Center at UC San Diego Health has joined a nationwide clinical trial testing a potential gene therapy that may one day provide a better and long-lasting treatment for people with hemophilia B.

23 Mar 2016

Whole genome sequencing of chimpanzee parasite reveals clues about human malaria

Understanding the origins of emerging diseases - as well as more established disease agents -- is critical to gauge future human infection risks and find new treatment and prevention approaches. This holds true for malaria, which kills more than 500,000 people a year. Symptoms, including severe anemia, pregnancy-associated malaria, and cerebral malaria, have been linked to the parasite's ability to cause infected red blood cells to bind to the inner lining of blood vessels.

22 Mar 2016

Researchers develop unique approach to track, label neural stem cells

An overwhelming number of researchers still struggle within the black hole of the effectiveness and safety of stem cell therapy for neurological diseases. While the complexity of understanding how neurons grow, connect and function has long been studied, it remains a mystery, one that graduate student Forrest Goodfellow in the University of Georgia Regenerative Bioscience Center is helping unravel.

22 Mar 2016

Role of dietary restriction in lifespan extension

The role of dietary restriction in extending lifespan is the subject of research being conducted at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, by visiting scientist Markus Schosserer, Ph.D., of the biotechnology department at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, in Austria.

22 Mar 2016

Women with Alzheimer’s disease have poorer cognitive abilities than men

Women with Alzheimer’s have poorer cognitive abilities than men at the same stage of the disease, reveal academics from the University of Hertfordshire in a paper published in World Journal of Psychiatry today.

22 Mar 2016

Southampton researchers link birth season epigenetic DNA marks to allergic disease

Researchers at the University of Southampton have discovered specific markers on DNA that link the season of birth to risk of allergy in later life.

22 Mar 2016

Four key genes govern growth, multiplication of blood stem cells

An important element in getting blood stem cells to multiply outside the body is to understand which of the approximately 20,000 genes in the human body control their growth. Now a research team at Lund University in Sweden has studied close to 15,000 of these genes alongside each other.

22 Mar 2016

Key molecule in breast, lung cancer cells can help prevent spread of cancer

Scientists have revealed that a key molecule in breast and lung cancer cells can help switch off the cancers' ability to spread around the body.

22 Mar 2016

Specialized gene editing system paves way to eventual cure for HIV patients

A specialized gene editing system designed by scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University is paving the way to an eventual cure for patients infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

22 Mar 2016