Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Protein known to promote cancer appears to give blood vessels strength and shape, researchers report

A protein known to promote cancer appears to give the blood vessels strength and shape, researchers report. When yes-associated protein, or YAP, is deleted from vascular smooth muscle cells during development, the protein makes thin-walled blood vessels that over-dilate in response to the usual pressure of blood flow, said Dr. Jiliang Zhou, vascular biologist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.

25 Mar 2014

Women with BRCA1 mutations may have increased risk for rare types of aggressive uterine cancer

Women with BRCA1 mutations may have an increased risk for developing rare types of aggressive uterine cancer despite having their ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, suggest preliminary findings being presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer in Tampa, Fla., March 22-25.

25 Mar 2014

XBP1 gene plays pivotal role in the growth and progression of triple negative breast cancer

Scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College and Houston Methodist have found that a gene previously unassociated with breast cancer plays a pivotal role in the growth and progression of the triple negative form of the disease, a particularly deadly strain that often has few treatment options. Their research, published in this week's Nature, suggests that targeting the gene may be a new approach to treating the disease.

25 Mar 2014

New research reveals new complexity to nerve cells in brain that could affect future therapies

Research from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation reveals a new complexity to nerve cells in the brain that could affect future therapies aimed at altering mood and memory in humans.

25 Mar 2014

Marina Cavazzana, Adrian J. Thrasher honored with Pioneer Award for gene therapy

Marina Cavazzana, MD, PhD, Paris Descartes University, France and Adrian J. Thrasher, MD, PhD, University College London Institute of Child Health, UK, have been honored with the Pioneer Award for basic and clinical gene therapy for immunodeficiency disorders.

25 Mar 2014

Not all doctors offer cancer gene testing to patients, study finds

Many cancer researchers believe that cutting-edge advances in genomics will pave the way for personalized or "precision" cancer medicine for all patients in the near future. A new study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, however, suggest that not all doctors are ready to embrace tests that look for hundreds of DNA changes in patients' tumor samples, while others plan to offer this type of cancer gene testing to most of their patients.

25 Mar 2014

Researchers use retro approach to produce new drugs

This alternative approach to creating artificial organic molecules, called bioretrosynthesis, was first proposed four years ago by Brian Bachmann, associate professor of chemistry at Vanderbilt University. Now Bachmann and a team of collaborators report that they have succeeded in using the method to produce the HIV drug didanosine.

25 Mar 2014

Faster DNA sequencing techniques more likely to improve care for patients with breast cancer

Faster and cheaper DNA sequencing techniques will likely improve care for patients with breast cancer but also create challenges for clinicians as they counsel patients on their treatment options.

25 Mar 2014

CSP analogues may attenuate S. pneumoniae virulence, resistance

The spread of virulent, antibiotic-resistant strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae may be controllable through the use of competence-stimulating peptide analogues, US researchers believe.

24 Mar 2014

Cumulative amount of specific gene products affects changes in cell fate, say researchers

Johns Hopkins biologists have discovered that when biological signals hit cells in rhythmic waves, the magnitude of the cells' response can depend on the number of signaling cycles — not their strength or duration. Because such so-called “oscillating signaling cycles” are common in many biological systems, the scientists expect their findings in single-celled organisms to help explain the molecular workings of phenomena such as tissue and organ formation and fundamental forms of learning.

24 Mar 2014

DUF1220 protein domain also linked to severity of autism

The same gene family that may have helped the human brain become larger and more complex than in any other animal also is linked to the severity of autism, according to new research from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

24 Mar 2014

FDA approves Xolair for treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Xolair (omalizumab) for the treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria, a form of chronic hives.

24 Mar 2014

CUMC researchers devise new system for classifying periodontal disease

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have devised a new system for classifying periodontal disease based on the genetic signature of affected tissue, rather than on clinical signs and symptoms. The new classification system, the first of its kind, may allow for earlier detection and more individualized treatment of severe periodontitis, before loss of teeth and supportive bone occurs.

24 Mar 2014

People with rare inherited mutated gene have high chance of getting lung cancer

People who have an inherited mutation of a certain gene have a high chance of getting lung cancer — higher, even, than heavy smokers with or without the inherited mutation, according to new findings by cancer researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Although both genders have an equal risk of inheriting the mutation, those who develop lung cancer are mostly women and have never smoked, the researchers found.

24 Mar 2014

Study: Mood stabilizing drug may help prevent head and neck cancer

A new study indicates that a commonly used mood stabilizing drug may help prevent head and neck cancer. The study is published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

24 Mar 2014

Scientists develop unique cells to repair patient's defective and diseased bladder

For the first time, scientists have succeeded in coaxing laboratory cultures of human stem cells to develop into the specialized, unique cells needed to repair a patient's defective or diseased bladder.

24 Mar 2014

Researchers uncover cause of rare type of ovarian cancer that strikes girls and young women

The cause of a rare type of ovarian cancer that most often strikes girls and young women has been uncovered by an international research team led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute, according to a study published online today by the renowned scientific journal, Nature Genetics.

23 Mar 2014

Scientists explore link between SCN10A and cardiac arrhythmia risk

Although genome-wide association studies have linked DNA variants in the gene SCN10A with increased risk for cardiac arrhythmia, efforts to determine the gene's direct influence on the heart's electrical activity have been unproductive. Now, scientists from the University of Chicago have discovered that these SCN10A variants regulate the function of a different gene, SCN5A, which appears to be the primary gene responsible for cardiac arrhythmia risk.

21 Mar 2014

Scientists unlock one of mysteries of modern genetics

Scientists at Indiana University have unlocked one of the mysteries of modern genetics: how acquired traits can be passed between generations in a process called epigenetic inheritance. The new work finds that cells don't know to silence some genes based on information hardwired into their DNA sequences, but recognize heritable chemical marks that are added to the genes. These chemical tags serve as a form of molecular memory, allowing cells to recognize the genes and remember to silence them again in each new generation.

21 Mar 2014

Misplaced protein provides promising drug target for kidney cancer

The shortage of oxygen, or hypoxia, created when rapidly multiplying kidney cancer cells outgrow their local blood supply can accelerate tumor growth by causing a nuclear protein called SPOP-which normally suppresses tumor growth-to move out of the nucleus to the cytoplasm, where it has the opposite effect, promoting rapid proliferation.

21 Mar 2014

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Protein known to promote cancer appears to give blood vessels strength and shape, researchers report

Women with BRCA1 mutations may have increased risk for rare types of aggressive uterine cancer

XBP1 gene plays pivotal role in the growth and progression of triple negative breast cancer

New research reveals new complexity to nerve cells in brain that could affect future therapies

Marina Cavazzana, Adrian J. Thrasher honored with Pioneer Award for gene therapy

Not all doctors offer cancer gene testing to patients, study finds

Researchers use retro approach to produce new drugs

Faster DNA sequencing techniques more likely to improve care for patients with breast cancer

CSP analogues may attenuate S. pneumoniae virulence, resistance

Cumulative amount of specific gene products affects changes in cell fate, say researchers

DUF1220 protein domain also linked to severity of autism

FDA approves Xolair for treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria

CUMC researchers devise new system for classifying periodontal disease

People with rare inherited mutated gene have high chance of getting lung cancer

Study: Mood stabilizing drug may help prevent head and neck cancer

Scientists develop unique cells to repair patient's defective and diseased bladder

Researchers uncover cause of rare type of ovarian cancer that strikes girls and young women

Scientists explore link between SCN10A and cardiac arrhythmia risk

Scientists unlock one of mysteries of modern genetics

Misplaced protein provides promising drug target for kidney cancer

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

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