Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Research finding offers new approach to treating melanoma

Scientists at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute today announced the discovery that a gene encoding an enzyme, phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1, plays an essential role in the development and progression of melanoma. The finding offers a new approach to treating this life-threatening disease.

17 Sep 2013

Flecainide, encainide drugs increase risk of sudden cardiac death

Scientists have discovered that a drug which increases the risk of sudden cardiac death interacts with mistranslated protein-coding genes present in heart muscle.

17 Sep 2013

microRNA-486 found to be potent tumor-suppressor molecule in lung cancer

New research shows that microRNA-486 is a potent tumor-suppressor molecule in lung cancer, and that the it helps regulate the proliferation and migration of lung-cancer cells, and the induction of programmed cell death, or apoptosis, in those cells.

17 Sep 2013

Researchers identify potentially treatable subtype of pancreatic cancer

Australian researchers have identified a potentially treatable subtype of pancreatic cancer, which accounts for about 2% of new cases. This subtype expresses high levels of the HER2 gene. HER2-amplified breast and gastric cancers are currently treated with Herceptin.

17 Sep 2013

Overexpression of cytoglobin gene inhibits hypoxic injury to neuroblastoma cells

Cytoglobin is a temporary oxygen reservoir, which might provide a minimal, but continuous supply of intracellular oxygen during ischemic and anoxic conditions.

17 Sep 2013

Gentris expands genomic biomarker offering with launch of Affymetrix GeneChip HTA services

Gentris Corporation, a global leader in pharmacogenomics and biorepository solutions, announced today that it is expanding its genomic biomarker offering with the launch of Affymetrix GeneChip Human Transcriptome Array services.

17 Sep 2013

Researchers identify gene mutation linked to age-related macular degeneration

An international team of researchers, led by scientists at The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, has identified a gene mutation linked to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in Americans over age 50.

17 Sep 2013

Oxytocin shows evidence of therapeutic value for autism, schizophrenia

The hormone oxytocin could play a role in treating psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, according to a review article in the September Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

17 Sep 2013

Neuroprotective effects of rutaecarpine on cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury

Rutaecarpine, an active component of the traditional Chinese medicine Tetradium ruticarpum, has been shown to improve myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury, mainly focusing on calcitonin gene-based targets.

17 Sep 2013

Researchers find that people affected by cold sores have mutation in gene

Why some people are troubled by cold sores while others are not has finally been explained by scientists. Cold sores affect around one in five people but, until now, no one has been sure why some are more prone to the virus that causes them.

17 Sep 2013

Gene panel predicts low-risk prostate cancer fate

Researchers from the USA have identified a three-gene signature that can predict prostate cancer progression in low Gleason score tumors.

16 Sep 2013

Gene variations predict breast cancer sleep disturbance

Researchers have identified cytokine gene variations in women with breast cancer that may help to identify those at increased risk for sleep disturbance following surgery.

16 Sep 2013

Studying Tumor Mutations Via A Network Approach

...

16 Sep 2013

Genetic deficiency in autism linked to specific molecular and cellular consequences

Brown University researchers have traced a genetic deficiency implicated in autism in humans to specific molecular and cellular consequences that cause clear deficits in mice in how well neurons can grow the intricate branches that allow them to connect to brain circuits. The researchers also show in their study (online Sep. 12, 2013, in Neuron) that they could restore proper neuronal growth by compensating for the errant molecular mechanisms they identified.

13 Sep 2013

Scientists discover promising potential drug target for cystic fibrosis

Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg and Regensburg University, both in Germany, and the University of Lisboa, in Portugal, have discovered a promising potential drug target for cystic fibrosis.

13 Sep 2013

Researchers develop new ways of preventing septic shock

The body's immune system is set up much like a home security system; it has sensors on the outside of cells that act like motion detectors — floodlights — that click on when there's an intruder rustling in the bushes, bacteria that seem suspect.

13 Sep 2013

Researchers show network of genes which enforce cooperative state within cells

We often think of human cells as tiny computers that perform assigned tasks, where disease is a result of a malfunction. But in the current issue of Science, researchers at The Mount Sinai Medical Center offer a radical view of health — seeing it more as a cooperative state among cells, while they see disease as result of cells at war that fight with each other for domination.

13 Sep 2013

Stem cells and gene therapy play important role in regeneration of inner ear hair cells

Since Moffat and Ramsden for the first time discovered the possibility of the auditory system in humans in 1977, over the last two decades, great progress has been made in physiopathological research on neurosensory hearing loss. J-rgensen and Mathiesen were the first authors to note the capacity for regeneration of the normal vestibular epithelium in adult Australian parrots.

13 Sep 2013

Study: Higher rates of acute hepatitis C virus clearance are seen in women

A study of patients infected with acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection found that women had higher rates of spontaneous viral clearance—undetectable levels of the virus without initiating drug therapy.

13 Sep 2013

Three-gene biomarker can help determine treatment option for early prostate cancer

The level of expression of three genes associated with aging can be used to predict whether seemingly low-risk prostate cancer will remain slow-growing, according to researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center.

13 Sep 2013