Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Genetic innovations for pneumonia diagnosis in children

Polymerase chain reaction could help diagnose Mycoplasmia pneumonia infection in children, researchers say.

24 Dec 2012

Parkinson’s: an interview with Steve Ford, CEO of Parkinson’s UK

Parkinson’s disease is a neurological condition that is caused when brain cells, that produce the chemical messenger dopamine, start to die.

24 Dec 2012

Narrow therapeutic window for Canavan disease

Gene therapy for Canavan disease slows brain atrophy and stabilizes patients’ clinical condition, show findings that highlight the need for very early diagnosis and intervention.

22 Dec 2012

Autism genome not shy about tinkering with important genes

An international team, led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has discovered that "random" mutations in the genome are not quite so random after all. Their study, to be published in the journal Cell on December 21, shows that the DNA sequence in some regions of the human genome is quite volatile and can mutate ten times more frequently than the rest of the genome. Genes that are linked to autism and a variety of other disorders have a particularly strong tendency to mutate.

21 Dec 2012

Gene therapy shows promise for severe coronary artery disease

Diagnosed with severe coronary artery disease, a group of patients too ill for or not responding to other treatment options decided to take part in a clinical trial testing angiogenic gene therapy to help rebuild their damaged blood vessels.

21 Dec 2012

Scientists sequence complete genome of leeches

Leeches, despite the yuck factor, have captured the hearts of two University of California, Berkeley, scientists who are part of a team that this week is publishing the leech's complete genome sequence.

21 Dec 2012

Novel virus-based gene therapy holds promise for Canavan disease

Research led by Paola Leone, PhD, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine (UMDNJ-SOM), demonstrates the long term safety and benefit of a virus-based gene therapy that has been applied for the first time in a clinical setting.

21 Dec 2012

UAB research succeeds in testing a vaccine against leishmaniasis

A research coordinated by the UAB has succeeded in testing a vaccine against leishmaniasis. The vaccine was tested with the best animal model existing, the golden hamster, and can be produced at low costs by using insect larvae.

21 Dec 2012

Researchers reveal genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates

University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine researchers have uncovered a genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates that could also help explain why humans are susceptible to diseases not found in other species.

21 Dec 2012

Oscillation of gene activity may underlie how embryos grow in proportion

From a single-cell egg to a fully functional body: as embryos develop and grow, they must form organs that are in proportion to the overall size of the embryo. The exact mechanism underlying this fundamental characteristic, called scaling, is still unclear. However, a team of researchers from EMBL Heidelberg is now one step closer to understanding it.

21 Dec 2012

NFKB gene variations could play a key role in helping to determine survival rate of sepsis patients

A study in the January 2013 issue of Anesthesiology offers evidence that variations in what is called the NFKB gene could play an important role in helping to determine the survival rate of patients who acquire sepsis, a condition in which the body is overwhelmed by infection, and which is the leading cause of death in hospitals.

21 Dec 2012

Melanoma patients may benefit from microRNA-26a replacement therapy

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study in this month's edition of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology describes a new target and potential treatment for melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. MicroRNA can decide which genes in a cell's DNA are expressed and which stay silent. Melanoma tends to lack microRNA-26a, which makes the gene SODD go silent.

21 Dec 2012

MiR-15 contributes to the heart's ability to regenerate following injury

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have pinpointed a molecular mechanism needed to unleash the heart's ability to regenerate, a critical step toward developing eventual therapies for damage suffered following a heart attack.

21 Dec 2012

Scientists design small molecules that recognize myotonic dystrophy-associated RNAs

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a new approach to alter the function of RNA in living cells by designing molecules that recognize and disable RNA targets. As a proof of principle, in the new study the team designed a molecule that disabled the RNA causing myotonic dystrophy.

21 Dec 2012

Researchers develop game-changing diagnostic and prognostic genetic tests for prostate cancer

Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson (KCC) have developed potentially game-changing diagnostic and prognostic genetic tests shown to better predict prostate cancer survival outcomes and distinguish clinically-relevant cancers.

21 Dec 2012

New work on Akt's role in cancer stem cell biology

The protein kinase Akt is a key regulator of cell growth, proliferation, metabolism, survival, and death. New work on Akt's role in cancer stem cell biology from the lab of senior author Honglin Zhou, MD, PhD and Weihua Li, co-first author, both from the Center for Resuscitation Sciences, Department of Emergency Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and Xiaowei Xu, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, appears in Molecular Cell.

21 Dec 2012

Combination of diet and exercise may prevent breast cancer in obese, postmenopausal women

Obese, postmenopausal women are at greater risk for developing breast cancer and their cancers tend to be more aggressive than those in lean counterparts.

20 Dec 2012

Two recent experimental treatments improve visual function in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa

Two recent experimental treatments - one involving skin-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell grafts, the other gene therapy - have been shown to produce long-term improvement in visual function in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), according to the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) scientists who led the studies. At present, there is no cure for RP, the most common form of inherited blindness.

20 Dec 2012

Study finds new signaling pathway involved in development of chronic inflammation of brain cells

The number of Alzheimer's patients will continue to dramatically increase in the next several decades. Various teams of researchers worldwide are feverishly investigating precisely how the illness develops. A

20 Dec 2012

Roundup: Calif. Report sets 10-year health goals; Conn. hospitals plead to stop cuts; Colo. lawmaker wants state universal health care on ballot

With the state facing rising medical costs and increasing rates of chronic disease, California health leaders issued a report Wednesday setting specific health targets to meet by 2022. The state's goals include reducing smoking rates, increasing vaccinations among children and improving depression screening and treatment. The report also describes ways to improve end-of-life care, by expanding palliative care at hospitals and hospice programs at home.

20 Dec 2012

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Genetic innovations for pneumonia diagnosis in children

Parkinson’s: an interview with Steve Ford, CEO of Parkinson’s UK

Narrow therapeutic window for Canavan disease

Autism genome not shy about tinkering with important genes

Gene therapy shows promise for severe coronary artery disease

Scientists sequence complete genome of leeches

Novel virus-based gene therapy holds promise for Canavan disease

UAB research succeeds in testing a vaccine against leishmaniasis

Researchers reveal genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates

Oscillation of gene activity may underlie how embryos grow in proportion

NFKB gene variations could play a key role in helping to determine survival rate of sepsis patients

Melanoma patients may benefit from microRNA-26a replacement therapy

MiR-15 contributes to the heart's ability to regenerate following injury

Scientists design small molecules that recognize myotonic dystrophy-associated RNAs

Researchers develop game-changing diagnostic and prognostic genetic tests for prostate cancer

New work on Akt's role in cancer stem cell biology

Combination of diet and exercise may prevent breast cancer in obese, postmenopausal women

Two recent experimental treatments improve visual function in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa

Study finds new signaling pathway involved in development of chronic inflammation of brain cells

Roundup: Calif. Report sets 10-year health goals; Conn. hospitals plead to stop cuts; Colo. lawmaker wants state universal health care on ballot

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

Redefining control and consistency in anaerobic microbiome workflows

AI in Healthcare: How generative tools are transforming clinical practice

The future of automation: Machine learning–driven hepatocyte and organoid counting