Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

New drug may be useful in treating long QT syndrome

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a new drug that may be useful in treating a heart rhythm condition called long QT syndrome.

1 Aug 2012

Obesity also affects sexual and urinary health in men

As a man's waistline grows, so can his experience with sexual dysfunction and frequent urination, say researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The study, published in the August issue of the British Journal of Urology International (BJUI), is the first to comprehensively show that obesity in men affects not just their hearts and metabolism, but also their sexual and urinary health.

31 Jul 2012

Affymetrix second quarter total revenue increases to $66.4 million

Affymetrix, Inc., today reported its operating results for the second quarter of 2012. Total revenue for the quarter was $66.4 million, including approximately $1.4 million in revenue from eBioscience following the close of Affymetrix's acquisition of the company on June 25. This compares to total revenue of $64.7 million for the same period of 2011.

31 Jul 2012

Australia's top medical researchers for 2012 announced

Finalists for one of Australia’s longest running and most prestigious awards for medical research were announced today. This year’s winner will join a list of alumni winners that includes many of the country’s most respected scientists.

31 Jul 2012

Population Genetics validates GenomePooling™ for cancer

Population Genetics Technologies Ltd., creator of innovative methods for genetic analyses and biomarker discovery, has successfully completed a pilot study to prove that its GenomePooling™ method is sensitive and accurate enough to detect even small percentages of gene variants within cancer tissue. This validates the method’s suitability for use in IntReALL 2010, the world’s largest genetic analysis of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) relapse cases. ALL is the most common childhood malignant disease.

31 Jul 2012

Opioid receptors can control metabolic response to diets high in fat and sugar

Imagine eating all of the sugar and fat that you want without gaining a pound. Thanks to new research published in The FASEB Journal, the day may come when this is not too far from reality.

31 Jul 2012

High choline intake during pregnancy may improve how a child responds to stress

If you're sick from stress, a new research report appearing in the August 2012 issue of The FASEB Journal suggests that what your mother ate-or didn't eat-may be part of the cause.

31 Jul 2012

Researchers use computational analysis to identify new Achilles heel for drug-resistant breast cancer

Researchers have used computational analysis to identify a new Achilles heel for the treatment of drug-resistant breast cancer. The results, which are published in Molecular Systems Biology, reveal that the disruption of glucose metabolism is an effective therapeutic strategy for the treatment of tumours that have acquired resistance to front-line cancer drugs such as Lapatinib.

31 Jul 2012

GenomePooling™ method is sensitive and accurate

31 Jul 2012

EPHA3 mutations may be important drivers of lung cancers

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers have identified how one of the genes most commonly mutated in lung cancer may promote such tumors.

31 Jul 2012

ATP1A3 gene mutations responsible for alternating hemiplegia of childhood

Alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC) is a rare disorder that usually begins in infancy, with intermittent episodes of paralysis and stiffness, first affecting one side of the body, then the other. Symptoms mysteriously appear and disappear, again and again, and affected children often experience dozens of episodes per week. As they get older, children fall progressively behind their peers in both intellectual abilities and motor skills, and more than half develop epilepsy.

31 Jul 2012

New drug shows promise for Long QT syndrome

Long QT syndrome, which results from genetic mutation or certain medications, can cause the heart to beat chaotically and the affected person to die suddenly. The chaotic heartbeat is due to abnormal electrical activity in the heart. In an electrocardiogram test, this abnormality appears as a wider-than-normal QT interval, a pattern of "hills" in a map of peaks and valleys corresponding to the heart contracting and relaxing.

30 Jul 2012

Gene for sporadic paralysis of childhood discovered

Researchers have identified de novo mutations in the ATP1A3 gene that they believe are responsible for a sporadic childhood paralysis known as alternating hemiplegia of childhood.

30 Jul 2012

New research indicates molecular signaling from end to end in peripheral nerve cells

When the longest cells in the body are injured at their farthest reaches, coordinating the cells' repair is no easy task. This is in part because these peripheral nerve cells can be extremely long - up to one meter in adult humans - which is a lot of distance for a molecular distress signal to cover in order to reach the "command center" of the cell's nucleus.

30 Jul 2012

Study sheds light on complexities of cancer genetics

By studying fruit flies, scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have successfully devised a fast and cost-saving way to uncover genetic changes that have a higher potential to cause cancer.

30 Jul 2012

Progress with GSK in advancing VaxiRNA technology earns Alnylam $3.2M milestone payment

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has earned a development milestone payment from GlaxoSmithKline, totaling $3.2 million. The milestone payment is related to progress in the companies' collaboration on the use of VaxiRNA technology for the production of GSK influenza vaccine.

30 Jul 2012

FDA grants Senesco's SNS01-T orphan-drug designation to treat lymphomas

Senesco Technologies, Inc. reported today that it was informed on July 26th that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan-drug designation for the company's lead drug candidate SNS01-T for treatment of both mantle cell lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

30 Jul 2012

Scientists identify new gene responsible for genetic form of blindness in newborns

One of the mysteries of blindness has been solved. A team of international scientists in collaboration with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) identified a new gene responsible for Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), a devastating genetic form of blindness in newborns.

30 Jul 2012

Advaxis reports continued positive patient survival pattern in ADXS-HPV Phase 2 cervical cancer trial

Advaxis, Inc.,, a leader in developing the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, presented updated preliminary data from an ongoing randomized Phase 2 trial of ADXS-HPV being conducted in India in women with recurrent/refractory cervical cancer who have failed previous cytotoxic therapy.

30 Jul 2012

Researchers describe new human tissue dendritic cell with cross-presenting function

Researchers in Newcastle and Singapore have identified a new type of white blood cell which activates a killing immune response to an external source - providing a new potential target for vaccines for conditions such as cancer or Hepatitis B.

30 Jul 2012