Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Key tips on how to sleep better, have more sex and stress less

Making the time to take care of your body and fulfill your needs becomes increasingly more difficult with the pressures and stresses of a demanding schedule, fast-paced job and the increasing number of distractions around us.

4 Oct 2012

Scripps Health receives Qualcomm Foundation grant to support digital medicine research projects

Scripps Health announced today that it has been awarded a $3.75 million grant from the Qualcomm Foundation, to be used for the Scripps Translational Science Institute, which was established by Scripps Health in collaboration with various parties to support the development of breakthrough digital technologies designed to revolutionize the practice of medicine.

4 Oct 2012

New spontaneous genetic mutations play a significant role in schizophrenia

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have identified dozens of new spontaneous genetic mutations that play a significant role in the development of schizophrenia, adding to the growing list of genetic variants that can contribute to the disease.

4 Oct 2012

Haploidentical bone marrow transplants for sickle cell disease: an interview with Dr. Javier Bolaños Meade

Bone marrow transplant (also called stem cell transplant) is a medical intervention that allows a physician to deliver very high doses of chemotherapy (if needed) but more importantly, deliver a new immune system to the patient to fight a disease (such as cancer).

3 Oct 2012

NF1 gene mutations cause noninheritable or spontaneous breast cancers

Cancerous tumors contain hundreds of mutations, and finding these mutations that result in uncontrollable cell growth is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. As difficult as this task is, it's exactly what a team of scientists from Cornell University, the University of North Carolina, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York have done for one type of breast cancer.

3 Oct 2012

New mouse model could foster ALS, Paget's and dementia breakthroughs

Efforts to treat disorders like Lou Gehrig's disease, Paget's disease, inclusion body myopathy and dementia will receive a considerable boost from a new research model created by UC Irvine scientists.

3 Oct 2012

New insights on mechanisms involved in regeneration of insulin-producing cells

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute have found that a blood vessel-building gene boosts the ability of human bone marrow stem cells to sustain pancreatic recovery in a laboratory mouse model of insulin-dependent diabetes.

3 Oct 2012

Biologists combine laser cutting technology with modern sequencing to analyze gene activity in fungi

With a combination of microscopic laser scissors and modern sequencing methods, biologists at the Ruhr-Universit-t have analyzed the activity of genes in the entire genome of certain fungi in one fell swoop.

3 Oct 2012

Study examines newly proposed DSM-5 criteria for autism spectrum disorder

Parents should not worry that proposed changes to the medical criteria redefining a diagnosis of autism will leave their children excluded and deemed ineligible for psychiatric and medical care, says a team of researchers led by psychologists at Weill Cornell Medical College.

3 Oct 2012

HDL may protect against abdominal aortic aneurysm

High levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol inhibit the formation of abdominal aortic aneurysm, findings from experimental mouse models suggest.

2 Oct 2012

CIB2 gene responsible for progression and severity of Usher syndrome

Usher syndrome is a hereditary disease in which affected individuals lose both hearing and vision. The impact of Usher syndrome can be devastating. In the United States, approximately six in every 100,000 babies born have Usher syndrome.

2 Oct 2012

Autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis halted in mice

Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have developed a gene-based therapy to stop the rodent equivalent of the autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis by specifically targeting the destructive immune response the disorder triggers in the body.

1 Oct 2012

Novel target identified for fragile X-linked autism

Researchers have elucidated a novel mechanism through which fragile X syndrome may contribute to behavioural symptoms of autism and identified a potential therapeutic target.

1 Oct 2012

Kisspeptin reverses hyperprolactinemia-induced ovarian acyclicity

Kisspeptin neurons appear to play a role in hypogonadotropic anovulation caused by excessive levels of prolactin, research shows.

1 Oct 2012

Five prominent surgeons receive Honorary Fellowship from ACS

Last night Honorary Fellowship in the American College of Surgeons (ACS) was awarded to five prominent surgeons from Japan, the Philippines, Mexico, England, and Belgium during Convocation ceremonies that preceded the official opening of the 2012 ACS Annual Clinical Congress.

1 Oct 2012

Study opens new door to more personalized treatment of advanced breast cancer

For the first time, researchers have conducted a large trial in which they tested the entire genome of individual breast cancers to help personalize treatment. They released their findings at the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna.

1 Oct 2012

Researchers track spread of human invasive non-Typhoidal Salmonella in sub-Saharan Africa

A new study out today (Sunday 30 September) reveals that the emergence and spread of a rapidly evolving invasive intestinal disease, that has a significant mortality rate (up to 45%) in infected people in sub-Saharan Africa, seems to have been potentiated by the HIV epidemic in Africa.

1 Oct 2012

New insights on global fight to prevent cancers

New insights on the global fight to prevent cancers were presented during the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna. The studies highlight the challenges of overcoming misunderstandings about how important lifestyle factors are in reducing cancer risk.

1 Oct 2012

Crizotinib effectively treats patients with ALK-positive lung cancer

The results of a new phase III trial show that crizotinib, a targeted therapy, is a more effective treatment than standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced, ALK-positive lung cancer, researchers said at the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna.

1 Oct 2012

Common RNA pathway links frontotemporal lobar dementia with ALS

Two proteins previously found to contribute to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, have divergent roles. But a new study, led by researchers at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, shows that a common pathway links them.

1 Oct 2012