Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Initial data to construct first whole-brain wiring diagram of vertebrate brain

Neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) reached an important milestone today, publicly releasing the first installment out of 500 terabytes of data so far collected in their pathbreaking project to construct the first whole-brain wiring diagram of a vertebrate brain, that of the mouse.

2 Jun 2012

NIH awards $1.9M grant to study genetic control of cell migration

Developmental biologists Dominique Alfandari and Hélène Cousin at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently received a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to investigate craniofacial development in a frog model to better understand genetic control of cell migration.

2 Jun 2012

GPR21 inhibitors may hold promise for diabetes

In recent years, a growing body of evidence has linked inflammation to the development of insulin resistance. In insulin resistance, the hormone insulin is less effective in promoting glucose uptake from the bloodstream into other tissues. Obesity is a major factor that contributes to insulin resistance, which can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes. Previous studies have shown that proinflammatory molecules found in fat tissue decreases sensitivity of tissues to insulin.

2 Jun 2012

UH CNRCS students achieve significant milestones in cancer therapy research

Four University of Houston (UH) students are well on their way to emerging cancer research careers upon achieving significant milestones this spring in their work toward new therapies for prostate and breast cancer.

2 Jun 2012

Two pharma companies plan international trials into targeted cancer treatments in the UK

A Cancer Research UK initiative to improve cancer gene testing has prompted two pharmaceutical companies to plan pioneering international trials into targeted cancer treatments in the UK.

2 Jun 2012

LDK378 compound well-tolerated in patients with ALK+ NSCLC

A new compound that targets anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK+) non-small cell lung cancer is well-tolerated by patients and is already showing early signs of activity, including in patients who no longer respond to crizotinib-the only approved ALK inhibitor. Results of this Novartis-sponsored sudy will be presented by a researcher from Fox Chase Cancer Center during the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Sunday, June 3.

2 Jun 2012

Agendia launches ColoPrint microarray-based 18-gene expression signature for colon cancer

Agendia, an innovative molecular cancer diagnostics company and leader in personalized medicine, today announced the launch of its ColoPrint microarray-based 18-gene expression signature for predicting the risk of distant recurrence for stage II colon cancer patients who have undergone surgery.

2 Jun 2012

Study identifies new genetic factor associated with lean diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is popularly associated with obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. However, just as there are obese people without type 2 diabetes, there are lean people with the disease.

2 Jun 2012

Inhibiting IRE1α-XBP1 pathway impacts survival of myeloma cells

Results published in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology, confirm that inhibition of the IRE1α-XBP1 pathway impacts the survival of myeloma cells, suggesting a promising therapeutic option in multiple myeloma.

2 Jun 2012

Scientists discover previously unrecognized signaling network disrupted in lung cancer

A team of researchers led by Dr. Goutham Narla at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in collaboration with scientists at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, have discovered a previously unrecognized signaling network disrupted in lung cancer that can be turned back on by a novel combination of two previously approved FDA drugs.

2 Jun 2012

$Gene variant linked to postmenopausal fracture risk$

Gene variant linked to postmenopausal fracture risk

Women who carry a variation in a gene involved in blocking bone morphogenic proteins are more likely to have fragility fractures than women without the variant, Greek research shows.

1 Jun 2012

Glucocorticoid steroids in intelligent medicine specifically hits relevant cells

Scientists at Aarhus University, Denmark in collaboration with the biotech company Cytoguide now publish a key to use glucocorticoid steroids in a kind of intelligent medicine that specifically hits the relevant cells. Data are based on rodent studies but if this principle is translated to humans it may greatly improve todays hazardous treatment with this type of potent steroids.

1 Jun 2012

Affymetrix, Leica Microsystems enter worldwide collaboration on RNA ISH analysis

Affymetrix, Inc. and Leica Microsystems are pleased to announce a world-wide collaboration that automates Affymetrix' QuantiGene ViewRNA ISH Tissue Assay on the Leica BOND RX staining platform for research applications.

1 Jun 2012

Mothers who smoke during pregnancy increase risk of asthma in children

African-American and Latino children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are more likely to suffer from acute asthma symptoms in their teens than asthma sufferers whose mothers did not smoke, according to a new study led by a research team at UCSF.

1 Jun 2012

Scientists discover genetic basis for CLOVES syndrome

Using advanced technologies for rapidly sequencing and analyzing DNA from clinical and pathologic samples, a multidisciplinary research team consisting of geneticists, pathologists and surgeons at Boston Children's Hospital has identified the genetic basis for CLOVES syndrome, a rare congenital malformation and overgrowth disorder.

1 Jun 2012

Personalized medicine and the Human Genome Project

It’s nearly a decade since the completion of the Human Genome Project, (1) which aimed to sequence the complete human genome.

1 Jun 2012

Scientists determine 3-D structure of two circadian rhythm proteins

Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists have determined the three-dimensional structure of two proteins that help keep the body's clocks in sync.

1 Jun 2012

Scientists succeed in solving first structure of a Wnt protein

The 20 proteins in the Wnt family are some of the most important proteins in controlling how an organism develops and grows, but for 30 years scientists have not known what these vital proteins actually look like. The proteins have eluded standard visualization techniques, in large part because they do not dissolve well in the water-based liquids normally used for biochemical studies.

1 Jun 2012

Kindstar, Insight Genetics collaborate to improve cancer care in China

Molecular diagnostics company Insight Genetics and Kindstar Globalgene Technology, Inc., China's leading diagnostics company, today announced that the companies are partnering to enhance cancer care in the People's Republic of China and surrounding regions.

1 Jun 2012

Researchers investigate how iPFK2 enzyme may benefit some obese people

Why is it that some obese people are healthier than others? This was one of the main questions Dr. Chaodong Wu of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences - Texas A&M University System - and a group of researchers tried to answer in a recent study.

1 Jun 2012