Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Conference highlights utility of zebrafish for human disorder studies

Zebrafish, popular as aquarium fish, now have an important place in research labs as a model organism for studying human diseases.

8 Jul 2012

Mouse model demonstrates role of AEG-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Researchers have created the first mouse model demonstrating the role of a cancer promoting gene, Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1), in hepatocellular carcinoma, or liver cancer. The mouse model represents a critical step in understanding the molecular mechanisms of liver cancer progression and could lead to novel therapies for the disease.

8 Jul 2012

Effect of spaceflight on C. elegans could help it to live longer

The effect of spaceflight on a microscopic worm - Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) - could help it to live longer.

8 Jul 2012

Presence of SPDEF protein may predict prostate cancers that are unable to metastasize

Prostate cancer doesn't kill in the prostate - it's the disease's metastasis to other tissues that can be fatal. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published this week in the Journal of Biological Chemistry shows that prostate cancer cells containing the protein SPDEF continue to grow at the same pace as their SPDEF- cousins, but that these SPDEF+ cells are unable to survive at possible sites of metastasis.

8 Jul 2012

Dynorphin plays an important role in weakening anxiety

Feelings of anxiety very effectively prevent people from getting into situations that are too dangerous. Those who have had a terrible experience initially tend to avoid the place of tragedy out of fear. If no other oppressive situation arises, normally the symptoms of fear gradually subside.

7 Jul 2012

Protein AMPK protects sensory cells in the inner ear from permanent damage

If you're concerned about losing your hearing because of noise exposure (earbud deafness syndrome), a new discovery published online in the FASEB Journal offers some hope. That's because scientists from Germany and Canada show that the protein, AMPK, which protects cells during a lack of energy, also activates a channel protein in the cell membrane that allows potassium to leave the cell.

7 Jul 2012

New epigenetic path toward a cure for osteoarthritis

In what could be a breakthrough in the practical application of epigenetic science, U.K. scientists used human tissue samples to discover that those with osteoarthritis have a signature epigenetic change (DNA methylation) responsible for switching on and off a gene that produces a destructive enzyme called MMP13.

7 Jul 2012

FDA approves KRAS gene mutation test for colorectal cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first genetic test that can help some colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and their doctors determine if the drug Erbitux (cetuximab) would be an effective treatment based on the absence of a gene mutation. The therascreen KRAS RGQ PCR Kit can provide information about the KRAS gene mutation in patients whose CRC has spread to other parts of their body (metastasized).

7 Jul 2012

New insights into role and importance of exosomes and their targeted gene transcripts

In the July 6 issue of Cell Stem Cell, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine describe how human epidermal progenitor cells and stem cells control transcription factors to avoid premature differentiation, preserving their ability to produce new skin cells throughout life.

6 Jul 2012

NewYork-Presbyterian/WCMC first in N.Y. City to offer INTRABEAM radiotherapy

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center is the first and only hospital in the five boroughs of New York City to offer women with early stage breast cancer INTRABEAM radiotherapy, an innovative radiation treatment delivered in a single dose at the time of surgery.

6 Jul 2012

Toxins and cell death: Interview with Professor Denise Montell

There are multiple kinds of cell death. Cells can undergo programmed cell death, which is a series of events that undergoes a predictable order at certain times during development.

6 Jul 2012

PHF21A gene plays a big role in Potocki-Shaffer syndrome

A gene whose mutation results in malformed faces and skulls as well as mental retardation has been found by scientists.

6 Jul 2012

Insight into understanding IDH mediated disease

Agios Pharmaceuticals, the leading biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel drugs in cancer metabolism, announced today the publication of a new study that provides further evidence of the link between a mutated metabolic enzyme and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the most common types of leukemia in adults.

6 Jul 2012

Scientists discover new signalling pathway that controls both obesity and atherosclerosis

A*STAR scientists from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC) have discovered a new signalling pathway that controls both obesity and atherosclerosis.

6 Jul 2012

Study shows cells from different Parkinson’s patients have unique drug responses

Researchers have taken a step toward personalized medicine for Parkinson's disease, by investigating signs of the disease in patient-derived cells and testing how the cells respond to drug treatments.

5 Jul 2012

Neighboring non-cancer cells may contribute to drug resistance

One of cancer's most frightening characteristics is its ability to return after treatment. In the case of many forms of cancer, including the skin cancer known as melanoma, tailored drugs can eradicate cancer cells in the lab, but often produce only partial, temporary responses in patients. One of the burning questions in the field of cancer research has been and remains: how does cancer evade drug treatment?

5 Jul 2012

Researchers use maternal blood sample to sequence genome of an unborn baby

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have for the first time sequenced the genome of an unborn baby using only a blood sample from the mother.

5 Jul 2012

Scientists identify causative link between oncometabolite and onset of AML

A team of international scientists led by principal investigator Dr. Tak Mak at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, has identified a causative link between the product of a mutated metabolic enzyme and the onset of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the most common types of leukemia in adults.

5 Jul 2012