Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Researchers identify brain receptor that appears to play a central role in regulating appetite

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified a brain receptor that appears to play a central role in regulating appetite. The findings, published today in the online edition of Cell, could lead to new drugs for preventing or treating obesity.

8 Jun 2012

Scientists discover new function for thrombospondin protein

Scientists have discovered a new function for a protein that protects cells during injury and could eventually translate into treatment for conditions ranging from cardiovascular disease to Alzheimer's.

8 Jun 2012

Clinical study demonstrates effectiveness of vismodegib in treating BCNS

A revolutionary clinical study has demonstrated the effectiveness of a new drug, vismodegib, in dramatically shrinking and preventing the formation of basal cell skin cancers - the most common cancer in the United States - in patients with basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS), a rare genetic condition that causes hundreds to thousands of skin cancers primarily treated by surgical removal.

7 Jun 2012

Targeting stem cells might be more effective in treating vascular disease

One of the top suspects behind killer vascular diseases is the victim of mistaken identity, according to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, who used genetic tracing to help hunt down the real culprit.

7 Jun 2012

Study describes how seizures in people with AS could be linked to brain cell activity imbalance

New research by scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine may have pinpointed an underlying cause of the seizures that affect 90 percent of people with Angelman syndrome (AS), a neurodevelopmental disorder.

7 Jun 2012

New research into cell-damaging effects of Huntington's disease

New research into the cell-damaging effects of Huntington's disease suggests a potentially new approach for identifying possible therapeutic targets for treating the nerve-destroying disorder.

7 Jun 2012

Study suggests link between fungi and ulcerative colitis

Cedars-Sinai researchers say their examination of the fungi in the intestines suggests an important link between these microbes and inflammatory diseases such as ulcerative colitis.

7 Jun 2012

Arrowhead initiates final IND-enabling steps for ARC-520 to treat HBV

Arrowhead Research Corporation, a targeted therapeutics company, today announced that its hepatitis B virus (HBV) program has completed all internal preclinical requirements and has named a clinical candidate.

7 Jun 2012

Pioneering new test can quickly diagnose coeliac disease

Coeliac disease affects millions of people worldwide, but many sufferers are not aware they have the condition or may have been misdiagnosed with other illnesses. A pioneering new test developed with EU-funding should soon be available in hospitals, offering an accurate, quick, cost-effective diagnosis and monitoring solution.

6 Jun 2012

VGXI, OncoSec partner to produce interleukin-12 plasmid DNA

OncoSec Medical Inc., which is developing its advanced-stage OncoSec Medical System (OMS) ElectroOncology therapies to treat solid tumors, announced today that the Company has entered into an exclusive cGMP manufacturing agreement with VGXI Inc. (VGXI) for the production of interleukin-12 plasmid DNA.

6 Jun 2012

Study identifies existence of an antitumor molecule that originates within SMYD3 oncogene

A common point in all human tumors is that they produce an activation of oncogenes, genes that cause cancer and they also cause a loss of function of the protective genes, called anti-oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes. Normally both categories of anticancer and procancer genes are in different regions of our chromosomes.

6 Jun 2012

Nicotinamide riboside can protect against obesity

A natural ingredient found in milk can protect against obesity even as mice continue to enjoy diets that are high in fat. The researchers who report their findings in the June Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, liken this milk ingredient to a new kind of vitamin.

6 Jun 2012

Jennerex announces data from JX-594 clinical studies on cancer

Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic virus products for cancer, today announced that data relating to the company's oncolytic virus therapy for cancer was featured in three separate abstracts during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting currently taking place in Chicago, Illinois.

5 Jun 2012

Results from Celgene’s ABRAXANE plus gemcitabine clinical study on resectable pancreatic cancer

Celgene International Sàrl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation today announced results from a study of ABRAXANE(paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin-bound) in combination with gemcitabine in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer.

5 Jun 2012

Alnylam announces results from ALN-VSP Phase I study on liver cancers

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced results today from its Phase I extension study with ALN-VSP, a systemically delivered RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of advanced solid tumors with liver involvement.

5 Jun 2012

Senesco reports on the progress of SNS01-T Phase 1b/2a study for multiple myeloma

Senesco Technologies, Inc. reported today on the progress of its Phase 1b/2a study for the treatment of multiple myeloma, which is the subject of a poster presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

5 Jun 2012

Chatham, Baxter partner to develop and commercialize hemophilia B gene therapy treatment

Baxter International Inc. today announced that it has entered into an exclusive global agreement with Chatham Therapeutics, LLC, an affiliate of Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio), for the development and commercialization of potential treatments for hemophilia B utilizing Chatham's gene therapy technology.

From Baxter International Inc. 5 Jun 2012

New region on the X chromosome plays a role in migraine

New hope has arrived for migraine sufferers following a Griffith University study with the people of Norfolk Island. Led by Professor Lyn Griffiths from the University's Griffith Health Institute, the team has identified a new region on the X chromosome as playing a role in migraine.

5 Jun 2012

Australian medical researchers hope to block Hendra virus in humans

Australian medical researchers are on the brink of an effective human treatment for the deadly Hendra virus, and potentially the closely related Nipah virus, which has killed more than two hundred people in South East Asia.

5 Jun 2012

$Ambit, Astellas commence quizartinib Phase 2b trial in relapsed/refractory AML$

Ambit, Astellas commence quizartinib Phase 2b trial in relapsed/refractory AML

Astellas Pharma Inc. and Ambit Biosciences Corporation today announced the initiation of a Phase 2b open-label clinical trial of quizartinib as monotherapy in patients with relapsed and refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with FLT3-ITD mutations.

5 Jun 2012