Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Scientists identify mechanism by which GBM promotes neurodegeneration

Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine have discovered a mechanism by which glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common form of brain cancer, promotes the loss of function or death of neurons, a process known as neurodegeneration.

4 Nov 2011

Penn research group receives NCI grant to establish BETRNet

A research group at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, led by John Lynch, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, has received a National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to establish a Barrett's esophagus translational research network (BETRNet) with Columbia University and the Mayo Clinic.

4 Nov 2011

Final results from Vertex KALYDECO second of two Phase 3 studies on CF

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced final results from the ENVISION study, the second of two pivotal Phase 3 studies of KALYDECO, a medicine in development that targets the defective protein that causes cystic fibrosis.

4 Nov 2011

Scientists identify gene responsible for abdominal aortic aneurysms

Medical scientists have for the first time identified a gene responsible for a fatal abdominal condition that afflicts tens of thousands of people across the world.

4 Nov 2011

Slowing aging by cleaning away old cells: Study

Researchers have found a novel way of reversing the aging process. They found that a special category of cells, known as senescent cells, are bad actors that promote the aging of the tissues. Cleansing the body of the cells, they hope, could postpone many of the diseases of aging. This could pave the way for drugs that would keep human tissues healthier longer, but it is unclear until further testing is done whether such drugs could eventually help people live longer.

3 Nov 2011

Cancer cells maintain rapid proliferation due to PK-M2 enzyme

Cancer cells maintain their life-style of extremely rapid growth and proliferation thanks to an enzyme called PK-M2 (pyruvate kinase M2) that alters the cells' ability to metabolize glucose - a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect.

3 Nov 2011

Gene therapy and stem cell transplantation successfully reverse hemophilia A

For the first time, researchers have combined gene therapy and stem cell transplantation to successfully reverse the severe, crippling bleeding disorder hemophilia A in large animals, opening the door to the development of new therapies for human patients.

3 Nov 2011

Senesco commences dosing in SNS01-T Phase 1b/2a clinical study for multiple myeloma

Senesco Technologies, Inc. today announced the initiation of patient dosing in its Phase 1b/2a clinical study of SNS01-T at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. The study is an open-label, multiple-dose, dose-escalation study which will evaluate the safety and tolerability of SNS01-T when administered by intravenous infusion to relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients.

3 Nov 2011

New study in fruit flies offers clues to delay human aging

One of the few reliable ways to extend an organism's lifespan, be it a fruit fly or a mouse, is to restrict calorie intake. Now, a new study in fruit flies is helping to explain why such minimal diets are linked to longevity and offering clues to the effects of aging on stem cell behavior.

3 Nov 2011

Study reveals what causes lysosome to overflow in Batten disease

Waste management is a big issue anywhere, but at the cellular level it can be a matter of life and death. A Weizmann Institute study, published in the Journal of Cell Biology, has revealed what causes a molecular waste container in the cell to overflow in Batten disease, a rare but fatal neurodegenerative disorder that begins in childhood.

3 Nov 2011

Exendin-4 drug could prevent later development of diabetes in children

Pediatric researchers who tested newborn animals with an existing human drug used in adults with diabetes report that this drug, when given very early in life, prevents diabetes from developing in adult animals. If this finding can be repeated in humans, it may become a way to prevent at-risk infants from developing type 2 diabetes.

3 Nov 2011

Researchers use diabetes drug to permanently reprogram insulin-producing cells

3 Nov 2011

Clinical-grade viral vector can cure choroideremia

Researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center and Nationwide Children's Hospital have developed a viral vector designed to deliver a gene into the eyes of people born with an inherited, progressive form of blindness that affects mainly males.

3 Nov 2011

Ivacaftor drug improves lung function in people with cystic fibrosis

A new study has confirmed that the drug, ivacaftor (VX-770), significantly improves lung function in some people with cystic fibrosis (CF). The results of the phase III clinical trial study, "A CFTR Potentiator in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis and the G551D Mutation," led by Bonnie W. Ramsey, MD of Seattle Children's Research Institute and the University of Washington, were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 Nov 2011

Nicotine might prime the brain to enhance behavioral effects of cocaine

A landmark study in mice identifies a biological mechanism that could help explain how tobacco products could act as gateway drugs, increasing a person's future likelihood of abusing cocaine and perhaps other drugs as well, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study is the first to show that nicotine might prime the brain to enhance the behavioral effects of cocaine.

3 Nov 2011

Exercise can prevent inherited obesity & obesity raises injury risk: Two studies

A new study has shown that having an obesity gene should not mean absolute obesity for individuals. The gene may be countered by physical activity.

2 Nov 2011

HRM curve analysis identifies patients at risk of MH

A new DNA test may make it much simpler to identify patients at risk of malignant hyperthermia (MH)—a rare but life-threatening complication of exposure to common anesthetics reports the November issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

2 Nov 2011

Bacteria rapidly exchange genetic information related to human disease and antibiotic resistance

Much as people can exchange information instantaneously in the digital age, bacteria associated with humans and their livestock appear to freely and rapidly exchange genetic material related to human disease and antibiotic resistance through a mechanism called horizontal gene transfer (HGT).

2 Nov 2011

Scientists identify distinct tobacco transporter for nicotine metabolism

A team of Virginia Tech and Purdue University scientists have identified a distinct transporter used by tobacco plant cells for nicotine metabolism. The research appears in the Oct. 17 online before print issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in the article, "A tobacco nicotine uptake permease effects alkaloid metabolism."

2 Nov 2011

TERE1 gene mutation also contributes to invasive bladder cancer

Research conducted by Dr. Jayne S. Weiss, Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and colleagues has found that a defect in a gene involved in a rare disease of the cornea also contributes to the progression of invasive bladder cancer.

2 Nov 2011