Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

ALR announces medical research grant awards to cure lupus

The Alliance for Lupus Research – the world's largest private funder of lupus research – today announced its most recent medical research grant awards, totaling $3.6 million, which support the ALR mission of finding better treatments and ultimately preventing and curing systemic lupus erythematosus, a debilitating autoimmune disease.

7 Apr 2011

USPTO issues notice of allowance to Mirna's mir34a patent application

Mirna Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has allowed patent claims related to the therapeutic application of the potent tumor suppressor microRNA, mir34a.

7 Apr 2011

FDA approves Horizant Extended-Release Tablets for Restless Legs Syndrome

GlaxoSmithKline and XenoPort, Inc. announced Wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Horizant™ (gabapentin enacarbil) Extended-Release Tablets for the treatment of moderate-to-severe primary Restless Legs Syndrome in adults. Horizant is not recommended for patients who are required to sleep during the daytime and remain awake at night.

7 Apr 2011

Asuragen launches InformThyroid, a panel of molecular markers

Asuragen, Inc. announced today the launch of Inform™Thyroid, a panel of molecular markers used on Fine Needle Aspirates (FNA) of thyroid nodules to aid physicians in the management of thyroid cancer.

6 Apr 2011

Record number of medicines for various cancers in clinical trials

A record 887 medicines for various of cancers are in clinical trials or awaiting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review—well over double the number in the pipeline just six years ago, according to a report unveiled today by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

6 Apr 2011

Having children early in life lowers lifetime risk of breast cancer

Women who have children, particularly early in life, have a lower lifetime risk of breast cancer compared with women who do not. Now, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have identified a gene expression pattern in breast tissue that differs between post-menopausal women who had children and post-menopausal women who did not.

6 Apr 2011

Under stressful conditions, presence of high levels of HER2 protein causes a decrease in autophagy

Research from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) on biological pathways that govern progression and treatment responsiveness of HER2 positive breast cancer is being presented at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) being held in Orlando this week. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

6 Apr 2011

Specific lipids in tumours linked to cancer progression and patient survival

Activation of lipid metabolism is an early event in carcinogenesis and a central hallmark of many cancers. However, the precise molecular composition of lipids in tumours remains generally poorly characterised. Scientists from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the Charité Hospital have found lipids in tumours which are associated with cancer progression.

6 Apr 2011

NYC scientists receive $420,000 S.L.E. Lupus Foundation grant for new research

New York City's S.L.E. Lupus Foundation is pleased to name the latest recipients of its Career Development and Basic Science Fellowships: Josephine Isgro, MD of Hospital for Special Surgery, Dipyaman Ganguly, PhD of Columbia University Medical Center, and Yi Yan, PhD of the Feinstein Institute at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Hospital.

6 Apr 2011

NEB, Sequenom sign deal to commercialize research tools for epigenetics

New England Biolabs, Inc. and Sequenom, Inc. jointly announce that they have signed a licensing and co-marketing agreement to commercialize research tools for epigenetics.

From New England Biolabs 6 Apr 2011

Scientists identify biological pathways that mediate IgA nephropathy

For the first time, researchers have found five regions in the human genome that increase susceptibility to immunoglobulin A nephropathy, a major cause of kidney failure worldwide - systematically identifying those that point to a tendency for IgA nephropathy, or a protection against it.

6 Apr 2011

Scientists develop new method to identify factors that suppress cancer gene expression

Tumor suppressor genes normally control the growth of cells, but cancer can spring up when these genes are silenced by certain chemical reactions that modify chromosomes.

6 Apr 2011

Lack or loss of SIRT3 protein induces proliferation of breast cancer cells

Research published in the Cancer Cell journal in March was a significant step in knowing the causes of cancer better, especially breast cancer, revealing that the lack or loss of a protein in the cells known as SIRT3, induces the proliferation of this disease and thereby, this protein can be an may be a therapeutic target in the development of effective therapies for cancer. The research was led by Dra. Marcia Haigis of the Harvard Medical School, with the participation of Dr. Arkaitz Carracedo, from the Proteomics Laboratory at CIC bioGUNE.

6 Apr 2011

Huntingtin protein is responsible for metabolic imbalances in hypothalamus

In Huntington's disease, the mutant protein known as huntingtin leads to the degeneration of a part of the brain known as the basal ganglia, causing the motor disturbances that represent one of the most defining features of the fatal disease.

6 Apr 2011

Zebrafish research suggests new drug targets and markers to help treat melanoma

Thanks to the zebrafish, there is new hope for people with melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer that is responsible for approximately 8,700 deaths each year in the United States.

5 Apr 2011

Ubiquitine D gene may be linked to celiac disease

Celiac disease (CD) involves intolerance to gluten and, consequently, suffering chronic illness in the small intestine. It is a genetic disorder, the immunological indications of which can be traced in the human body prior to the everyday activities of future sufferers being affected. For example, persons with genetic antecedents for CD develop antibodies against the gene tTG (the enzyme known as tissue transglutaminase), even before the illness becomes active, due to a cell reaction against gluten.

5 Apr 2011

Scientists effectively combine two methods used as vehicles to carry DNA into cell nuclei

Scientists at Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) and at the NYU College of Dentistry have discovered a biochemical version of a principle well known among confectioners. Call it the "peanut butter and chocolate" rule: Sometimes two things work better together than alone.

5 Apr 2011

Researchers identify genetic anomaly that may drive rare subset of prostate cancers

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a genetic anomaly that may drive the aggressive spread of a rare subset of prostate cancers.

5 Apr 2011

Preliminary discovery may help individualize prostate cancer screening in the future

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death among American men. Yet population-wide screening programs have not reduced the number of deaths from the disease. By focusing screening programs on the men who are at greatest risk for aggressive disease or diagnosis at a young age, researchers think they could improve mortality rates and personalize the screening approach.

5 Apr 2011

Scientists identify gene influencing levels of alcohol consumption

Scientists have identified a gene that appears to play a role in regulating how much alcohol people drink, in a study of over 47,000 people published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

5 Apr 2011