Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Worldwide collaboration leads to treatment for rare skin disorder

Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute, in collaboration with a worldwide group of physicians and scientists, have discovered a remarkable treatment for a rare, yet debilitating, skin condition.

25 Nov 2009

Medical advances abound while surgeons report concerns about medical errors

The Wall Street Journal reports on "20 health-care advances to give thanks for this Thanksgiving." Among the most key: "Life expectancy in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 77.9 years in 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available, continuing a long upward trend. (That's 75.3 years for men and 80.4 years for women.) ... Death rates dropped significantly for eight of the 15 leading causes of death in the U.S., including cancer, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, accidents, diabetes, homicides and pneumonia, from 2006 to 2007."

24 Nov 2009

Roche, Spanish Department of Health to collaborate in Medical Genome Project

Roche and the Department of Health of Junta de Andalucía, Spain have signed an agreement for a cooperation in the Medical Genome Project (MGP), a research project created to analyse the genomes of people with rare diseases and identify the defective gene or genes causing the disease and its behaviour.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 24 Nov 2009

StemCells commences patient recruitment for a Phase I clinical trial of HuCNS-SC in PMD

StemCells, Inc. announced today that it has commenced patient recruitment for a Phase I clinical trial designed to test the safety and preliminary efficacy of its HuCNS-SC® purified human neural stem cells in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease (PMD), a neurological disorder that primarily afflicts children. The study is being conducted at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Children’s Hospital, one of the leading medical centers in the United States for neonatology, pediatric neurology and neurosurgery.

24 Nov 2009

Medical center leaders celebrate BRTI's 25th anniversary

Considered a highly risky and controversial medical procedure only 25 years ago, solid organ transplantation is now a life-saving mainstream operation thanks to the extraordinary men and women who gathered at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas on Nov. 11.

24 Nov 2009

BioAlliance Pharma's AMEP biotherapy reduces both tumour growth and tumour angiogenesis

BioAlliance Pharma SA, a company dedicated to the treatment and supportive care of cancer and AIDS patients, has presented preclinical results on its new biotherapy, AMEP™ for advanced and metastatic melanoma at the ESGCT (European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy) in Hannover (November 21 to 25, 2009).

24 Nov 2009

Scientists determine how insulin resistant drugs alter core biochemical pathways through systems biology approach

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego recently offered the sharpest-yet picture of how core biochemical pathways in skeletal muscle cells and fat cells are altered in people who suffer from insulin resistance-a primary defect in type 2 diabetes and obesity. Taking a systems biology approach, the bioengineers and medical researchers also determined how a common class of drugs for treating insulin resistance-TZDs-alter these same core pathways.

24 Nov 2009

NIGMS invests $42.3 million in "Grand Opportunities" grant

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is investing $42.3 million for grants in scientific areas it identified as "Grand Opportunities (GO)." NIH developed the GO grant program to stimulate biomedical research and the economy using funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act).

24 Nov 2009

Health Heritage: New website for maintaining family's health history

A team of researchers at the University of Virginia received funding from the National Cancer Institute, an agency of the National Institutes of Health, to enhance a Web site called Health Heritage®. This site will enable family members to enter their family medical histories so that other family members and their health care professionals can use this information while dealing with medical issues.

24 Nov 2009

Vitamin D: A multi-purpose nutrient for overall health

A string of recent discoveries about the multiple health benefits of vitamin D has renewed interest in this multi-purpose nutrient, increased awareness of the huge numbers of people who are deficient in it, spurred research and even led to an appreciation of it as "nature's antibiotic."

24 Nov 2009

New initiative launched to take care of patients with sickle cell disease

The Medical College of Georgia is leading an initiative that could result in a paradigm shift in the care of patients with sickle cell disease.

23 Nov 2009

Mutated IDH1 gene linked to the progression of gliomas

23 Nov 2009

Mutated IDH1 gene has novel enzyme activity consistent with cancer-causing gene: Study

Agios Pharmaceuticals today announced that its scientists have established, for the first time, that the mutated IDH1 gene has a novel enzyme activity consistent with a cancer-causing gene, or oncogene. This breakthrough discovery shows that the mutated form of IDH1 produces a metabolite, 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), which may contribute to the formation and malignant progression of gliomas, the most common type of brain cancers.

23 Nov 2009

Asterand extends its collaboration agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Asterand plc, a leading provider of human tissue and human tissue-based services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies engaged in drug discovery research, today announced that it has extended its collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) for access to Asterand's products and services for up to three years.

23 Nov 2009

AdnaTest BreastCancer Select & Detect kit now available in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

OncoVista Innovative Therapies, Inc., reported that the AdnaTest BreastCancer Select & Detect kit, manufactured by AdnaGen AG (Langenhagen, Germany), is now available for research as well as for pay-out-of-pocket patients in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

23 Nov 2009

Cellular prion protein and epileptic seizures: researchers find new role

Cellular prion protein (PrPc) plays an essential role in maintaining neurotransmitter homeostasis in the central nervous system. This discovery has been made possible by the observation that both a deficiency and an excess of the protein have a considerable effect on this homeostasis.

23 Nov 2009

Medical students and biomedical scientists to attend 8th World Congress on Trauma, Shock, Inflammation and Sepsis

The 8th World Congress on Trauma, Shock, Inflammation and Sepsis – TSIS 2010 – will take place from March 9th to13th 2010 in the Auditorium Tract of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Campus Grosshadern, in Munich/Germany.

23 Nov 2009

Overexpression of NCX1 does not by itself lead to contraction abnormalities in the heart

Researchers from the Center for Translational Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University have found that the overexpression of a sodium/calcium exchanger, without changes in other ion transport pathways commonly observed in heart failure, does not by itself lead to contraction abnormalities in the heart.

23 Nov 2009

Gene deletion can increase common complication of bone marrow transplants

A commonly inherited gene deletion can increase the likelihood of immune complications following bone marrow transplantation, an international team of researchers reports in the November 22 advance online issue of Nature Genetics.

23 Nov 2009

Genes from same 'family' interact with each other to prevent skin cancer, says new study

CANCER RESEARCH UK scientists have shown, for the first time, how two genes from the same 'family' can interact with each other to stop cancer in its tracks - according to new findings published in Molecular Cell.

23 Nov 2009

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Worldwide collaboration leads to treatment for rare skin disorder

Medical advances abound while surgeons report concerns about medical errors

Roche, Spanish Department of Health to collaborate in Medical Genome Project

StemCells commences patient recruitment for a Phase I clinical trial of HuCNS-SC in PMD

Medical center leaders celebrate BRTI's 25th anniversary

BioAlliance Pharma's AMEP biotherapy reduces both tumour growth and tumour angiogenesis

Scientists determine how insulin resistant drugs alter core biochemical pathways through systems biology approach

NIGMS invests $42.3 million in "Grand Opportunities" grant

Health Heritage: New website for maintaining family's health history

Vitamin D: A multi-purpose nutrient for overall health

New initiative launched to take care of patients with sickle cell disease

Mutated IDH1 gene linked to the progression of gliomas

Mutated IDH1 gene has novel enzyme activity consistent with cancer-causing gene: Study

Asterand extends its collaboration agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb

AdnaTest BreastCancer Select & Detect kit now available in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Cellular prion protein and epileptic seizures: researchers find new role

Medical students and biomedical scientists to attend 8th World Congress on Trauma, Shock, Inflammation and Sepsis

Overexpression of NCX1 does not by itself lead to contraction abnormalities in the heart

Gene deletion can increase common complication of bone marrow transplants

Genes from same 'family' interact with each other to prevent skin cancer, says new study

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer