Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Discovery of key molecular target in age-related macular degeneration

A team of researchers led by Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati at the University of Kentucky has discovered a biological marker for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in older adults.

15 Jun 2009

New discovery on Huntington's disease

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered how the mutated huntingtin gene acts on the nervous system to create the devastation of Huntington's disease. The report of their findings is available in Nature Neuroscience online.

15 Jun 2009

Scientists gain new insights into the genetic susceptibility of multiple sclerosis

Australian and New Zealand researchers have accelerated research into Multiple Sclerosis by discovering two new locations of genes which will help to unravel the causes of MS and other autoimmune disease.

15 Jun 2009

A new way to tackle age-related macular degeneration

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine in collaboration with lead investigators at the University of Kentucky have identified a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in older Americans.

15 Jun 2009

Discovery of key gene in deadly inflammatory breast cancer

Aggressive, deadly and often misdiagnosed, inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is the most lethal form of primary breast cancer, often striking women in their prime and causing death within 18 to 24 months.

15 Jun 2009

Gene evolution process discovered

One of the mechanisms governing how our physical features and behavioural traits have evolved over centuries has been discovered by researchers at the University of Leeds.

15 Jun 2009

Scientists launch Gene Expression Atlas

Today, researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) launch a new database, the Gene Expression Atlas, which allows scientists to search and compare gene expression data at unprecedented detail and scope. Observing how gene expression varies in different cell types, tissues and under disease conditions can help researchers understand gene function and to develop new drugs and therapies.

15 Jun 2009

Research leads to advanced trials of new cancer treatment

Prof. Hochberg was successful in isolating the H19 gene in humans and determining that it is significantly expressed in over 33 different forms of cancer, including superficial bladder carcinoma and pancreatic, ovarian and metastatic liver cancer, while laying dormant and non-expressed in non-cancerous cells.

15 Jun 2009

Single gene found to control growth of some cancers

Research led by Ashok Aiyar, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, showing that a single gene can control growth in cancers related to the Epstein-Barr virus and that existing therapeutics can inactivate it, will be published in the June 12, 2009 online issue of PLoS Pathogens.

15 Jun 2009

Don't stress when the going gets tough - you'll go gray!

A study by Japanese researchers has revealed that a certain kind of stress damages the hair - they say "genotoxic stress" damages DNA by depleting the melanocyte stem cells (MSCs) within hair follicles that are responsible for making the pigment-producing cells.

14 Jun 2009

Progress seen in some African HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment programs, U.N. Special Envoy says at World Economic Forum on Africa

Several African countries have successfully scaled up their HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs, U.N. Special Envoy for HIV and AIDS in Africa Elizabeth Mataka said during a media briefing at the World Economic Forum on Africa being held in Cape Town, South Africa, the ZANIS/Lusaka Times reports. Zambia and Botswana were among some of the countries that have made significant progress in southern Africa, according to Mataka.

13 Jun 2009

Estrogen receptor status may modify how a protein that spurs leukemia behaves in the breast

A protein known to play a role in growth of some types of leukemia appears to have a mixed function in breast cancer development, say researchers from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC).

13 Jun 2009

Researcher looks for link between gene and pregnancy weight gain

Even before last week’s release of revised pregnancy weight-gain guidelines, a researcher at the University of Rochester School of Nursing was studying why certain women gain more pounds than others and searching for ways to help them maintain healthy weights.

13 Jun 2009

Study shows promise for new cancer-stopping therapy

Researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Johns Hopkins University have discovered that delivering a small molecule that is highly expressed in normal tissues but lost in diseased cells can result in tumor suppression.

12 Jun 2009

Genotoxic stress makes your hair go gray

Those pesky graying hairs that tend to crop up with age really are signs of stress, reveals a new report in the June 12 issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication.

12 Jun 2009

Yeast 'DNA damage sensor' provides chemotherapy resistance clue

Cancer Research UK scientists have been part of an international collaboration that has revealed the structure of a protein found in simple yeast cells and shown how it flags up damaged DNA for repair. The results of their study are published in Nature*. The finding may provide clues as to how some cancer cells become resistant to certain chemotherapy drugs.

11 Jun 2009

Researchers discover how prion protein damages brain cells

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have gained a major insight into how the rogue protein responsible for mad cow disease and related neurological illnesses destroys healthy brain tissue.

11 Jun 2009

The 'hijacking mechanism' of HIV-1 pinpointed

Researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital - along with colleagues at the University of Manitoba and the University of British Columbia - may have found a chink in the armour of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the microorganism which causes AIDS. They have pinpointed the key cellular machinery co-opted by HIV-1 to hijack the human cell for its own benefit.

10 Jun 2009

Potential new way to treat childhood epilepsy

Rutgers researchers have discovered a potential new way to treat childhood epilepsy using a widely available therapeutic drug.

10 Jun 2009

51 genes predict breast cancer survival

It may be possible in the future to use a specimen from the tumour to determine which patients with breast cancer have a good chance of overcoming the disease, and which patients should be given more intensive treatments.

10 Jun 2009