Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Relationship discovered between tumors and depression

In a study that could help explain the connections between depression and cancer, researchers at the University of Chicago have used an animal model to find, for the first time, a biological link between tumors and negative mood changes.

18 May 2009

Discovery in colon cancer prevention

A new study finds that individuals who have low expression of the "Celebrex gene," 15-PGDH, are actually resistant to Celebrex treatment when used to prevent colon cancer.

18 May 2009

Discovery of molecular pathway behind invasive prostate cancers

University of Cincinnati (UC) cancer and cell biologists have identified a new molecular pathway key to the development of invasive prostate cancers.

18 May 2009

Research brings quick, precise view of cell development and gene expression

A team of University of Oregon biologists, using fruit flies, has created a way to isolate RNA from specific cells, opening a new window on how gene expression drives normal development and disease-causing breakdowns.

18 May 2009

Two new genes decide when a girl starts menstruation

An international team of researchers have identified two genes that are involved in determining when girls begin menstruation.

18 May 2009

Discovery of genes that determine when girls start menstruation

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, along with collaborators from research institutions across Europe and the United States, have for the first time identified two genes that are involved in determining when girls begin menstruation. The work will be published in Nature Genetics this weekend.

17 May 2009

Gene transfer technology may lead to an HIV vaccine

A research team may have broken the stubborn impasse that has frustrated the invention of an effective HIV vaccine, by using an approach that bypasses the usual path followed by vaccine developers.

17 May 2009

Genetic basis for environmental and occupational respiratory diseases

Exposure to particulate matter has been recognized as a contributing factor to lung cancer development for some time, but a new study indicates inhalation of certain particulates can actually cause some genes to become reprogrammed, affecting both the development and the outcome of cancers and other diseases.

17 May 2009

Genetic marker predicts earlier onset of prostate cancer in Caucasian men

Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have identified a genetic marker that is associated with an earlier onset of prostate cancer in Caucasian men who have a family history of prostate cancer. If the data are confirmed, the marker may help clinicians personalize prostate cancer screening.

17 May 2009

New system to deliver siRNA into primary cells

In technology that promises to one day allow drug delivery to be tailored to an individual patient and a particular cancer tumor, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have developed an efficient system for delivering siRNA into primary cells.

17 May 2009

Genetic signature may predict patient response to GIST therapy

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center uncovered a genetic pattern that may help predict how gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) patients respond to the targeted therapy imatinib mesylate (Gleevec). Moreover, their findings point to genes that could be suppressed in order to make these tumors respond more readily to imatinib.

15 May 2009

Researchers unravel key mechanism in pathogenesis of osteoporosis

Osteoporosis, or bone loss, is a disease that is most common in the elderly population, affecting women more often than men. Until now, it was not clear exactly how the disease develops.

15 May 2009

Common gene variation explains why some women may find it more difficult to quit smoking during pregnancy

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School and the University of Bristol, using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and the Exeter Family Study of Childhood Health, have identified a common genetic variant that explains why some women may find it more difficult to quit smoking during pregnancy.

15 May 2009

Family-based prevention program helps teens override a gene linked to risky behavior

A family-based prevention program designed to help adolescents avoid substance use and other risky behavior proved especially effective for a group of young teens with a genetic risk factor contributing toward such behavior, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia.

15 May 2009

Australian scientist suggests Swine flu an accident in the lab

The suggestion by an Australian virologist that the new flu virus, H1N1 or swine flu, could have been the result of a laboratory accident has been dismissed by Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the deputy director general of the World Health Organization (WHO).

14 May 2009

HIV drugs from plants

A research team at Örebro University in Sweden has succeeded in changing the genes in plants so they can function as a vaccine against HIV.

14 May 2009

Pathway opens up cure for Fanconi anemia

In patients with Fanconi anaemia (FA) one of the DNA repair mechanisms that normally protects us against cancer no longer works adequately. Dutch researcher Najim Ameziane set out to find the genes responsible for this defect.

14 May 2009

Researchers demonstrate the immunological effects of ginseng

Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Translational Medicine have shown that the herb, much used in traditional Chinese and other Asian medicine, does have anti-inflammatory effects.

13 May 2009

Medicare hospital fund will be insolvent by 2017, two years earlier than expected, trustees say

The trust fund that Medicare uses to pay for beneficiaries' hospital care will be insolvent by 2017, as the program since last year has been paying out more than it collects in taxes and interest, in part due to the worsening economy, according to a Medicare Payment Advisory Commission report issued Tuesday, the Washington Times reports.

13 May 2009

Research shows how cocaine regulates gene expression in a crucial reward region

The study, published by Cell Press in the May 14th issue of the journal Neuron, provides exciting insight into the molecular pathways regulated by cocaine and may lead to new strategies for battling drug addiction.

13 May 2009