Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Researchers grow mouth lining into pieces of bio-bandage

University of Michigan researchers are testing a new procedure in which they can take a tiny piece of a person's mouth lining, grow it into a dollar-bill sized piece of tissue and graft that expanded piece into the donor's mouth to heal a wound.

5 Oct 2004

Interleukin-6 has potential as a therapeutic drug in treating metabolic disorders such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis

For the most of the past century, researchers have searched for a muscle-contraction-induced factor, which mediates some of the exercise effects in other tissues and organs such as the liver and adipose tissue.

5 Oct 2004

Moderate exercise in mice after they were infected with influenza protects them from dying

University of Illinois researchers report that four consecutive days of moderate exercise in mice after they were infected with influenza protects them from dying, compared with mice that didn’t exercise.

5 Oct 2004

University of Florida researchers reveal secret lives of genes during spinal injury

The body attempts to heal a damaged spinal cord in much the same way it repairs skin after simple cuts and scrapes, an insight that may lead to new treatments for the thousands of people paralyzed each year because of spinal cord injuries, say scientists at the University of Florida Health Science Center.

5 Oct 2004

Significant progress in development of an animal model of smallpox that closely resembles human disease

Scientists have made significant progress in developing an animal model of smallpox that closely resembles human disease, which will be necessary for testing of future vaccines and potential treatments.

5 Oct 2004

Richard Axel has won the 2004 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine

Richard Axel of the Columbia University Medical Center has won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Linda B. Buck of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for clarifying how the olfactory system works.

5 Oct 2004

Linda Buck has been named winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine

Linda Buck, Ph.D., a member of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Basic Sciences Division, has been named winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

5 Oct 2004

Fourth gene found for distal muscular dystrophy

MDA grantees Peter Hedera, a neurologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and Nigel Laing, a molecular biologist at the University of Western Australia, were part of a team that identified a fourth gene that, when flawed, leads to distal muscular dystrophy (DD).

4 Oct 2004

Researchers pinpoint genetic cause of Timothy syndrome

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have pinpointed the genetic cause of a devastating but rare childhood disorder, called Timothy syndrome, which underlies a form of severe cardiac arrhythmia.

4 Oct 2004

Artificial neural networks and DNA microarrays to successfully predict clinical outcomes of neuroblastoma patients

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), have used artificial neural networks (ANNs) and DNA microarrays to successfully predict the clinical outcome of patients diagnosed with neuroblastoma (NB).

4 Oct 2004

Vitamin supplements not effective in protecting against gastro-intestinal cancer

A systematic review and meta-analysis (pooled analysis) of previously published randomised trials in this week’s issue of THE LANCET provides strong evidence that antioxidant supplements (such as vitamin supplements) are not effective in protecting against gastro-intestinal cancer.

30 Sep 2004

Berkeley searches for AIDS cure in a Samoan indigenous tree

The University of California, Berkeley, has signed an agreement with the Samoan government to isolate from an indigenous tree the gene for a promising anti-AIDS drug and to share any royalties from sale of a gene-derived drug with the people of Samoa.

30 Sep 2004

One in five people in the developed world will die of the diseases we call cancer

What they die of is not one disease, but a bewildering array of cancers, each of which behaves differently, grows differently and - crucially - responds to treatment differently.

29 Sep 2004

Scientists embark on a five-year study of the effects of soy isoflavones found in dietary supplements on various body tissues

A multidisciplinary team of scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is embarking on a comprehensive five-year study of the effects of soy isoflavones found in dietary supplements on various body tissues.

29 Sep 2004

Scientists discover a record number of proteins for the highly infectious and stealthy human cytomegalovirus

Scientists have discovered a record number of proteins for one of the largest and most complex viruses, the highly infectious and stealthy human cytomegalovirus, a team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Oregon Health & Science University reported today in the October Journal of Virology.

29 Sep 2004

Cancer vaccine based on listeria bacteria shows promise

An experimental cancer vaccine using defanged listeria bacteria is showing great promise in animal studies, successfully treating new cancers that have spread into the lungs of mice.

29 Sep 2004

Two types of thyroid cancer can be readily identified by differences in only a few genes

Two types of thyroid cancer that are closely related and sometimes difficult to distinguish can be readily identified by differences in only a few genes, new research shows.

29 Sep 2004

Genetic abnormalities have a major impact on obesity

Abnormalities in the gene that regulates body weight have a "major" impact on the tendency to obesity, bumping up the body mass index (BMI) score, reveals research in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

29 Sep 2004

Cutting levels of household allergens is unlikely to have much impact on childhood asthma

Cutting levels of household allergens, such as cat dander and dust mite, is unlikely to have much impact on the subsequent development of childhood asthma and respiratory allergies, suggests research in Thorax.

29 Sep 2004

Clusters of genes within human aortas appear to predict risk for atherosclerosis

Duke University Medical Center researchers have identified specific clusters of genes within human aortas that appear to predict with great specificity which patients may be at highest risk for developing atherosclerosis, as well as the severity of the disease.

28 Sep 2004

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Researchers grow mouth lining into pieces of bio-bandage

Interleukin-6 has potential as a therapeutic drug in treating metabolic disorders such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis

Moderate exercise in mice after they were infected with influenza protects them from dying

University of Florida researchers reveal secret lives of genes during spinal injury

Significant progress in development of an animal model of smallpox that closely resembles human disease

Richard Axel has won the 2004 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine

Linda Buck has been named winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine

Fourth gene found for distal muscular dystrophy

Researchers pinpoint genetic cause of Timothy syndrome

Artificial neural networks and DNA microarrays to successfully predict clinical outcomes of neuroblastoma patients

Vitamin supplements not effective in protecting against gastro-intestinal cancer

Berkeley searches for AIDS cure in a Samoan indigenous tree

One in five people in the developed world will die of the diseases we call cancer

Scientists embark on a five-year study of the effects of soy isoflavones found in dietary supplements on various body tissues

Scientists discover a record number of proteins for the highly infectious and stealthy human cytomegalovirus

Cancer vaccine based on listeria bacteria shows promise

Two types of thyroid cancer can be readily identified by differences in only a few genes

Genetic abnormalities have a major impact on obesity

Cutting levels of household allergens is unlikely to have much impact on childhood asthma

Clusters of genes within human aortas appear to predict risk for atherosclerosis

Optimizing the treatment of epilepsy patients

Stand Up To Cancer; An Interview with Chris Draft

‘Moving molecule’ therapy for severe spinal cord injury