Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Independent SMB recommends continuance of Allovectin-7 Phase 3 trial for metastatic melanoma

Vical Incorporated today announced that an independent Safety Monitoring Board (SMB) for the company's Phase 3 trial of Allovectin-7® in patients with metastatic melanoma has completed the trial's fourth scheduled safety analysis and recommended that the trial continue per the protocol.

16 Jun 2010

Many Huntington's disease patients suffer from weight loss, sleeping problems

An aggregating protein causes many of the symptoms of Huntington's disease, an incurable and frequently fatal brain disorder. Mosaic winner Ahmad Aziz discovered that the abnormal protein also aggregates in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system.

16 Jun 2010

Study demonstrates mechanism behind hijacking of TNF controlled response to tumours

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered how two genes can 'hijack' control of part of the body's defences against cancer, helping them grow and spread.

16 Jun 2010

Florida State University researcher explores role of key protein in cell division

A Florida State University researcher has identified the important role that a key protein plays in cell division, and that discovery could lead to a greater understanding of stem cells.

16 Jun 2010

ISB, GIND collaborate on whole-genome sequencing to identify drug targets for Huntington's Disease

The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) of Seattle, WA, is collaborating with the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) and its Taube-Koret Center for Huntington's Disease Research to use whole-genome sequencing to identify genes and novel drug targets related to the onset and progression of Huntington's disease (HD). The research team, led by GIND associate director and senior investigator Steven Finkbeiner, MD, PhD, will also use induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from patients with HD to screen for drugs that might delay, prevent, or even reverse this devastating condition.

16 Jun 2010

NIH awards Geisinger $1.8M grant for study of nuclear ErbB3 protein

A new five-year, $1.8 million National Institutes of Health grant awarded to staff scientist Nikolaos Tapinos, M.D., Ph.D., of Geisinger's Sigfried and Janet Weis Center for Research will be used to study the role of nuclear ErbB3 protein during development of the nervous system and in response to nerve injury.

16 Jun 2010

High vitamin B levels in blood reduce lung cancer risk: Study

Regular intake of Vitamin B complex can reduce the risk of getting lung cancer, researchers have found. The research paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association however emphasized that quitting smoking was the best method to reduce the risk of lung cancer. It is too early to say that vitamin supplements can actually prevent lung cancer say researchers. Lung cancer kills nearly 1.3 million people globally each year according to the World Health Organization and 10 to 15 percent of smokers develop lung cancer.

15 Jun 2010

Robert Zucker to receive RSA Distinguished Researcher Award

Robert Zucker, Ph.D., director of the University of Michigan Addiction Research Center, and the Substance Abuse Section in the Department of Psychiatry, has been named recipient of the 31st annual Research Society on Alcoholism Distinguished Researcher Award. The award is given to an individual whose research has made significant contributions to the understanding of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, and whose body of work demonstrates leadership in the field.

15 Jun 2010

Alexion's Soliris may benefit patients with thrombotic microangiopathy from uncontrolled complement activation

Researchers reported today that Soliris® (eculizumab), a first-in-class terminal complement inhibitor developed by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., may provide clinical benefits to patients with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) resulting from uncontrolled complement activation. TMA, the formation of blood clots in capillaries and small arteries, can lead to life-threatening damage in multiple organs including kidney failure, thrombocytopenia (abnormally low platelet count) and anemia.

15 Jun 2010

Researchers study how APOE4 becomes a potent risk factor for Alzheimer's disease

A molecule implicated in Alzheimer's disease interferes with brain cells by making them unable to "recycle" the surface receptors that respond to incoming signals, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

15 Jun 2010

Tel Aviv University research suggests link between IVF treatments and autism

The first "test tube baby" was born in 1978. With advances in reproductive science, an estimated one percent of all American babies are now born each year through in vitro fertilization. But IVF and other assisted fertility treatments may be solving one problem by creating another, suggests new evidence from Tel Aviv University.

15 Jun 2010

Pediatric oncologist describes current state of science in combating neuroblastoma

Pediatric oncologist John M. Maris, M.D., describes the current state of the science in combating neuroblastoma, the most common solid cancer of early childhood. In his article in the June 10, 2010 New England Journal of Medicine, "Recent Advances in Neuroblastoma," Maris reviews the field's latest research knowledge—much of it based on efforts by Maris and his colleagues at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

15 Jun 2010

Entomologists to develop genetically engineered bacteria for killing mosquito larvae

Roughly half the world's population still lives in areas at risk of malaria transmission. Even in the United States, 1500 cases of malaria are reported annually on average.

15 Jun 2010

CLC-5 protein plays active part in inherited kidney disorder: Scientists

Scientists from the University of Leeds have discovered the mechanisms of a protein known to play an active part in the inherited kidney disorder, Dent's disease. The findings provide a new focus for future therapies for the disease, for which there is currently no cure.

15 Jun 2010

Parkinson’s disease linked to gene variant and pesticide: Study

Researchers from France reported in their new study that bad genes and exposure to certain banned pesticides could be blamed for development of Parkinson’s disease in men. In their study, published in the Archives of Neurology journal they show that men exposed to pesticides such as DDT and who had inherited genes for Parkinson’s disease were three and a half times more likely to develop Parkinson's than those with the normal version of the gene.

14 Jun 2010

DV Biologics executes agreement with System Biosciences to develop iPSC lines

DV Biologics LLC announced today that it has executed an agreement with System Biosciences LLC for the development of human-derived disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cell lines.

14 Jun 2010

USPTO issues patent covering methods for enhancing RNA silencing activity of RNAi agents

Silence Therapeutics plc announces the issuance of United States patent 7,732,593, titled Methods and Compositions For Controlling Efficacy of RNA Silencing, by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The issued patent, which is based on the seminal research of Phillip D. Zamore, Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Gretchen Stone Cook Chair of Biomedical Sciences, and Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology at University of Massachusetts Medical School, generally claims methods of enhancing the RNA silencing activity of RNA interference (RNAi) agents through certain structural modifications.

14 Jun 2010

Children born after ART at increased risk of congenital malformation

Couples considering undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment should be informed about the increased risk of congenital malformation posed by the use of ART, the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics will hear today (Monday). Dr. G-raldine Viot, a clinical geneticist at the Maternit- Port Royal hospital, Paris, France, will say that she believed that most doctors working in ART clinics in France only told couples about such risks if they were asked specific questions.

14 Jun 2010

Researchers find new way to prevent blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have found a way to use a radical new type of gene therapy to prevent blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa, giving hope to the estimated 100,000 Americans who suffer from this debilitating disease.

14 Jun 2010

CNVs increases patients' susceptibility to severe sepsis

Genetic makeup has been identified as a key factor leading to the development of sepsis, a systemic inflammatory reaction that occurs during infection. Sepsis is considered severe when associated with organ dysfunction.

14 Jun 2010

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Independent SMB recommends continuance of Allovectin-7 Phase 3 trial for metastatic melanoma

Many Huntington's disease patients suffer from weight loss, sleeping problems

Study demonstrates mechanism behind hijacking of TNF controlled response to tumours

Florida State University researcher explores role of key protein in cell division

ISB, GIND collaborate on whole-genome sequencing to identify drug targets for Huntington's Disease

NIH awards Geisinger $1.8M grant for study of nuclear ErbB3 protein

High vitamin B levels in blood reduce lung cancer risk: Study

Robert Zucker to receive RSA Distinguished Researcher Award

Alexion's Soliris may benefit patients with thrombotic microangiopathy from uncontrolled complement activation

Researchers study how APOE4 becomes a potent risk factor for Alzheimer's disease

Tel Aviv University research suggests link between IVF treatments and autism

Pediatric oncologist describes current state of science in combating neuroblastoma

Entomologists to develop genetically engineered bacteria for killing mosquito larvae

CLC-5 protein plays active part in inherited kidney disorder: Scientists

Parkinson’s disease linked to gene variant and pesticide: Study

DV Biologics executes agreement with System Biosciences to develop iPSC lines

USPTO issues patent covering methods for enhancing RNA silencing activity of RNAi agents

Children born after ART at increased risk of congenital malformation

Researchers find new way to prevent blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa

CNVs increases patients' susceptibility to severe sepsis

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

Evolving spectrophotometry for modern biopharma workflows

Scaling B-cell cloning workflows for antibody development

Fluidics in Modern Healthcare & Medical Device Innovation