Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Epigenetic mark guides stem cells toward their destiny

Not all stem cells are completely blank slates. Some, known as adult stem cells, have already partially embraced their fates, and are capable of becoming only cells of a particular type of tissue.

20 Mar 2009

Step towards new cancer drugs

The gene Myc is an important factor for the growth of organisms by cell division.

20 Mar 2009

Paradigm shift in the regulation of immune response

Over the past decade various pieces of the puzzle how signal transmission controls immunity have been coming together.

20 Mar 2009

Epigenetic mark guides stem cells toward their destiny

Not all stem cells are completely blank slates. Some, known as adult stem cells, have already partially embraced their fates and are capable of becoming only cells of a particular type of tissue. So how do these tissue-specific stem cells restrict their fate?

19 Mar 2009

Understanding mental illness through gene-environment interactions

Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, is very pleased to present a special section of its February 1st issue devoted to fundamental new insights into epigenetics, a field of research devoted to understanding how the environment can produce long-lasting or even heritable changes in gene function without altering the DNA sequence.

17 Mar 2009

Superbug complicates treatment of infections in cystic fibrosis

The unexpected behaviour of a family of "superbugs" called the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) could have implications for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients.

17 Mar 2009

Intelligence is strongly influenced by the quality of the brain's axons

They say a picture tells a thousand stories, but can it also tell how smart you are? Actually, say UCLA researchers, it can.

17 Mar 2009

Researchers clone key sperm-binding proteins

New treatments for infertility could be closer to reality, thanks to a discovery from scientists at the Université de Montréal and Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Centre.

17 Mar 2009

MicroRNA undermines tumor suppression

Scientists at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the National University of Singapore have discovered the first microRNA (miRNA) capable of directly tamping down the activity of the well known tumor-suppressor gene, p53, While p53 functions to prevent tumor formation, the p53 gene is thought to malfunction in more than 50% of cancerous tumors.

17 Mar 2009

MRSA study suggests strategy shift needed to develop effective therapeutics

USA300-the major epidemic strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) causing severe infections in the United States during the past decade-inherits its destructiveness directly from a forefather strain of the bacterium called USA500 rather than randomly acquiring harmful genes from other MRSA strains.

17 Mar 2009

Hearing could hold key to unlocking schizophrenia mystery

Measuring brain waves in response to hearing a variety of tones appears to be a useful way to begin understanding the underlying genetic abnormalities associated with schizophrenia, says a study headed by researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital.

17 Mar 2009

Frankincense oil may be an inexpensive alternative therapy for bladder cancer

Originating from Africa, India, and the Middle East, frankincense oil has been found to have many medicinal benefits.

17 Mar 2009

Diabetes cure in mice - answer is adult stem cells

More than five years ago, Dr. Lawrence C.B. Chan and colleagues in his Baylor College of Medicine laboratory cured mice with type 1 diabetes by using a gene to induce liver cells to make insulin.

16 Mar 2009

Search for blood pressure secrets reveals a surprising new syndrome

Yale researchers investigating the genetic causes of blood pressure variation have identified a previously undescribed syndrome associated with seizures, a lack of coordination, developmental delay and hearing loss.

16 Mar 2009

Scientists 'watch' as individual alpha-synuclein proteins change shape

In an Early Edition publication of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this week, the researchers demonstrate the "alpha-synuclein dance" - the switching back and forth of the protein between a bent helix and an extended helix as the surface that it is binding to changes.

16 Mar 2009