Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Researchers working on the development of drugs to limit neuronal death

Neurons die en masse when the spinal cord is injured or when a person suffers a stroke. Researchers of the Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, and of Aarhus University, Denmark, have unraveled the molecular mechanism which causes the death not only of damaged neurons, but also of healthy nerve cells.

16 Oct 2007

New insight into Herceptin resistance in breast cancer

A new study provides important insight into the mechanisms involved in resistance to treatment of breast cancer patients with trastuzumab (Herceptin). The research, published by Cell Press in the October issue of the journal Cancer Cell , identifies markers that may help to identify patients who are unlikely to respond to trastuzumab treatment and provides a potential strategy for treating these patients.

16 Oct 2007

Enhanced DNA-repair mechanism can cause breast cancer

Although defects in the "breast cancer gene," BRCA1, have been known for years to increase the risk for breast cancer, exactly how it can lead to tumor growth has remained a mystery.

16 Oct 2007

Important insights into blood vessel formation

Researchers have identified a molecular pathway that plays a critical role in the growth of blood vessels.

15 Oct 2007

Microarray-based genomic selection accelerates discovery of subtle DNA variations

A new technology developed by scientists at Emory University will allow researchers to more easily discover subtle and overlooked genetic variations that may have serious consequences for health and disease.

15 Oct 2007

How does the opioid system work?

The opioid system controls pain, reward and addictive behaviors. Opioids exert their pharmacological actions through three opioid receptors, mu, delta and kappa whose genes have been cloned (Oprm, Oprd1 and Oprk1, respectively).

15 Oct 2007

New gene findings show that controls of lifespan and cancer have deep, common roots

A person is 100 times more likely to get cancer at age 65 than at age 35. But new research reported in the journal "Nature Genetics" identifies naturally occurring processes that allow many genes to both slow aging and protect against cancer in the much-studied C. elegans roundworm.

15 Oct 2007

Benefits of exercise on the aging brain

Bradley Hatfield, professor in the University of Maryland, College Park, School of Public Health, uses high tech brain imaging to study the benefits of exercise on the aging brain.

15 Oct 2007

Quick new method nails adenoviruses in 48 hours

New techniques have enabled scientists to carry one of the most comprehensive studies of adenoviruses ever performed in the United States.

15 Oct 2007

Transthyretin protein may accelerate atherosclerosis

Scientists report in the November 2007 issue of the Journal of Lipid Research that a protein called transthyretin (TTR) that is present in the blood may accelerate the development of atherosclerosis - a potentially fatal heart disease in which the arteries are progressively narrowed and hardened over time, reducing blood flow to the heart.

12 Oct 2007

RNA-binding protein key to understanding myotonic dystrophy type 1

Increased levels of a protein called CUGBP1 play an important role in the adult-onset form of muscular dystrophy called myotonic dystrophy type 1, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears in the journal Molecular Cell.

12 Oct 2007

Researchers focus on neuregulin gene and schizophrenia

Queen's scientists have started research on a human gene that will lead to a better understanding of schizophrenia.

12 Oct 2007

New rapid and accurate method to identify adenoviruses

Grantees of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have adapted a rapid and accurate new molecular typing strategy and used it to conduct one of the most comprehensive studies of adenoviruses ever performed in the United States.

12 Oct 2007

New molecules discovered that block cancer cells from modifying cell DNA

Researchers have discovered new small molecules that may prevent prostate cancer cells from turning off normal genes in a process that transforms normal cells into cancer cells. This significant discovery in the field of epigenetics has immediate implications in the development of new diagnostic tests and cancer medications.

12 Oct 2007

Gene SIRT1 could lead to new cholesterol strategies

MIT researchers have discovered a link between a gene believed to promote long lifespan and a pathway that flushes cholesterol from the body. The finding could help researchers create drugs that lower the risk of diseases associated with high cholesterol, including atherosclerosis (clogged arteries) and Alzheimer's disease.

12 Oct 2007

A tumor-blocking protein may be key in developing deadly form of pancreatic cancer

A tumor-blocking protein previously implicated in prostate and breast cancer development may also be behind the most aggressive type of pancreatic cancer. Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia have discovered that the protein pp32 – which normally applies the brakes on a cancer-causing gene – is missing in an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer.

12 Oct 2007

Genome update defines landscape of breast and colon cancers

One year after completing the first large-scale report sequencing breast and colon cancer genes, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have studied the vast majority of protein-coding genes which now suggest a landscape dominated by genes that each are mutated in relatively few cancers.

12 Oct 2007

Biopharmaceutical infrastructure key to lower drug development costs

Improvements to the technology infrastructure for researching and developing new biopharmaceuticals would be expected to save the industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually, according to a new economic study sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

12 Oct 2007

Aida granted new anti-cancer patent

One of mainland China's leading pharmaceutical companies, has announced that it was granted an additional patent related to its Rh-Apo2L anti-cancer drug, the second of three patents that had been applied for which Aida believes places it at the vanguard of China's pharmaceutical industry.

12 Oct 2007

Research shows how stem cells decide to become either skeletal or smooth muscle

Researchers have discovered a key protein that controls how stem cells "choose" to become either skeletal muscle cells that move limbs, or smooth muscle cells that support blood vessels, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

11 Oct 2007