Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Bionovo publishes discoveries in predictable tissue selectivity for selective estrogen receptor modulators platform

Bionovo, Inc. has announced results describing predictable estrogen regulatory elements that can be used to identify estrogenic drugs that are safer.

5 Jan 2009

Culprit found in rare type of baldness

Scientists in Beijing say they have discovered a genetic cause for a certain type of premature baldness and they suggest their discovery offers hope in future that those who inherit this rare type of baldness will eventually be able to keep their hair.

5 Jan 2009

Discovery of potential important pathway for controlling cell loss and survival in Parkinson's disease

Neurologists have observed for decades that Lewy bodies, clumps of aggregated proteins inside cells, appear in the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

1 Jan 2009

Study links MiR-29 molecule to muscle maturation, muscle cancer

Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered that a molecule implicated in leukemia and lung cancer is also important in muscle repair and in a muscle cancer that strikes mainly children.

1 Jan 2009

New understanding of genetic signature associated with Alzheimer's disease

Scientists have new information about the complex genetic signature associated with Alzheimer's disease, the leading cause of cognitive decline and dementia in the elderly.

1 Jan 2009

Candesartan shown to be safe new therapy for genetic heart disease

A new clinical trial suggests that long-term use of candesartan, a drug currently used to treat hypertension, may significantly reduce the symptoms of genetic heart disease.

1 Jan 2009

Researchers engineer pancreatic cell transplants to evade immune response

In a finding that could significantly influence the way type 1 diabetes is treated, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a technique for transplanting insulin-producing pancreatic cells that causes only a minimal immune response in recipients.

1 Jan 2009

In lung cancer, silencing one crucial gene disrupts normal functioning of genome

While examining patterns of DNA modification in lung cancer, a team of international researchers has discovered what they say is a surprising new mechanism.

1 Jan 2009

Extract from grapes kills lab leukemia cells, proving value of natural compounds

An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukemia cells to commit cell suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky.

1 Jan 2009

Few DNA repair gene variants associated with increased cancer risk

Variants of numerous DNA repair genes initially appeared to be statistically significantly associated with cancer risk in epidemiological studies.

1 Jan 2009

Secrets revealed into devastating 1918 flu pandemic

The secrets of why the 1918 flu pandemic was such a deadly one have been revealed by team of Japanese and American scientists.

30 Dec 2008

Researchers identify clockwork that drives a powerful virus nanomotor

Peering at structures only atoms across, researchers have identified the clockwork that drives a powerful virus nanomotor.

30 Dec 2008

Researchers identify common gene variant linked to high blood pressure

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified a common gene variant that appears to influence people's risk of developing high blood pressure, according to the results of a study being published online Dec. 29, 2008 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

30 Dec 2008

New technique for creating authentic embryonic stem cells from rats

Stem Cell Sciences plc has announced that pioneering research describing a technique for creating authentic embryonic stem (ES) cells from rats has been published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal, Cell.

30 Dec 2008

Scientists isolate genes that made 1918 flu lethal

By mixing and matching a contemporary flu virus with the "Spanish flu" - a virus that killed between 20 and 50 million people 90 years ago in history's most devastating outbreak of infectious disease - researchers have identified a set of three genes that helped underpin the extraordinary virulence of the 1918 virus.

30 Dec 2008

Long-term gene therapy used to reverse heart damage in heart failure

Long-term gene therapy resulted in improved cardiac function and reversed deterioration of the heart in rats with heart failure, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University's Center for Translational Medicine.

30 Dec 2008

Barcode chip enables cheaper, faster blood testing

A new barcode chip developed by a multi-institutional team of investigators promises to revolutionize diagnostic medical testing. In less than 10 minutes and using just a pinprick's worth of blood, the chip can measure the concentrations of dozens of proteins, including those that herald the presence of diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

29 Dec 2008

Targeted nanoparticles deliver therapeutic DNA to cancer cells

Given that cancer is a disease caused by gene mutations, cancer researchers have been striving to develop gene therapies aimed at correcting these mutations. However, these efforts have been hobbled by the difficulty in safely and efficiently delivering anticancer genes to tumors. Nanoparticles, however, may solve these delivery issues, and two recently published studies, using two different types of nanoparticles, lend credence to that hypothesis.

29 Dec 2008

Baby girl due soon will be minus breast cancer causing gene

A baby girl about to be born in Britain will be the first to have been screened for a breast cancer causing gene.

22 Dec 2008

Scientists find gene that is a powerful predictor of colon cancer metastasis

Cancer researchers have identified a gene which enables them to predict for the first time with high probability if colon cancer is going to metastasize.

22 Dec 2008