Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Suspect gene may increase susceptibility to anxiety and depression

People with the depression-linked gene variant showed less gray matter and weaker connections in the mood-regulating circuit. How well the circuit was connected accounted for nearly 30 percent of their anxious temperament

8 May 2005

Chronic kidney disease linked to a single gene mutation

New research in the US has found that a mutation in a single gene causes a form of chronic kidney disease.

5 May 2005

Scientists take aim at virulent bacteria by decoding machinery of key control enzyme

By deciphering the ingenious mechanism used by a particular enzyme to modify bacterial chromosome chemistry, scientists have come a step closer to designing a new kind of drug that could stop virulent bacterial infections in their tracks. Their research will be published in the May 6 issue of the journal Cell.

5 May 2005

Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers (MADM) - A powerful new tool to study diseases and genetics

A powerful laboratory technique used by fruit fly geneticists for more than a decade is now available to scientists studying genes and diseases in mice.

5 May 2005

Neutrophils dictate whether our immune system will permit or prevent bacterial infections

New research on a bacterium that can survive encounters with specific immune system cells has strengthened scientists' belief that these plentiful white blood cells, known as neutrophils, dictate whether our immune system will permit or prevent bacterial infections.

5 May 2005

Nephrogenic Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuresis - a new genetic disease

Two infant boys whose bodies were overloaded with excess fluid have led UCSF pediatricians to the discovery of a new genetic disease. In the process, they have discovered a rare type of mutation where different substitutions in a single amino acid cause two different, opposite genetic disorders.

4 May 2005

Study reveals new approach to Huntington's disease

Scientific theory holds that Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by a mutant protein that arises within brain cells and kills them, triggering the genetic neurological disorder. Now a new UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute study reveals the first strong evidence that the mutant protein also elicits toxic interactions from neighboring cells to provoke the fatal brain disorder. The May 5 edition of Neuron reports the findings.

4 May 2005

Pharmacogenomics used to treat inherited kidney disorder of children

Mayo Clinic researchers have used pharmacogenomics to develop a test and treatment for an inherited kidney disorder that can cause organ failure in children and young adults.

4 May 2005

Specific variants of genes predict bleeding after heart surgery

Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that the presence of specific variants of genes that control clotting and the contractility, or "tone," of blood vessels can double the ability of physicians to predict those heart surgery patients at greatest risk of bleeding after surgery.

4 May 2005

Genetically modified rice in China benefits farmers' health

Farmers growing genetically modified rice in field trials in China report higher crop yields, reduced pesticide use and fewer pesticide-related health problems, according to a study by researchers in China and at the University of California, Davis, and Rutgers University.

4 May 2005

MRI study shows hormone leptin alters brains, may ease cravings of people with obesity gene

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study finds that the protein hormone leptin promotes development of gray matter in the part of the brain that regulates cravings and the ability to monitor personal behavior.

4 May 2005

Mutated gene causes serious heart disease in newborns

The research group of professor Manfred Kilimann at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology has elucidated the genetic cause of a severe heart disease in newborn children. This result will be published in the June issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics this week.

3 May 2005

Study identifies possible marker for efficacy of gefitinib in lung cancer patients

Patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumor cells contain extra copies of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene may be more likely to respond to the drug gefitinib (Iressa), and this high gene copy number may be an effective predictor of gefitinib efficacy, according to a new study in the May 4 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

3 May 2005

Researchers make new advances in determining the structure of all possible DNA sequences

Oregon State University researchers have made significant new advances in determining the structure of all possible DNA sequences – a discovery that in one sense takes up where Watson and Crick left off, after outlining in 1953 the double-helical structure of this biological blueprint for life.

3 May 2005

Scientists dramatically slow organ transplant rejection

That's the promising implication of an animal study carried out by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the University of Florida (UF) published in today's (May 2) issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

3 May 2005

When it comes to low fat diets - all are not equal!

New research from the Stanford University School of Medicine re-enforces what Mum always told you, eat those veggies and those other nutrient-dense foods because they're good for you!

2 May 2005

Why stem cells divide and develop less vigorously as we age

A comprehensive study from Canada’s Robarts Research Institute has pinpointed two genes that shed significant light on why stem cells divide and develop less vigorously as we age.

2 May 2005

Gene variant that increases colon cancer risk

A paper published in this week's Journal of Clinical Oncology says Transforming Growth Factor Beta Receptor 1*6A (TGFBR1*6A) - a mutated gene present in nearly one in eight people and the most commonly inherited cancer susceptibility gene identified so far - might be responsible for a significant proportion of familial colorectal cancers.

2 May 2005

Research provides new insight into how individual genes control regeneration

Although they may look small and unassuming, planarian worms are famous in the scientific world for their extraordinary ability to regenerate body parts after injury. Even a small piece cut off a planarian can reorganize and regenerate to form a whole new worm.

2 May 2005

Specific genes play key role in the of regulation of human-blood stem cells

This work is the first to validate gene expression analysis in human stem cells with functional experiments. The findings also suggest that changes in the expression of genes associated with universal cell signaling pathways can have a substantial impact on human stem cell behavior.

2 May 2005