Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

African-American women with advanced endometrial cancer have more aggressive tumors than Caucasian women

In two studies of African-American women with endometrial cancer, a group of investigators from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Cancer Institute has found that African-American women with advanced endometrial cancer have more aggressive tumors than Caucasian women, potentially leading to worse outcomes.

21 Mar 2005

New research in mice sheds light on the causes behind male infertility

For 40 percent of the estimated six million American couples battling infertility, the problem lies with the man. But help may be on the way.

21 Mar 2005

Scientists find microRNA regulates Ras cancer gene

Research in the laboratory of Assistant Professor Frank J. Slack at Yale University has identified a new way that a familiar gene is regulated in lung cancer, presenting new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment. The work is reported in March issues of the journals Cell and Developmental Cell.

21 Mar 2005

Genomic analysis may one day be a primary diagnostic tool for physicians deciding on a course of treatment for trauma

The researchers showed that state-of-the-art techniques for rapidly analyzing changes in activity of all human genes will likely produce useful insights into the health of critically ill patients. The findings, which are available online and will be published in the March 29 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, make it possible for physicians to begin answering important questions about critical care through genomic analysis.

21 Mar 2005

Chemists say they have identified a gene that appears to play a key role in the development of type 1 diabetes

In the current study, the researchers focused on the formation of the MIF protein (macrophage migration inhibitory factor), a proinflammatory protein that they showed in previous studies is elevated in diabetic animals and may be involved in the cascade of immunological events that leads to the destruction of the pancreas and the subsequent onset of type 1 diabetes.

21 Mar 2005

Discovery of a single mutation responsible for a number of blood disorders

Myeloproliferative disorders form a range of haematological malignant diseases, with three main members: polycythaemia vera, essential thrombocythaemia, and idiopathic myelofi- brosis. The disorders are characterised by overactive production of blood cells and can lead to thrombosis, haemorrhage or acute myeloid leukaemia.

21 Mar 2005

Dental researchers map the gene that causes dentinogenesis imperfecta

Dental researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center are the first in the world to successfully map the gene that causes dentinogenesis imperfecta (DGI) Type III, a disease that affects tooth density and color and over time can cause teeth to wear to the gum line.

16 Mar 2005

RNAi Consortium to accelerate genetic research

Whitehead Institute has joined ten other leading biomedical organizations in an $18 million, three-year public-private consortium that will create a comprehensive library of gene inhibitors to be made available to the entire scientific community.

16 Mar 2005

Q. What turns an obese person into a person with diabetes? - A. Leptin

Twin epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes are bearing down on the world's population, threatening the lives of hundreds of millions of people. But scientists are still trying to determine how the two conditions are linked, and what it takes to turn an obese person into a person with diabetes.

16 Mar 2005

Diabetes Busting Burgers!

Chemists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently presented a preliminary report to the 229th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, in which they say they have discovered a form of soluble cellulose that, if added to high-fat food. The new finding could soon benefit people who regularly eat fast-foods that are high in fat.

16 Mar 2005

Drug combo gives lung cancer patients longer life

Preliminary results from a large randomized clinical trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), by a network of researchers led by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Genentech, Inc., have shown that patients with previously untreated advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer who received bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with standard chemotherapy lived longer than patients who received the same chemotherapy without bevacizumab.

15 Mar 2005

Mountain dwellers live longer

People who live in mountain areas live longer than those living in lowland areas, according to research from Greece, which has the lowest death rate from heart disease of any developed country.

15 Mar 2005

Aspirin use appears to reduce the incidence of colon polyps

The association between regular aspirin use and a reduced risk of precancerous colon polyps may be strongest in those with particular genetic variants.

15 Mar 2005

Discovery of key molecule that controls the growth, spread and survival of pancreatic cancer cells

Pancreatic cancer kills 30,000 Americans every year. Not only is there no cure, but there are no effective treatments. That may change if a new finding by Mayo Clinic researchers continues to show promise.

15 Mar 2005

Selenium, vitamin E and the tomato nutrient lycopene have been shown to reduce prostate cancer

Greater levels of selenium, vitamin E and the tomato nutrient lycopene have been shown to reduce prostate cancer in one out of every four Caucasian males - those who inherit a specific genetic variation that's particularly sensitive to oxidative stress.

15 Mar 2005

Neuronal death and processing of Tau protein in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)

In a research report recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, published by IOS Press, a research group from the International School for Advanced Studies (ISAS\SISSA) in Trieste (Luisa Fasulo, Gabriele Ugolini e Antonino Cattaneo) showed that a processed form of tau protein induces neuronal death by apoptosis (programmed cell death) when expressed in cultured rat hippocampal neurons.

15 Mar 2005

Most comprehensive genome-wide experimental analyses of sense-antisense transcripts to date

A team of scientists led by Dr. Kuniya Abe from the RIKEN BioResource Center in Japan has performed one of the most comprehensive genome-wide experimental analyses of sense-antisense transcripts to date. Their findings are published in the April issue of the journal Genome Research.

15 Mar 2005

Good results in new lung cancer treatment

Interim analysis of a Phase III study of Avastin (bevacizumab) with paclitaxel and carboplatin chemotherapies in first-line non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) met its primary goal of improving overall survival, or a reduction in the risk of death, compared to chemotherapy alone.

15 Mar 2005

Gene therapy helps Lou Gehrig's disease

The most common form of motor neurone disease, called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is caused when neurones in the spinal cord die, leading to muscle wasting and total paralysis.

14 Mar 2005

£800,000 to boost research into fighting viruses

A team of University of Glasgow scientists have received a grant of £800,000 from the Wellcome Trust to research a mechanism that blocks a critical step in the replication cycle of retroviruses. In the long term, the research could lead to the design of new therapeutic strategies or drugs against retroviruses, which cause diseases such as AIDS and certain leukemias.

14 Mar 2005