Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

New study sheds light on impact of unknown genetic mutations in cystic fibrosis patients

When it comes to cystic fibrosis (CF), more than 2,000 different genetic mutations have been reported. However, only 200 of them have been categorized - leaving a genetic soup of 1,800 others for scientists and genetic counselors to figure out.

8 Jun 2016

Study challenges notion of fear of weight gain in patients with anorexia nervosa

A study from Inserm, Paris Descartes University and Sainte Anne Hospital suggests that anorexia nervosa might not be explained by fear of gaining weight, but by the pleasure of losing it... and that the phenomenon might be genetically influenced.

8 Jun 2016

Scientists discover unexpected functions of snoRNAs that explains cause of some diseases

Scientists have discovered unexpected functions of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) that explain the cause of some diseases.

7 Jun 2016

Panel of microRNAs can predict patients at risk for developing HBV-driven liver cancer

Hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer, is increasing in incidence in the United States, and infection with the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes about 50 percent of cases.

7 Jun 2016

Scientists develop non-toxic transplantation procedure using antibodies to target blood stem cells in mice

Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists have taken the first steps toward developing a treatment that would make bone marrow - blood stem cell - transplantation safer and, as a result, more widely available to the millions of people living with blood disorders like sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, and AIDS.

7 Jun 2016

New systems-based strategy may help accelerate TB drug discovery

The rise in multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is becoming a major cause of global health concern for treating tuberculosis, which affects a third of the global population.

7 Jun 2016

Study may help identify genetic basis of why some people's brains age better than others

More than one thousand people have had their entire genetic make-up decoded as part of a long-term study to gain insight into why some people's brains age better than others.

7 Jun 2016

Unlocking the first gene to cause otosclerosis: an interview with Dr Ralph Holme

Otosclerosis is a common cause of hearing loss, particularly amongst young adults. It normally starts in their 20s or 30s and it affects about 1 in 200 hundred people. In the UK, about 300,000 people are affected by the condition.

7 Jun 2016

Innovative mouse model could provide new strategy to arrest growth of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common of pancreatic cancers, is extraordinarily lethal, with a 5-year survival rate of just 6 percent. Chemotherapy treatments are poorly effective, in part due to a high degree of drug-resistance to currently used regimens.

7 Jun 2016

Researchers find increased cancer incidence among patients with primary immunodeficiency disorders

Primary immunodeficiency disorders are a group of more than 300 single gene defects that affect the role of the immune system and prevent it from functioning properly. When Roswell Park Cancer Institute researchers evaluated the overall and site-specific incidence of cancer among patients registered in the United States Immune Deficiency Network, they found increased cancer incidence rates among patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases — and, in particular, a significant increase in lymphoma cases.

7 Jun 2016

Epigenomic alterations play key role in triggering obesity-induced diabetes

Obesity is a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes, yet not all obese humans develop the disease. In a new study, researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and from the Institute of Health and Medical Research in France have identified epigenomic alterations that are associated with inflammation and type 2 diabetes

7 Jun 2016

Genes of healthy leanness could lead to new approach to treating obesity-related diabetes

People with type 2 diabetes could be helped by the discovery of a gene linked to leanness.

7 Jun 2016

Northwestern Medicine scientists link TMEM230 gene mutations to Parkinson's disease development

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a new cause of Parkinson's disease -- mutations in a gene called TMEM230. This appears to be the third gene definitively linked to confirmed cases of the common movement disorder.

7 Jun 2016

Researchers aim to find new approach to improve chronic wound repair

Chronic wounds cause nearly 80,000 lower leg amputations annually in the U.S. alone and are associated with an increased likelihood of death.

6 Jun 2016

Personlized exercise pattern may help reduce neuropathic symptoms of chemotherapy

Researchers at the University of Rochester Wilmot Cancer Institute discovered something simple and inexpensive to reduce neuropathy in hands and feet due to chemotherapy--exercise.

6 Jun 2016

Research shows IFITM3 protein can block Zika virus from infecting human, mouse cells

Eight weeks after receiving their first samples of Zika virus, scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have shown that a very small protein we all have in our bodies, interferon-induced protein 3 (IFITM3), can dramatically reduce the ability of Zika virus to infect human and mouse cells.

6 Jun 2016

Scientists find tiny organisms in upper female reproductive tract once thought to be sterile

They're inside our gut, on the skin, and in the mouth. Thousands of different types of micro-organisms live in and on the body, playing helpful roles in digestion or in aiding the body's natural defense system.

6 Jun 2016

Delivering genetic test results over the phone may help ease cost, burden for at-risk cancer patients

Delivering genetic test results to patients at risk for cancer-causing genetic mutations over the phone helps to ease cost and transportation burdens and, compared to receiving results in person, does not cause patients additional stress, according to a new study from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania which will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

6 Jun 2016

Rare DNA alteration may increase rsk of multiple sclerosis

Scientists at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health have proven that multiple sclerosis (MS) can be caused by a single genetic mutation - a rare alteration in DNA that makes it very likely a person will develop the more devastating form of the neurological disease.

6 Jun 2016

Gene dysregulation makes immune therapies less effective against metastatic melanoma

Patients who don't respond to treatments that use their own immune cells to destroy tumors, called tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, share changes in mechanisms that switch genes on or off in those cells, according to study results presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology on June 4 in Chicago.

6 Jun 2016

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

New study sheds light on impact of unknown genetic mutations in cystic fibrosis patients

Study challenges notion of fear of weight gain in patients with anorexia nervosa

Scientists discover unexpected functions of snoRNAs that explains cause of some diseases

Panel of microRNAs can predict patients at risk for developing HBV-driven liver cancer

Scientists develop non-toxic transplantation procedure using antibodies to target blood stem cells in mice

New systems-based strategy may help accelerate TB drug discovery

Study may help identify genetic basis of why some people's brains age better than others

Unlocking the first gene to cause otosclerosis: an interview with Dr Ralph Holme

Innovative mouse model could provide new strategy to arrest growth of pancreatic cancer

Researchers find increased cancer incidence among patients with primary immunodeficiency disorders

Epigenomic alterations play key role in triggering obesity-induced diabetes

Genes of healthy leanness could lead to new approach to treating obesity-related diabetes

Northwestern Medicine scientists link TMEM230 gene mutations to Parkinson's disease development

Researchers aim to find new approach to improve chronic wound repair

Personlized exercise pattern may help reduce neuropathic symptoms of chemotherapy

Research shows IFITM3 protein can block Zika virus from infecting human, mouse cells

Scientists find tiny organisms in upper female reproductive tract once thought to be sterile

Delivering genetic test results over the phone may help ease cost, burden for at-risk cancer patients

Rare DNA alteration may increase rsk of multiple sclerosis

Gene dysregulation makes immune therapies less effective against metastatic melanoma

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