Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Gene alterations in WNT pathway may increase CRC risk in younger patients

While increased screening continues to drive down overall colorectal cancer rates, the rate of colorectal cancer in patients under age 50 is increasing, and the disease is commonly more aggressive in these young patients.

6 Jun 2016

Study provides insight to gene shuffling process

Use of a new technique developed at the Babraham Institute has allowed researchers to take an in-depth look at the gene shuffling process that is responsible for our body's ability to recognise a vast range of foreign agents such as disease-causing microorganisms.

4 Jun 2016

New research pinpoints specific lncRNA that regulates neural development

Compared to other mammals, humans have the largest cerebral cortex. A sheet of brain cells that folds in on itself multiple times in order to fit inside the skull, the cortex is the seat of higher functions. It is what enables us to process everything we see and hear and think.

4 Jun 2016

New treatment shows promise against hard-to-treat eye cancer

Eye cancer took the life of author and neurologist Oliver Sacks last year, bringing attention to the rare and deadly disease. Scientists have tried to develop precision treatments against cancers like this one, but the mutations that cause them have proven difficult to block with drugs.

3 Jun 2016

Scientists use new technique to repair fibrotic liver cells within the organ

Advances in stem cell research have made it possible to convert patients' skin cells into heart cells, kidney cells, liver cells and more in the lab dish, giving researchers hope that one day such cells could replace organ transplantation for patients with organ failure.

3 Jun 2016

Scientists discover master dimmer switches that control activity of immune cells

A person's genetic makeup plays a role in autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis that develop when the body is attacked by its own immune system. But little is known about how immune cells are pushed into overdrive.

3 Jun 2016

Immunotherapy with experimental monoclonal antibody could reduce neuroblastoma tumors

Neuroblastoma tumors shrank, some dramatically, in 80 percent of newly diagnosed, young, high-risk patients enrolled in a Phase II clinical trial that included an experimental monoclonal antibody. The immunotherapy agent was produced on the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital campus where the study is still underway.

3 Jun 2016

Fluctuations in tRNA may play vital role in cancer metastasis

At any given moment, the human genome spells out thousands of genetic words telling our cells which proteins to make. Each word is read by a molecule known as a tRNA.

3 Jun 2016

Common genetic variant in HO-1 gene linked to AKI risk following cardiac surgery

Testing for a common genetic variant may help reveal which patients face an increased risk of developing kidney damage following heart surgery. The findings, which come from a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, may help investigators develop therapeutic strategies to mitigate this damage.

3 Jun 2016

CNIO researchers avoid genetic manipulation to create lab mice with extra-long telomeres

The Telomeres and Telomerase Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, in collaboration with the Centre's Transgenic Mice Core Unit, has succeeded in creating mice in the laboratory with hyper-long telomeres and with reduced molecular ageing, avoiding the use of what to date has been the standard method: genetic manipulation.

3 Jun 2016

New research highlights value of exercise for humans looking to keep their brains fit

The relentless desire by mice to run on cage "exercise" wheels has helped explain at a molecular level how exercise benefits a mammal's brain.

2 Jun 2016

New FDA draft guidelines place tighter restrictions on surgical practices using tissue-based regenerative therapies

The therapeutic use of human cell and tissue products is highly regulated by the U.S. government, but a specific exception allows surgeons to harvest, manipulate, and implant tissues in many commonly performed procedures.

2 Jun 2016

Retroviral replicating vector can extend lives of brain cancer patients

Doctors at UCLA, Cleveland Clinic, University of California San Diego School of Medicine and additional institutions have achieved a milestone in the development of a treatment for people with recurrent glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer, by successfully demonstrating a modified virus that can extend the lives of patients with the disease.

2 Jun 2016

$Sostdc1 gene may play vital role in fracture healing process$

Sostdc1 gene may play vital role in fracture healing process

New identification of a gene involved in the fracture healing process could lead to the development of new therapeutic treatments for difficult-to-heal injuries.

2 Jun 2016

Black men with high degree of West African genetic ancestry have less central adiposity

Among black men, those with more genetic variants descended from West Africa may have a relatively lower risk of being overweight, obese and diabetic, according to a new study out of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Arizona.

2 Jun 2016

New technique could help reduce chances of drug failure during later stages of clinical trials

An approach that could reduce the chances of drugs failing during the later stages of clinical trials has been demonstrated by a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.

2 Jun 2016

BRCA gene mutations raise risk of breast, ovarian and other cancers

BRCA Share, a public-private BRCA gene datashare initiative, today announced the public release of a large collection of new data on genetic variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

From Quest Diagnostics 2 Jun 2016

Scientists reveal how ER+ breast cancer uses cholesterol-based molecule to evade anti-hormone treatments

New research funded by Breast Cancer Now has identified how the most common breast cancers could be using a cholesterol-based molecule to evade standard anti-hormone treatments, causing patients’ disease to return.

2 Jun 2016

Study reveals gpihbp1 gene could be novel target for treatment of muscular dystrophy

The average healthy man is 54 percent muscle by mass, but people with muscular dystrophy, an incurable, genetic condition, have almost no muscle at terminal stages of the disease.

2 Jun 2016

FDA approves blood-based cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2 for NSCLC patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2, a blood-based companion diagnostic for the cancer drug Tarceva (erlotinib). This is the first FDA-approved, blood-based genetic test that can detect epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations in non-small cell lung cancer patients.

2 Jun 2016

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Gene alterations in WNT pathway may increase CRC risk in younger patients

Study provides insight to gene shuffling process

New research pinpoints specific lncRNA that regulates neural development

New treatment shows promise against hard-to-treat eye cancer

Scientists use new technique to repair fibrotic liver cells within the organ

Scientists discover master dimmer switches that control activity of immune cells

Immunotherapy with experimental monoclonal antibody could reduce neuroblastoma tumors

Fluctuations in tRNA may play vital role in cancer metastasis

Common genetic variant in HO-1 gene linked to AKI risk following cardiac surgery

CNIO researchers avoid genetic manipulation to create lab mice with extra-long telomeres

New research highlights value of exercise for humans looking to keep their brains fit

New FDA draft guidelines place tighter restrictions on surgical practices using tissue-based regenerative therapies

Retroviral replicating vector can extend lives of brain cancer patients

Sostdc1 gene may play vital role in fracture healing process

Black men with high degree of West African genetic ancestry have less central adiposity

New technique could help reduce chances of drug failure during later stages of clinical trials

BRCA gene mutations raise risk of breast, ovarian and other cancers

Scientists reveal how ER+ breast cancer uses cholesterol-based molecule to evade anti-hormone treatments

Study reveals gpihbp1 gene could be novel target for treatment of muscular dystrophy

FDA approves blood-based cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2 for NSCLC patients

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