Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Long-term opioid therapy may not be effective to manage pain in sickle cell disease patients

In a small study looking at pain assessments in adults with sickle cell disease, researchers at Johns Hopkins says overall, those treated long-term with opioids often fared worse in measures of pain, fatigue and curtailed daily activities than those not on long-term opioids.

21 Jun 2016

Scientists aim to explore how gestational diabetes can put babies at lifelong risk for cardiovascular disease

Gestational diabetes can put babies at a lifelong risk for cardiovascular disease, and scientists want to better understand how.

21 Jun 2016

E-cigarette use modifies gene expression important for upper airway immune defense

When we smoke cigarettes, dozens of genes important for immune defense are altered in the epithelial cells that line the respiratory tract. Several of these changes likely increase the risk of bacterial infections, viruses, and inflammation.

21 Jun 2016

Breast cancer cells use new signaling pathway to cope with lack of oxygen levels inside tumors

Researchers have identified a new signaling pathway that helps cancer cells cope with the lack of oxygen found inside tumors. These are the results of a study published in Nature Cell Biology on June 20, and led by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, Princess Margaret Cancer Center, the University of Toronto, Harvard Medical School and Oxford University.

21 Jun 2016

TUM scientists identify four new risk genes altered in MS patients

Scientists of the Technical University of Munich and the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry have identified four new risk genes that are altered in German patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

20 Jun 2016

Scientists study fundamentals of tumour surveillance by immune system in mice models

The body's defences detect and eliminate not only pathogens but also tumour cells. Natural killer cells (NK-Cells) are specifically activated by chemical messengers, the Cytokines, to seek and destroy tumour cells.

20 Jun 2016

ECDC sketches actions to reduce public health risks of mcr-1 gene spread

The recently recognised global distribution of the mcr-1 gene poses a substantial public health risk to the EU/EEA. The gene is widespread in several continents and has been detected in bacteria isolated from multiple different sources such as food-producing animals, food, the environment and humans.

20 Jun 2016

ERCC2 validated as chemotherapy response biomarker in bladder cancer

Somatic mutations in the helicase-encoding ERCC2 gene are associated with response to neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial bladder carcinoma.

17 Jun 2016

Fetal BPA exposure leads to harmful change in adult uterine response to estrogens

Low levels of BPA exposure may be considered safe, but new research published online in The FASEB Journal, suggests otherwise. In the report, researchers from Yale show that the genome is permanently altered in the uterus of mice that had been exposed to BPA during their fetal development.

17 Jun 2016

Scientists identify potential drug target that disrupts Zika and similar viruses

Scientists potentially have found a way to disrupt Zika and similar viruses from spreading in the body.

17 Jun 2016

Understanding cancer resistance in mole-rats may help advance human treatment in future

Naked mole-rats (NMR) are the longest-living rodent species and exhibit 'extraordinary' resistance to cancer. Mole-rats live up to 30 years, 10 times longer than mice, and captured colonies almost never show any type of cancer.

17 Jun 2016

Review sheds light on current therapeutic targets of miRNA-associated chemoresistance in EOC

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal disease among gynecologic malignancies. Patients with an advanced disease often relapse due to the development of chemoresistance. Chemotherapy failure is a consequence of acquired drug resistance which may potentially be due to multiple mechanisms including miRNA-mediated gene regulation.

17 Jun 2016

Absence of one specific species of gut bacteria causes autism-related social deficits in mice

The absence of one specific species of gut bacteria causes social deficits in mice, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine report June 16 in Cell. By adding this bacterial species back to the guts of affected mice, the researchers were able to reverse some of the mice's behavioral deficits, which are reminiscent of symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in humans.

17 Jun 2016

RVFV uses cancer pathway to hijack host cell and cause infection

Viruses can't live without us -- literally. As obligate parasites, viruses need a host cell to survive and grow. Scientists are exploiting this characteristic by developing therapeutics that close off pathways necessary for viral infection, essentially stopping pathogens in their tracks.

17 Jun 2016

Knocking out genes in E. coli affects stiffness, integrity of bacterial envelope

An exhaustive look at how bacteria hold their ground and avoid getting pushed around by their environment shows how dozens of genes aid the essential job of protecting cells from popping when tensions run high.

17 Jun 2016

New research helps better understand role of TIP60 in allowing tumors to survive in low-oxygen environments

In summer 2011, University of Colorado Cancer Center investigators Joaquín Espinosa, PhD, and Matthew Galbraith, PhD, taught a summer symposium on gene expression at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Long Island, New York.

17 Jun 2016

Mice study highlights vital role of liver in balancing fats and sugars

Sugar in the form of blood glucose provides essential energy for cells. When its usual dietary source — carbohydrates — is scarce, the liver can produce it with the aid of fat.

17 Jun 2016

Tumour protein TP53 can locate DNA targets autonomously to prevent cancer

Geneticists from KU Leuven, Belgium, have shown that tumour protein TP53 knows exactly where to bind to our DNA to prevent cancer. Once bound to this specific DNA sequence, the protein can activate the right genes to repair damaged cells.

17 Jun 2016

Scientists identify lipodystrophy-causing mutation in a single family

Lipodystrophy syndromes are characterized by an abnormal distribution of adipose tissue and metabolic dysfunction. These disorders are rare and the underlying genetic abnormalities that lead to altered fat distribution are not fully known.

16 Jun 2016

Scientists develop new software program that can help compare large amounts of metagenomes

Scientists from ITMO University, the Federal Research and Clinical Centre of Physical-Chemical Medicine and MIPT have developed a software program enabling them to quickly compare sets of DNA of microorganisms living in different environments. The researchers have already suggested exactly how the new program could be applied in practice.

16 Jun 2016

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Long-term opioid therapy may not be effective to manage pain in sickle cell disease patients

Scientists aim to explore how gestational diabetes can put babies at lifelong risk for cardiovascular disease

E-cigarette use modifies gene expression important for upper airway immune defense

Breast cancer cells use new signaling pathway to cope with lack of oxygen levels inside tumors

TUM scientists identify four new risk genes altered in MS patients

Scientists study fundamentals of tumour surveillance by immune system in mice models

ECDC sketches actions to reduce public health risks of mcr-1 gene spread

ERCC2 validated as chemotherapy response biomarker in bladder cancer

Fetal BPA exposure leads to harmful change in adult uterine response to estrogens

Scientists identify potential drug target that disrupts Zika and similar viruses

Understanding cancer resistance in mole-rats may help advance human treatment in future

Review sheds light on current therapeutic targets of miRNA-associated chemoresistance in EOC

Absence of one specific species of gut bacteria causes autism-related social deficits in mice

RVFV uses cancer pathway to hijack host cell and cause infection

Knocking out genes in E. coli affects stiffness, integrity of bacterial envelope

New research helps better understand role of TIP60 in allowing tumors to survive in low-oxygen environments

Mice study highlights vital role of liver in balancing fats and sugars

Tumour protein TP53 can locate DNA targets autonomously to prevent cancer

Scientists identify lipodystrophy-causing mutation in a single family

Scientists develop new software program that can help compare large amounts of metagenomes

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