Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Multigene test performed on tumor can identify breast cancer patients who can safely avoid chemotherapy

A major study published in the New England Journal of Medicine is providing the best evidence to date that a 21-gene test done on the tumor can identify breast cancer patients who can safely avoid chemotherapy.

28 Sep 2015

UK Biobank genetic study shows link between lung disease and smoking behaviour

New research published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine and presented at this year's European Respiratory Society meeting in Amsterdam presents the first analyses of genetic data from the UK Biobank that reveal new associations with lung disease and smoking behaviour.

28 Sep 2015

Two-drug combination improves progression-free survival in patients with advanced melanoma

Patients with advanced melanoma skin cancer survive for longer without their disease progressing if they have been treated with a combination of two drugs, nivolumab and ipilimumab, than with either of these drugs alone. New results show that these patients also do better regardless of their age, stage of disease and whether or not they have a cancer-driving mutation in the BRAF gene.

28 Sep 2015

Combination of two targeted therapies increases survival in advanced melanoma

Latest results from a trial of a combination of two targeted therapies (dabrafenib and trametinib) to treat advanced melanoma have shown that patients are living significantly longer on the combined therapy than patients treated with another drug, vemurafenib, when used alone.

28 Sep 2015

Genetic mutations predict breast cancer relapse

A large genetics study has identified genetic mutations specific to recurrent breast cancer cells. Screening for these mutations in breast cancer tumours could therefore allow doctors to identify patients most at risk of their cancer returning. The relevant genes can then be targeted to prevent recurrence of the cancer.

27 Sep 2015

Researchers find mutated gene responsible for cardiac angiosarcoma in two brothers

A few years ago, Javier Benítez, director of the Human Genetics Group at the CNIO, received a call from Pablo García Pavía, from the Cardiology Unit of the Puerta de Hierro University Hospital. This cardiologist was treating two brothers with a rare form of cancer, cardiac angiosarcoma (CAS).

26 Sep 2015

Researchers develop methodology to monitor changes in DNA methylation patterns in individual cells

Whitehead Institute researchers have developed a methodology to monitor changes in DNA methylation over time in individual cells.

26 Sep 2015

New study heightens concerns over detrimental impact of air pollution on gene associated with AD risk

A new study by researchers at the Universities of Montana, Valle de México, Boise State, and North Carolina, the Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, and Centro Médico Cozumel heightens concerns over the detrimental impact of air pollution on hippocampal metabolites as early markers of neurodegeneration in young urbanites carrying an allele 4 of the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE).

26 Sep 2015

Scientists identify different CRISPR system with potential to advance genetic engineering

A team including the scientist who first harnessed the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 system for mammalian genome editing has now identified a different CRISPR system with the potential for even simpler and more precise genome engineering.

26 Sep 2015

Scientists compile complete genetic information of people affected by PAH

The genetic architecture of a debilitating and potentially fatal vascular disease has for the first time been detailed in its entirety, providing clinicians with the comprehensive data needed to improve diagnosis and deliver more personalised patient care.

25 Sep 2015

CUMC's Laboratory of Personalized Genomic Medicine granted approval for Columbia Combined Cancer Panel

The Laboratory of Personalized Genomic Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center has been granted full approval by the New York State Department of Health for the Columbia Combined Cancer Panel, (CCCP). This panel queries 467 cancer-related genes and was designed in collaboration with Columbia University Medical Center oncologists.

25 Sep 2015

Matchmaker Exchange platform launched for uncovering rare disease genes

In a special issue of Human Mutation, a team including investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital has announced the launch of the Matchmaker Exchange - a way for the rare disease community to share information and find new connections. Matchmaker Exchange connects databases of genetic information and symptoms that physicians and investigators can "match" with a patient's rare disease.

25 Sep 2015

Research highlights potential new treatment strategy for degenerative diseases

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered evidence of a mechanism at the heart of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and related degenerative diseases. The research appears in today's edition of the journal Cell and highlights a possible new treatment strategy for the devastating disorders.

25 Sep 2015

HSCI researchers find surprising similarities between SMA and ALS

Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers studying spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) have found what they term "surprising similarities" between this childhood disorder that attacks motor neurons and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

25 Sep 2015

EKF’s new Altair 240 revealed to UK audience at IBMS 2015

EKF, announces the UK launch of the Altair™ 240 clinical chemistry analyser at the Institute of Biomedical Science Congress 2015 in Birmingham.

From EKF Diagnostics 24 Sep 2015

Protein-coding gene identified as tumor suppressor for acute myeloid leukemia

A protein-coding gene called hnRNP K has been identified as a tumor suppressor for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a finding that could be important for investigating how best to target treatment of a blood cancer striking mostly older individuals.

24 Sep 2015

Duke Raleigh Hospital becomes first healthcare facility to use certified mobile compounding cleanroom

Duke Raleigh Hospital recently became the first healthcare facility to utilize a certified USP 797 mobile cleanroom to assure uninterrupted pharmacy services. The advanced pharmacy unit, created by Germfree Labs, allowed the hospital to maintain separate, on-site sterile drug compounding operations during a major renovation project.

24 Sep 2015

Rhythm Metabolic awarded FDA grant to advance ongoing setmelanotide clinical trial in Prader-Willi syndrome

Rhythm announced today the award of a $1 million research grant from the FDA Office of Orphan Products Development to its subsidiary, Rhythm Metabolic, Inc., to support the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial of setmelanotide, the company's novel peptide MC4 agonist, for the treatment of obesity and hyperphagia in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS).

24 Sep 2015

Discovery opens door to more targeted, effective treatments for cancer

In a discovery that could lead to more targeted and effective treatments for certain lung and prostate cancers, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have identified two new cancer-causing gene mutations - mutations that may be particularly susceptible to cancer-fighting drugs already approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. One of the gene mutations also may play a key role in early menopause.

24 Sep 2015

Research suggests potential drug targets to stop cancer spread

It only takes seconds: one cancerous cell breaks off from a tumor, slips into the bloodstream and quickly lodges elsewhere in the body. These colonizers may bloom into deadly metastatic cancer right away or lie dormant for years, only to trigger a recurrence decades after the primary tumor is removed.

24 Sep 2015

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Multigene test performed on tumor can identify breast cancer patients who can safely avoid chemotherapy

UK Biobank genetic study shows link between lung disease and smoking behaviour

Two-drug combination improves progression-free survival in patients with advanced melanoma

Combination of two targeted therapies increases survival in advanced melanoma

Genetic mutations predict breast cancer relapse

Researchers find mutated gene responsible for cardiac angiosarcoma in two brothers

Researchers develop methodology to monitor changes in DNA methylation patterns in individual cells

New study heightens concerns over detrimental impact of air pollution on gene associated with AD risk

Scientists identify different CRISPR system with potential to advance genetic engineering

Scientists compile complete genetic information of people affected by PAH

CUMC's Laboratory of Personalized Genomic Medicine granted approval for Columbia Combined Cancer Panel

Matchmaker Exchange platform launched for uncovering rare disease genes

Research highlights potential new treatment strategy for degenerative diseases

HSCI researchers find surprising similarities between SMA and ALS

EKF’s new Altair 240 revealed to UK audience at IBMS 2015

Protein-coding gene identified as tumor suppressor for acute myeloid leukemia

Duke Raleigh Hospital becomes first healthcare facility to use certified mobile compounding cleanroom

Rhythm Metabolic awarded FDA grant to advance ongoing setmelanotide clinical trial in Prader-Willi syndrome

Discovery opens door to more targeted, effective treatments for cancer

Research suggests potential drug targets to stop cancer spread

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

How cohesin mechanics and nanotracker tech are redefining DNA research

Todd Bauman and Chris Povich