Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Autism gene discovered

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine are first to strongly link a specific gene with autism. While earlier studies have found rare genetic mutations in single families, a study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry is the first to identify a gene that increases susceptibility to autism in a broad population.

14 Apr 2004

Strongest evidence yet for the role of genetic factors in smoking addiction

In the first study to analyze the impact of genetic factors on multiple stages of tobacco use in both men and women, a team of researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University has found some of the strongest evidence yet for the role of genetic factors in smoking.

13 Apr 2004

Protein sequences harder to predict than originally thought

Scientists have believed for decades that the sequencing of the human genome would automatically yield the sequences of proteins, the functional products of genes, and thus lead to the unraveling of the mechanisms behind human cell biology and disease.

12 Apr 2004

Gene therapy helps damaged heart cells regain strength and beat normally

Researchers at Jefferson Medical College and Duke University have used gene therapy to help damaged heart cells regain strength and beat normally again in the laboratory. The work takes the scientists one step closer to eventual clinical trials in humans.

12 Apr 2004

Surprises found In gene variation associated with schizophrenia

Approximately two percent of Caucasians have a gene segment variation that can cause a certain form of schizophrenia. Most people with the variation, known as a polymorphism, do not have the disease. A University of Iowa Health Care study reveals a good prognosis for people who do have this form of schizophrenia.

12 Apr 2004

Unmarried women do not feel comfortable at doctors

Regardless of sexual orientation, unmarried women ages 40 to 75 voiced reluctance to undergo routine cancer screening tests, feeling out of place or misunderstood in health care settings, according to the first wave of information from a five-year Brown University Cancer Screening Project for Women.

12 Apr 2004

Researchers isolate gene responsible for Chron's disease

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease and its prevalence is increasing in industrialized nations. Existing treatments are considered unsatisfactory, often requiring recurring hospitalization and surgeries.

12 Apr 2004

US Study Suggests New Approach to Breast Cancer Needed

Women with early-stage breast cancer face three late breast cancer consequences: disease recurrence within the conserved breast, development of a contralateral breast cancer, and manifestation of distant metastases. Although local therapy with surgery and radiotherapy is used to minimize the first possibility, adjuvant systemic therapy may theoretically reduce the likelihood of all three events.

11 Apr 2004

University of Florida researchers have used a common gel to successfully deliver gene therapy to the diaphragm

The technique, described in the current issue of Molecular Therapy, could eventually lead to a method to correct genetic conditions in humans that cause diaphragm weakness and respiratory failure -- a leading cause of death in tens of thousands of patients with forms of muscular dystrophy, including Pompe’s disease. Thousands of Americans with muscle-weakening diseases are placed on ventilators each year, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

7 Apr 2004

The Cambridge-MIT Institute has launched a project to tackle the bottlenecks that slow development of new drugs

The Next-Generation Drug Discovery Community will unite researchers at Cambridge University and MIT with partners from the information technology, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to find ways to speed up development of the next generation of drugs--particularly those that treat diseases with complex causes such as cancers, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and diabetes.

7 Apr 2004

Protein kinase complex influences the outer layer of skin to control the eventual shape of the full-grown skeleton and skull

Continuing studies about an important regulatory protein kinase complex called I-kappa-B kinase (or IKK) have now shown that a subunit of IKK – IKK alpha – influences the outer layer of skin in developing mice to control the eventual shape of the full-grown skeleton and skull.

7 Apr 2004

Genetic trick makes gene therapy vectors more versatile

A genetic trick used by viruses to replicate themselves has been adapted for laboratory use to build complex protein structures required by immune system cells, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

7 Apr 2004

Molecular analyses of leukemia patients suggest strategies for better treatments

The cure rate for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) might continue to rise with improved use of conventional therapies. But even more effective and less toxic therapies based on genetic and pharmacogenetic studies might one day push the success rate close to 100 percent, according to an article published by investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the April 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

7 Apr 2004

Research shows that intense high dose cholesterol lowering drugs result in a major reduction in deaths and severe heart attacks

If you want to increase your chances of living longer, taking cholesterol drugs is an easy way to do it. That's the message from a Harvard study of 4,162 people hospitalized in 350 places in eight countries. It is the first research to show that intense lowering of cholesterol results in a major reduction in deaths and severe heart attacks.

7 Apr 2004

New research findings in study of Rett Syndrome

Rudolf Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA reports in the April 6, 2004 online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that introduction of the MeCP2 protein into post-mitotic nerve cells of MeCP2 mutant mice rescues the symptoms of Rett Syndrome. This raises the possibility that neurons are functionally normal in a newborn child and that neural dysfunction manifests itself only later due to prolonged MeCP2 deficiency. If correct, therapeutic strategies aimed at preventing the onset of Rett symptoms could be initiated at birth.

7 Apr 2004

Completion of the sequencing of human chromosome 19

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and Stanford University report today the completion of the sequencing of human chromosome 19, the most gene-rich of all the human chromosomes. This achievement is described in the April 1, 2004 edition of the journal Nature.

7 Apr 2004

Analysis of Bacterial Genomes Begins to Unravel Complex Story of Metabolic Evolution

In a paper published in the current issue of the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution , Arizona State University biochemists Jason Raymond, Christopher Staples and Robert Blankenship and Rice University's Janet Siefert do an analysis of the genomes of a large group of bacteria and archaea, comparing in particular similar genes that produce the protein nitrogenase.

7 Apr 2004

Scientists studying vaccinia virus, a relative of smallpox, have determined that a gene necessary for virus replication also has a key role in turning off inflammation

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying vaccinia virus, a close relative of smallpox, have determined that a gene necessary for virus replication also has a key role in turning off inflammation, a crucial anti-viral immune response of host cells.

6 Apr 2004

Genetic cause of cancer identified as a defect in the function of otherwise normal genes

In a landmark study published today in Nature Genetics, researchers from St Vincent's Hospital, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and the University of New South Wales have shown that a possible cause of cancer is a defect in the function of otherwise normal genes.

6 Apr 2004

Launch of The Oxford Genetics Knowledge Park by Matt Ridley

The Oxford Genetics Knowledge Park is a partnership between Oxford University and the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, and is one of six such Parks nationally, funded by the Departments of Health and Trade and Industry. The aim of the Genetics Knowledge Parks (GKPs) is to translate advances in genetics research into clinical practice.

6 Apr 2004

Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Autism gene discovered

Strongest evidence yet for the role of genetic factors in smoking addiction

Protein sequences harder to predict than originally thought

Gene therapy helps damaged heart cells regain strength and beat normally

Surprises found In gene variation associated with schizophrenia

Unmarried women do not feel comfortable at doctors

Researchers isolate gene responsible for Chron's disease

US Study Suggests New Approach to Breast Cancer Needed

University of Florida researchers have used a common gel to successfully deliver gene therapy to the diaphragm

The Cambridge-MIT Institute has launched a project to tackle the bottlenecks that slow development of new drugs

Protein kinase complex influences the outer layer of skin to control the eventual shape of the full-grown skeleton and skull

Genetic trick makes gene therapy vectors more versatile

Molecular analyses of leukemia patients suggest strategies for better treatments

Research shows that intense high dose cholesterol lowering drugs result in a major reduction in deaths and severe heart attacks

New research findings in study of Rett Syndrome

Completion of the sequencing of human chromosome 19

Analysis of Bacterial Genomes Begins to Unravel Complex Story of Metabolic Evolution

Scientists studying vaccinia virus, a relative of smallpox, have determined that a gene necessary for virus replication also has a key role in turning off inflammation

Genetic cause of cancer identified as a defect in the function of otherwise normal genes

Launch of The Oxford Genetics Knowledge Park by Matt Ridley

Genetics & Genomics - Second Edition eBook

Achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut