Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Gene mutations responsible for causing cataracts in children, identified

Gene mutations responsible for causing cataracts in children have been identified by a team of University of Utah vision researchers. The discovery was reported in a recent issue of The Journal of Medical Genetics.

4 Nov 2004

Genetic mutations could collectively raise bowel cancer risk

Cancer Research UK scientists at the University of Oxford have found that a number of genetic mutations could collectively raise bowel cancer risk, reporting their findings in the journal PNAS.

4 Nov 2004

Discovery of a new blindness gene

The discovery by a Leeds University scientist of a new blindness gene could help to save the sight of thousands of sufferers of retinal disease which affects premature babies as well as people over 60.

4 Nov 2004

Scientists have identified the gene which produces the hereditary Park8 variant of Parkinson’s

Research began when doctors discovered that various members of the same family had Parkinson’s. There are many kinds of Parkinson’s and some are hereditary.

4 Nov 2004

Gene regulated by need to process proteins linked to enlargement of protein processing factory

Part of a cellular mechanism that regulates the folding of new proteins into their proper shapes also includes a genetic response that enlarges the factory where both protein folding and packaging of proteins occurs.

2 Nov 2004

Possible treatment for the fatal lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

They found that the anti-cancer drug imatinib mesylate — commercially known as Gleevec and produced by Novartis Pharmaceuticals — can target a gene critical to controlling the disease process. Previously, there had been no treatment and patients usually did not survive beyond three years of diagnosis. Now the treatment is undergoing clinical trials at Mayo Clinic.

2 Nov 2004

Genetic link suggested in deaths from cardiac valve diseases

Deaths from cardiac valve diseases appear to run in families, suggesting a significant genetic component, according to a study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

2 Nov 2004

Study results suggest that metronidazole and clindamycin differ in their effects on microbes in women with bacterial vaginosis

In the first study to directly compare the emergence of antibiotic resistance following topical treatment between two antibiotics routinely prescribed for a common vaginal infection, researchers from the Magee-Womens Research Institute have found antibiotic-resistant bacteria more likely to develop with the drug clindamycin than metronidazole.

1 Nov 2004

Diabetic or obese patients suffering advanced heart failure have higher levels of fat embedded in their hearts

Heart failure, progressive and potentially fatal weakening of the heart muscle, is associated with both obesity and diabetes, but the mechanisms by which damage occurs are not well-understood, said senior author Heinrich Taegtmeyer, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cardiology.

1 Nov 2004

Protein important to nerve development serves the dual purpose of stimulating the growth of blood vessels

The discovery opens the possibility that blood vessel growth (angiogenesis) one day may be induced, or stymied, for therapeutic use against heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses, according to Dean Y. Li, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of internal medicine in the U of U School of Medicine's Division of Cardiology.

1 Nov 2004

New rapid gonorrhea test that does not require collection

Potential antimicrobial resistance in the bacteria that cause gonorrhea can be detected without culturing the organism, thanks to a rapid test developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins.

1 Nov 2004

Gene found to defend against environmental pollutants and pulmonary emphysema

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions have identified a “master gene” in mice that controls the action of 50 other genes whose products protect the lungs against environmental pollutants.

1 Nov 2004

Researchers help define Apolipoprotein E's role in the formation of amyloid brain lesions and the memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease

A research team led by University of South Florida neuroscientist Huntington Potter, PhD, CEO of the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center & Research Institute, for the first time has defined how the protein Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) contributes to both the formation of amyloid brain lesions and the memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease.

1 Nov 2004

Gene silencing may provide hope for leukemia sufferers

Ever since the approval of Gleevec in 2001, a cancer-cell-specific drug used to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), the field of cancer therapeutics has been rushing full speed into the era of so-called "targeted" medicines.

1 Nov 2004

New role for a key protein involved in muscle contraction

Overturning a scientific stereotype, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a new role for a key protein involved in muscle contraction and shown it is present not just in the cytoplasm of cells but in the nucleus as well.

1 Nov 2004

Discovery affirms potential of stem cells for the development of possible therapies for spinal cord injury and nervous system disorders

Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) have shown that stem cells found in adult skin retain their embryonic capability of making many types of cells.

1 Nov 2004

Interaction of nervous system proteins help researchers better understand age-related memory and hearing loss

In a finding that may one day help researchers better understand age-related memory and hearing loss, scientists have shown that two key nervous system proteins interact in a manner that helps regulate the transmission of signals in the nervous system.

29 Oct 2004

Genetic evidence to support an inherited tendency to retain salt

Researchers at the University of Chicago have found genetic evidence to support the sodium-retention hypothesis, a controversial 30-year-old theory that the high rate of hypertension in certain ethnic groups is caused, in part, by an inherited tendency to retain salt.

29 Oct 2004

Red wine delivered though an aerosol for COPD, asthma, and possibly even arthritis

Homing in on mechanisms for the reported effectiveness of resveratrol, which is found in red wine, researchers at Imperial College London, England, confirmed its broad anti-inflammatory action, and found potential for applications in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and possibly even arthritis.

29 Oct 2004

New insight into the role of the breast cancer gene known as BRCA2

Researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Cancer Cell Unit, Cambridge have gained an important new insight into the role of the breast cancer gene known as BRCA2.

29 Oct 2004

Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Gene mutations responsible for causing cataracts in children, identified

Genetic mutations could collectively raise bowel cancer risk

Discovery of a new blindness gene

Scientists have identified the gene which produces the hereditary Park8 variant of Parkinson’s

Gene regulated by need to process proteins linked to enlargement of protein processing factory

Possible treatment for the fatal lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Genetic link suggested in deaths from cardiac valve diseases

Study results suggest that metronidazole and clindamycin differ in their effects on microbes in women with bacterial vaginosis

Diabetic or obese patients suffering advanced heart failure have higher levels of fat embedded in their hearts

Protein important to nerve development serves the dual purpose of stimulating the growth of blood vessels

New rapid gonorrhea test that does not require collection

Gene found to defend against environmental pollutants and pulmonary emphysema

Researchers help define Apolipoprotein E's role in the formation of amyloid brain lesions and the memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease

Gene silencing may provide hope for leukemia sufferers

New role for a key protein involved in muscle contraction

Discovery affirms potential of stem cells for the development of possible therapies for spinal cord injury and nervous system disorders

Interaction of nervous system proteins help researchers better understand age-related memory and hearing loss

Genetic evidence to support an inherited tendency to retain salt

Red wine delivered though an aerosol for COPD, asthma, and possibly even arthritis

New insight into the role of the breast cancer gene known as BRCA2

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