Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Subtle changes in gene can predict how brain reacts to stress

Scientists studying depression in teens have discovered that subtle changes in a gene can predict how the brain reacts to stress, which can cause such health issues as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and obesity.

5 Aug 2014

New, promising approach combines metformin and SGLT2 inhibitors to treat diabetes

Various active substances in oral antidiabetic agents are frequently combined in the treatment of diabetes in order to achieve an effective reduction in the blood sugar. A new, very promising approach combines the substances metformin and SGLT2 inhibitors, the latter were just approved in 2012.

4 Aug 2014

Study shows new potential mechanism to better understand AD in African Americans

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine report that two rare variants in the AKAP9 gene significantly increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in African-Americans.

4 Aug 2014

AMP publishes updated position statement on the regulation of LDPs

The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), the premier global, non-profit organization serving molecular testing professionals and leading education initiatives, discussions, and policy actions central to improving the development and application of molecular diagnostics, today reaffirmed its position that the vast majority of laboratory developed tests (LDTs), or laboratory developed procedures (LDPs)—a term coined by AMP to more appropriately capture the nature of these processes as medical services—should continue operating under the regulation of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments program at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and not be subject to pre-market review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as suggested in the draft guidance notification issued to Congress on July 31, 2014.

4 Aug 2014

Phase 3 ASPIRE clinical trial meets primary endpoint of progression-free survival

Amgen and its subsidiary, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced that a planned interim analysis demonstrated that the Phase 3 clinical trial ASPIRE (CArfilzomib, Lenalidomide, and DexamethaSone versus Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone for the treatment of PatIents with Relapsed Multiple MyEloma) met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS).

4 Aug 2014

Epigenetic control of serotonin transporter predicts human brain function

The tiny addition of a chemical mark atop a gene that is well known for its involvement in clinical depression and posttraumatic stress disorder can affect the way a person's brain responds to threats, according to a new study by Duke University researchers.

4 Aug 2014

Clinical trial to look for genetic information in cancer patients

Sanford Health is working to enroll approximately 50 adult patients whose cancer has progressed after the first line of treatment or who have rare cancers without standard treatment options in a clinical trial to look for genetic information that could help customize treatment options.

4 Aug 2014

New genetic markers signal increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer

A large DNA analysis of people with and without pancreatic cancer has identified several new genetic markers that signal increased risk of developing the highly lethal disease, report scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

4 Aug 2014

Biomarker for head and neck cancers identified

Although mutations in a gene dubbed "the guardian of the genome" are widely recognized as being associated with more aggressive forms of cancer, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found evidence suggesting that the deleterious health effects of the mutated gene may in large part be due to other genetic abnormalities, at least in squamous cell head and neck cancers.

4 Aug 2014

Research: Tumor-suppressing protein linked with CHARGE syndrome

CHARGE, which affects 1 in 10,000 babies, is an acronym whose letters stand for some of the more common symptoms of the condition: coloboma of the eye, heart defects, atresia of the choanae, retardation of growth and/or development, genital and/or urinary abnormalities, and ear abnormalities and deafness.

4 Aug 2014

Bacteria that aid in digestion help keep intestinal lining intact

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that bacteria that aid in digestion help keep the intestinal lining intact.

4 Aug 2014

Researchers describe how PAI-1 protein behaves in its short life

The human body contains a unique protein that has the unusual property of destroying itself after a few hours of existence - it must therefore be continually recreated and is no stable protein.

1 Aug 2014

Researchers identify possible new drug target for treating childhood blood cancer

In what is believed to be the largest genetic analysis of what triggers and propels progression of tumor growth in a common childhood blood cancer, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center report that they have identified a possible new drug target for treating the disease.

1 Aug 2014

Suicidal tendency shows up in the blood?

American researchers have identified a genetic indicator that could be used to predict a person’s risk of attempting suicide.

31 Jul 2014

InformedDNA reaches $4.5 million funding agreement with Zaffre Investments

InformedDNA, a leading provider of Genetic Benefits Management and the largest independent network of genetic specialists in the U.S., announced today that it has reached a $4.5 million funding agreement with Zaffre Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

31 Jul 2014

New hope for people suffering from obesity and diabetes

White, brown and beige adipocytes, or fat cells, are inherently different. Each of these cell types has different functions and each plays its own role in metabolism. In the human body, white adipose tissue is by far the most prevalent.

31 Jul 2014

No two single tumor cells in breast cancer patients have same genome

Just as no two people possess the same genetic makeup, a recent study has shown that no two single tumor cells in breast cancer patients have an identical genome.

31 Jul 2014

Obesity mutation MC4R can significantly contribute to weight gain at early age

People who have the most common genetic mutation linked to obesity respond differently to pictures of appetizing foods than overweight or obese people who do not have the genetic mutation, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

31 Jul 2014

Discovery could lead to development of new cancer therapies

DNA mutations-long known to fuel cancer as well as evolutionary changes in a living organism-had been thought to be rare events that occur randomly throughout the genome.

31 Jul 2014

Researchers discover new function of body's most important tumor-suppressing protein

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have discovered a new function of the body's most important tumor-suppressing protein. Called p53, this protein has been called "the guardian of the genome."

30 Jul 2014