Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Scientists unlock one of mysteries of modern genetics

Scientists at Indiana University have unlocked one of the mysteries of modern genetics: how acquired traits can be passed between generations in a process called epigenetic inheritance. The new work finds that cells don't know to silence some genes based on information hardwired into their DNA sequences, but recognize heritable chemical marks that are added to the genes. These chemical tags serve as a form of molecular memory, allowing cells to recognize the genes and remember to silence them again in each new generation.

21 Mar 2014

Misplaced protein provides promising drug target for kidney cancer

The shortage of oxygen, or hypoxia, created when rapidly multiplying kidney cancer cells outgrow their local blood supply can accelerate tumor growth by causing a nuclear protein called SPOP-which normally suppresses tumor growth-to move out of the nucleus to the cytoplasm, where it has the opposite effect, promoting rapid proliferation.

21 Mar 2014

Researchers identify steps by which cell removes RNA from cytoplasm

RNA encodes the proteins that play a key role in cellular reproduction, but the manner in which cells regulate its removal once these proteins are synthesized remains a mystery. One piece of this mystery has been solved as researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who have identified the steps by which a cell removes RNA from the cytoplasm.

21 Mar 2014

Drug and alcohol abuse could be linked with poor development of "love hormone"

Addictive behavior such as drug and alcohol abuse could be associated with poor development of the so-called "love hormone" system in our bodies during early childhood, according to researchers at the University of Adelaide.

21 Mar 2014

Researchers identify genetic defect that causes a subset of irritable bowel syndrome

Is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) caused by genetics, diet, past trauma, anxiety? All are thought to play a role, but now, for the first time, researchers have reported a defined genetic defect that causes a subset of IBS. The research was published in the journal Gastroenterology.

21 Mar 2014

Proteins that regulate energy metabolism are essential for stem cell formation

Proteins that regulate energy metabolism are essential for stem cell formation, University of Washington researchers find.

21 Mar 2014

New tool pinpoints genetic sources of disease

Many diseases are the result of either variations in the genome or reversible chemical changes to DNA, known as the epigenome. New data obtained by Johns Hopkins scientists show a connection between genetic variants and epigenetic information.

20 Mar 2014

MRI magnetic fields may diagnose, treat balance disorders and dizziness, say researchers

Expanding on earlier research, Johns Hopkins researchers report that people with balance disorders or dizziness traceable to an inner-ear disturbance show distinctive abnormal eye movements when the affected ear is exposed to the strong pull of an MRI’s magnetic field.

20 Mar 2014

Researchers find how Dom34 protein keeps defective genetic material from gumming up cellular works

Using a powerful data-crunching technique, Johns Hopkins researchers have sorted out how a protein keeps defective genetic material from gumming up the cellular works. The protein, Dom34, appears to “rescue” protein-making factories called ribosomes when they get stuck obeying defective genetic instructions, the researchers report in the Feb. 27 issue of Cell.

20 Mar 2014

Scientists discover cellular pathway that may prevent onset of Type 2 diabetes

Scientists at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute have discovered a cellular pathway that is responsible for keeping blood sugar levels low in obese or pre-diabetic people, and may prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes.

20 Mar 2014

Genomic analysis to study cancer in dogs can help develop new therapies for human cancers

Using genomic analysis to study cancer in dogs can help develop new therapies for humans with cancer, according to a proof-of-concept study led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

19 Mar 2014

Restless legs syndrome alters expression of critical gene during fetal development of brain

In a study published online in Genome Research, researchers of the Helmholtz Zentrum München und the Technische Universität München have demonstrated that a common genetic variant associated with Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) alters the expression of a critical gene during fetal development of the brain.

19 Mar 2014

Neurexin proteins play key role in formation of synaptic connections

Neuroscientists and bioengineers at Stanford are working together to solve a mystery: how does nature construct the different types of synapses that connect neurons -- the brain cells that monitor nerve impulses, control muscles and form thoughts.

19 Mar 2014

USTAR Center for Genetic Discovery to integrate genome data with patient care

The USTAR Center for Genetic Discovery is partnering with California based Omicia, Inc, to make analyzing a patient's genome as routine as performing a blood test.

19 Mar 2014

Amgen announces results from Phase 3 TESLA Trial of evolocumab in patients with HoFH

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) today announced that the Phase 3 TESLA (Trial Evaluating PCSK9 Antibody in Subjects with LDL Receptor Abnormalities) trial evaluating evolocumab met its primary endpoint of the percent reduction from baseline at week 12 in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C).

19 Mar 2014

Nine fellows selected to receive Dennis Weatherstone Predoctoral Fellowship for next two years

Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, today announced the sixth class of The Dennis Weatherstone Predoctoral Fellows funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

19 Mar 2014

Children who most prefer high levels of sweet tastes also prefer high levels of salt taste

Scientists from the Monell Chemical Senses Center have found that children who most prefer high levels of sweet tastes also most prefer high levels of salt taste and that, in general, children prefer sweeter and saltier tastes than do adults.

18 Mar 2014

Study: Identifying biomarkers could lead to earlier detection of preeclampsia

Identifying biomarkers could lead to earlier detection of preeclampsia, which in turn can lead to healthier mothers and children, according to a collaborative study from the Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research (CEMIR) and the MR Cancer Group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

18 Mar 2014

Researchers discover how STAT3 protein breaches antitumor mechanism prior to cancer development

A Stony Brook University-led international team of infectious disease researchers have discovered how a cellular protein, called STAT3, which is overactive in a majority of human cancers, interferes with an antitumor mechanism in cells and therefore promotes the growth of cancer.

18 Mar 2014

Sports medicine physicians to convene at 2014 AMSSM Annual Meeting

More than 1,400 sports medicine physicians from the United States and abroad will attend the 23rd Annual Meeting of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM), the largest primary care sports medicine physician organization in the nation.

17 Mar 2014

Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Scientists unlock one of mysteries of modern genetics

Misplaced protein provides promising drug target for kidney cancer

Researchers identify steps by which cell removes RNA from cytoplasm

Drug and alcohol abuse could be linked with poor development of "love hormone"

Researchers identify genetic defect that causes a subset of irritable bowel syndrome

Proteins that regulate energy metabolism are essential for stem cell formation

New tool pinpoints genetic sources of disease

MRI magnetic fields may diagnose, treat balance disorders and dizziness, say researchers

Researchers find how Dom34 protein keeps defective genetic material from gumming up cellular works

Scientists discover cellular pathway that may prevent onset of Type 2 diabetes

Genomic analysis to study cancer in dogs can help develop new therapies for human cancers

Restless legs syndrome alters expression of critical gene during fetal development of brain

Neurexin proteins play key role in formation of synaptic connections

USTAR Center for Genetic Discovery to integrate genome data with patient care

Amgen announces results from Phase 3 TESLA Trial of evolocumab in patients with HoFH

Nine fellows selected to receive Dennis Weatherstone Predoctoral Fellowship for next two years

Children who most prefer high levels of sweet tastes also prefer high levels of salt taste

Study: Identifying biomarkers could lead to earlier detection of preeclampsia

Researchers discover how STAT3 protein breaches antitumor mechanism prior to cancer development

Sports medicine physicians to convene at 2014 AMSSM Annual Meeting

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

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging