Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Colorectal cancer screening: an interview with Dr Donato F. Altomare

Colorectal cancer is a malignant neoplasm affecting the large bowel and the rectum mainly after the 5th decade of life and representing the second cause of death for cancer in western countries (the third in women). In about 15-20% of patients there is an inherited predisposition.

29 Jan 2013

Study examines how fear responses are learned, controlled and memorized

A rustle of undergrowth in the outback: it's a sound that might make an animal or person stop sharply and be still, in the anticipation of a predator. That "freezing" is part of the fear response, a reaction to a stimulus in the environment and part of the brain's determination of whether to be afraid of it.

29 Jan 2013

Novel experiment illuminates importance of doctor-patient relationship

A patient's relationship with his or her doctor has long been considered an important component of healing. Now, in a novel investigation in which physicians underwent brain scans while they believed they were actually treating patients, researchers have provided the first scientific evidence indicating that doctors truly can feel their patients' pain - and can also experience their relief following treatment.

29 Jan 2013

Scientists discover four processes by which gastric cancer is formed

Scientists at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) headed a study that discovered four processes by which gastric cancer is formed. This is extremely important since gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide, claiming almost 750,000 lives annually, 60% of which are Asians.

29 Jan 2013

GENIEUR teams aim to understand causes and treatment of irritable bowel syndrome

Europe-wide network GENIEUR including researchers from Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, launch program for understanding the causes and improving the diagnosis and treatment of irritable bowel syndrome

29 Jan 2013

Millennium, Seattle Genetics commence ADCETRIS plus chemotherapy phase III trial in MTCL

Seattle Genetics, Inc. and Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502), today announced the initiation of a global phase III clinical trial evaluating ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of newly diagnosed CD30-positive mature T-cell lymphoma (MTCL) patients, including patients with systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL) and other types of peripheral T-cell lymphomas.

28 Jan 2013

Study explores regular aspirin use and potential risks for macular degeneration

This week, a study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, explored the connection between regular aspirin use and the potential risks for developing the blinding eye disease, macular degeneration. As a result, there is increased confusion and anxiety in the general public about whether aspirin can harm your vision and what to do if you need the heart-protective therapy.

28 Jan 2013

Research into anesthesia neurotoxicity in the developing brain

Several studies have found evidence that children who undergo repeated surgical operations with general anesthesia before the age of 4 may be at an increased risk for learning disabilities.

28 Jan 2013

Interim results from Seattle Genetics’ ASG-5ME phase I trial on metastatic PDA

Seattle Genetics, Inc. today presented interim results from a phase I clinical trial evaluating ASG-5ME for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium being held January 24-26, 2013 in San Francisco, CA.

28 Jan 2013

Low birth weight not linked to childhood asthma

Results from a US study do not support an association between low birth weight and an increased risk for childhood asthma.

25 Jan 2013

Targeting key HIV protein could stop HIV infection from progressing to AIDS

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine may have found an "Achilles heel" in a key HIV protein. In findings published online today in Chemistry and Biology, they showed that targeting this vulnerable spot could stop the virus from replicating, potentially thwarting HIV infection from progressing to full-blown AIDS.

25 Jan 2013

Research shows brain cells regulate blood vessel development

Zhen Huang freely admits he was not interested in blood vessels four years ago when he was studying brain development in a fetal mouse. Instead, he wanted to see how changing a particular gene in brain cells called glia would affect the growth of neurons.

25 Jan 2013

Researchers to develop new diagnostic tools and treatments for people with rare diseases

A multi-million Euro initiative is bringing together researchers from across the world to develop new diagnostic tools and new treatments for people with rare diseases and to connect research data in this area on a global scale.

25 Jan 2013

Researchers initiate first gene therapy clinical trial for Fabry disease

Researchers in Calgary have launched the first gene therapy clinical trial in the world for Fabry disease, a rare inherited enzyme deficiency that can shorten the lifespan of people who have it by as much as 40 years.

24 Jan 2013

KLF6-SV1 gene variant drives the spread of breast cancer

A team of researchers led by Goutham Narla, MD, PhD, at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, and collaborators at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Erasmus Medical Center, have discovered a gene variant that drives the spread of breast cancer.

23 Jan 2013

Salk Institute to establish Helmsley Center for Genomic Medicine

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies has received a $42 million gift-the largest in the Institute's history-to establish the Helmsley Center for Genomic Medicine (HCGM), a research center dedicated to decoding the common genetic factors underlying many complex chronic human diseases.

23 Jan 2013

Researchers pinpoint several inherited mutations in autism

While autism clearly runs in some families, few inherited genetic causes have been found. A major reason is that these causes are so varied that it's hard to find enough people with a given mutation to establish a clear pattern. Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have pinpointed several inherited mutations—among the first to be identified—through an unusual approach: using whole-exome sequencing to study large Middle Eastern families with autism.

23 Jan 2013

SMO and AKT1 mutations appear to drive about 15% of meningiomas

Large-scale genomic sequencing has revealed two DNA mutations that appear to drive about 15 percent of brain tumors known as meningiomas, a finding that could lead to the first effective drug treatments for the tumors, report scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute.

23 Jan 2013

New targeted enzyme replacement therapy can treat X-linked myotubular myopathy

A collaborative research team including a Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) pediatric neuropathologist successfully mitigated some of the effects of a muscular disease by using a new targeted enzyme replacement therapy strategy from 4s3 Bioscience.

23 Jan 2013

Novel way to engineer specialized immune cells targeted by the AIDS virus

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found a novel way to engineer key cells of the immune system so they remain resistant to infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

23 Jan 2013