Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

NIH stresses importance of genomics in nursing care in medical literature

On April 14, 2003 a map of the human genome was completed, ushering in a new era of genetics in medicine with applications that include genetic testing; newborn screening; susceptibility to diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, or psychiatric conditions; screening, diagnosis and monitoring of disease; and treatment planning.

1 Feb 2013

University of Leicester's GENIE to host Lifestyle and Cancer Awareness Workshop on Feb. 23

Women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer are invited to meet with experts who will advise on preventing or delaying the disease. The University of Leicester's Genetics Education Networking for Innovation and Excellence (GENIE) will hold its third Lifestyle and Cancer Awareness Workshop on Saturday, February 23.

1 Feb 2013

Study expands and deepens biological and genetic links between CVD and schizophrenia

A new study, to be published in the Feb. 7, 2013 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, expands and deepens the biological and genetic links between cardiovascular disease and schizophrenia. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of premature death among schizophrenia patients, who die from heart and blood vessel disorders at a rate double that of persons without the mental disorder.

1 Feb 2013

Erbin protein critical to brain excitement

Scientists have found an early step in how the brain's inhibitory cells get excited. A natural balance of excitement and inhibition keeps the brain from firing electrical impulses randomly and excessively, resulting in problems such as schizophrenia and seizures. However excitement is required to put on the brakes.

31 Jan 2013

Molecular genetics expert wins Wolf Prize for his contribution to humanity

Joachim Messing, among the world's top experts in molecular genetics, became famous for developing a genetic engineering technique used in laboratories to create plants that have produced disease-resistant crops considered vital to feeding the world's population.

30 Jan 2013

Feinstein Institute, Merck Serono to develop antibodies for treatment of SLE

Merck Serono, a division of Merck, Darmstadt, Germany, and The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, announced today that they will collaborate to develop antibodies for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

30 Jan 2013

Researchers create CoQ9-deficient mutant mouse model with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy

At three to six months of life, this genetic alteration in mice -similar to that occurred in human- causes a rapid degeneration in the lower limbs to death for cardiac arrest.

30 Jan 2013

HIV-positive patients have higher incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers

HIV-positive patients have a higher incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers, according to a Kaiser Permanente study that appears in the current online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Specifically, basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas occur more than twice as often among HIV-positive individuals compared to those who are HIV-negative.

30 Jan 2013

Phenformin decreases size of lung tumors and increases survival in mice

Ever since discovering a decade ago that a gene altered in lung cancer regulated an enzyme used in therapies against diabetes, Reuben Shaw has wondered if drugs originally designed to treat metabolic diseases could also work against cancer.

30 Jan 2013

Non-coding RNA essential for normal embryonic cardiogenesis

Many different tissues and organs form from pluripotent stem cells during embryonic development. To date it had been known that these processes are controlled by transcription factors for specific tissues. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, in collaboration with colleagues at MIT and the Broad Institute in Boston, have now been able to demonstrate that RNA molecules, which do not act as templates for protein synthesis, participate in these processes as well.

30 Jan 2013

One-step, off-the-shelf tool can help evaluate genetic cause of mitochondrial diseases

More powerful gene-sequencing tools have increasingly been uncovering disease secrets in DNA within the cell nucleus. Now a research team is expanding those rapid next-generation sequencing tests to analyze a separate source of DNA—within the genes inside mitochondria, cellular power plants that, when abnormal, contribute to complex, multisystem diseases.

29 Jan 2013

Adolescents, alcohol and influences

Chances are the only thing you remember about your first swig of alcohol is how bad the stuff tasted. What you didn't know is the person who gave you that first drink and when you had it says a lot about your predisposition to imbibe later in life.

29 Jan 2013

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