Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Normal p53 gene makes breast cancer chemotherapy with doxorubicin less effective

Presence of normal p53, a tumor suppressor gene, instead of a mutated version, makes breast cancer chemotherapy with doxorubicin less effective. The preclinical study led by MD Anderson scientists was published today in the journal Cancer Cell.

12 Jun 2012

Researchers find pathway for origin and growth of the most common form of brain and spinal cord tumor – meningioma

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered one of the most important cellular mechanisms driving the growth and progression of meningioma, the most common form of brain and spinal cord tumor.

12 Jun 2012

Cellular source of cervical cancer found

A team of scientists from A*STAR's Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) and Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) together with clinicians from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have identified a unique set of cells in the cervix that are the cause of human papillomaviruses (HPV) related cervical cancers. Significantly, the team also showed that these cells do not regenerate when excised.

12 Jun 2012

Polymorphism ’protective in pneumococcal disease’

Patients with invasive pneumococcal disease who have the FcyRIIa-R/R131 polymorphism may have better survival outcomes than those without the genotype, suggest study findings.

11 Jun 2012

$27 million received to speed new treatments for disabling neurological disorder

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has announced receipt of a five-year, $27 million gift earmarked to fast-track the development of therapies to treat tumors associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a common and often debilitating neurogenetic disorder that causes tumors called plexiform neurofibromas to grow on nerves anywhere in the body.

11 Jun 2012

Researchers identify six genes that predispose to migraine without aura

Researchers studied genetic data of more than 11 000 people and found altogether six genes that predispose to migraine without aura. Four of these genes are new and two of them confirm previous findings.

11 Jun 2012

Drinking alcohol linked to skin disorder

Regularly drinking alcohol, particularly in higher quantities, appears to increase the risk for developing psoriasis, the results of a Chinese study suggest.

8 Jun 2012

Genetic influence on postmenopausal bone loss falls with age

The effect of genetics on bone loss rates in postmenopausal women reduces until the age of 65 years, after which time its influence disappears completely, according to results from a twin-based study.

8 Jun 2012

New fetal genetics testing technique could offer less risk, more controversy

The full genetic code of a fetus has been cracked.

8 Jun 2012

'Coolness' loses much of its historical origins

Research led by a University of Rochester Medical Center psychologist and published by the Journal of Individual Differences has found the characteristics associated with coolness today are markedly different than those that generated the concept of cool.

8 Jun 2012

First Edition: June 8, 2012

Today's headlines include reports that the House voted to repeal the health law's medical device tax.

8 Jun 2012

Scientists create cancer model built in the fruit fly Drosophila

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine developed a cancer model built in the fruit fly Drosophila, then used it to create a whole new approach to the discovery of cancer treatments. The result is an investigational compound AD80 that precisely targets multiple cancer genes.

8 Jun 2012

Young adults, adolescents with mental health disorders more likely to become long-term opioid users

Long-term use and abuse of opioid painkillers, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, has markedly increased in the United States in the last two decades. Of note, prescription opioids constitute 86.9 percent of prescription drug misuse among high school students. And last week in a two-day U.S. Food and Drug Administration public meeting, officials questioned the use of long-term opioids for chronic pain due to a lack of evidence for the effectiveness and concerns about the potential risk for addiction.

7 Jun 2012

New research into cell-damaging effects of Huntington's disease

New research into the cell-damaging effects of Huntington's disease suggests a potentially new approach for identifying possible therapeutic targets for treating the nerve-destroying disorder.

7 Jun 2012

Study suggests link between fungi and ulcerative colitis

Cedars-Sinai researchers say their examination of the fungi in the intestines suggests an important link between these microbes and inflammatory diseases such as ulcerative colitis.

7 Jun 2012

Study identifies existence of an antitumor molecule that originates within SMYD3 oncogene

A common point in all human tumors is that they produce an activation of oncogenes, genes that cause cancer and they also cause a loss of function of the protective genes, called anti-oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes. Normally both categories of anticancer and procancer genes are in different regions of our chromosomes.

6 Jun 2012

Sapio announces availability of Exemplar Biomarker Discovery LIMS

Sapio Sciences is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Exemplar Biomarker Discovery LIMS.

5 Jun 2012

Researchers uncover cellular basis for age-related breast cancer vulnerability

It is well-known that the risks of breast cancer increase dramatically for women over the age of 50, but what takes place at the cellular level to cause this increase has been a mystery. Some answers and the possibility of preventative measures in the future are provided in a new study by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

5 Jun 2012

Seattle Genetics, Agensys announce interim data from ASG-5ME phase I trial on CRPC

Agensys, Inc., an affiliate of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc., and Seattle Genetics, Inc. today announced interim data from a phase I clinical trial evaluating ASG-5ME for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer.

5 Jun 2012

Variation in microRNAs may explain survival differences in breast cancer

Researchers and doctors at the North Shore-LIJ Health System and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered a potential explanation for why breast cancer is not experienced the same way with African American and Caucasian patients.

4 Jun 2012