Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Alcohol-dependent Americans more likely to seek treatment than South Koreans

Hazardous alcohol use and depression are among the 10 leading causes of disability and premature death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Many low- to middle-income countries have begun to see a steady increase in alcohol use and have entered the early stages of a tobacco epidemic. A study of alcohol use disorders (AUDs), nicotine dependence (ND), and mood and anxiety disorders in the United States and South Korea has found that while AUDs are substantially more common among Americans than South Koreans, alcohol-dependent Americans are significantly more likely to seek treatment.

17 Jan 2012

Combination of lapatinib and trastuzumab more effective in treating HER2-positive breast cancer

Using two drugs that inhibit the growth factor HER2 for preoperative treatment of early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer appears to have better results than treatment with a single agent. In a report in the January 17 issue of The Lancet, an international research team reports that a protocol adding lapatinib (Tykerb) to trastuzumab (Herceptin) was more effective than single-drug treatment with either drug in eliminating microscopic signs of cancer at the time the tumors were surgically removed.

17 Jan 2012

Study examines weather patterns around the time of flu pandemics

Worldwide pandemics of influenza caused widespread death and illness in 1918, 1957, 1968 and 2009. A new study examining weather patterns around the time of these pandemics finds that each of them was preceded by La Ni-a conditions in the equatorial Pacific.

17 Jan 2012

Source of infantile epilepsy found in a gene

Researchers from Adelaide have discovered a 20-year mystery about a type of epilepsy in infants. It is caused by a single mutation in one gene they found. The discovery will allow for better screening, diagnosis and prediction of the risk of seizures for sufferers of benign familial infantile epilepsy, the researchers say.

16 Jan 2012

NimbleGen Sequence Capture 385K array identifies gene mutations linked with hereditary hearing loss

Hereditary hearing loss is the most common sensory disorder in humans. A German research team led by Ingo Kurth from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University Hospital Jena, Germany, used a number of different methods, including Roche's NimbleGen Custom Sequence Capture 385K array to identify the gene mutated in the disease locus of the X-chromosome of a Spanish family with hereditary hearing loss.

13 Jan 2012

Researchers identify human receptor that can taste fat

Why do we like fatty foods so much? We can blame our taste buds. Our tongues apparently recognize and have an affinity for fat, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They have found that variations in a gene can make people more or less sensitive to the taste of fat.

13 Jan 2012

Age, marital status affect risk of going on medical leave or disability pension

Factors other than genetics and childhood environment affect the risk of going on medical leave or disability pension, reports a study in the January Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

13 Jan 2012

Genetic link to prostate cancer discovered

A new study has found that men who inherit a rare genetic mutation are 10 to 20 times more likely than average to develop prostate cancer. The gene variant may help explain cases of the disease that run in families and strike men at unusually young ages.

12 Jan 2012

GnuBIO to complete development of SCD genetic panel

GnuBIO, Inc., a pioneer in scalable desktop DNA sequencing and the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) have announced today that they will complete the development of a genetic panel in order to screen patients to determine the risk for sudden cardiac death, SCD.

12 Jan 2012

Chemotherapy drugs can lead to relapse of leukemia

The chemotherapy drugs required to push a common form of adult leukemia into remission may contribute to DNA damage that can lead to a relapse of the disease in some patients, findings of a new study suggest.

12 Jan 2012

Scientists identify rare genetic mutation linked to prostate cancer

After a 20-year quest to find a genetic driver for prostate cancer that strikes men at younger ages and runs in families, researchers have identified a rare, inherited mutation linked to a significantly higher risk of the disease.

12 Jan 2012

St. Jude introduces 'Explore' website for pediatric genome project

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has launched a freely available website for published research results from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP). The PCGP is the largest effort to date aimed at sequencing the entire genomes of both normal and cancer cells from pediatric cancer patients, comparing differences in the DNA to identify genetic mistakes that lead to childhood cancers.

12 Jan 2012

DNA may be used to predict lifespan: Study

Researchers may soon be able to predict how long a person will live based on their genetics. This could result from the discovery by a University of Glasgow team in Scotland showing that telomere length on the ends of DNA in their genes in early-life predicts life spans.

11 Jan 2012

DNA decoder – cheaper and faster

Life Technologies Corp. – a biotechnology company announced Tuesday that it has developed a machine to decode an individual's DNA in a day for just $1,000. The company said it was taking orders for the technology, which it expects to deliver in about a year. The Carlsbad, California, company said three major research institutions had already signed up for the $149,000 machine: the Baylor College of Medicine, the Yale School of Medicine and the Broad Institute of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

11 Jan 2012

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation names 18 new Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 18 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its fall Fellowship Award Committee review.

11 Jan 2012

Bladder cancer is one of the top 10 most common forms of cancer in the US

Bladder cancer, most frequently caused by smoking and exposure to carcinogens in the workplace, is one of the top 10 most common forms of cancer in men and women in the U.S. More than 70 percent of bladder cancers are diagnosed in stage T1 or less and have not invaded the muscle layer.

11 Jan 2012

Aria's non-invasive test more effective in detecting Trisomy 18 & 21

Aria Diagnostics, a molecular diagnostics company, today announced publication of data supporting a directed, non-invasive approach to cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis in maternal blood for evaluation of two common fetal trisomies linked to genetic disorders.

10 Jan 2012

Scientists can now observe enhancer activity in real embryo

As an embryo develops, different genes are turned on in different cells, to form muscles, neurons and other bodily parts. Inside each cell's nucleus, genetic sequences known as enhancers act like remote controls, switching genes on and off. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, can now see - and predict - exactly when each remote control is itself activated, in a real embryo.

10 Jan 2012

Life Technologies takes orders for new benchtop Ion Proton Sequencer

Life Technologies Corporation today announced it is taking orders for the new benchtop Ion Proton Sequencer that is designed to sequence the entire human genome in a day for $1,000.

10 Jan 2012

HDC, NeoGenomics sign worldwide licensing agreement to develop LDT

Health Discovery Corporation, a molecular diagnostics leader in the use of patent protected advanced mathematical techniques for personalized medicine, has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with NeoGenomics, Inc. for laboratory developed tests in the Field of hematopoietic and solid tumor cancers excluding breast cancer, which was previously licensed to Quest Diagnostics and Smart Personalized Medicine and excluding cancer of the retina which was previously committed to Retinalyze, LLC.

9 Jan 2012