Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Salk Institute professor named 2011 recipient of NIH Director's T-R01 program

Dr. Fred Gage, a professor in the Salk Institute Laboratory of Genetics and holder of the Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases, has been named a 2011 recipient of the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's Transformative Research Projects (T-R01) program.

29 Sep 2011

Men need colon cancer screening earlier than women: Study

A new study finds that men are at a higher risk of colon cancer than women and should get their first colonoscopy to screen for the disease at age 45, five years earlier than the current recommendation.

28 Sep 2011

University of Utah organic chemist wins National Medal of Science

University of Utah organic chemist Peter J. Stang has won a National Medal of Science - the highest U.S. honor for a scientist or engineer - and is tentatively scheduled to be honored by President Barack Obama at the White House later this year.

28 Sep 2011

UCLA researchers sequence complete genomes of 17 strains of mice

For decades, laboratory mice have been widely used in research aimed at understanding which genes are involved in various illnesses. But actual variations in past gene sequences of mice were unknown. While researchers were able to determine that a variant affecting disease was in a certain region, they couldn't pinpoint the exact set of variants in that region.

27 Sep 2011

Scientists uncover how methylation changes can influence blood stem cell's fate

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and the University of Southern California (USC) have uncovered intriguing new evidence helping to explain one of the ways in which a stem cell's fate can be determined.

27 Sep 2011

Asuragen announces data from Signature LTx v2.0 clinical study on leukemia

Asuragen, Inc. announced today that data from a study evaluating its Signature LTx v2.0, a CE-marked IVD test, for the multiplex detection of fusion transcripts associated with ALL, AML and CML leukemia, will be presented at the upcoming Planet XMAP Europe being held September 28 - 29, 2011 in Vienna, Austria.

27 Sep 2011

Weill Cornell receives NIH's T-R01 Award for spina bifida research

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a five-year, $5.5 million Transformative Research Project (T-R01) Award to fund research into risk factors for spina bifida and related congenital defects in which an area of the affected baby's spine or brain is not fully enclosed.

27 Sep 2011

Alnylam commences ALN-PCS Phase I trial in severe hypercholesterolemia

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has initiated dosing in its Phase I clinical trial with ALN-PCS, an RNAi therapeutic targeting proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9, or PCSK9, for the treatment of severe hypercholesterolemia.

27 Sep 2011

Duplication of RPS6KA3 gene produces limited family intellectual disability

The financial contributions made some years ago by individuals and public administration bodies in the telemarathon solidarity events on the Basque Public Broadcasting Corporation (EiTB) and subsequently channelled through the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research (BIOEF), has resulted in undertaking successful innovative research at the Cruces Hospital near Bilbao in the Basque province of Bizkaia, describing a new syndrome of limited family intellectual disability.

26 Sep 2011

Scientists find a way to rapidly produce pure populations of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine found a way to rapidly produce pure populations of cells that grow into the protective myelin coating on nerves in mice. Their process opens a door to research and potential treatments for multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other demyelinating diseases afflicting millions of people worldwide.

26 Sep 2011

Genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer

Experts from Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) provide some clues as to who should be using these tests. They explain that women who have been diagnosed with cancer and/or people who have a strong family history of cancer can consider genetic testing. Red flags to consider are anyone in the family who developed cancer at a young age, multiple family members who developed cancer, if a person experienced bilateral cancer (cancer in both breasts), breast and ovarian cancer in the same woman, or cancer appeared where it wasn’t expected (like breast cancer in men)

26 Sep 2011

Hair loss, divorce and smoking in women – links established

A new study showed that genetics aside, the next strongest predictor of midline (central) hair loss among women is their marital status, with the loss of a spouse (through either divorce or death) raising the risk for thinning hair above that of married or single women.

26 Sep 2011

Gene blockade could reverse type 2 diabetes: Study

Australian scientists report that they may be on the brink of reversing type 2 diabetes after a genetic discovery. The finding centers on how a particular gene responds to high-fat diets by disrupting insulin production in the pancreas and triggering diabetes.

26 Sep 2011

Scientists identify genetic variants associated with lung health

Scientists have for the first time discovered sixteen new sections of the genetic code that relate to lung health -- opening up the possibility for better prevention as well as treatment for lung diseases.

26 Sep 2011

EMA CHMP adopts positive opinion for Soliris to treat atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has adopted a positive opinion recommending that the therapeutic indication for Soliris® (eculizumab) be extended to include the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) in Europe.

23 Sep 2011

Researchers discover cellular origins of breast cancer

Identifying the cellular origins of breast cancer might lead to earlier diagnosis and more efficient management of the disease. New research led by Charlotte Kuperwasser of Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) has determined that common forms of breast cancer originate from breast cells known as luminal epithelial cells while rarer forms of breast cancer, such as metaplastic carcinomas, originate from basal epithelial cell types.

23 Sep 2011

Cyclin E plays a crucial role in the formation of nerve connections

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School have found that a common cancer protein leads a second, totally different life in normal adult brain cells: It helps regulates memory formation and may be implicated in Alzheimer's disease.

23 Sep 2011

AGTC receives FFB grant to evaluate gene therapy treatment for X-linked Retinoschisis

Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, a privately-held, clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel systems to deliver human therapeutics, announces that it has received a grant of $1.5 million from the Foundation Fighting Blindness to fund a pre-clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a gene therapy treatment for X-linked Retinoschisis (XLRS), a genetic eye disease affecting over 35,000 patients in the US and Europe.

22 Sep 2011

Wnt signaling pathway plays an important role in early-onset dementia

No cure exists for frontotemporal dementia, which strikes between the ages of 40 and 64 and accounts for at least one in four cases of early-onset dementia. Caused by the death of cells in the front and sides of the brain, the disease can lead to dramatic changes in a patient's personality and behavior, including the loss of the ability to communicate.

22 Sep 2011

Methylphenidate drug may induce arousal from general anesthesia

Administration of the commonly used stimulant drug methylphenidate (Ritalin) was able to speed recovery from general anesthesia in an animal study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital.

22 Sep 2011