Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Rockefeller University Hospital opens clinical trial into statin-associated muscle complaints

The most widely prescribed class of drugs in the country, statins have helped millions of people lower their cholesterol and reduce their risk of heart attacks - but their side effects, including muscle pain and cramping, have proven to be something of a sore point for many patients.

14 Apr 2009

Scientists show how gene alteration can lead to the development of a type of brain cancer

An international team of scientists from the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, the University of North Carolina and several institutions in China have explained how a gene alteration can lead to the development of a type of brain cancer, and they have identified a compound that could staunch the cancer's growth.

14 Apr 2009

Molecule Thymosin beta-4 prompts damaged heart cells to repair themselves after a heart attack

A protein that the heart produces during its early development reactivates the embryonic coronary developmental program and initiates migration of heart cells and blood vessel growth after a heart attack, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

14 Apr 2009

New understanding of roles of insulin in obesity or type II diabetes

Researchers have uncovered new evidence suggesting factors other than genes could cause obesity, finding that genetically identical cells store widely differing amounts of fat depending on subtle variations in how cells process insulin.

14 Apr 2009

You are what your mother did not eat during pregnancy

The new science of epigenetics explains how genes can be modified by the environment, and a prime result of epigenetic inquiry has just been published online in The FASEB Journal: You are what your mother did not eat during pregnancy.

13 Apr 2009

$Pharmacyclics starts clinical trial of novel oral Btk inhibitor for refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma$

Pharmacyclics starts clinical trial of novel oral Btk inhibitor for refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Pharmacyclics, Inc. has announced that it has begun treating patients in a Phase 1 dose-escalation study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of PCI-32765, an orally available, selective inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase, or Btk, as a potential treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).

13 Apr 2009

Gene targeting discovery opens door for vaccines and drugs

In a genetic leap that could help fast track vaccine and drug development to prevent or tame serious global diseases, DMS researchers have discovered how to destroy a key DNA pathway in a wily and widespread human parasite.

13 Apr 2009

Colon cancer shuts down receptor that could shut it down

Though a high-fiber diet has long been considered good for you and beneficial in staving off colon cancer, Medical College of Georgia researchers have discovered a reason why: roughage activates a receptor with cancer-killing potential.

13 Apr 2009

Gene mutation the trigger for deadly melanoma

According to British researchers as many as 70% of melanoma skin cancers may be triggered by a gene mutation.

13 Apr 2009

Australian study will explore genetic causes of ADHD

New research planned by Australian scientists will hopefully shed some light on the causes of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

13 Apr 2009

Discovery of chemical compound that may stop deadly brain tumors

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have identified a compound that could be modified to treat one of the most deadly types of cancer, and discovered how a particular gene mutation contributes to tumor growth.

12 Apr 2009

microRNAs manipulate cells to one day create safe embryonic-like stem cells

A team of UCSF researchers has for the first time used tiny molecules called microRNAs to help turn adult mouse cells back to their embryonic state.

12 Apr 2009

Researchers model 3D structures of proteins that control human clock

In an Early Edition issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on April 9, 2009, the researchers report that they have been able to determine the molecular structure of a plant photolyase protein that is surprisingly similar to two cryptochrome proteins that control the "master clock" in humans and other mammals.

12 Apr 2009

Small RNAs can play critical roles in male infertility/contraception

University of Nevada School of Medicine scientists in the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology have discovered insight into the reproductive workings of the male sex chromosome that may have significant implications for male infertility and contraception.

12 Apr 2009