Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Solving the Z ring's mysteries may lead to new antibiotics

A team led by Johns Hopkins researchers has solved important puzzles concerning how certain proteins guide the reproduction of bacteria, discoveries that could lead to a new type of antibiotics.

9 Apr 2008

Hepatitis B virus triggers cell 'suicide' in patients with chronic infection

Scientists from UCL (University College London) have identified a key difference between people who can fight the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) off successfully and those who fail to do so - that a group of cells important in controlling the disease are triggered to 'commit suicide' in patients who are chronically infected.

9 Apr 2008

Gene oppositely controlled by dietary protein, sugar

Researchers have discovered a gene in flies whose activity rises and falls depending upon the amount of protein and sugar in the insects' diets.

9 Apr 2008

Researchers battle against dangerous corn toxin

The spiraling use of corn for food and fuel is creating heightened concerns about contamination of this staple crop with deadly aflatoxin.

9 Apr 2008

Scientists block early step in metastasis of prostate cancer cells

Recent studies have suggested an association between chronic inflammation and cancers of the prostate, colon, stomach and liver.

9 Apr 2008

Back pain problems may be more a matter of genetics than physical strain

What do you learn by looking at the spines of hundreds of Finnish twins?

9 Apr 2008

Angina drug ranolazine potentially useful against heart rhythm disorders

A recently approved angina drug may also represent a powerful new treatment for a rare hereditary syndrome that places teens at risk for sudden cardiac death, according to research presented on April 1st at the 57th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in Chicago.

9 Apr 2008

A diaphanous control during embryo formation

The research now published in the journal Development shows how Dia mutations in fruit flies embryos result in a serious of defects during morphogenesis (process by which cells differentiate into tissues and structures), including loss of adhesion, abnormal movements and even migration of cells from one tissue to another.

9 Apr 2008

Genetic factors associated with common fears

Genetic factors that are associated with fears appear to change as children and adolescents age, with some familial factors declining in importance over time while other genetic risk factors arise in adolescence and adulthood, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

8 Apr 2008

Potential new therapy for myeloproliferative disorders

A unique partnership between industry and academia has led to human clinical trials of a new drug for a rare class of blood diseases called myeloproliferative disorders (MPD), which are all driven by the same genetic mutation and can evolve into leukemia.

8 Apr 2008

Genetic variants of USF1 are associated with the increased risk for cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are major contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide.

8 Apr 2008

Blood pressure enzyme can have tumor-sensing role

By increasing production of a blood pressure-regulating enzyme in mice, researchers have found they can enhance the mouse immune system's ability to sense tumor growth.

8 Apr 2008

Asthma and smoker's lung: dry airways play a key role

Dry airways may not only play a central role in the development of the inherited lung disease cystic fibrosis, but also in much more common acquired chronic lung diseases such as asthma and smoker's lung, the cigarette smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

8 Apr 2008

Leaky blood vessels open up nerve cells to toxic assault In Lou Gehrig's disease

Leaky blood vessels that lose their ability to protect the spinal cord from toxins may play a role in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, according to research published in the April issue of Nature Neuroscience.

7 Apr 2008

Rare genetic variants have big impact on blood pressure

Yale University researchers report in the journal Nature Genetics that they have discovered that rare genetic variants can be associated with a dramatically lower risk of developing high blood pressure in the general population.

7 Apr 2008

Scientists visualize the machinery of mRNA splicing

Recent research at Yale provided a glimpse of the ancient mechanism that helped diversify our genomes; it illuminated a relationship between gene processing in humans and the most primitive organisms by creating the first crystal structure of a crucial self-splicing region of RNA.

7 Apr 2008

Salivary diagnostics

Accuracy, convenience, and non-invasiveness are the most critical characteristics for any diagnostic tool.

7 Apr 2008

Rare mutations in salt handling genes protect against hypertension

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have found that rare mutations in three genes contribute to blood pressure variation in the general population.

7 Apr 2008

Cancer treatment from a common avian virus under study

Researchers on the Blacksburg and College Park, Maryland campuses of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine have been awarded a major new grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support innovative work that seeks to develop a treatment for cancer from a common avian virus.

7 Apr 2008

New potential approach to treat spinal muscular atrophy

In the neuromuscular disease called spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, a protein deficiency caused by a single gene mutation leads to serious damage in growing nerve cells and the muscles they control.

7 Apr 2008