Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Vitamin E can significantly reduce risk of heart attacks for diabetics with certain gene variant

Vitamin E supplements can significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks and related deaths for diabetics who carry a particular version of a gene, according to researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the Clalit Health Services in Israel.

21 Nov 2007

Scientists identify key nerve navigation pathway

Newly launched nerve cells in a growing embryo must chart their course to distant destinations, and many of the means they use to navigate have yet to surface.

21 Nov 2007

Pregnant women pass on the effects of smoking

Smoking during pregnancy has many adverse effects on fetal development.

21 Nov 2007

Human pluripotent stem cells without human cloning

Two major scientific papers published this week in Science and Cell unveil a proven way to generate patient-matched human pluripotent stem cells without human cloning, and without the use of human embryos or human or animal eggs.

21 Nov 2007

Human skin could be a new source of stem cells

A simple recipe—including just four ingredients—can transform adult human skin cells into cells that resemble embryonic stem cells, researchers report in an immediate early publication of the journal Cell, a publication of Cell Press.

21 Nov 2007

Whole-body positron emission tomography can reassure cervical cancer patients

Whole-body PET (positron emission tomography) scans done three months after completion of cervical cancer therapy can ensure that patients are disease-free or warn that further interventions are needed, according to a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

21 Nov 2007

Monkeys fend off AIDS-like symptoms with enhanced HIV vaccine

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that using an immune system gene to enhance a vaccine used to study HIV in macaque monkeys provides the animals with greater protection against simian HIV (SHIV) than an unmodified vaccine.

21 Nov 2007

Discovery of 300 previously unidentified human genes

Using supercomputers to compare portions of the human genome with those of other mammals, researchers at Cornell have discovered some 300 previously unidentified human genes, and found extensions of several hundred genes already known.

21 Nov 2007

The science of cancer health disparities in racial/ethnic minorities and the medically underserved

The latest biological, clinical and social research behind how cancer affects different racial and ethnic groups will be the focus of the first American Association for Cancer Research conference on the topic, entitled "The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved."

21 Nov 2007

Bortezomib pushes cancer cells into overdrive, so that they self-destruct

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have discovered that bortezomib, a promising cancer drug, is able to strike a blow against melanoma tumor cells by revving up the action of a cancer-promoting gene.

21 Nov 2007

Gene-based therapy successful in Parkinson's disease

Brain scans have revealed that the first gene-based therapy for Parkinson's disease was effective.

20 Nov 2007

Cannabis compound may stop breast cancer spreading

American researchers have found that a compound found in cannabis may stop breast cancer spreading throughout the body.

20 Nov 2007

Dyslexia expert Dr. Bruce McCandliss awarded Presidential honor

Dr. Bruce McCandliss, a psychologist at the Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology and associate professor of psychology in psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, has received a commendation by the President of the United States in the form of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

20 Nov 2007

Hormone norepinephrine may hasten the progression of certain blood cancers

Researchers here have shown that in cell cultures, the stress hormone norepinephrine appears to promote the biochemical signals that stimulate certain tumor cells to grow and spread.

20 Nov 2007

Protein in mice known as RGS13 suppresses allergic reactions

A protein in mice known as RGS13 suppresses allergic reactions, including the severe, life-threatening allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis, according to scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

20 Nov 2007