Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

House approves bill that bans discrimination based on genetics

The House on Wednesday voted 420-3 to approve a bill (HR 493), sponsored by Rep.

30 Apr 2007

Major new cancer research study

The American Cancer Society is launching a major new cancer research study that may be the ,last best chance, to do large-scale population research in the United States to discover the genetic and environmental factors that cause and prevent cancer.

30 Apr 2007

Vaccine to cope with viral diversity in HIV

The ability of HIV-1 to develop high levels of genetic diversity and acquire mutations to escape immune pressures contributes to our difficulties in producing a vaccine.

30 Apr 2007

Identifying cardiorespiratory neurocircuitry involved in central command during exercise in humans

For almost one hundred years the brain's ,central command, system , whose charge includes controlling the body's cardiorespiratory response to exercise , has been pursued. Animal experiments and functional imaging studies have provided clues to the location of this system, but the underlying electrophysiological activity has never been measured.

30 Apr 2007

Scientists discover pathway that promotes muscle cell survival in mice

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified an enzyme that pumps up a cell's ability to maintain healthy muscle and restores normal muscle function in genetically engineered mice with weak muscles.

30 Apr 2007

Scientists find last unknown enzyme in the synthesis of vitamin C in plants

Vitamin C is possibly the most important small molecule whose biosynthetic pathway remained a mystery.

30 Apr 2007

New test for liver disease

A researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine has helped confirm the reliability of a new test for liver disease that is ushering in the long-promised era of personalized medicine based on each individual's genetic makeup.

30 Apr 2007

New understanding of how histone and DNA methylation communicate

In the May 15th issue of G&D, Dr. Michael Carey (UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center) and colleagues lend new insight into the mechanism of epigenetic silencing of euchromatic genes.

30 Apr 2007

Green tea may help prevent bone destruction in arthritis

In rheumatoid arthritis, a person's own immune system attacks the joints by activating the synovial tissue that lines the body's movable joints, causing inflammation, swelling, pain and eventually erosion of the bone and cartilage and deformation of the joint.

30 Apr 2007

Exercise pill switches on master regulator that controls the ability of cells to burn fat

By giving ordinary adult mice a drug - a synthetic designed to mimic fat - Salk Institute scientist Dr. Ronald M. Evans is now able to chemically switch on PPAR-d, the master regulator that controls the ability of cells to burn fat.

30 Apr 2007

Environment rich in sensory stimuli restores memory in mice with neurodegeneration

Mice whose brains had lost a large number of neurons due to neurodegeneration regained long-term memories and the ability to learn after their surroundings were enriched with toys and other sensory stimuli, according to new studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers.

30 Apr 2007

Chinese herb Lei Gong Teng stops formation of cysts in polycystic kidney disease in lab

Using a compound from a centuries-old Chinese traditional medicine, Yale University researcher Dr. Craig Crews has been able to prevent the formation of kidney-destroying cysts in a mouse model of polycystic kidney disease.

30 Apr 2007

Respiratory control in insects: integration from the gene to the organism

Because of new imaging technology, researchers are getting a better understanding of a physiological paradox: how insects, which have a respiratory system built to provide quick access to a lot of oxygen, can survive for days without it.

30 Apr 2007

Small amounts of stem/progenitor cells from bone marrow enhance repair of damaged tissues

New studies in the laboratory of Dr. Darwin J. Prockop, Director of Tulane University's Center for Gene Therapy, are shedding light on the previously mysterious mechanism through which even relatively small amounts of stem/progenitor cells taken from a patient's own bone marrow enhance repair of damaged tissues.

30 Apr 2007

New drug as effective at fat burning as a good work out at the gym

A scientist in the U.S. has developed a pill which has the same calorie-burning effect as a good work out at the gym.

30 Apr 2007

Keeping the mind busy and occupied restores memories lost to dementia

Scientists in the U.S. believe that mental stimulation along with drug therapy may help people with diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia regain some of their lost memories.

30 Apr 2007

Big win in the battle against diabetes

In newly published research scientists have revealed that they have discovered more genes linked to Type 2 Diabetes.

29 Apr 2007

Ten genetic variants associated with type 2 diabetes

Ten genetic variants associated with type 2 diabetes, a disease which impacts more than 170 million people worldwide, have been identified or confirmed by a U.S.-Finnish team led by scientists at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

27 Apr 2007

Sangamo BioSciences starts phase 2 trial of therapy diabetic neuropathy

Sangamo BioSciences has announced that the company has initiated a repeat-dosing, multi-center Phase 2 clinical trial of SB-509 in subjects with moderate to severe diabetic peripheral sensory motor neuropathy (DN).

27 Apr 2007

New genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes

In the most comprehensive look at genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes to date, a U.S.-Finnish team, working in close collaboration with two other groups, has identified at least four new genetic variants associated with increased risk of diabetes and confirmed existence of another six.

27 Apr 2007