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Folic acid does not offer any cardiovascular benefits

Folic acid is safe - but it lacks any cardiovascular benefits - according to researchers presenting at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008. The results from the Study of the Effectiveness of Additional Reductions in Cholesterol and Homocysteine (SEARCH), a 12,064-person, randomized study, were presented as a late-breaking clinical trial.

11 Nov 2008

New genetic kidney atlas will explain kidney disease

An international team of researchers, which included scientists from the University of Queensland, have generated an atlas of genes involved in kidney formation.

11 Nov 2008

Protein can nurture or devastate brain cells, depending on its 'friends,' UT Southwestern researchers find

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered new insights into the "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" nature of a protein that stimulates stem-cell maturation in the brain but, paradoxically, can also lead to nerve-cell damage.

11 Nov 2008

Signaling between protein, growth factor is critical for coordinated cell migration

The mysterious process that orchestrates cells to move in unison to form human and animal embryos, heal wounds, and even spread cancer depends on interaction between two well-known genetic signaling pathways, two University of Utah medical school researchers have discovered.

11 Nov 2008

Astragalus root plant chemical used to fight HIV

Like other kinds of cells, immune cells lose the ability to divide as they age because a part of their chromosomes known as a telomere becomes progressively shorter with cell division.

11 Nov 2008

Newborn neurons in the adult brain can settle in the wrong neighborhood

In a study that could have significant consequences for neural tissue transplantation strategies, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report that inactivating a specific gene in adult neural stem cells makes nerve cells emerging from those precursors form connections in the wrong part of the adult brain.

11 Nov 2008

First comprehensive genetic blueprint of a forming mammalian organ

Part of an international consortium sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), a research team led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center reports the creation of a detailed genome-based atlas for understanding healthy and abnormal kidney development and disease.

11 Nov 2008

New analysis of the mechanisms that drive evolution in viruses and bacteria

It sounds like a science fiction movie: A killer contagion threatens the Earth, but scientists save the day with a designer drug that forces the virus to mutate itself out of existence.

11 Nov 2008

Data expands the clinical utility of deCODE tests for heart attack, atrial fibrillation and stroke

Several presentations by deCODE genetics scientists and independent researchers at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2008 being held at the New Orleans Convention Center from November 8 to12 are expected to expand upon the clinical utility of evaluating individual risk of heart attack, or atrial fibrillation and stroke, respectively, by measuring the genetic markers that are the basis of the deCODE MI and deCODE AF tests.

11 Nov 2008

New evidence of an environmental trigger for autism

The American Medical Association journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine has published a new study by researchers at Cornell University indicating evidence of an environmental trigger for autism among genetically vulnerable children.

10 Nov 2008

Researchers discover genetic basis for some common congenital birth defects

10 Nov 2008

Absence of ERK2 gene linked to birth defects

A multidisciplinary research team at Case Western Reserve University led by Gary Landreth, Ph.D., a professor in the School of Medicine's Department of Neurosciences, has uncovered a common genetic pathway for a number of birth defects that affect the development of the heart and head. Abnormal development of the jaw, palate, brain and heart are relatively common congenital defects and frequently arise due to genetic errors that affect a key developmental pathway.

10 Nov 2008

Food allergies are on the rise but effective treatment in the pipeline

Experts in the U.S. say food allergies are on the rise and although strict avoidance is currently the only treatment, new effective therapies are currently being developed.

10 Nov 2008

Santaris Pharma releases positive data on LNA-based survivin inhibitor

Santaris Pharma announced today that SPC3042, a RNA-based antisense oligonucleotide developed using the company's proprietary Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) technology, potently blocks survivin, a key survival protein in cancer cells, in both in vitro and in vivo models of prostate cancer. Importantly, SPC3042 works synergistically with the anticancer drug paclitaxel (Taxol) in both model systems.

10 Nov 2008

NEI releases complete data from age-related eye disease study

The National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announces the release of more than 10 years of data collected during the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), which looked at the progression of age-related macular degeneration and age-related cataract in 4,757 adults aged 55 to 80.

10 Nov 2008

Researchers unravel mysteries of brain aneurysms

Yale researchers have taken the first critical steps in unraveling the mysteries of brain aneurysms, the often fatal rupturing of blood vessels that afflicts 500,000 people worldwide each year and nearly killed Vice President-elect Joseph Biden two decades ago.

10 Nov 2008

Advances in ophthalmology

The 2008 Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) and European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE), the largest and most comprehensive ophthalmic educational meeting in the world, is in session November 8 to 11 at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta.

10 Nov 2008

Barriers to managing asthma

Barriers to managing asthma include access to appropriate care, patient adherence, distrust of the medical profession, delayed asthma diagnosis, culture, lifestyle choices and genetic discrepancies according to experts at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Seattle.

10 Nov 2008

Kidney stones may increase risk for chronic kidney disease

Kidney stones may damage the kidneys and lead to chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

8 Nov 2008

Variations of MYH9 gene help explain high rate of kidney disease in African Americans

Several recent studies have suggested that common gene variations may be responsible for much of the elevated risk of kidney disease in African Americans.

8 Nov 2008