Genetic News and Research

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Reduced brain growth in alcoholics with family drinking history

The brains of alcohol-dependent individuals are affected not only by their own heavy drinking, but also by genetic or environmental factors associated with their parents- drinking, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

21 Feb 2007

Entire genetic blueprints of more than 2,000 human and avian influenza viruses completed and made public

The Influenza Genome Sequencing Project, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), announced today that it has achieved a major milestone.

21 Feb 2007

Scientists find new genes linked to Lou Gehrig's disease

In the first genome-wide search for the genetic roots of the most common form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Johns Hopkins scientists have newly identified 34 unique variations in the human genetic code among 276 unrelated subjects with ALS.

21 Feb 2007

Low-cost Parkinson's disease diagnostic test a world first

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have developed a cost-effective diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease (PD), which will also assist researchers to understand the genetic basis of PD and to undertake large-scale studies to identify the genes that cause this debilitating condition.

21 Feb 2007

Anorexia nervosa may be genetic

A researcher in the United States says a ten year study into the eating disorder anorexia nervosa suggests that sufferers may have a genetic predisposition for it.

21 Feb 2007

New test identifies suitable lymphoma patients likely to respond to new therapy

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a genetic signature identifying cases of lymphoma that are uniquely susceptible to a newly developed molecular targeted therapy. As a result, physicians organizing clinical trials of the new therapy will be able to enroll patients who'll be most likely to benefit from it.

20 Feb 2007

Cancer cells 100 times more likely to genetically mutate

When cells become cancerous, they also become 100 times more likely to genetically mutate than regular cells, researchers have found. The findings may explain why cells in a tumor have so many genetic mutations, but could also be bad news for cancer treatments that target a particular gene controlling cancer malignancy.

20 Feb 2007

Newborns with respiratory distress should be evaluated for primary ciliary dyskinesia

Reviewing published reports, Ferkol and Margaret Leigh, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), found that neonatal respiratory distress was a common clinical symptom of PCD, a chronic airway disease that affects about 1 in 15,000 children.

20 Feb 2007

Transmission of drug-resistant tuberculosis among treated patients in Shanghai

A newly released study suggests that the majority of cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) among patients undergoing treatment for the disease may be due to new infections, not acquired resistance.

20 Feb 2007

siRNA delivery into human T cells and primary cells with carbon-nanotube transporters

A promising approach to gene therapy involves short DNA fragments (interfering RNA) that bind to specific genes and block their "translation" into the corresponding, disease-related protein.

20 Feb 2007

Expert questions validity of genetic testing patents

Molecular Pathologist-Attorney Roger D. Klein in a letter published in the February 15, 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine questioned the validity of patents often used to prevent clinical laboratories from performing certain genetic tests.

20 Feb 2007

Regulator of cholesterol production identified

By first probing the way primitive yeast make cholesterol, a team of scientists has discovered a long-sought protein whose human counterpart controls cholesterol production and potentially drug metabolism.

20 Feb 2007

Genetic tendency toward suicide linked to genome on chromosome 2

A Johns Hopkins-led study has found evidence that a genetic tendency toward suicide has been linked to a particular area of the genome on chromosome 2 that has been implicated in two additional recent studies of attempted suicide.

20 Feb 2007

Genetic mutations make people susceptible to schizophrenia

Gene mutations governing a key brain enzyme make people susceptible to schizophrenia and may be targeted in future treatments for the psychiatric illness, according to MIT and Japanese researchers.

20 Feb 2007

Cell pathway identified which plays critical role in colon cancer

For the one in 18 men and women who will be diagnosed with cancer of the colon and rectum during their lifetime and over 150,000 people diagnosed on a yearly basis, today's genetic research news offers some optimism.

20 Feb 2007

Four genes identified that increase risk of developing type 2 diabetes

This form of diabetes is the most common worldwide and affects nearly 2 million Canadians. In recent years, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes has increased rapidly. This genetic discovery may help stem this rise.

19 Feb 2007

Results of largest ever genome study of autism released

The genomes of the largest collection of families with multiple cases of autism ever assembled have been scanned and the preliminary results published in Nature Genetics. They provide new insights into the genetic basis of autism.

From The University of Manchester 19 Feb 2007

At last the culprit in Autism is revealed

An international team of scientists have discovered two new genetic links that may predispose children to develop autism.

19 Feb 2007

Kaiser Permanente launches long term project to collect genetic data

California-based HMO Kaiser Permanente on Wednesday announced the creation of a decades-long research project that will collect and analyze genetic information from hundreds of thousands of adult members, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

19 Feb 2007

Genetic variations contribute to a person's risk for nicotine dependence

Americans are bombarded with antismoking messages, yet at least 65 million of us continue to light up. Genetic factors play an important role in this continuing addiction to cigarettes, suggest scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

18 Feb 2007