Chromosome 7 News and Research

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Humans normally have 46 chromosomes in each cell, divided into 23 pairs. Two copies of chromosome 7, one copy inherited from each parent, form one of the pairs. Chromosome 7 spans about 159 million DNA building blocks (base pairs) and represents more than 5 percent of the total DNA in cells.

Identifying genes on each chromosome is an active area of genetic research. Because researchers use different approaches to predict the number of genes on each chromosome, the estimated number of genes varies. Chromosome 7 likely contains about 1,150 genes.

Genes on chromosome 7 are among the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 total genes in the human genome.

Biomarker for head and neck cancers identified

Although mutations in a gene dubbed "the guardian of the genome" are widely recognized as being associated with more aggressive forms of cancer, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found evidence suggesting that the deleterious health effects of the mutated gene may in large part be due to other genetic abnormalities, at least in squamous cell head and neck cancers.

4 Aug 2014

Researchers identify RNA that modulates action of important gene in process of programmed cell death

Researchers from the University of S-o Paulo (USP) have identified an RNA known as INXS that, although containing no instructions for the production of a protein, modulates the action of an important gene in the process of apoptosis, or programmed cell death.

31 Jul 2014

Discovery could lead to development of new cancer therapies

DNA mutations-long known to fuel cancer as well as evolutionary changes in a living organism-had been thought to be rare events that occur randomly throughout the genome.

31 Jul 2014

Study: Socialization emerges as relative strength in boys with fragile X

Standard scores measuring "adaptive behavior" in boys with fragile X syndrome tend to decline during childhood and adolescence, the largest longitudinal study of the inherited disorder to date has found.

30 Jul 2014

FDA approves use of Imbruvica to treat patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approved use of Imbruvica (ibrutinib) to treat patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who carry a deletion in chromosome 17 (17p deletion), which is associated with poor responses to standard treatment for CLL. Imbruvica received a breakthrough therapy designation for this use.

29 Jul 2014

Researchers confirm for the first time that achalasia is autoimmune in origin

Achalasia is a rare disease - it affects 1 in 100,000 people - characterized by a loss of nerve cells in the esophageal wall.

29 Jul 2014

Understanding how some cells in the brain and nervous system turn cancerous

Scientists from the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York with the help of Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry have completed research which for the first time brings us nearer to understanding how some cells in the brain and nervous system become cancerous.

23 Jul 2014

First diagnostic criteria proposed for Christianson Syndrome

Because the severe autism-like condition Christianson Syndrome was only first reported in 1999 and some symptoms take more than a decade to appear, families and doctors urgently need fundamental information about it. A new study that doubles the number of cases now documented in the scientific literature provides the most definitive characterization of CS to date.

22 Jul 2014

Researchers identify group of cells in brain that plays important role in Down syndrome

Researchers from UC Davis School of Medicine and Shriners Hospitals for Children - Northern California have identified a group of cells in the brain that they say plays an important role in the abnormal neuron development in Down syndrome.

21 Jul 2014

IWGSC publishes draft sequence of bread wheat genome

The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) published today in the international journal Science a draft sequence of the bread wheat genome.

18 Jul 2014

Research reveals why HIV remains a long-lasting infection

HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has the ability to integrate into the human genome, making it extremely difficult to cure the infection. A new study by scientists at Seattle Children's Research Institute, University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that when HIV integrates into genes involved with cancer, these cells tend to reproduce to a greater extent than others HIV-infected cells.

16 Jul 2014

NIH-funded study identifies genetic markers associated with eosinophilic esophagitis

Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified genetic markers associated with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), an inflammatory disease characterized by high levels of immune cells called eosinophils in the esophagus.

15 Jul 2014

High-resolution, high-throughput pre-implantation genetic screening microarray launched by OGT

Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), The Molecular Genetics Company, has announced the launch of a new high-resolution, high-throughput pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) microarray aimed at improving embryo screening for in vitro fertilisation (IVF). The CytoSure™ Embryo Screen Array offers eight arrays of 60,000 spots for high-resolution genome-wide aneuploidy and copy number detection in pre-implantation embryos.

From Oxford Gene Technology 8 Jul 2014

Fabry disease awareness: an interview with Dr. Hartmann Wellhoefer, Head of Medical Affairs, Rare Disease, Shire

Lysosomes are subcellular organelles that are present in most cells, with the major exception of red blood cells.

8 Jul 2014

Leading hypothesis for miscarriages, birth defects ruled out by WSU reproductive biologists

Washington State University reproductive biologists have ruled out one of the leading thoughts on why older women have an increased risk of miscarriages and children with birth defects.

4 Jul 2014

Researchers break new ground in understanding what causes autism

In a collaboration involving 13 institutions around the world, researchers have broken new ground in understanding what causes autism. The results are being published in Cell magazine July 3, 2014: "Disruptive CHD8 Mutations Define a Subtype of Autism in Early Development."

3 Jul 2014

Studies show increased risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension in egg donation patients

With an ever-ageing female patient population, egg donation is an increasingly common treatment in infertility. ESHRE's own annual reports on fertility treatments in Europe show a rise in egg donation cycles from 15,028 in 2007 to 24,517 in 2010 (to 4.05% of all treatments). This proportion is still some way behind the USA, where egg donation now accounts for around 12% of all treatments.

2 Jul 2014

UCSB researchers explore genetic underpinnings of nerve-cell spacing

The functional organization of the central nervous system depends upon a precise architecture and connectivity of distinct types of neurons.

27 Jun 2014

Current sequencing protocols overlook DNA crucial to bacterial virulence

Genomic sequencing is supposed to reveal the entire genetic makeup of an organism. For infectious disease specialists, the technology can be used to analyze a disease-causing bacterium to determine how much harm it is capable of causing and whether or not it will be resistant to antibiotics.

26 Jun 2014

Gene partnership may be fueling cancer spread in as much as 20% of cancers

A key cancer-causing gene, responsible for up to 20 percent of cancers, may have a weak spot in its armor, according to new research from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota.

25 Jun 2014