Chromosome 4 News and Research

RSS

Humans normally have 46 chromosomes in each cell, divided into 23 pairs. Two copies of chromosome 4, one copy inherited from each parent, form one of the pairs. Chromosome 4 spans more than 191 million DNA building blocks (base pairs) and represents more than 6 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 4 likely contains between 1,300 and 1,600 genes.

Genes on chromosome 4 are among the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 total genes in the human genome.

Chromatin, Dow AgroSciences achieve first milestone in research collaboration

Chromatin Inc. announced today that they have reached the first milestone in their research collaboration with Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. This collaboration is focused on developing a novel combination of Chromatin's Mini-Chromosomes with Dow AgroSciences' EXZACT Precision Technology.

12 Sep 2011

Common genetic variant may predispose people to acute dissections

Richard Holbrooke, John Ritter, Lucille Ball, Jonathan Larson and Great Britain's King George II were all taken by the same silent killer: an acute aortic dissection. Now, scientists led by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Baylor College of Medicine have found an association with a common genetic variant in the population that predisposes people to acute dissections and can approximately double a person's chances of having the disease.

12 Sep 2011

Study: No big shift toward higher fatal heart attack rates after menopause in women

Contradicting the long-held medical belief that the risk of cardiovascular death for women spikes sharply after menopause, new research from Johns Hopkins suggests instead that heart disease mortality rates in women progress at a constant rate as they age.

6 Sep 2011

Chromatin might have another life as direct signaling molecule

Chromatin - the intertwined histone proteins and DNA that make up chromosomes - constantly receives messages that pour in from a cell's intricate signaling networks: Turn that gene on. Stifle that one. But chromatin also talks back, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report today in the journal Cell, issuing orders affecting a protein that has nothing to do with chromatin's central role in gene transcription - the first step in protein formation.

2 Sep 2011

Scientists discover genetic cause of extreme thinness

Scientists have discovered a genetic cause of extreme thinness for the first time, in a study published today in the journal Nature.

2 Sep 2011

Stanford method identifies essential regions of Caulobacter's genome

A team at the Stanford University School of Medicine has cataloged, down to the letter, exactly what parts of the genetic code are essential for survival in one bacterial species, Caulobacter crescentus.

31 Aug 2011

FDA approves Abbott's Vysis ALK FISH test for NSCLC therapy selection

Abbott today announced it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a new molecular diagnostic test designed to detect rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene in non-small-cell lung cancer.

29 Aug 2011

Protein that allows Ebola virus to attack cells discovered

A U.S. research team has discovered a protein called Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1), which they found was responsible for allowing Ebola virus to enter and replicate within cells.

26 Aug 2011

Researchers reveal new gene associated with osteoarthritis

Researchers have today revealed a new gene associated with osteoarthritis. This is only the third gene to be identified for this painful and debilitating disease that affects more than 40 per cent of people aged more than 70 years.

26 Aug 2011

Researchers discover NPC1 protein as crucial for Ebola virus to enter host cells

Although outbreaks are rare, Ebola virus, the cause of Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is one of the deadliest known viruses affecting humans. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1,850 EHF cases with more than 1,200 deaths have been documented since the virus was identified in 1976.

25 Aug 2011

Scientists identify molecular pathway that plays a key role in stress-related DNA damage

Working closely with a team of researchers from Duke University, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have helped identify a molecular pathway that plays a key role in stress-related damage to the genome, the entirety of an organism's hereditary information.

23 Aug 2011

EMA accepts Pfizer's regulatory submissions of two investigational cancer drugs for review

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted Pfizer's regulatory submissions for review of two investigational compounds - crizotinib, an oral first-in-class anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with previously treated ALK-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); and bosutinib for the treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome positive (Ph+) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase.

18 Aug 2011

G-CSF therapy does not induce chromosomal instability in healthy stem cell donors

According to a study published in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), researchers have reported that administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), a drug that releases stem cells from the bone marrow into the blood, is unlikely to put healthy stem cell donors at risk for later development of abnormalities involving loss or gains of chromosomes that have been linked to hematologic disorders such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia.

12 Aug 2011

Blood test early in pregnancy to detect baby’s gender

While carrying the child, a mother's blood has cell-free fetal DNA floating around in it, and it's possible to use this to test for the baby's sex. In a meta-analysis that covered more, the test was found to be 95% efficient in guessing the sex of the fetus — and it works from as early as seven weeks. As the fetus and the placenta develop, the amount of DNA present in the mother increases, boosting the accuracy of the test, which hits its peak at 20 weeks.

12 Aug 2011

Noninvasive prenatal DNA test can detect fetus at risk for sex-linked disorders

As a noninvasive method of determining the sex of a fetus, tests using cell-free fetal DNA obtained from the mother's blood after 7 weeks gestation performed well, while urine-based tests appear to be unreliable, according to a review and analysis of previous studies, reported in the August 10 issue of JAMA.

10 Aug 2011

Researchers discover gene variant linked to meningiomas

The causes of brain tumours have been hard to discern in most cases. But Umeå researchers have previously identified an inherited predisposition for brain tumours, and now, in an international collaboration, they have also discovered a genetic variation that increases the risk of a certain type of brain tumour, called meningiomas.

8 Aug 2011

Scientist urges federal officials to decide on genetically engineered salmon for consumption

A Purdue University scientist is urging federal officials to decide whether genetically engineered salmon would be allowed for U.S. consumption and arguing that not doing so may set back scientific efforts to increase food production.

6 Aug 2011

Higher levels of B cells make women more prone to autoimmune diseases

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered a type of cell that may contribute to autoimmune disease and suggests why diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis strike women more frequently than men. The cells, a subset of immune-system B cells, make autoantibodies, which bind to and attack the body's own tissue.

5 Aug 2011

British scientists find seven new gene variants linked to prostate cancer

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have taken a further step to identifying men at a greater risk of prostate cancer with the discovery of seven new variants in the human genome that increase the chances of developing the disease. The research is published in Nature Genetics.

3 Aug 2011

ARIAD reports $47.8 million net loss for second quarter 2011

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2010 and provided an update on corporate developments.

2 Aug 2011