Chromosome News and Research

Latest Chromosome News and Research

Source of infantile epilepsy found in a gene

Researchers from Adelaide have discovered a 20-year mystery about a type of epilepsy in infants. It is caused by a single mutation in one gene they found. The discovery will allow for better screening, diagnosis and prediction of the risk of seizures for sufferers of benign familial infantile epilepsy, the researchers say.

16 Jan 2012

NimbleGen Sequence Capture 385K array identifies gene mutations linked with hereditary hearing loss

Hereditary hearing loss is the most common sensory disorder in humans. A German research team led by Ingo Kurth from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University Hospital Jena, Germany, used a number of different methods, including Roche's NimbleGen Custom Sequence Capture 385K array to identify the gene mutated in the disease locus of the X-chromosome of a Spanish family with hereditary hearing loss.

13 Jan 2012

Kedem commences development of Gleevec to treat CML in children and adults

Kedem Pharmaceuticals Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company with focus on sublingual drug delivery system is pleased to announce that has initiated the development of Gleevec.

12 Jan 2012

Scientists identify rare genetic mutation linked to prostate cancer

After a 20-year quest to find a genetic driver for prostate cancer that strikes men at younger ages and runs in families, researchers have identified a rare, inherited mutation linked to a significantly higher risk of the disease.

12 Jan 2012

Researchers identify mechanism that makes retinoblastoma so aggressive

New findings from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) have helped identify the mechanism that makes the childhood eye tumor retinoblastoma so aggressive. The discovery explains why the tumor develops so rapidly while other cancers can take years or even decades to form.

11 Jan 2012

DNA may be used to predict lifespan: Study

Researchers may soon be able to predict how long a person will live based on their genetics. This could result from the discovery by a University of Glasgow team in Scotland showing that telomere length on the ends of DNA in their genes in early-life predicts life spans.

11 Jan 2012

Erlotinib better for treatment of non-small cell lung cancers

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that DNA changes in a gene that drives the growth of a form of lung cancer can make the cancer's cells resistant to cancer drugs.

11 Jan 2012

Aria's non-invasive test more effective in detecting Trisomy 18 & 21

Aria Diagnostics, a molecular diagnostics company, today announced publication of data supporting a directed, non-invasive approach to cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis in maternal blood for evaluation of two common fetal trisomies linked to genetic disorders.

10 Jan 2012

Scientists identify two genes involved in major symptoms of MeCP2 duplication disorder

The anxiety and behavioral issues associated with excess MeCP2 protein result from overexpression of two genes (Crh [corticotropin-releasing hormone] and Oprm 1 [mu-opioid receptor MOR 1]), which may point the way to treating these problems in patients with too much of the protein, said Baylor of Medicine scientists in a report that appears online in the journal Nature Genetics.

8 Jan 2012

New imaging technology may pinpoint subtle aberrations in molecular biosignature of cancer

Despite advances in both the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, the disease remains a leading worldwide health concern.

6 Jan 2012

Researchers identify candidate genes for histiocytoid cardiomyopathy

Researchers are closing in on a rare genetic disorder causing a heart condition in infants. Histiocytoid cardiomyopathy (HC) often causes sudden death before a child reaches 2 years of age. Gene analysis is helping to narrow the many theories surrounding the genetic basis of HC.

4 Jan 2012

Researchers present results from 31 major studies of blood-related cancers at ASH 2011 meeting

Researchers from the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, one of the nation's top 50 best hospitals for cancer, presented results from 31 major studies of blood-related cancers - leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma -- during the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, December 10-13, 2011 in San Diego.

23 Dec 2011

Researchers identify previously unknown gene fusion event in lung cancer

Smoking is a well-known risk factor for lung cancer, but nearly 25% of all lung cancer patients have never smoked. In a study published online today in Genome Research, researchers have identified a previously unknown gene fusion event that could explain a significant proportion of lung cancer cases in never-smokers, and might serve as a target for new therapies.

23 Dec 2011

New way to awaken paternal Ube3a allele linked with Angelman syndrome

Results of a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may help pave the way to a treatment for a neurogenetic disorder often misdiagnosed as cerebral palsy or autism.

22 Dec 2011

Leishmania parasite develops combined resistance against drug, human immune system

Scientists of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITG) discovered a parasite that not only had developed resistance against a common medicine, but at the same time had become better in withstanding the human immune system.

22 Dec 2011

Six UNC faculty members named AAAC fellow

Six University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

16 Dec 2011

Scientists uncover critical genetic mutation in patients with MDS

Scientists have uncovered a critical genetic mutation in some patients with myelodysplastic syndromes - a group of blood cancers that can progress to a fatal form of leukemia.

16 Dec 2011

Half of all stillbirths result from pregnancy disorders, placental conditions

Half of all stillbirths result from pregnancy disorders and conditions affecting the placenta, according to results reported by a National Institutes of Health research network established to find the causes of stillbirth as well as ways to prevent or reduce its occurrence.

15 Dec 2011

Vorinostat in addition to chemotherapy drugs improves remission rates in AML patients

Adding a drug that activates genes to frontline combination therapy for acute myeloid leukemia resulted in an 85 percent remission rate after initial treatment, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

14 Dec 2011

DNA sequencing identifies new altered genes that drive CLL

The most comprehensive search to date of DNA abnormalities in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has unearthed several new altered genes that drive this common blood cancer, a finding that could potentially help doctors predict whether an individual patient's disease will progress rapidly or remain indolent for years, say scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute.

13 Dec 2011