Down Syndrome News and Research

Latest Down Syndrome News and Research

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

NIFTY test becomes first CFDA approved NIPT based on Next Generation Sequencing Technology

BGI Diagnostics' NIFTY™ test becomes First NIPT based on Next Generation Sequencing Technology to be Approved by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA).

7 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

Agricultural pesticides raise risk of autism in unborn children

Pregnant women who lived in close proximity to fields and farms where chemical pesticides were applied experienced a two-thirds increased risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder or other developmental delay, a study by researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute has found. The associations were stronger when the exposures occurred during the second and third trimesters of the women's pregnancies.

23 Jun 2014

Combination of effective drugs for Parkinson's disease controls symptoms of Rett syndrome in mice

IDIBELL researchers, led by the director of the Program for Epigenetics and Cancer Biology, ICREA researcher and Professor of Genetics at the University of Barcelona, Manel Esteller, have shown that a combination of effective drugs for Parkinson's disease in mice that are used as a model of human Rett syndrome reduces some of the symptoms associated with this disease.

17 Jun 2014

New insights into egg selection may have broad implications for women's health, fertility

A woman's supply of eggs is a precious commodity because only a few hundred mature eggs can be produced throughout her lifetime and each must be as free as possible from genetic damage.

30 May 2014

Scientists collect new data on how "tumor suppressor" gene works

Scientists armed with a supercomputer and a vast trove of newly collected data on the body's most potent "tumor suppressor" gene have created the best map yet of how the gene works, an accomplishment that could lead to new techniques for fighting cancers, which are adept at disabling the gene in order to thrive.

28 May 2014

Four-year educational study offers hope for children with intellectual disability

The findings of a pioneering four-year educational study offer hope for thousands of children identified with intellectual disability or low IQ who have very little, if any, reading ability.

22 May 2014

Children with autism experience deficits in immune cell that protects against infection

Children with autism experience deficits in a type of immune cell that protects the body from infection. Called granulocytes, the cells exhibit one-third the capacity to fight infection and protect the body from invasion compared with the same cells in children who are developing normally.

9 May 2014

New approach to detect chromosomal abnormalities without harm to mother or fetus

Chromosomal abnormalities that result in birth defects and genetic disorders like Down syndrome remain a significant health burden in the United States and throughout the world, with some current prenatal screening procedures invasive and a potential risk to mother and unborn child.

7 May 2014

Researchers reveal connection between Down syndrome and acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Although doctors have long known that people with Down syndrome have a heightened risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) during childhood, they haven't been able to explain why. Now, a team of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators has uncovered a connection between the two conditions.

21 Apr 2014

Study sheds light on how extra chromosome 21 upsets equilibrium of entire genome in Down syndrome

Occurring in about one per eight hundred births, Down syndrome - or trisomy 21 - is the most frequent genetic cause of intellectual disability. It results from a chromosomal abnormality where cells of affected individuals contain a third copy of chromosome 21 (1% of the human genome).

18 Apr 2014

White matter linked with cognitive health

A multidisciplinary group of scientists from the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky have identified an interesting connection between the health of the brain tissue that supports cognitive functioning and the presence of dementia in adults with Down syndrome.

9 Apr 2014

Blood sample could diagnose many types of solid cancers

A blood sample could one day be enough to diagnose many types of solid cancers, or to monitor the amount of cancer in a patient's body and responses to treatment. Previous versions of the approach, which relies on monitoring levels of tumor DNA circulating in the blood, have required cumbersome and time-consuming steps to customize it to each patient or have not been sufficiently sensitive.

7 Apr 2014

Study provides better understanding of why chromosome errors are high in women's eggs

A new study from the University of Southampton has provided scientists with a better understanding of why chromosome errors are high in women's eggs.

19 Mar 2014

UC Davis MIND Institute named Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center

The UC Davis MIND Institute has been named an Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, through a prestigious grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health - a distinction held by only a handful of neurodevelopmental centers nationwide committed to the diagnosis, prevention, treatment and amelioration of developmental disorders such as autism, fragile X syndrome and Down syndrome.

14 Mar 2014

Researcher detects higher rate of seizures among children with autism who were fed soy formula

A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher has detected a higher rate of seizures among children with autism who were fed infant formula containing soy protein rather than milk protein.

14 Mar 2014

Atypical development can be spotted at 12 months of age among siblings of children with autism

Atypical development can be detected as early as 12 months of age among the siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder, a study published by researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute and UCLA has found.

6 Mar 2014

Research roundup: Medicaid peer support; doctor Jokes; ACA's asset rules for coverage

Since 2009, the eight states (Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin) participating in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Maximizing Enrollment program have worked to streamline and simplify enrollment systems, policies, and processes for children and those eligible for coverage in 2014. ... States [focused] on five key areas: 1) applications, 2) eligibility determinations, 3) renewals and transfers, 4) notices, and 5) business processes.

3 Mar 2014

cfDNA testing lowers false positive rates and higher predictive values in general obstetric population

A study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine potentially has significant implications for prenatal testing for major fetal chromosome abnormalities. The study found that in a head-to-head comparison of noninvasive prenatal testing using cell free DNA (cfDNA) to standard screening methods, cfDNA testing (verifi- prenatal test, Illumina, Inc.) significantly reduced the rate of false positive results and had significantly higher positive predictive values for the detection of fetal trisomies 21 and 18.

From Illumina, Inc. 27 Feb 2014

Down Syndrome News and Research

Latest Down Syndrome News and Research

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

NIFTY test becomes first CFDA approved NIPT based on Next Generation Sequencing Technology

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

Agricultural pesticides raise risk of autism in unborn children

Combination of effective drugs for Parkinson's disease controls symptoms of Rett syndrome in mice

New insights into egg selection may have broad implications for women's health, fertility

Scientists collect new data on how "tumor suppressor" gene works

Four-year educational study offers hope for children with intellectual disability

Children with autism experience deficits in immune cell that protects against infection

New approach to detect chromosomal abnormalities without harm to mother or fetus

Researchers reveal connection between Down syndrome and acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Study sheds light on how extra chromosome 21 upsets equilibrium of entire genome in Down syndrome

White matter linked with cognitive health

Blood sample could diagnose many types of solid cancers

Study provides better understanding of why chromosome errors are high in women's eggs

UC Davis MIND Institute named Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center

Researcher detects higher rate of seizures among children with autism who were fed soy formula

Atypical development can be spotted at 12 months of age among siblings of children with autism

Research roundup: Medicaid peer support; doctor Jokes; ACA's asset rules for coverage

cfDNA testing lowers false positive rates and higher predictive values in general obstetric population

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production

Down Syndrome News and Research

Latest Down Syndrome News and Research

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production

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