Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Researchers find viable immunotherapy option for HIV-1 using fossil virus

The road to finding a cure for HIV-1 is not without obstacles. However, thanks to cutting-edge research by Douglas Nixon, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues, performed at the George Washington University (GW), Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Rochester, and UC San Francisco, the scientific community is one step closer to finding a viable immunotherapy option for HIV-1, using an immune attack against a fossil virus buried in the genome.

18 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

Study illustrates how domino effect of one genetic error can contribute to hydrocephalus

The mysterious condition once known as "water on the brain" became just a bit less murky this week thanks to a global research group led in part by a Case Western Reserve researcher.

18 Jul 2014

Doctor maps path of discovery for developing potential anticancer agent

The journal Cancer Cell today published research led by Dr. Tak Mak mapping the path of discovery to developing a potential anticancer agent.

18 Jul 2014

Starvation can affect health of descendants of famished individuals

Evidence from human famines and animal studies suggests that starvation can affect the health of descendants of famished individuals. But how such an acquired trait might be transmitted from one generation to the next has not been clear.

18 Jul 2014

Splice-switching oligonucleotide drugs alter editing of gene transcript

In splice-switching, an innovative therapeutic approach, targeted oligonucleotide drugs alter the editing of a gene transcript to produce the desired form of a protein.

18 Jul 2014

Scientists find single gene that plays surprising role in manipulating aging

It is something of an eternal question: Can we slow or even reverse the aging process? Even though genetic manipulations can, in fact, alter some cellular dynamics, little is known about the mechanisms of the aging process in living organisms.

18 Jul 2014

Researchers devise new method for extracting molecules from live cells

University of Houston researchers have devised a new method for extracting molecules from live cells without disrupting cell development, work that could provide new avenues for the diagnosis of cancer and other diseases.

18 Jul 2014

Salk scientists identify gene that fights metastasis of common lung cancer

Scientists at the Salk Institute have identified a gene responsible for stopping the movement of cancer from the lungs to other parts of the body, indicating a new way to fight one of the world's deadliest cancers.

18 Jul 2014

Mother's nurturing role directly molds early neural activity of her offsprings' brain

By carefully watching nearly a hundred hours of video showing mother rats protecting, warming, and feeding their young pups, and then matching up what they saw to real-time electrical readings from the pups' brains, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have found that the mother's presence and social interactions - her nurturing role - directly molds the early neural activity and growth of her offsprings' brain.

18 Jul 2014

Researchers make significant breakthrough that may benefit patients with bowel cancer

Researchers at Queen's University have made a significant breakthrough that may benefit patients with bowel cancer.

18 Jul 2014

Gene therapy offers potential alternative to pacemakers

Researchers have developed a gene transplant procedure that can transform ordinary heart muscle cells into “biological pacemaker” cells that maintain heart rhythm.

17 Jul 2014

Researcher finds genetic identifier that may allow clinicians to determine babies at risk for autism

A researcher at Seattle Children's Hospital and Research Institute has found a genetic identifier for autism that includes physical features that may eventually allow clinicians to identify babies who are at risk for autism before they are born.

17 Jul 2014

Researchers find link between genetic makeup and nation's happiness

Genetics could be the key to explaining nation's levels of happiness, according to research from the University of Warwick.

17 Jul 2014

Deadly neurodegenerative disease treated in worms gives hope for humans

An untreatable and deadly neurodegenerative disease has been modelled and treated in worms by University of Liverpool researchers, suggesting a cure could be found for humans.

17 Jul 2014

Investigators identify gene that underlies devastating autoinflammatory condition in children

Investigators have identified a gene that underlies a very rare but devastating autoinflammatory condition in children. Several existing drugs have shown therapeutic potential in laboratory studies, and one is currently being studied in children with the disease, which the researchers named STING-associated vasculopathy with onset in infancy (SAVI).

17 Jul 2014

Single injection of protein FGF1 enough to restore blood sugar levels

In mice with diet-induced diabetes—the equivalent of type 2 diabetes in humans—a single injection of the protein FGF1 is enough to restore blood sugar levels to a healthy range for more than two days.

17 Jul 2014

CIP2A pathway involved in erlotinib response

Researchers have identified a novel mechanism, involving the cancerous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A pathway, which mediates the anti-tumour effects of erlotinib in non-small-cell lung cancer cells without epidermal growth factor receptor mutations.

16 Jul 2014

Scientists build artificial cells programmed to eat their undesirable neighbors

A team of researchers has devised a Pac-Man-style power pellet that gets normally mild-mannered cells to gobble up their undesirable neighbors. The development may point the way to therapies that enlist patients’ own cells to better fend off infection and even cancer, the researchers say. A description of the work will be published July 15 in the journal Science Signaling.

16 Jul 2014

Thirteen scientists receive grant to identify new treatments, cure for psoriasis

Thirteen scientists received a total of $1.05 million in funding from the National Psoriasis Foundation for projects that aim to identify new treatments and a cure for psoriasis—an autoimmune disease that appears on the skin, affecting 7.5 million Americans—and psoriatic arthritis—an inflammatory arthritis that affects the joints and tendons, occurring in up to 30 percent of people with psoriasis.

16 Jul 2014