Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Women with gestational diabetes have increased risk of type 2 diabetes

Women who were diagnosed with gestational diabetes during pregnancy face a significantly higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in the future, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

7 Mar 2013

Salk epigenetic findings may aid in crop production and study of human diseases

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified patterns of epigenomic diversity that not only allow plants to adapt to various environments, but could also benefit crop production and the study of human diseases.

7 Mar 2013

CALHM1 channel protein releases ATP to make neural taste connections

Saying that the sense of taste is complicated is an understatement, that it is little understood, even more so. Exactly how cells transmit taste information to the brain for three out of the five primary taste types was pretty much a mystery, until now.

7 Mar 2013

Genomic analysis could illuminate more options in developing precise treatments for cancer

Investigators working on the precision medicine initiative at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey are embarking on a genomic analysis study which could illuminate more options in developing personalized and precise treatments for cancer patients.

7 Mar 2013

UCLA scientists discover new genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease

Scientists at UCLA have discovered a new genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease by screening people's DNA and then using an advanced type of scan to visualize their brains' connections.

7 Mar 2013

Study now tells physicians that dystonia can occur in African-American patients

A pair of studies tells the tale of how a neuroscientist at Mayo Clinic in Florida helped to discover the first African-American family to have inherited the rare movement disorder dystonia, which causes repetitive muscle contractions and twisting, resulting in abnormal posture.

7 Mar 2013

CALHM1 protein plays critical role in sweet, bitter and umami taste perception

Working with a multidisciplinary consortium of 19 researchers from nine institutions, Monell scientists have provided critical information to identify CALHM1, a channel in the walls of taste receptor cells, as a necessary component in the process of sweet, bitter, and umami (savory) taste perception.

7 Mar 2013

Yale researchers identify key genetic switch for brain maturation

The flip of a single molecular switch helps create the mature neuronal connections that allow the brain to bridge the gap between adolescent impressionability and adult stability.

7 Mar 2013

Vitamin B12 and folate alleviate negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia

Adding the dietary supplements folate and vitamin B12 to treatment with antipsychotic medication improved a core symptom component of schizophrenia in a study of more than 100 patients.

7 Mar 2013

Insight into how Th17 cell growth influences development of immune responses

New work from the Broad Institute's Klarman Cell Observatory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, MIT, and Yale University expands the understanding of how one type of immune cell - known as a T helper 17 or Th17 cell - develops, and how its growth influences the development of immune responses.

7 Mar 2013

Researchers discover likely origin of epithelial ovarian cancer

Cornell University researchers have discovered a likely origin of epithelial ovarian cancer (ovarian carcinoma), the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States.

7 Mar 2013

CALHM1 protein controls sense of taste, finds study

In collaboration with other research institutions, a Feinstein Institute for Medical Research investigator discovered a new protein that controls the sense of taste. The findings are published in the March issue of Nature.

7 Mar 2013

BIDMC investigator receives $50,000 CCF grant for research on pediatric cardiomyopathy

Maria Kontaridis, PhD, an investigator in the Division of Cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), has received a $50,000 grant from the Children's Cardiomyopathy Foundation (CCF) for her research on pediatric cardiomyopathy.

7 Mar 2013

Study combines induced pluripotent stem cell technology and genetic correction to treat DMD

Researchers at the University of Minnesota's Lillehei Heart Institute have combined genetic repair with cellular reprogramming to generate stem cells capable of muscle regeneration in a mouse model for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).

7 Mar 2013

Researchers discover how LRRK2 mutations in familial Parkinson's damage brain cells

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), with collaborators at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, have discovered how the most common genetic mutations in familial Parkinson's disease damage brain cells.

6 Mar 2013

Wayne State receives U.S. patent allowance for vision restoration technology

Technology to restore vision through the use of a component of green algae developed by Dr. Zhou-Han Pan, professor and scientific director of the Ligon Research Center of Vision at the Kresge Eye Institute at Wayne State University, and licensed to RetroSense Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to developing gene therapy approaches to vision restoration, announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for U.S. patent application (No. 12/299,574).

6 Mar 2013

Scientists report successful blocking of tumor development in genetic mouse model of human cancer

UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists report the first successful blocking of tumor development in a genetic mouse model of an incurable human cancer.

6 Mar 2013

Screening healthy adults could potentially prevent rare genetic disorders

Millions of people unknowingly carry rare gene mutations that put them at high risk of developing preventable diseases such as colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and several catastrophic blood vessel disorders.

6 Mar 2013

European scientists find root cause of age-related dementia

A team of European scientists from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases at the University of Cologne in Germany has taken an important step closer to understanding the root cause of age-related dementia.

6 Mar 2013

SIRT1 gene may be involved in development of type 1 diabetes

A JDRF-funded study out of Switzerland has shown that a single gene called SIRT1 may be involved in the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and other autoimmune diseases. The study, "Identification of a SIRT1 Mutation in a Family with Type 1 Diabetes," was published today in Cell Metabolism and represents the first demonstration of a monogenetic defect leading to the onset of T1D.

6 Mar 2013