Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Scientists discover that DNA modifications in brain cells change due to stimulated brain activity

Johns Hopkins scientists investigating chemical modifications across the genomes of adult mice have discovered that DNA modifications in non-dividing brain cells, thought to be inherently stable, instead underwent large-scale dynamic changes as a result of stimulated brain activity.

1 Oct 2011

Researchers discover new inherited disorder that causes mental retardation, liver dysfunction

Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have discovered a new inherited disorder that causes severe mental retardation and liver dysfunction. The disease, adenosine kinase deficiency, is caused by mutations in the ADK gene, which codes for the enzyme adenosine kinase.

1 Oct 2011

New targeting approach to develop an active site-directed, drug-like PTP1B inhibitor

The work of a team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) led by Professor Nicholas Tonks FRS, suggests a way to overcome one of the major technical obstacles preventing a leading therapeutic target for diabetes and obesity from being addressed successfully by novel drugs.

30 Sep 2011

Fat-rich 'western diet' fuels cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity

A major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and other health- and life-threatening conditions, obesity is epidemic in the United States and other developed nations where it's fueled in large part by excessive consumption of a fat-rich "Western diet."

30 Sep 2011

UCLA scientists create mouse model for autism

UCLA scientists have created a mouse model for autism that opens a window into the biological mechanisms that underlie the disease and offers a promising way to test new treatment approaches.

30 Sep 2011

ALK gene discovered by St. Jude scientists associated with FDA approved adult cancer drug

A drug recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of an adult cancer targets a malfunctioning gene discovered more than a decade earlier at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The story highlights how scientific findings from St. Jude can be translated into therapies and tests that in addition to helping children, also help adults.

30 Sep 2011

Researchers develop HTGTS to map translocatome in the genome

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and the Immune Disease Institute (IDI) have created a method for mapping "hot spots" in the genome where chromosomes are most likely to break and recombine, knowledge that helps define the rules that govern when and where breaks occur.

30 Sep 2011

United Nations 66th General Assembly to discuss how to reduce NCDs

University of Bergen researchers have contributed to an international declaration on the prevention of non-communicable diseases. Now the UN is discussing the issue.

30 Sep 2011

GWAS uncovers new genes associated with type 1 diabetes

The largest-ever analysis of genetic data related to type 1 diabetes has uncovered new genes associated with the common metabolic disease, which affects 200 million people worldwide. The findings add to knowledge of gene networks involved in the origin of this complex disorder, in which patients depend on frequent insulin injections to control their blood sugar levels.

30 Sep 2011

Researchers identify set of proteins that affect development of varicose veins

A new discovery published in the October 2011 print issue of The FASEB Journal explains for the first time what kicks off the process that causes varicose veins.

30 Sep 2011

New technique helps identify how RNA molecules control gene expression

A new technique developed by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine allows researchers to identify the exact DNA sequences and locations bound by regulatory RNAs. This information is necessary to understand how the recently identified RNA molecules control the expression of neighboring and distant genes.

30 Sep 2011

PTK6 protein may play a different role in colon and breast cancer

A protein that regulates cell differentiation in normal tissue may play a different role in colon and breast cancer, activating proliferation of damaged cells, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

30 Sep 2011

Resveratrol inhibits proliferation of hormone resistant breast cancer cells

Cheers! A new research report appearing in the October 2011 issue of The FASEB Journal shows that resveratrol, the "healthy" ingredient in red wine, stops breast cancer cells from growing by blocking the growth effects of estrogen.

30 Sep 2011

Ambry to provide CLIA-approved exome services for applications in clinical diagnostics

Ambry Genetics today announces that it is the first laboratory to provide CLIA-approved exome services for applications in clinical diagnostics. After comprehensive review by Ambry's staff of geneticists and medical directors, these results will allow clinicians to diagnose affected patients with conditions that have eluded traditional diagnostic approaches.

30 Sep 2011

MRI-based technique allows researchers to follow neural stem cells in vivo

Carnegie Mellon University biologists have developed an MRI-based technique that allows researchers to non-invasively follow neural stem cells in vivo.

30 Sep 2011

Study provides insight into earliest stages of some cancers

A novel technique that enables scientists to measure and document tumor-inducing changes in DNA is providing new insight into the earliest events involved in the formation of leukemias, lymphomas and sarcomas, and could potentially lead to the discovery of ways to stop those events.

30 Sep 2011

Lin28/let-7 pathway plays an unexpected key role in type 2 diabetes

A pathway activated in cancer plays an unexpected key role in metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes, according to a study by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston. Evidence that the Lin28/let-7 pathway influences the cellular response to glucose provides a unifying theme to perplexing data that associates human genetic variation with diabetes risk.

30 Sep 2011

Tobacco companies deliberately kept findings of cancer-causing radioactive particles from the public

Tobacco companies knew that cigarette smoke contained radioactive alpha particles for more than four decades and developed "deep and intimate" knowledge of these particles' cancer-causing potential, but they deliberately kept their findings from the public, according to a new study by UCLA researchers.

29 Sep 2011

Plausible way to circumvent drug resistance in breast cancer cells

Breast cancer cells that mutate to resist drug treatment survive by establishing tiny pumps on their surface that reject the drugs as they penetrate the cell membrane - making the cancer insensitive to chemotherapy drugs even after repeated use.

29 Sep 2011

Genetic variant may increase severity of coronary artery disease in patients with diabetes

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified the first genetic variant associated with severity of coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes.

29 Sep 2011

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Scientists discover that DNA modifications in brain cells change due to stimulated brain activity

Researchers discover new inherited disorder that causes mental retardation, liver dysfunction

New targeting approach to develop an active site-directed, drug-like PTP1B inhibitor

Fat-rich 'western diet' fuels cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity

UCLA scientists create mouse model for autism

ALK gene discovered by St. Jude scientists associated with FDA approved adult cancer drug

Researchers develop HTGTS to map translocatome in the genome

United Nations 66th General Assembly to discuss how to reduce NCDs

GWAS uncovers new genes associated with type 1 diabetes

Researchers identify set of proteins that affect development of varicose veins

New technique helps identify how RNA molecules control gene expression

PTK6 protein may play a different role in colon and breast cancer

Resveratrol inhibits proliferation of hormone resistant breast cancer cells

Ambry to provide CLIA-approved exome services for applications in clinical diagnostics

MRI-based technique allows researchers to follow neural stem cells in vivo

Study provides insight into earliest stages of some cancers

Lin28/let-7 pathway plays an unexpected key role in type 2 diabetes

Tobacco companies deliberately kept findings of cancer-causing radioactive particles from the public

Plausible way to circumvent drug resistance in breast cancer cells

Genetic variant may increase severity of coronary artery disease in patients with diabetes

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