Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

World's top genetic scientists to present latest research findings at ICHG/ASHG 2011 Meeting

The world's top scientists and clinicians in the human genetics field will gather to present their latest research findings at the 12th International Congress of Human Genetics (ICHG) / 61st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), which will be held on October 11-15, 2011, in Montreal (Quebec), Canada, at the Montreal Convention Center.

17 Aug 2011

Researchers identify five SNPs linked with aggressive, lethal prostate cancer

An international team of researchers led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified five inherited genetic variants that are strongly associated with aggressive, lethal prostate cancer.

17 Aug 2011

Study: Vitamin D directly terminates production of MS-causing protein

While for years scientists have noted an association between levels of vitamin D in a person's body and the person's ability to resist or minimize the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS), the mechanism involved has not been established.

17 Aug 2011

WSU researcher receives NIH grant to study how chromatin modifiers regulate cell division

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health recently awarded Lori A. Pile, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular cell biology in Wayne State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, $1.39 million to research how the alteration of chromatin regulates cellular division and growth.

17 Aug 2011

LYSOGENE launches the first gene therapy clinical trials in Sanfilippo disease

LYSOGENE announces the authorization by AFSSAPS (the French Agency for the Safety of Health Products) and by the Ethical Review Board of SAF-301, its leading intra-cerebral gene therapy phase I/II clinical trial aiming at treating Sanfilippo Type A Syndrome.

16 Aug 2011

Scientists identify potential target that could combat allergies of early childhood

A pandemic of ailments called the "allergic march" -- the gradual acquisition of overlapping allergic diseases that commonly begins in early childhood -- has frustrated both parents and physicians. For the last three decades, an explosion of eczema, food allergies, hay fever, and asthma have afflicted children in the United States, the European Union, and many other countries.

16 Aug 2011

Scientists define relationship between two prostate tumor suppressor genes

Of the 250,000 American men who will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, very few of them-about 1 percent-will develop lethal, metastatic disease. Finding a way to distinguish between this small cohort and the majority of patients who will develop an indolent, non-lethal form of prostate cancer is a key goal in prostate cancer research.

16 Aug 2011

New insights into causes of rheumatoid arthritis

Scientists at Mount Sinai Hospital, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Toronto, University Health Network and McGill University have obtained significant new insights into the causes of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other autoimmune disorders including type 1 diabetes, lupus and Graves disease.

16 Aug 2011

Gene therapy cocktail can treat inherited diseases with 'misfolded' proteins

In a kind of molecular gymnastics, scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have devised a gene therapy cocktail that has the potential to treat some inherited diseases associated with "misfolded" proteins.

16 Aug 2011

Pfizer, QIAGEN partner to develop diagnostic-therapeutic combination for NSCLC

QIAGEN today announced it has entered into a partnership with Pfizer Inc. for the development of a companion molecular diagnostic test for use with an investigational Pfizer compound in global clinical development for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 16 Aug 2011

Customized computer models may identify patients at risk of Lynch syndrome

People who are at risk for a certain form of colon and other types of cancer may soon have a better chance at surviving or even avoiding the diseases, thanks to a new study done by the Intermountain Clinical Genetics Institute at LDS Hospital.

16 Aug 2011

New pathway for type 2 diabetes

Newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics tend to have one thing in common: obesity. Exactly how diet and obesity trigger diabetes has long been the subject of intense scientific research.

16 Aug 2011

Research: Decoding infidelity may increase risk of type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is an extremely common chronic condition characterized by high levels of sugar in the blood as a result of either insufficient production of the hormone insulin or an inability of cells to respond to insulin.

16 Aug 2011

AVI BioPharma, MDA to initiate exon-51 Phase 2 trial in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

More than a decade of targeted Muscular Dystrophy Association-funded research, made possible as a result of generous public support of the MDA Labor Day Telethon and thousands of grass-roots special events, has today culminated in MDA providing financial assistance for the start of the first Phase 2 placebo-controlled, multiple dose efficacy, safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics clinical trial of an exon-51 skipping drug, eteplirsen, as a potential therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

16 Aug 2011

‘Methyl magnet’ genes can cause family cancer risk

Medical researchers have discovered a new type of mechanism causing cancer susceptibility, showing that tiny changes in some anti-cancer genes can act as magnets to attract modifying “biochemical tags”, effectively switching them off and predisposing families to an increased risk of the disease.

15 Aug 2011

Fat interferes with body's sugar sensors to trigger type 2 diabetes

Researchers from the United States have identified how a high-fat diet can trigger type 2 diabetes, in experiments on mice and human tissue. They reveal in their study published in the journal Nature Medicine that fat interferes with the body's sugar sensors. The authors add that deeper understanding of the processes involved could help them develop a cure.

15 Aug 2011

Kineta's next generation antiviral program receives $2.8 million NIH SBIR grant

Kineta, Inc. announced today its next generation antiviral program has received a 2.8 million dollar grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Awarded under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, the prestigious phase two grant will provide on-going support for Kineta's work on a new class of antiviral drugs targeting an array of global, deadly viruses.

12 Aug 2011

Plant scientists reveal genetic mechanism that enables viral organisms to cause diseases

CSIRO plant scientists have shed light on a problem that has puzzled researchers since the first virus was discovered in 1892 - how exactly do they cause disease? In a major breakthrough that helps us better understand how viruses cause diseases in plants - and potentially in animals and humans - Dr Ming-Bo Wang and Neil Smith of CSIRO Plant Industry have revealed a genetic mechanism that enables viral organisms to infect hosts and cause diseases.

12 Aug 2011

New technique can help develop HIV vaccines

Researchers have traced in detail how certain powerful HIV neutralizing antibodies evolve, a finding that generates vital clues to guide the design of a preventive HIV vaccine, according to a study appearing in Science Express this week.

12 Aug 2011

Research team reports first genetic sequencing of urothelial carcinoma

In an article published online this week in Nature Genetics, a University of Colorado Cancer Center team in partnership with universities in China and Denmark reports the first genetic sequencing of urothelial (transitional) carcinoma, the most prevalent type of bladder cancer.

12 Aug 2011