Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

MYCN amplification can serve as a favorable prognostic indicator for neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor that primarily affects infants and young children, is a leading cause of death for children with cancer. When amplification of the MYCN oncogene is found in the tumor, it usually indicates an aggressive tumor with rapid progression of the disease and a poor outcome. Thus MYCN amplification has come to be used as a prognostic indicator.

12 Aug 2011

GOP deficit panel Roster set: What are the chances for a deal?

Top Republicans have named their choices from the House and Senate to serve on the 'super committee.' These six lawmakers now join three Senate Democrats on the list — leaving only House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's picks unknown. As the panel takes shape, questions are emerging about whether the group will be able to find the necessary spending cuts.

12 Aug 2011

La Jolla Institute's new RNAi Center to focus on genetics behind myriad diseases

A major Center that will propel scientific efforts to pinpoint the specific genes involved in causing immune diseases, cancer and other diseases will be opened today at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology.

12 Aug 2011

Medical College of Wisconsin to establish National Center for Systems Biology

The Medical College of Wisconsin has received a five-year, $13 million grant to establish a National Center for Systems Biology.

12 Aug 2011

NPL scientists mimick the ways viruses infect human cells and deliver genetic material

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have mimicked the ways viruses infect human cells and deliver their genetic material. The research hopes to apply the approach to gene therapy - a therapeutic strategy to correct defective genes such as those that cause cancer.

12 Aug 2011

New model for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

By isolating cells from patients' spinal tissue within a few days after death, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a new model of the paralyzing disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

12 Aug 2011

SIGMAR1 gene mutation associated with development of juvenile ALS

Researchers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have identified a mutation on the SIGMAR1 gene associated with the development of juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

12 Aug 2011

Genetic culprit behind ovarian cancer discovered

A study has revealed that a single fault in a gene that normally helps the body to repair its DNA increases a woman's risk of ovarian cancer six-fold. One in every 11 women who carry the faulty gene is likely to develop ovarian cancer at some point in her life compared with a typical risk of about one in 70 for women in the general population, scientists said.

11 Aug 2011

Study suggests link between gene variant and Proteus syndrome

Orthopaedic surgeons from Children's National Medical Center are part of a team of researchers that has identified the genetic mutation causing Proteus syndrome, a rare disorder in which tissue and bone grow massively out of proportion.

11 Aug 2011

57 genes associated with multiple sclerosis

An international research team has found nearly 30 genetic risk factors that predispose to developing multiple sclerosis. It brings to more than 50 the total number of genetic clues to the disease. The research, published in Nature, will help identify risk factors and perhaps future treatments or even a cure, hopes the MS Society.

11 Aug 2011

Modified spider-silk proteins for nonviral gene delivery

Genetically engineered spider silk could help overcome a major barrier to the use of gene therapy in everyday medicine, according to a new study that reported development and successful initial laboratory tests of such a material. It appears in ACS' journal Bioconjugate Chemistry.

11 Aug 2011

Gene therapy to combat leukemia

In a medical breakthrough scientists have found that gene therapy could be used to cure leukemia. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania engineered patients' own pathogen-fighting T-cells to target a molecule found on the surface of leukemia cells. These genetically modified T-cells were grown outside of the body and infused back into patients suffering from late-stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), which affects the blood and bone marrow and is the most common form of leukemia.

11 Aug 2011

Bristol-Myers Squibb, GNS collaborate to identify biomarkers in immuno-inflammation

GNS Healthcare, Inc., (GNS) the leading healthcare analytics company focused on enabling personalized medicine to improve human health, today announced that it has entered into a collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company focused on the discovery of novel disease biology and biomarkers in the area of immuno-inflammation.

11 Aug 2011

Gastroenterology journal publishes results of Lexicon LX1031 Phase 2 trial in IBS

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering breakthrough treatments for human disease, announced today that results from the Phase 2 clinical trial of LX1031 in patients with non-constipating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were published earlier this week in the August 2011 edition of the journal Gastroenterology.

11 Aug 2011

Abbott launches new molecular assay to detect vector-borne microorganisms

Abbott's Ibis Biosciences today introduced a new molecular assay to detect a wide variety of vector-borne microorganisms, including those known to cause Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis.

11 Aug 2011

Cancer-causing fusion protein works by silencing tumor suppressor gene IL-2Rγ

Mariusz A. Wasik, MD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Qian Zhang, MD, PhD, research assistant professor, both from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and their colleagues, found that a cancer-causing fusion protein works by silencing the tumor suppressor gene IL-2R common gamma-chain.

10 Aug 2011

Scientist determines how nyctalopin gene makes night vision possible

A scientist from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute has determined how a particular gene makes night vision possible. The study, which was published in the August 10, 2011 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, focuses on a gene called nyctalopin. Mutations in the gene result in inherited "night blindness," a loss of vision in low-light environments.

10 Aug 2011

Noninvasive prenatal DNA test can detect fetus at risk for sex-linked disorders

As a noninvasive method of determining the sex of a fetus, tests using cell-free fetal DNA obtained from the mother's blood after 7 weeks gestation performed well, while urine-based tests appear to be unreliable, according to a review and analysis of previous studies, reported in the August 10 issue of JAMA.

10 Aug 2011

New genetic cause of retinitis pigmentosa

Combining the expertise of several different labs, University of Iowa researchers have found a new genetic cause of the blinding eye disease retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and, in the process, discovered an entirely new version of the message that codes for the affected protein.

10 Aug 2011

NanoString launches nCounter Rat miRNA Expression Assay Kit

NanoString Technologies, Inc., a privately held provider of life science tools for translational research and developer of molecular diagnostics, today announced the availability of the nCounter Rat miRNA Expression Assay Kit for use on its nCounter Analysis System.

From NanoString Technologies 9 Aug 2011