Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Amgen announces PRIME '203' and '181' Phase 3 trial results

Amgen today announced that results from the PRIME '203' and '181' pivotal Phase 3 trials evaluating Vectibix (panitumumab) in combination with chemotherapy (FOLFOX or FOLFIRI) as a first and second-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), respectively, were published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

5 Oct 2010

Research finds link between calcium and cancer

A protein that pumps calcium out of cells also moonlights as a signal to get massive quantities of the stuff to flow in, according to Johns Hopkins scientists. Their discovery of this surprisingly opposite function, reported Oct. 1 in Cell, highlights the link between calcium and cancer and holds the promise of a new therapeutic target for certain breast cancers.

5 Oct 2010

New biomarkers could lead to personalized radiation treatments for cancer patients

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered biomarkers that could lead to personalized radiation treatments for cancer patients. The findings appear today online in the journal Genome Research.

5 Oct 2010

Human growth hormone can treat cystic fibrosis symptoms

Human growth hormone can be used successfully to treat some symptoms of cystic fibrosis, but its impact on the disease itself remains unknown, according to a new report funded by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

5 Oct 2010

NIH awards contract to develop nanotechnology tools for atherosclerosis treatment

Georgia Tech and Emory University have received a five-year $14.6 million contract from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue the development of nanotechnology and biomolecular engineering tools and methodologies for detecting and treating atherosclerosis.

5 Oct 2010

NIEHS awards grant to study environmental impact on genetic information

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has awarded $2.27 million to Indiana University researcher Joseph Shaw for a five-year study of how the environment alters genetic information through mutation and natural selection.

5 Oct 2010

Celgene announces senior unsecured notes offering

Celgene Corporation today announced its intention to offer, subject to market and other conditions, senior unsecured notes under a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The interest rate, the maturity dates and other key terms of the offering are to be determined at the time of pricing.

4 Oct 2010

Enzo commences clinical trial of Optiquel for chronic non-infectious uveitis

Enzo Biochem, Inc., announced today that, following filing of a investigational new drug (IND) application with the FDA, its Enzo Therapeutics division is commencing a clinical trial of Optiquel™ , the Company's proprietary oral therapeutic for chronic non-infectious uveitis. The trial is designed as a randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled study with a long-term follow-up and is being conducted by the National Institute of Health's National Eye Institute (NEI).

4 Oct 2010

Merck's boceprevir Phase III studies for HCV to be presented at 61st AASLD

Merck today announced that final results from two pivotal Phase III studies of boceprevir, its investigational oral hepatitis C protease inhibitor, will be presented in oral plenary sessions at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), which is taking place from Oct. 29 through Nov. 2 in Boston. Results for boceprevir in response-guided therapy strategies, which evaluated treatment durations shorter than current standard therapy, will be presented during the meeting.

4 Oct 2010

IRSF awards $1.5M in research grants for Rett syndrome treatment

The International Rett Syndrome Foundation (IRSF) announced today that it will award an additional $1.5M in research grants, bringing the 2010 total to $2.15 million for innovative basic and translational research that moves treatments for Rett syndrome a step closer to the clinic.

4 Oct 2010

NIH to award $64M under Transformative Research Projects program

The National Institutes of Health will award up to $64 million over five years to encourage exploration of exceptionally innovative and original research ideas that have the potential for extraordinary impact.

4 Oct 2010

Study shows hypomethylation increases through progression of multiple myeloma

DNA methylation, a modification of DNA linked to gene regulation — is altered with increasing severity in a blood cancer called multiple myeloma, according to a study by Mayo Clinic and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

4 Oct 2010

Study demonstrates potential of nontoxic envelope proteins as an alternative to pseudotype lentiviral vectors

Therapeutic lentiviral vectors are emerging as vital tools for molecular medicine as evidenced by the growing number of clinical trials using these vector systems. From a basic research standpoint, lentiviral vectors are very intriguing substrates. On the one hand, the HIV-1 genome offers expanded cloning capacity and the capability to transduce nondividing cells such as hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and neurons.

4 Oct 2010

Benitec announces USPTO's reversal of all previous rejections in '099 Graham patent appeal

Benitec Limited, a leading Australian based company specialising in RNA interference (RNAi) technology is pleased to announce the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences decision ("the Decision") reversing all previous rejections in the US 6,573,099 (the '099 Graham patent) appeal.

4 Oct 2010

Scientists discover c-Abl protein role in Parkinson's disease progression

Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that the over-activation of a single protein may shut down the brain-protecting effects of a molecule and facilitate the most common form of Parkinson's disease.

4 Oct 2010

Researchers find new way to increase number of blood-forming stem cells when grown outside the body

One of the major challenges in stem cell transplants is how to obtain sufficient numbers of these remarkably rare cells to put into patients. To help overcome this issue, research from the Centenary Institute, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney has found a way to increase the number of blood-forming stem cells when growing them outside of the body.

4 Oct 2010

Researchers identify ways to predict embryonic developmental success

Two-thirds of all human embryos fail to develop successfully. Now, in a new study, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that they can predict with 93 percent certainty which fertilized eggs will make it to a critical developmental milestone and which will stall and die. The findings are important to the understanding of the fundamentals of human development at the earliest stages, which have largely remained a mystery despite the attention given to human embryonic stem cell research.

4 Oct 2010

Researchers find gene variations in PDE11A enzyme can increase risk for prostate cancer

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have found that variations in a gene for an enzyme involved in cell energy metabolism appear to increase the risk for prostate cancer.

4 Oct 2010

NIH awards Scripps Research grants to study the mechanisms of protein complex

For Immediate Release -Scripps Research Institute scientists have been awarded approximately $65 million in four five-year grants as part of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) latest round of structural biology funding. The projects will focus on determining the shapes and functions of proteins and protein complexes that are important in biology and medicine.

4 Oct 2010

Researchers discover new mechanism of DNA repair process

Tucked within its double-helix structure, DNA contains the chemical blueprint that guides all the processes that take place within the cell and are essential for life. Therefore, repairing damage and maintaining the integrity of its DNA is one of the cell's highest priorities.

4 Oct 2010