Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

"Mouse model" study finds LRRK2 gene mutation may cause inherited Parkinson's disease

2 Apr 2010

DNA patent case: US District Judge rules in favor of AMP

The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) is an international medical and professional association representing approximately 1,800 physicians, doctoral scientists, and medical laboratory scientists who perform laboratory testing based on knowledge derived from molecular biology, genetics, and genomics. AMP applauds US District Judge Robert Sweet's ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Association for Molecular Pathology, et al. v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, et al.

2 Apr 2010

Variant of ATG16L1 gene associated with higher risk for Crohn's disease

The ATG16L1 gene is located on chromosome 2 and encodes a protein involved in the formation of autophagosomes during autophagy. Autophagy is a cytoplasmic process that keeps a cell stable. Hampe et al first identified ATG16L1 as a Crohn's disease (CD) susceptibility gene in 2007, and many other studies have arisen since then. However, the definite relationship of variants of ATG16L1 with IBD remains unclear.

2 Apr 2010

Genome of Australian zebra finch decoded

Nearly all animals make sounds instinctively, but baby songbirds learn to sing in virtually the same way human infants learn to speak: by imitating a parent.

2 Apr 2010

Ancient hunter-gatherers were lactose intolerant, says study

The hunter-gatherers who inhabited the southern coast of Scandinavia 4,000 years ago were lactose intolerant. This has been shown by a new study carried out by researchers at Uppsala University and Stockholm University.

2 Apr 2010

Invalidation of gene patents: ACMG celebrates US District Court ruling

The American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG), one of the original plaintiffs in the anti-gene-patenting lawsuit filed in 2009, celebrated the US District Court ruling yesterday that genes are "unpatentable."

2 Apr 2010

Gene linked to kidney cancer in children discovered

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have identified two genes linked to Wilms' tumour - a type of childhood kidney cancer - according to research published in Clinical Cancer Research.

2 Apr 2010

Scientists create genetic map to identify mechanism behind heart abnormalities

Though heart disease is a major cause of disability and death, very little is understood about its genetic underpinnings. Recently, an international team of investigators at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) and other organizations shed new light on the subject.

2 Apr 2010

Brain stem cells in subventricular zone characterized by transcription factor Protein Tlx

The "cradle" of new neurons in the adult brain is well known. It is what is called the subventricular zone, a tissue structure lining the lateral ventricles. This is where neural or brain stem cells reside, which are responsible for generating new neurons if needed. For many years now, the subventricular zone has been suspected to be the origin of specific malignant brain tumors called gliomas, the most deadly type of which is glioblastoma.

2 Apr 2010

New clues into genomic complexity of Mimivirus

A study published online today in the journal Genome Research offers surprising new clues into the genomic complexity of the giant Mimivirus, the largest known virus in the world. Previous studies have shown that unlike most viruses, the Mimivirus has more genes than many bacteria and performs functions that normally occur only in cellular organisms.

2 Apr 2010

Biotech reports record financial results for 2010 first quarter

Biotech racked up impressive gains for both the month of March and the first quarter of 2010. The Burrill Biotech Select Index posted a 3.7 percent jump in value in March and an 8 percent overall gain for Q1 '10.

2 Apr 2010

Gene therapy improve survival rates among heart attack patients

Gene therapy could be an effective way to improve survival rates among heart attack patients, new research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) suggests. Academics at the University of Bristol found that boosting levels of a natural growth factor in the heart could help the muscle to recover after a heart attack. The death rate from a heart attack was halved in mice that received the treatment.

1 Apr 2010

Innovative drug design wins medical research prize

The development of a new way to treat iron overload disease has won the 2010 Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund Prize for Medical Research.

1 Apr 2010

Athletes and ethicists look at fairness in sport

Just in time for baseball’s opening day, a series of articles in the Hastings Center Report asks what constitutes fairness in elite sports and what it takes to stop cheating. New issues, including the prospect of gene doping and questions about which athletes are really “female,” are explored.

1 Apr 2010

Genes improperly granted patents

Some time mid last year six breast cancer patients sued reputed Myriad Genetics, a company that holds patent of two vital genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 that play a role in increasing the risk of breast and ovarian cancers. The fees that the company charges for these genetic tests is a whopping $3,000 which these women claim they cannot afford and the most important of all these women cannot get a second opinion regarding the tests since no one else does them.

1 Apr 2010

Mtb fine-tunes behaviour to escape detection and causes TB

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) possesses extraordinary survival ability by masking itself from the host immune system and persisting for decades inside the host. Speaking at the Society for General Microbiology's spring meeting in Edinburgh today, Dr Kristine Arnvig provides further insight into how the bacterium causes tuberculosis (TB) by fine-tuning its behaviour in response to its surroundings to escape detection.

1 Apr 2010

Scientists use non-viral, synthetic nanoparticle carrier to restores vision

Take a look at this: Scientists from Buffalo, Cleveland, and Oklahoma City made a huge step toward making the blind see, and they did it by using a form of gene therapy that does not involve the use of modified viruses.

1 Apr 2010

Insight into how mutations in LRRK2 gene may cause familial Parkinson's disease

Using new one-of-a-kind "mouse models" that promise to have a significant impact on future Parkinson's disease research, Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers are among the first to discover how mutations in a gene called LRRK2 may cause inherited (or "familial") Parkinson's disease, the most common form of the disease. The study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, is the first in vivo evidence that LRRK2 regulates dopamine transmission and controls motor performance, and that the mutation of LRRK2 eliminates the normal function of LRRK2, leading to Parkinson's disease.

1 Apr 2010

Court rules against gene patents

The New York Times: A judicial ruling that "threw out parts of two gene patents and called into question thousands more" has biotechnology executives hastening "to reassure their investors that the ruling would not necessarily undermine their businesses, at least in the short run. But the executives themselves were struggling on Tuesday to figure out what the long-term impact would be."

1 Apr 2010

EMBL scientists identify genes involved in human cell division

Name a human gene, and you'll find a movie online showing you what happens to cells when it is switched off. This is the resource that researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and their collaborators in the Mitocheck consortium are making freely available, as the result of a study in which they have identified the genes involved in mitosis - the most common form of cell division - in humans.

1 Apr 2010