Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Progerin may contribute to risk of atherosclerosis: Study

Progeria, also known as Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), is a rare, fatal genetic disease characterized by an appearance of accelerated aging in children. All children with Progeria die of the same heart disease that affects millions of normal aging adults (atherosclerosis), but instead of occurring at 60 or 70 years of age, these children may suffer heart attacks and strokes even before age 10, and the average age of death is 13 years.

8 Sep 2010

NIH awards St. Jude $8.6M to focus on anticancer agent research in children

With its new expansion of the Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded St. Jude Children's Research Hospital a prestigious grant to focus on anticancer agent research in children.

8 Sep 2010

DTC consumers express concern on personal genetic risk test

One half of people using direct to consumer (DTC) personal genetic risk tests express concerns about testing yet more than 80 percent want to know their risk even for non preventable genetic diseases, according to a study in the September Genetics in Medicine, the official peer reviewed journal of The American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG).

8 Sep 2010

Penn receives $12M NIH grant to study pharmacogenetics of nicotine addiction treatment

A variety of smoking cessation treatments are currently available for the more than 18 million adult Americans try to quit smoking each year, but success rates vary widely. Despite the importance of quitting smoking, more personalized approaches to smoking cessation treatment are needed to help smokers pick the right method that will work best for them. A major new personalized medicine clinical trial, led by addiction researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, will study how a smokers' genetic make-up influences their quitting success.

8 Sep 2010

Further evidence on adverse effects of smoking on fertility

Two new studies have shed more light on how smoking may damage fertility, and give further weight to advice that mothers and fathers-to-be should stop smoking before attempting to conceive. The research is published online in the reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction today (Wednesday 8 September).

8 Sep 2010

Researchers develop new RNA molecule approach to kill cancer cells

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have engineered a fundamentally new approach to killing cancer cells. The process developed by Niles Pierce, associate professor of applied and computational mathematics and bioengineering at Caltech, and his colleagues uses small RNA molecules that can be programmed to attack only specific cancer cells then, by changing shape, those molecules cause the cancer cells to self destruct.

8 Sep 2010

UCSF scientists to receive two grants for personalized medicine research

UCSF scientists will receive two grants totaling $15.1 million over the next five years to expand their research into how genes affect an individual's response to medication and to strengthen a global network of researchers involved in these efforts.

7 Sep 2010

Also in Global Health News: India's antibiotic use; Abstinence curriculum in China; Child, maternal health in India; Plumpy'nut; PEPFAR funds to Uganda

"The health ministry has formed a committee to frame a policy for antibiotic use, following an uproar over a Lancet study that traced a drug-resistant bacterial superbug's origins to India," LiveMint.com reports. The panel will also look into the "excessive use of antibiotics among Indians," partly fueled by self-medication, that has increased resistance to the drugs. The article notes that the Indian government "rejected the findings of the report" but has "taken note of a lack of policy on antibiotics" (Pandeya, 9/3).

7 Sep 2010

Methylphenidate facilitates recovery from drug addiction

A brain-scanning study at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, conducted with collaborators from Stony Brook University, reveals that an oral dose of methylphenidate, commonly known as Ritalin, improves impaired brain function and enhances cognitive performance in people who are addicted to cocaine.

7 Sep 2010

Tikcro reports $3.2 million net loss for second-quarter 2010

Tikcro Technologies Ltd. today reported results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2010.

7 Sep 2010

British, Austrian scientists awarded K. J. Zülch Prize for basic neurological research

British and Austrian scientists receive award for basic neurological research. Alastair Compston and Hans Lassmann are this year's recipients of the K. J. Zülch Prize for basic neurological research. In bestowing this award, the Gertrud Reemtsma Foundation is honouring two scientists who have made crucial contributions to research on multiple sclerosis. Alastair Compston's work has provided important insights into the genetics and treatment of multiple sclerosis.

7 Sep 2010

miacom diagnostics presents rapid detection method for pneumonia causing pathogens

miacom diagnostics specializes on the development and production of medical tests for the detection of acute infectious diseases. In addition to its existing sepsis kits miacom, diagnostics is now presenting a further CE-marked product based on the same proprietary technology. It is targeted at the rapid detection of clinically most relevant pneumonia causing pathogens.

7 Sep 2010

Precision receives stay for patent infringement litigation by Cellectis

Precision BioSciences, Inc., today announced that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina has granted Precision's request to stay patent infringement litigation brought against Precision by Cellectis, SA.

7 Sep 2010

Researchers to develop new treatment strategy for cancer

Cancer is a difficult disease to treat because it's a personal disease. Each case is unique and based on a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Conventional chemotherapy employs treatment with one or more drugs, assuming that these medicines are able to both "diagnose" and "treat" the affected cells. Many of the side effects experienced by chemotherapy patients are due to the fact that the drugs they are taking aren't selective enough.

7 Sep 2010

Gene containing 'minisatellite' plays key role in driving human DNA diversity

One of the key drivers of human evolution and diversity, accounting for changes that occur between different generations of people, is explained by new research published today (Sept 5) by world-renowned scientist Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, who discovered DNA fingerprinting at the University of Leicester.

6 Sep 2010

Childhood cancer survivors 5 times more likely to get cancer again: Study

According to a new study, children who survive cancer are at a higher risk of cancer later in life or may die early of other cause. The study included almost 900 young cancer survivors treated at Sydney Children's Hospital, from 1972 to 1999, alongside new cancer cases and early deaths. The risk of cancer was five times higher in childhood cancer survivors, the results showed, compared with the overall NSW population, that these survivors were seven and a half times more likely to die early.

5 Sep 2010

PennHIP radiographic method may hold potential to evaluate human susceptibility to hip dysplasia

A study comparing a University of Pennsylvania method for evaluating a dog's susceptibility to hip dysplasia to the traditional American method has shown that 80 percent of dogs judged to be normal by the traditional method are actually at risk for developing osteoarthritis and hip dysplasia, according to the Penn method.

4 Sep 2010

Research on iPS cells can imply potential cell therapy for X-linked disorders

Female induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, reprogrammed from human skin cells into cells that have the embryonic-like potential to become any cell in the body, retain an inactive X chromosome, stem cell researchers at UCLA have found.

4 Sep 2010

Researchers develop new animal model for studying hemophilia A

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have developed a new animal model for studying hemophilia A, with the goal of eventually treating people with the disorder.

3 Sep 2010

UB symposium to discuss in silico molecular design, high-throughput screening to treat diseases

Twenty-first-century pharmaceutical breakthroughs require 21st-century drug discovery tools, such as computational or in silico molecular design and high-throughput screening of effective, new compounds. That's the theme of a University at Buffalo symposium to be held Sept. 11 on "Twenty-first Century Bioscience: In Silico Methods and High-Throughput Screening," which will feature a variety of cutting-edge advances in the field developed by researchers in Western New York and throughout the US.

3 Sep 2010

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Progerin may contribute to risk of atherosclerosis: Study

NIH awards St. Jude $8.6M to focus on anticancer agent research in children

DTC consumers express concern on personal genetic risk test

Penn receives $12M NIH grant to study pharmacogenetics of nicotine addiction treatment

Further evidence on adverse effects of smoking on fertility

Researchers develop new RNA molecule approach to kill cancer cells

UCSF scientists to receive two grants for personalized medicine research

Also in Global Health News: India's antibiotic use; Abstinence curriculum in China; Child, maternal health in India; Plumpy'nut; PEPFAR funds to Uganda

Methylphenidate facilitates recovery from drug addiction

Tikcro reports $3.2 million net loss for second-quarter 2010

British, Austrian scientists awarded K. J. Zülch Prize for basic neurological research

miacom diagnostics presents rapid detection method for pneumonia causing pathogens

Precision receives stay for patent infringement litigation by Cellectis

Researchers to develop new treatment strategy for cancer

Gene containing 'minisatellite' plays key role in driving human DNA diversity

Childhood cancer survivors 5 times more likely to get cancer again: Study

PennHIP radiographic method may hold potential to evaluate human susceptibility to hip dysplasia

Research on iPS cells can imply potential cell therapy for X-linked disorders

Researchers develop new animal model for studying hemophilia A

UB symposium to discuss in silico molecular design, high-throughput screening to treat diseases

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

The evolution of OCT for retinal imaging and disease intervention

Supercharging Next-Gen Antibody Discovery with AI and High-Throughput Experimentation

Prof. Dr. Kristina Kusche-Vihrog