Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Two variants of LPA gene associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease

Celera Corporation and its collaborators at the University of California at San Francisco today announced the publication of a paper confirming the association of an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and two variants of the LPA gene. The two LPA single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are Ile4399Met, a polymorphism in the protease-like domain of LPA, and rs10455872, a SNP located in a non-coding region of the LPA gene.

9 Jun 2010

4% of South Asian people carry mutated gene that causes heart failure

One in 25 people from India and other south Asian countries carries a mutated gene that causes heart failure.

9 Jun 2010

Tel Aviv University researchers invent new tool to control risk of runaway stem cells

Stem cell research holds promise for improving the quality of human life ― especially embryonic stem cells, which can potentially develop into any tissue in the human body. However, basic scientific problems still remain unresolved -- but Tel Aviv University researchers are leading the way to inventive solutions.

9 Jun 2010

Research findings hold promise for debilitating emotional symptoms of FXS

The study, which appears in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is also of potential therapeutic significance-it showed that a brief pharmacological treatment is capable of correcting some of these synaptic deficits in mice genetically engineered to model FXS.

9 Jun 2010

Cellectis bioresearch, Lonza collaborate in development, commercialization of bioengineered cell line

Cellectis bioresearch, the French genome customization specialist and a commercial subsidiary of Cellectis, and Lonza, a world leader in biotechnology production, announce today that the companies have entered into an agreement for the development and commercialization of a bioengineered cell line.

9 Jun 2010

Princeton University president named 2010 winner of Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research

Internationally renowned scientist and scholar Shirley M. Tilghman, president of Princeton University, was named the 2010 winner of the Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research.

8 Jun 2010

Takeda Rika Kogyo to distribute WaferGen's SmartChip Real-Time PCR System in Japan

WaferGen Biosystems, Inc., a leading developer of state-of-the-art genome analysis systems, today announced the signing of an exclusive distribution agreement for the company's SmartChip Real-Time PCR System with Takeda Rika Kogyo Co., Ltd., a leading distributor of innovative products and services in the life science markets within Japan.

8 Jun 2010

New technique to prevent tumours developing in connection with stem cell transplantations

Researchers at Lund University have come up with a new technique to prevent tumours developing in connection with stem cell transplantations. The results have been published today in the respected scientific journal PNAS.

8 Jun 2010

Vitiligo associated with genes variations linked to body's immune response

Scientists including researchers from the University of Florida have discovered additional evidence that generalized vitiligo - a disease that typically causes patches of white skin on the face, neck and extremities that pop star Michael Jackson may have experienced - is associated with slight variations in genes that play a role in the body's natural defenses.

8 Jun 2010

Gene variant linked to ability of Tibetans to cope with low-oxygen conditions identified

A new study pinpoints the genetic changes that enable Tibetans to thrive at altitudes where others get sick.

8 Jun 2010

Researchers discover RAF oncogene that may drive aggressive forms of prostate cancer

The Prostate Cancer Foundation announced today that researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered the RAF oncogene that drives fatal melanomas may also drive the aggressive forms of prostate cancer in the clinic.

8 Jun 2010

Hormone involved in iron metabolism can save mice from deadly acute inflammation: Scientists

In a surprising discovery that someday may lead to new treatments for many inflammatory diseases, University of Utah scientists found that a hormone involved in iron metabolism can save mice from deadly acute inflammation.

8 Jun 2010

Form of epigenetics may play role in pulmonary arterial hypertension: Researchers

A rare but fatal disease of blood vessels in the lung may be caused in part by aberrant silencing of genes rather than genetic mutation, new research reports. Pulmonary arterial hypertension, a syndrome characterized by gradual blockage of blood vessels in the lungs, has been linked to genetic causes in a small percentage of patients. But University of Chicago researchers have now found that a form of epigenetics - the modification of gene expression - causes the disease in an animal model and could contribute to the disease in humans.

8 Jun 2010

Quintiles announces comprehensive suite of PI3K biomarker assays

Quintiles today announced a comprehensive suite of biomarker assays to help biopharmaceutical companies investigate the phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) cancer survival pathway, the focus of numerous anti-cancer therapies under development. Understanding the PI3K pathway is essential in developing new medicines to inhibit or block this pathway, thereby cutting off a metabolic function needed for certain cancers to survive.

8 Jun 2010

Protein p53 becomes activated to control creation of ova and spermatozoids: Study

Protein 53 is very important in protecting against cancer given that it prevents cancer-causing mutations from accumulating and its inactivation is closely linked to the proliferation of tumour cells. UAB lecturer Ignasi Roig participated in the study. Formed by an international research team, the study served to discover that this protein played an unexpected physiological role: it also becomes activated during the formation process of ova and spermatozoids.

8 Jun 2010

Genetic mutations help predict risk of prostate cancer in younger men: Researchers

Prostate cancer has become more common in younger men, and it's often more aggressive in these men. A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center has found that a series of genetic mutations could help detect this early onset prostate cancer.

8 Jun 2010

Lawsuit to be launched over breast cancer gene patent

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are two genes that have been identified to hold a key to women’s susceptibility to get breast or ovarian cancer. Changes also known as mutations in these genes are significant in women who go on to develop breast or ovarian cancer. Melbourne-based company Genetic Technologies Limited (GTL) has the exclusive license from American biotechnology company Myriad Genetics to carry out testing for the genes in Australia. Myriad holds a patent for these genes.

7 Jun 2010

Targeted therapy that benefits patients with metastatic colon cancer fails to help patients with stage III cancer

To the surprise of researchers at Mayo Clinic who led a national clinical trial, a targeted therapy that provides benefit to patients with metastatic colon cancer has failed to help patients with less advanced, stage III cancer. In fact, patients who used the agent, cetuximab, with chemotherapy had outcomes slightly inferior to patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

7 Jun 2010

Celera applies CE mark to real-time PCR test for detection of variant in KIF6 gene

Celera Corporation today announced that it has signed a Declaration of Conformity and applied the CE mark to a real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test for detection of a variant in the KIF6 gene, allowing the test to be marketed in the European Union and other geographic areas that recognize the CE Mark.

7 Jun 2010

Thesis examines infections caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum in lambs

Erik Georg Granquist's thesis examines infections caused by the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum in lambs. This bacterium is the cause of the disease tick-borne fever in ruminants and granulocytic anaplasmosis in humans. The bacterium is transmitted by ticks and is the indirect cause of considerable animal welfare problems and financial losses in Norwegian sheep farming.

7 Jun 2010

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Two variants of LPA gene associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease

4% of South Asian people carry mutated gene that causes heart failure

Tel Aviv University researchers invent new tool to control risk of runaway stem cells

Research findings hold promise for debilitating emotional symptoms of FXS

Cellectis bioresearch, Lonza collaborate in development, commercialization of bioengineered cell line

Princeton University president named 2010 winner of Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research

Takeda Rika Kogyo to distribute WaferGen's SmartChip Real-Time PCR System in Japan

New technique to prevent tumours developing in connection with stem cell transplantations

Vitiligo associated with genes variations linked to body's immune response

Gene variant linked to ability of Tibetans to cope with low-oxygen conditions identified

Researchers discover RAF oncogene that may drive aggressive forms of prostate cancer

Hormone involved in iron metabolism can save mice from deadly acute inflammation: Scientists

Form of epigenetics may play role in pulmonary arterial hypertension: Researchers

Quintiles announces comprehensive suite of PI3K biomarker assays

Protein p53 becomes activated to control creation of ova and spermatozoids: Study

Genetic mutations help predict risk of prostate cancer in younger men: Researchers

Lawsuit to be launched over breast cancer gene patent

Targeted therapy that benefits patients with metastatic colon cancer fails to help patients with stage III cancer

Celera applies CE mark to real-time PCR test for detection of variant in KIF6 gene

Thesis examines infections caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum in lambs

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

Exploring the role of confocal-based high-content imaging in advancing core facilities

Transforming Cardiovascular Care: Insights from Mina Makar at AstraZeneca

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS