Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Smell and sexual reproduction

Humans have the same receptors for detecting odors related to sex as do other apes and primates. But each species uses them in different ways, stemming from the way the genes for these receptors have evolved over time, according to Duke University researchers.

9 Dec 2009

2009 Ward Burdick Award for UAB Director

The director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Center for Metabolic Bone Disease has won the 2009 Ward Burdick Award for Distinguished Service to Clinical Pathology from the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP).

9 Dec 2009

TECHGENE project: CLC bio selected as software partner

Today the EU project, TECHGENE, that focuses on developing Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) diagnostic tools for genetic disorders, announced that CLC bio has been selected as the software partner for this project.

9 Dec 2009

Scientists discuss sex lives of fruit flies

Females can be too attractive to the opposite sex -- too attractive for their own good -- say biologists at UC Santa Barbara. They found that, among fruit flies, too much male attention directed toward attractive females leads to smaller families and, ultimately, to a reduced rate of population-wide adaptive evolution.

9 Dec 2009

CSC's stem cell-derived motor neuron product for SMA receives FDA orphan drug designation

California Stem Cell, Inc. (CSC) and Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (FSMA) announced today that the FDA has granted orphan drug designation to MOTORGRAFT™, a stem cell-derived motor neuron product, for the treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

9 Dec 2009

New findings may help restore vision in patients with corneal injury

Winston Whei-Yang Kao, PhD, professor of ophthalmology, along with other researchers in UC's ophthalmology department found that transplanting human umbilical mesenchymal stem cells into mouse models that lack the protein lumican restored the transparency of cloudy and thin corneas.

9 Dec 2009

Researchers study incidence of heterosis for different characteristics

When two gene pools combine, you might expect the characteristics of the offspring to end up somewhere in the middle between those of its parents. But children often have characteristics that are better or worse than that middle value, sometimes even better than both parents.

9 Dec 2009

Mouse model may help identify unknown mutations that make lung cancer cells resistant to therapy

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide and lung adenocarcinoma is the most common type. Many cases of lung adenocarcinoma are attributed to a mutation in a gene for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).

9 Dec 2009

Multiple clinical study results of ABRAXANE to be presented by Abraxis BioScience

Abraxis BioScience, Inc., a fully integrated biotechnology company, today announced that multiple clinical studies of the chemotherapy agent ABRAXANE® for Injectable Suspension (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin-bound) will be presented at the 32nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), being held in San Antonio, Texas from December 9 to December 13.

9 Dec 2009

Transgenomic's SURVEYOR Scan K-RAS mutation detection kit launched

Transgenomic, Inc. announced today the launch of its SURVEYOR Scan K-RAS kit, the first in a family of mutation detection kits the company plans to offer featuring its proprietary SURVEYOR Nuclease and WAVE® HS DHPLC platform. SURVEYOR Scan technology is a novel approach to mutation detection that uses a PCR amplification reaction and hybridization to form heteroduplex DNA molecules in samples with K-RAS mutation.

9 Dec 2009

Multi-institutional study identifies potential treatment target for ovarian cancer

A multi-institutional study has identified a potential personalized treatment target for the most common form of ovarian cancer. In the December 8 issue of Cancer Cell, the research team describes finding that a gene called MAGP2 - not previously associated with any type of cancer - was overexpressed in papillary serous ovarian tumors of patients who died more quickly. They also found evidence suggesting possible mechanisms by which MAGP2 may promote tumor growth.

9 Dec 2009

Xanthohumol compound may aid in preventing prostate cancer

The natural compound xanthohumol blocks the effects of the male hormone testosterone, therefore aiding in the prevention of prostate cancer.

9 Dec 2009

Bird influenza viruses have a variety of strategies to cross the species barrier

The 2009 H1N1 influenza virus used a new strategy to cross from birds into humans, a warning that it has more than one trick up its sleeve to jump the species barrier and become virulent.

9 Dec 2009

New evidence finds link between nutrition, obesity and immune system

Fresh evidence that fatty food is bad for our health has come to light: mice fed a lard-based diet over a long period got worse at fighting bacteria in the blood, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg.

8 Dec 2009

Combination of gene and cell therapy improves critical limb ischemia associated with aging or diabetes

Blood vessel blockage, a common condition in old age or diabetes, leads to low blood flow and results in low oxygen, which can kill cells and tissues. Such blockages can require amputation resulting in loss of limbs. Now, using mice as their model, researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed therapies that increase blood flow, improve movement and decrease tissue death and the need for amputation.

8 Dec 2009

MCG receives $1.8M stimulus grant

It's a $1.8 million shot in the arm to the largest grant the Medical College of Georgia has ever received.

8 Dec 2009

CombinatoRx presents encouraging results from its A2A and b2AR agonist programs for B-cell malignancies

CombinatoRx, Incorporated today announced that preclinical data from its Adenosine A2A receptor (A2A) and Beta-2 Adrenergic Receptor (b2AR) Agonist oncology programs demonstrated synergistic anti-cancer activity when combined with standard-of-care therapies in multiple myeloma and other B-cell malignancies.

8 Dec 2009

ASH meeting highlights H1N1 pandemic threat, new trends and treatment options for children with genetic blood disorder

Sickle cell disease, a condition characterized by deformed and dysfunctional red blood cells, is one of the most common genetic blood disorders affecting millions of people around the world, including more than 70,000 Americans (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

8 Dec 2009

Phase III CLL8 trial shows Rituxan plus FC chemotherapy improves patients with CLL

Genentech, Inc., a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, and Biogen Idec today announced that three-year follow up of the pivotal Phase III CLL8 trial showed Rituxan plus fludarabine and cyclophosphamide (FC) chemotherapy helped patients in the trial with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) live longer than FC alone.

8 Dec 2009

Gene positions may offer a new method of cancer diagnosis

Certain genes switch their nuclear position in tumor cells, offering a potential new method of diagnosing cancer, say researchers from the National Cancer Institute. The study by Meaburn et al. will be published online December 7, 2009 (www.jcb.org) and in the December 14, 2009 print issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB).

8 Dec 2009

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Smell and sexual reproduction

2009 Ward Burdick Award for UAB Director

TECHGENE project: CLC bio selected as software partner

Scientists discuss sex lives of fruit flies

CSC's stem cell-derived motor neuron product for SMA receives FDA orphan drug designation

New findings may help restore vision in patients with corneal injury

Researchers study incidence of heterosis for different characteristics

Mouse model may help identify unknown mutations that make lung cancer cells resistant to therapy

Multiple clinical study results of ABRAXANE to be presented by Abraxis BioScience

Transgenomic's SURVEYOR Scan K-RAS mutation detection kit launched

Multi-institutional study identifies potential treatment target for ovarian cancer

Xanthohumol compound may aid in preventing prostate cancer

Bird influenza viruses have a variety of strategies to cross the species barrier

New evidence finds link between nutrition, obesity and immune system

Combination of gene and cell therapy improves critical limb ischemia associated with aging or diabetes

MCG receives $1.8M stimulus grant

CombinatoRx presents encouraging results from its A2A and b2AR agonist programs for B-cell malignancies

ASH meeting highlights H1N1 pandemic threat, new trends and treatment options for children with genetic blood disorder

Phase III CLL8 trial shows Rituxan plus FC chemotherapy improves patients with CLL

Gene positions may offer a new method of cancer diagnosis

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