Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

New journal devoted to gene therapy and human genetics

The Gene Therapy Review was first launched in 2008 as an online source of information on all aspects of gene therapy with sections comprising information on gene therapy research, news, disease targets, patient resources and companies offering services to the gene therapy community. It then further featured a clinical trials database detailing all gene therapy clinical procedures completed to date.

31 Jul 2009

Discovery of genetic link to age-related cataracts

Bing-Cheng Wang, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine professor of pharmacology and senior staff scientist at MetroHealth Medical Center, and Sudha K. Iyengar, Ph.D. professor of genetic and molecular epidemiology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, have discovered the first gene associated with the formation of age-related cataracts, a leading causes of blindness.

31 Jul 2009

New nano-gene therapy technique could fight late-stage tumors

Tiny particles carrying a killer gene can effectively suppress ovarian tumor growth in mice, according to a team of researchers from MIT and the Lankenau Institute.

31 Jul 2009

Nanoparticles show potential as part of new therapy for advanced ovarian cancer

Nanoparticle delivery of diphtheria toxin-encoding DNA selectively expressed in ovarian cancer cells reduced the burden of ovarian tumors in mice, and researchers expect this therapy could be tested in humans within 18 to 24 months, according to a report in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

30 Jul 2009

Epigenetic signature changes in low oxygen levels may contribute to prostate cancer development

UCD Conway researchers have characterised epigenetic signature changes in prostate cells under conditions of low oxygen levels that may lead to tumour development.

30 Jul 2009

Covance enters strategic genomic services agreement with Merck

Covance has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. relating to the supply of genomic analysis services.

30 Jul 2009

New drug promises to reduce damage from a heart attack

Research into a new drug by Australian heart experts has found that it can dramatically reduce heart muscle damage after a heart attack.

28 Jul 2009

Maternal exposure to nanoparticles related to neurological dysfunction in the mouse

Maternal exposure to nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) affects the expression of genes related to the central nervous system in developing mice. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology found that mice whose mothers were injected with the nanoparticles while pregnant showed alteration in gene expression related to neurological dysfunction.

28 Jul 2009

Mathematical modeling predicts Herceptin resistance

Cancer researchers are turning to mathematical models to help answer important clinical questions, and a new paper in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, illustrates how the technique may answer questions about Herceptin resistance.

28 Jul 2009

Spermatagonial stem cells can be directly converted into other cell types

Researchers have found a way to directly convert spermatogonial stem cells, the precursors of sperm cells, into tissues of the prostate, skin and uterus. Their approach, described this month in the journal Stem Cells, may prove to be an effective alternative to the medical use of embryonic stem cells.

28 Jul 2009

Discovery of potential treatment for spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal Muscular Atrophy is the second-leading cause of infant mortality in the world. Ravindra Singh, associate professor in biomedical sciences at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, would like to see Spinal Muscular Atrophy lose its high ranking and even slide off the list altogether.

28 Jul 2009

miR-21 molecule plays early and important role in nonsmoking lung cancer

The cause of lung cancer in never-smokers is poorly understood, but a study led by investigators at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and at the National Cancer Institute has identified a molecule believed to play an early and important role in its development.

28 Jul 2009

Gene expression patterns in cancer could aid early screening and prevention

Distinctive patterns of genes turned off - or left on - in healthy versus cancerous cells could enable early screening for many common cancers and maybe help avoid them, Medical College of Georgia scientists say.

28 Jul 2009

New clues about the roots of neurological disease

Switching off a key DNA repair system in the developing nervous system is linked to smaller brain size as well as problems in brain structures vital to movement, memory and emotion, according to new research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists.

27 Jul 2009