Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Novel microRNA plays a major role in invasive breast cancer development

Research led by Suresh Alahari, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has shown for the first time that a tiny piece of RNA appears to play a major role in the development of invasive breast cancer and identified a gene that appears to inhibit invasive breast cancer.

20 Aug 2009

Scientists find another mechanism that destroys tumor cells

Cells don't like to be alone. In the early stages of tumor formation, a cell might be pushed out of its normal home environment due to excessive growth. But a cell normally responds to this homeless state by dismantling its nucleus, packing up its DNA, and offering itself to be eaten by immune system cells. Simply put, the homeless cell kills itself. This process, known as apoptosis, typically stops potential cancer cells before they have a chance to proliferate.

20 Aug 2009

Inovio Biomedical records $2.9 million revenues in the six months ended June 30, 2009

Inovio Biomedical Corporation (NYSE AMEX: INO) (“Inovio”) today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009. Total revenue of $2.5 million and $2.9 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009, compared to $663,000 and $1.3 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2008, respectively.

20 Aug 2009

Steroid hormones found to affect gene activity

Intermittent signaling by steroid hormones can affect the way genes are expressed in rodents, according to research by scientists at the University of Bristol and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA. This work has major implications for understanding how steroids work and opens novel avenues for new therapies.

19 Aug 2009

Nano-bio material kills cancer cells, leaves healthy cells in unharmed

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago's Brain Tumor Center have developed a way to target brain cancer cells using inorganic titanium dioxide nanoparticles bonded to soft biological material.

19 Aug 2009

Newly discovered anti-aging gene linked to high blood pressure

Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have shown the first link between a newly discovered anti-aging gene and high blood pressure. The results, which appear this month in the journal Hypertension, offer new clues on how we age and how we might live longer.

19 Aug 2009

New "micropatterning" method useful in gene expression studies

Like oil and water, two water-based liquids can mingle without mixing in a new University of Michigan technology developed for biological experiments.

19 Aug 2009

Genetic mutation that helps regulate high blood pressure is a cause of inherited kidney disease

The discovery provides insight into a protein, renin, that is important in blood pressure regulation, and reveals the cause of one type of inherited kidney disease occurring in adults and children, said co-investigator Anthony Bleyer, M.D., professor of internal medicine-nephrology at the School of Medicine.

19 Aug 2009

Research study highlights the biological importance of Vitamin D in humans and other primates

A new study has concluded that one key part of the immune system, the ability of vitamin D to regulate anti-bactericidal proteins, is so important that is has been conserved through almost 60 million years of evolution and is shared only by primates, including humans - but no other known animal species.

19 Aug 2009

e-infrastructure to tackle diseases

Disease knows no borders and now researchers in Europe and the Mediterranean shoreline are using electronic infrastructures (e-Infrastructures) to coordinate and cooperate internationally.

19 Aug 2009

New software programs improve the cancer biomarker identification process

caCORRECT and omniBioMarker programs earn silver-level compatibility certification from NIH/National Cancer Institute's cancer Bioinformatics Grid

19 Aug 2009

Labcyte awarded 2nd Japanese patent for acoustic-based cell sorting system

Labcyte, the company that developed and commercialized the acoustic transfer of liquids today announced that the Japanese patent office has granted patent 4309131 that covers the design of an acoustic-based system that can sort cells based upon acoustic or other properties and then eject them specifically from a mixed population.

18 Aug 2009

Novel genome-analysis strategy to speed search for gene-disease links

University of Washington (UW) researchers have successfully developed a novel genome-analysis strategy for more rapid, lower cost discovery of possible gene-disease links. By saving time and lowering expenses, the approach makes it feasible for scientists to search for disease-causing genes in people with the same inherited disorder but without any family ties to each other.

18 Aug 2009

Genentech announces Phase III study results for Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with chemo in HER2-negative breast cancer

Genentech, Inc. today announced that a Phase III study (RIBBON 2) of Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with chemotherapy increased the time women with metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer whose initial chemotherapy had stopped working lived without the disease worsening (progression-free survival or PFS), compared to chemotherapy alone.

18 Aug 2009

Discovery of the first protein-based toxin in an amphibian

Researchers in China have discovered the first protein-based toxin in an amphibian - a 60 amino acid neurotoxin found in the skin of a Chinese tree frog. This finding may help shed more light into both the evolution of amphibians and the evolution of poison.

17 Aug 2009

Protein Huwe1 may be an important factor in the development of brain cancer

Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a protein that activates brain stem cells to make new neurons - but that may be hijacked later in life to cause brain cancer in humans. The protein called Huwe1 normally functions to eliminate other unnecessary proteins and was found to act as a tumor suppressor in brain cancer.

17 Aug 2009

Sugar "feeds" tumors

Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah have uncovered new information on the notion that sugar "feeds" tumors. The findings may also have implications for other diseases such as diabetes. The research is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

17 Aug 2009

Nematode worm provides model of invasive cancer

A single cell in a 1-millimeter nematode worm is providing valuable new clues into cancer's deadliest behavior -- its ability to put down roots in new tissues after spreading throughout the body.

17 Aug 2009

Discovery of inherited gene variants that account for 37 percent of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have identified inherited variations in two genes that account for 37 percent of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), including a gene that may help predict drug response.

16 Aug 2009

New target for Alzheimer's disease

For close to a decade, pharmaceutical researchers have been in hot pursuit of compounds to activate a key nicotine receptor that plays a role in cognitive processes. Triggering it, they hope, might prevent or even reverse the devastation wrought by Alzheimer’s disease.

16 Aug 2009