Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Gene provides hope for restoring injured nerves

University of Utah scientists identified a worm gene that is essential for damaged nerve cells to regenerate, and showed they could speed nerve regeneration by over-activating the gene - a step toward new treatments for nerves injured by trauma or disease

23 Jan 2009

Lisofylline drug improves type 2 insulin action; reduces harm of fat in preclinical study

Results of a preclinical study involving DiaKine Therapeutics' lead drug candidate Lisofylline (LSF) indicate the compound may reduce two key risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

23 Jan 2009

Topical treatment wipes out herpes with RNAi

Whether condoms or abstinence, most efforts to prevent sexually transmitted diseases have a common logic: keep the pathogen out of your body altogether.

21 Jan 2009

First genetic map of obesity

The first genetic map of obesity has been constructed using DNA microarray technology.

21 Jan 2009

Lou Gehrig's disease in humans has genetic links to degenerative myelopathy in dogs

An incurable, paralyzing disease in humans is now genetically linked to a similar disease in dogs.

21 Jan 2009

Researchers show how anthracycline class of chemotherapeutics block blood vessel growth, slow cancer spread

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered how a whole class of commonly used chemotherapy drugs can block cancer growth.

21 Jan 2009

Topical microbicide protects against genital herpes

A topical microbicide that silences two genes can safely protect against genital herpes infection for as long as one week, according to a joint study by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Harvard Medical School.

21 Jan 2009

Engineered virus targets and kills apparent cancer stem cells in neuroblastoma

After identifying an apparent population of cancer stem cells for neuroblastoma, researchers successfully used a reprogrammed herpes virus to block tumor formation in mice by targeting and killing the cells.

21 Jan 2009

1% of the world's population carries a mutation almost guaranteed to lead to heart problems

Heart disease is the number one killer in the world and India carries more than its share of this burden.

19 Jan 2009

Epigenetics may account for some inherited traits and diseases

Embargoed Until January 18, 2009 at 18:00 Greenwich Mean Time / 13:00 Eastern Standard Time (TORONTO): Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have detected evidence that DNA may not be the only carrier of heritable information; a secondary molecular mechanism called epigenetics may also account for some inherited traits and diseases.

19 Jan 2009

Microbes within gut may hold key to one cause of obesity

In terms of diversity and sheer numbers, the microbes occupying the human gut easily dwarf the billions of people inhabiting the Earth.

19 Jan 2009

Researchers identify biochemical switch required for nerve cells to respond to DNA damage

The finding, scheduled for advance online publication in Nature Cell Biology, illuminates a connection between proteins involved in neurodegenerative disease and in cells' response to DNA damage.

19 Jan 2009

Breakthrough in treatment of cancers and infectious diseases

Dr. André Veillette, a researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team led by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Mario-Ernesto Cruz-Munoz, will publish in the upcoming issue of the prestigious journal Nature Immunology of Nature Publishing Group.

19 Jan 2009

Gene switch sites found mainly on 'shores,' not just 'islands' of the human genome

Scientists who study how human chemistry can permanently turn off genes have typically focused on small islands of DNA believed to contain most of the chemical alterations involved in those switches.

19 Jan 2009

Three new genetic variations that increase the risk of obesity

The gene variant most strongly associated with childhood obesity and adult morbid obesity in the study is located near the PTER gene, the function of which is not known. This variant is estimated to account for up to a third of all childhood obesity, and a fifth of all cases of adult obesity.

19 Jan 2009

Gene technology to fight Clostridium difficile

Scientists at The University of Nottingham are leading a major European study to unravel the genetic code of one of the most lethal strains of hospital acquired infections.

19 Jan 2009

Breast cancer four times more likely in women with strong family history

Women who have a strong family history of breast cancer are over four times more likely to develop the disease than the general population, according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer.

19 Jan 2009

The worst luck in the world? The heart disease mutation carried by 60 million

Heart disease is the number one killer in the world and India carries more than its share of this burden. Moreover, the problem is set to rise: it is predicted that by 2010 India's population will suffer approximately 60% of the world's heart disease.

19 Jan 2009

Potential new biomarker for colon cancer

Cincinnati scientists have identified a new biomarker that could help predict a person's risk of developing colon cancer and how aggressive it may become.

19 Jan 2009

New understanding on how aging causes broken bones to heal slowly

Researchers have unraveled crucial details of how aging causes broken bones to heal slowly, or not at all, according to study results published today in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

19 Jan 2009