Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Young adults at future risk of Alzheimer's have different brain activity

Young adults with a genetic variant that raises their risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease show changes in their brain activity decades before any symptoms might arise, according to a new brain imaging study by scientists from the University of Oxford and Imperial College London.

6 Apr 2009

Rare window on spinal muscular atrophy genetics

Caused by a mutation of the SMN gene, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an infantile and juvenile neurodegenerative disorder where motor neuron loss causes progressive paralysis.

6 Apr 2009

Discovery of gene variant associated with increased risk of atopic dermatitis

Scientists of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and Charité - University Medical School, Berlin, Germany, in collaboration with researchers from the Klinikum rechts der Isar of Technical University Munich and Christian Albrecht University, Kiel, have identified a gene variant on chromosome 11 that is associated with an increased risk of atopic dermatitis.

6 Apr 2009

Cooperative behaviors and evolutionary theory

One of the perplexing questions raised by evolutionary theory is how cooperative behavior, which benefits other members of a species at a cost to the individual, came to exist.

6 Apr 2009

Rak gene helps protect tumor suppressor in breast cancer

Scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have discovered a gene that protects PTEN, a major tumor-suppressor that is reduced but rarely mutated in about half of all breast cancers.

6 Apr 2009

Dietary flaxseed may help prevent colorectal tumors

New research from South Dakota State University offers evidence that including flax in the diet may help prevent colorectal tumors or keep tumors from growing as quickly when they do form.

6 Apr 2009

AVEO Pharmaceuticals announces findings from novel human-in-mouse cancer model system

AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced findings from its novel human-in-mouse (HIM) cancer model system, in which AVEO successfully created invasive human tumors from primary human breast tissue that develop over time in mice and mimic human tumor behaviors and response.

6 Apr 2009

Biomarker associated with poor outcome in aggressive childhood cancer

Results from a new study identify a biomarker that may be useful for predicting the outcome of treatment for neuroblastoma, the most common cancer in young children.

6 Apr 2009

GAO official names first 13 members of HIT Policy Advisory Committee

Government Accountability Office acting Comptroller General Gene Dodaro last week named 13 members to a policy committee on health care information technology established under the federal economic stimulus package, CongressDaily reports.

6 Apr 2009

FDA warns 14 pharmaceutical companies about short internet ads lacking risk information

FDA has warned 14 major pharmaceutical firms about brief Internet advertisements that could have misled patients because they did not include information about health risks related to the drugs, according to letters posted to the agency's Web site Friday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

6 Apr 2009

BRAF gene mutation is a crucial skin cancer switch

Up to 70 per cent of melanoma skin cancers could be triggered by a particular genetic mutation, according to a Cancer Research UK funded study published in Cancer Cell.

6 Apr 2009

Researcher tackles deadly brain tumors

Natalie Ciaccio, a fourth-year graduate student researcher in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Kansas, is investigating what might be an ideal target for anti-cancer drug therapy, and she is focusing her work on brain tumors specifically.

6 Apr 2009

55 proteins found to interact with nicotine

Nicotine isn't just addictive. It may also interfere with dozens of cellular interactions in the body, new Brown University research suggests.

6 Apr 2009

New research to study genetics and cell biology of pancreatic cancer

The Georgia Institute of Technology and Saint Joseph's Hospital have joined together to begin the first regional research program to study the genetics and cell biology of pancreatic cancer.

6 Apr 2009

New technique for carrying out gene-expression profiling

A novel technique for carrying out gene-expression profiling is set to challenge the market dominance of the current, widely used methodology, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN).

6 Apr 2009

Breastmilk test may reveal cancer risk early

Beginning this month and for the next year, environmental toxicologist Kathleen Arcaro of the University of Massachusetts Amherst will be recruiting subjects nationwide for a study to see if cells expressed in nursing mothers' breastmilk might one day provide a quick, easy way to assess a woman's future breast cancer risk.

5 Apr 2009

Molecule called miR-29b could be a potent treatment for acute myeloid leukemia

A new study by Ohio State University cancer researchers shows that boosting the level of a molecule called miR-29b in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells can reverse gene changes that trap the cells in an immature, fast growing state of development.

5 Apr 2009

How men and women cope differently with stress traced to genetic differences

Can people's differing reactions to situations of stress be attributed at least in part to genetic differences and do those differences affect men and women in different ways - with the edge seemingly favoring the women? Research conducted at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem would seem to indicate that the answer to both questions is yes.

5 Apr 2009

Why does aspirin increase the susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori to antimicrobials?

Resent studies reported that aspirin inhibited the growth of H. pylori in a dose-dependent manner and significantly affected the activity of virulence factors of H. pylori.

2 Apr 2009

Discovery of gene that modifies severity of cystic fibrosis lung disease

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, and colleagues, have identified a gene that modifies the severity of lung disease in people with cystic fibrosis, a lethal genetic condition.

2 Apr 2009