Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Chemotherapy improves overall survival in postmenopausal breast cancer patients

Chemotherapy generally improves survival in postmenopausal breast cancer patients, according to a landmark study led by Dr. Kathy Albain of Loyola University Health System.

11 Dec 2009

Combination of MRI and mammography screenings detects early-stage breast cancer

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coupled with mammography detects almost all cancers at an early stage, thereby reducing the incidence of advanced stage breast cancer in high-risk women.

11 Dec 2009

Scientists develop new model of skin cancer based on Src kinases

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have developed a new model of skin cancer based on the knowledge that a common cancer-related molecule called Src kinase is activated in human skin-cancer samples.

11 Dec 2009

Cequent Pharmaceuticals' IND application for CEQ508 approved for clinical trial

Cequent Pharmaceuticals, a pioneer in the development of novel products to deliver RNAi-based treatments to prevent and treat human disease, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) approved Cequent's first IND (investigational new drug) application yesterday.

10 Dec 2009

AFP examines insecticide resistance's effect on malaria fight in Nigeria

Agence France-Presse examines the increase in insecticide-resistant mosquitoes in Nigeria - "the latest threat to combating malaria" in the country. "Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, contributes more than a quarter of the one million malaria deaths in Africa, according to official statistics," AFP writes.

10 Dec 2009

McMaster University launches first online interactive educational program on bleeding disorders

McMaster University, in partnership with the Canadian Hemophilia Society and Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, has launched Canada's first online, interactive educational program on bleeding disorders. The program, Emergency Management of Bleeding Disorders, is available free to all Canadian health professionals to learn about the signs, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of bleeding disorders.

10 Dec 2009

Immune-based treatment promising for AD

The results of a new study on immune-based treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which was conducted at 30 sites around the country, will be published in the December 15 issue of Neurology®. Lead author, Stephen P. Salloway, MD, MS, director of the Butler Hospital Memory and Aging Program and a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, says that this 18-month phase two study on slowing the disease process in Alzheimer's patients offers promising results.

10 Dec 2009

Mouse study suggests response to injury-induced growth factors can be revived

Brain and spinal-cord injuries typically leave people with permanent impairment because the injured nerve fibers (axons) cannot regrow. A study from Children's Hospital Boston, published in the December 10 issue of the journal Neuron, shows that axons can regenerate vigorously in a mouse model when a gene that suppresses natural growth factors is deleted.

10 Dec 2009

Social scientists say compassion is humans' strongest trait

Researchers at UC Berkeley are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, social scientists are amassing a growing body of evidence to show we are evolving to become more compassionate and collaborative in our quest to survive and thrive.

10 Dec 2009

CPRIT awards $2 million grant to study prostate cancer

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has awarded its initial grant for a First-Time, Tenure Track Faculty Member to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

10 Dec 2009

Genetic variations in Sonic Hedgehog pathway associated with response to standard immunotherapy

Genetic variations in the Sonic Hedgehog pathway increase the likelihood of recurrence, reduce survival time and limit response to therapy for people with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, scientists from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported today at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference.

10 Dec 2009

Preliminary study shows 'mini' stem cell transplantation may safely reverse severe sickle cell disease

Results of a preliminary study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins show that "mini" stem cell transplantation may safely reverse severe sickle cell disease in adults.

9 Dec 2009

NIH awards Lentigen a SBIR grant for program to generate Hepatitis C Virus-Like Particles

Lentigen Corporation, a biotechnology company specializing in the development and manufacture of lentiviral gene delivery technologies, announced today that it has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) small business innovation research (SBIR) grant for a program on "A Novel Method of Generating Hepatitis C Virus-Like Particles using Lentivirus". In this program, Lentigen will collaborate with Epixis SA (Paris, France).

9 Dec 2009

NPH acquires an exclusive license from UCLA for a suite of supramolecular nanoparticle technologies

NanoPacific Holdings, Inc. (NPH) announces the acquisition of an exclusive license from University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) for a suite of supramolecular nanoparticle technologies. Under the terms of the agreement between NPH and UCLA, NPH will have an exclusive worldwide license of a system composed of a ternary mixture of modular components that self-assemble into supramolecular nanoparticles.

9 Dec 2009

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

Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Chemotherapy improves overall survival in postmenopausal breast cancer patients

Combination of MRI and mammography screenings detects early-stage breast cancer

Scientists develop new model of skin cancer based on Src kinases

Cequent Pharmaceuticals' IND application for CEQ508 approved for clinical trial

AFP examines insecticide resistance's effect on malaria fight in Nigeria

McMaster University launches first online interactive educational program on bleeding disorders

Immune-based treatment promising for AD

Mouse study suggests response to injury-induced growth factors can be revived

Social scientists say compassion is humans' strongest trait

CPRIT awards $2 million grant to study prostate cancer

Genetic variations in Sonic Hedgehog pathway associated with response to standard immunotherapy

Preliminary study shows 'mini' stem cell transplantation may safely reverse severe sickle cell disease

NIH awards Lentigen a SBIR grant for program to generate Hepatitis C Virus-Like Particles

NPH acquires an exclusive license from UCLA for a suite of supramolecular nanoparticle technologies

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

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

Exploring electron microscopy for plant and microbial imaging at the John Innes Centre

Extending the reach of Amperia™

Modular cleanrooms: Enhancing flexibility and compliance