Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Chemical used in antifouling paints may promote obesity

Tributyltin, a ubiquitous pollutant that has a potent effect on gene activity, could be promoting obesity, according to an article in the December issue of BioScience.

1 Dec 2008

Blame your genes: why some people get sicker for longer

People with certain high risk gene combinations are eight times more likely to suffer from a severe and prolonged illness when they have an infection, according to University of New South Wales (UNSW) researchers.

1 Dec 2008

Scientists pinpoint two new risk factors for Wilms tumour

Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research have made significant progress in pinpointing two new risk factors associated with the most common childhood kidney cancer, known as Wilms tumour.

1 Dec 2008

Genes influence how well you deal with an illness

Australian scientists have discovered that a person's genetic makeup can influence how they are affected by illness - they say a certain genetic vulnerability can amplify an illness.

1 Dec 2008

Fast food diet a suspect in Alzheimer's disease

The research by scientists at the Karolinska Institutet has revealed that mice fed a diet of junk food for a nine month period developed the abnormal brain tangles which are seen in the preliminary stages of Alzheimer's disease - they say a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol could increase the risk of the most common type of dementia.

1 Dec 2008

Scientists find key to keeping killer T cells in prime shape for fighting infection, cancer

Like tuning a violin to produce strong, elegant notes, researchers at The Wistar Institute have found multiple receptors on the outside of the body's killer immune system cells which they believe can be selectively targeted to keep the cells in superb infection- and disease-fighting condition.

30 Nov 2008

Genetic variation in metabolism identified

Metabolic diseases - in particular the increasingly prevalent type 2 diabetes - are caused by a complex interaction between genetic disposition and unfavorable lifestyle, above all unbalanced diet and too little physical exercise.

30 Nov 2008

Diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol a potential risk factor for Alzheimer's disease

Mice that were fed a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol for nine months developed a preliminary stage of the morbid irregularities that form in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

30 Nov 2008

Multitasking proteins driving cell behavior

A study describing how cells within blood vessel walls move en masse overturns an assumption common in the age of genomics - that the proteins driving cell behavior are doing so much multitasking that it would be near impossible to group them according to a few discrete functions.

30 Nov 2008

Advance in K-Ras-mutated cancer research

A team of cancer researchers from several Boston academic medical centers has discovered a potential treatment for a group of tumors that have resisted previous targeted therapy approaches.

30 Nov 2008

Potential gene target for treatment of common hearing, vertigo and balance problems

A UCLA study shows for the first time how microscopic crystals form sound and gravity sensors inside the inner ear.

30 Nov 2008

Study identifies genetic variants giving rise to differences in metabolism

Common genetic polymorphisms induce major differentiations in the metabolic make-up of the human population, according to a paper published November 28 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

28 Nov 2008

Researchers discover genomic causes of acute lymphoblastic leukemia relapse

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have identified distinctive genetic changes in the cancer cells of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that cause relapse.

28 Nov 2008

Condensin II proteins found to keep chromosomes apart when necessary

If chromosomes snuggle up too closely at the wrong times, the results can be genetic disaster.

28 Nov 2008

Discovery of new way in which epigenetic information is inherited

Hereditary information flows from parents to offspring not just through DNA but also through the millions of proteins and other molecules that cling to it.

28 Nov 2008

Researchers provide new evidence that aging can be slowed

New evidence may explain why it is that we lose not only our youthful looks, but also our youthful pattern of gene activity with age.

26 Nov 2008

Researchers provide new insight into adaptive ability of cells

The Stowers Institute's Rong Li Lab has published findings that shed light on the ability of cells to adapt to disruptions to their basic division machineries - findings that may help explain how cancer cells elude the body's natural defense mechanisms or chemotherapy treatment.

26 Nov 2008