Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Scientists find 12 new genes with potential as drug targets

Scientists have identified 12 new genes that are somewhat strange bedfellows: Some link gallstones and blood cholesterol levels, others link melatonin and sleep patterns to small increases in glucose levels and larger jumps in the risk of diabetes.

8 Dec 2008

Scientists create infectious prion disease in mouse model

A worldwide group of scientists has created an infectious prion disease in a mouse model, in a step that may help unravel the mystery of this progressive disease that affects the nervous system in humans and animals.

8 Dec 2008

Genes for nine health indicators: Population study finds genetics clues

A new genome-wide study examines genetic variants associated with nine metabolic traits and is the first to draw out novel variants from a population unselected for current disease. The traits are indicators for common disease such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, blood pressure, inflammation and lipid levels.

7 Dec 2008

Study finds six genetic variants associated with 'bad' cholesterol

A new study presages a real aim of genetics: to look at whole populations to in order determine the significance of individual genetic variants for individual health. The research team, whose work is published in Nature Genetics, find six novel genetic variants that are associated with lipid levels, a common indicator of heart or artery disease.

7 Dec 2008

Body clock and sleep patterns linked to diabetes and high blood sugar

Diabetes and high levels of blood sugar may be linked to abnormalities in a person's body clock and sleep patterns, according to a genome-wide association study published today in the journal Nature Genetics.

7 Dec 2008

Breakthrough in understanding the phenomenon of nucleolar dominance

Since the machinery involved in nucleolar dominance is some of the same machinery that can go haywire in diseases such as cancer, Pikaard and his collaborators' research may have important implications for applied medical research.

5 Dec 2008

Discovery of groundbreaking technique for body to accept gene therapy

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY) have developed a groundbreaking technique to sneak therapeutic genes past the body's defenses, possibly clearing one of the largest hurdles to realizing the potentials of medically altering a patient's DNA.

5 Dec 2008

Breakthrough in sickle cell disease and thalassemia research

Researchers have identified a gene that directly affects the production of a form of hemoglobin that is instrumental in modifying the severity of the inherited blood disorders sickle cell disease and thalassemia.

5 Dec 2008

Model unravels rules that govern how genes are switched on and off

For years, scientists have struggled to decipher the genetic instruction book that details where and when the 20,000 genes in a human cell will be turned on or off.

5 Dec 2008

Metabolic reactions: Less is more in single-celled organisms

A Northwestern University study has found a surprising similarity among four quite different organisms.

5 Dec 2008

Genetic ancestry of African-Americans reveals new insights about gene expression

The amount of proteins produced in cells—a fundamental determinant of biological outcomes collectively known as gene expression—varies in African American individuals depending on their proportion of African or European genetic ancestry.

5 Dec 2008

Chromatin packaging helps decipher how cancer develops

To decipher how cancer develops, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigators say researchers must take a closer look at the packaging.

5 Dec 2008

Researchers focus on phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway in cancer research

Researchers are taking a closer look at the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) pathway as studies continue to demonstrate that inhibiting this biological route suppresses tumor growth, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN ).

5 Dec 2008

Discovery of MEDNIK syndrome

Canadian researchers announce the discovery of MEDNIK Syndrome, a debilitating genetic syndrome.

5 Dec 2008

Stem cells derived from bone marrow may offer novel therapeutic option for epidermolysis bullosa

Stem cells derived from bone marrow may serve as a novel therapeutic option to treat a disease called epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a disorder characterized by extraordinarily fragile skin, according to a study prepublished online in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

5 Dec 2008

A new approach improves prioritization of disease-associated SNPs

The more often a gene is differentially expressed, the more likely it is to contain disease-associated DNA variants.

5 Dec 2008

Discovery of new enzyme in cancer growth

While studying the mechanics of blood clots, researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center discovered a new enzyme that not only affects the blood, but seems to play a primary role in how cancer tumors expand and spread throughout the body.

3 Dec 2008

Tobacco plants grown in novel mist bioreactor system provide new soure of interleukin-12

Interleukin-12 is a naturally occurring protein essential for the proper functioning of the human immune system.

3 Dec 2008

Motor neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells provide insight into ALS

Two new research studies use motor neurons derived from human embryonic stem (hES) cells to demonstrate that multiple toxic pathways contribute to the devastating degeneration associated with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and that protective therapeutics will need to oppose the disease on multiple fronts.

3 Dec 2008

Genetic breakdown in Fanconi anemia may have link to HPV-associated cancer

A genetic malfunction that causes DNA instability in people with the blood disorder Fanconi anemia may put them at high risk for squamous cell carcinomas linked to human papillomavirus (HPV), according to a study posted online ahead of print by Oncogene.

3 Dec 2008