Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Lapatinib benefits women with HER2-positive breast cancer

Findings published in the December 1, 2008, issue of Clinical Cancer Research , a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, show lapatinib benefits women with HER2-positive breast cancer, while women with HER2-negative breast cancer or those who express EGRF alone derive no incremental benefit.

3 Dec 2008

Fruit flies provide better understanding of human heart disease

Researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have shown in both fruit flies and humans that genes involved in embryonic heart development are also integral to adult heart function.

3 Dec 2008

Discovery of gene that protects against lung cancer

A study led by researchers at The University of Nottingham has identified a gene that protects the body from lung cancer.

2 Dec 2008

Lab on a microfluidic chip for the GP's surgery

If doctors were able to conduct efficient genetic analysis at the point of care, using inexpensive, portable equipment, it would revolutionise disease detection and treatment. European researchers are close to enabling this revolution.

2 Dec 2008

ViroPharma Inc. submits sBLA for Cinryze to treat acute attacks of hereditary angioedema

ViroPharma Inc. has announced that the company submitted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Cinryze C1 Inhibitor (human) as a treatment for acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE).

1 Dec 2008

Reprogrammable cell type depends on a single gene to keep its identity

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that a certain differentiated cell type is so ready to change its identity that it requires the constant expression of a gene called Prox1 to dissuade it.

1 Dec 2008

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