Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Novel link between excessive nutrient levels and insulin resistance

For quite some time now, scientists suspected the so-called hexosamine pathway - a small side business of the main sugar processing enterprise inside a cell - to be involved in the development of insulin resistance.

22 Feb 2008

Link between excessive food intake and insulin resistance

22 Feb 2008

Genetic defect causes immune deficiency and balance disorder

A genetic defect that causes a severe immune deficiency in humans may also produce balance disorders, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Iowa, The Jackson Laboratory and East Carolina University.

21 Feb 2008

Deficiency in the protein MBL2 linked to increased cystic fibrosis severity

Cystic fibrosis (CF), a hereditary disorder causing thick mucous production and frequent lung infections, is associated with a high mortality rate primarily due to lung failure.

21 Feb 2008

Largest and most detailed worldwide study of human genetic variation

University of Michigan scientists and their colleagues at the National Institute on Aging have produced the largest and most detailed worldwide study of human genetic variation, a treasure trove offering new insights into early migrations out of Africa and across the globe.

21 Feb 2008

Smoking's effects on genes may play a role in lung cancer development and survival

Smoking plays a role in lung cancer development, and now scientists have shown that smoking also affects the way genes are expressed, leading to alterations in cell division and regulation of immune response.

21 Feb 2008

Multiple approaches to type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes, formerly called insulin-dependent diabetes, juvenile diabetes or childhood-onset diabetes, affects 1 to 2 million people in the U.S. and millions more worldwide.

21 Feb 2008

New method for detecting HER2 breast cancer

Generations of mothers have served up chicken soup to remedy the common cold, but now the therapeutic fowl may find use in diagnosis as well.

21 Feb 2008

Newly discovered role of thyroid hormone during pregnancy

Thyroid hormone deficiencies in early pregnancy can cause locomotor underdevelopment in the child, according to research from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet.

21 Feb 2008

Malaysia Genome Institute advances bioinformatics research using SGI Technology

To create an optimal workflow that encompasses the diverse computing requirements of bioinformatics research, the Malaysia Genomics Institute (MGI) selected SGI to design a unique SGI hybrid computing solution.

21 Feb 2008

Study looks at bisphenol A exposure in boys and prostate cancer later in life

Does exposure of baby boys -- in utero or in infancy -- to bisphenol A, a man-made chemical which mimics natural estrogens, predispose them to prostate cancer later in life?

21 Feb 2008

Discovery of gene expression pathway that influences process of oxidative stress

The same chemical reaction that causes iron to rust plays a similarly corrosive role in our bodies.

21 Feb 2008

Mutation in TDP-43 gene may play role in common dementia

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have linked a mutation in a gene known as TDP-43 to an inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the neurodegenerative condition often called Lou Gehrig's disease.

21 Feb 2008

Single microRNA plays role in innate immune response

Over the last few years scientists have discovered hundreds of microRNAs - tiny RNAs that regulate the expression of protein-coding genes.

20 Feb 2008

Scientists shed light on long-distance signaling in developing neurons

A longstanding puzzle in neurodevelopment may have yielded up a key secret.

20 Feb 2008

Researchers examine animal antibiotic resistance, possible human link

It's bad enough when pathogenic bacteria work their way into the animal food supply.

20 Feb 2008

Gene therapy - immune system discovery may lead to effective treatment for glioblastoma multiforme

A new gene therapy approach that attracts and "trains" immune system cells to destroy deadly brain cancer cells also provides long-term immunity, produces no significant adverse effects and -- in the process of destroying the tumor -- promotes the return of normal brain function and behavioral skills, according to a study conducted by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Board of Governors Gene Therapeutics Research Institute.

20 Feb 2008

New key finding in neurodevelopment

A longstanding puzzle in neurodevelopment may have yielded up a key secret. A team led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College says they have determined how events at the very tips of the developing neuron's long, skinny axon affect gene transcription back in the cell's distant nucleus.

20 Feb 2008

Tumor-targeting viral therapy slows neuroblastoma, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors

Researchers in a multi-institutional study led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center slowed the growth of two particularly stubborn solid tumor cancers - neuroblastoma and peripheral nerve sheath tumors - without harming healthy tissues by inserting instructions to inhibit tissue growth into an engineered virus, according to study results published in the February 15 Cancer Research.

18 Feb 2008

Transplanted cells can cure hemophilia

Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have shown for the first time that transplanted cells can cure hemophilia A (the most common form of the disease) in an animal model.

18 Feb 2008