Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

In biology, polarization is a good thing

Using a molecular cellular compass, individual cells in complex organisms know which way is up or down, in epithelial cells known as apical-basal polarity.

9 Oct 2007

Mario Capecchi shares Nobel Prize in medicine for knockout mice technology

Mario R. Capecchi, Ph.D., distinguished professor of human genetics and biology at the University of Utah's Eccles Institute of Human Genetics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, has won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

9 Oct 2007

Gene may hold key to future cancer hope

Scientists may have discovered a new way of killing tumours in what they hope could one day lead to alternative forms of cancer treatments.

From The University of Manchester 9 Oct 2007

Sir Martin Evans wins Nobel prize for stem cell research

Medical Research Council funded scientist Sir Martin Evans, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2007 alongside Mario R. Capecchi and Oliver Smithies for their discoveries of "principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells".

9 Oct 2007

Three new genes found that cause lung cancer

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have discovered three genes that interact with cancerous results in 20% of lung cancers.

9 Oct 2007

Researchers restore memory process in fragile X syndrome

University of California, Irvine scientists have discovered how to reverse the learning and memory problems inherent in the most common form of mental impairment.

8 Oct 2007

HMMR gene emerges as a key player in breast cancer

Researchers in a multicenter international study have identified a new gene that, if mutated, may increase a woman's risk of breast cancer by more than a third.

8 Oct 2007

Fungus genome yielding answers to protect grains, people and animals

Why a pathogen is a pathogen may be answered as scientists study the recently mapped genetic makeup of a fungus that spawns the worst cereal grains disease known and also can produce toxins potentially fatal to people and livestock.

8 Oct 2007

Fraunhofer pharmaceutical agent speeds drug development

It takes a great deal of time and money to develop a new drug. At Biotechnica in Hanover from October 9 to 11, the Fraunhofer Life Sciences Alliance will demonstrate how a pharmaceutical agent can make its way more quickly from the research laboratory to the pharmacy.

8 Oct 2007

Human embryonic stem cells remain embryonic because of epigenetic factors

A human embryonic stem cell is reined in - prevented from giving up its unique characteristics of self-renewal and pluripotency - by the presence of a protein modification that stifles any genes that would prematurely instruct the cell to develop into heart or other specialized tissue.

4 Oct 2007

Discovery offers hope of halting motor neurone disease progression

Scientists have discovered a causal link between the gene for a small protein involved in the formation of blood vessels and the development of some forms of motor neurone disease.

4 Oct 2007

Specific immune deficiency pinpointed as likely cause of ulcerative colitis

In a series of mouse experiments, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have pinpointed a specific immune deficiency as the likely fundamental cause of ulcerative colitis, a chronic, sometimes severe inflammatory disease of the colon or large intestine that afflicts half a million Americans.

4 Oct 2007

New findings on cholesterol metabolism in the brain and Alzheimer's disease

Although the causes of Alzheimer's disease are not completely understood, amyloid-beta (A-beta) is widely considered a likely culprit - the "sticky" protein clumps into plaques thought to harm brain cells.

4 Oct 2007

Cell's cytoskeleton may hold key to overcoming drug resistance in cancer

Researchers have uncovered a new way in which a cell protein protects cancer cells from a wide range of chemotherapeutic drugs, identifying a possible target for improving treatment outcomes for patients.

4 Oct 2007

The origin of mammalian network of lymphatic vessels

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital settled a century-old debate on the origin of the mammalian lymphatic vasculature - the network of vessels and capillaries critical to various essential housekeeping functions in the body.

4 Oct 2007

Mutation in a single gene can cause epilepsy in infants

New research from the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne has shown why mutation in a single gene can cause epilepsy in infants.

4 Oct 2007

What our genes tell us - Identifying biomarkers for key environmental risk factors

Identifying biomarkers for the key environmental risk factors responsible for two diseases that significantly contribute to death and disease of hundreds of thousands annually will be the initial focus of a new center being established at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

4 Oct 2007