Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Scientists identify and repress breast cancer stem cells in mouse tissue

By manipulating highly specific gene-regulating molecules called microRNAs, scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) report that they have succeeded in singling out and repressing stem-like cells in mouse breast tissue - cells that are widely thought to give rise to cancer.

18 Dec 2007

Bowel cancer genes that triple risk discovered

Cancer Research UK funded scientists have identified two common genetic variants that could triple a person's risk of getting bowel cancer. Their findings are published in Nature Genetics (Sunday).

17 Dec 2007

Researchers spearhead key genome initiative

The complete collection of genes - the genome - of a moss has been sequenced, providing scientists an important evolutionary link between single-celled algae and flowering plants.

17 Dec 2007

Men unaware of their cancer risk when female relatives test positive for BRCA mutation

Men whose mothers, sisters or daughters test positive for a cancer-causing gene mutation also have an increased risk of developing the disease but are unaware of that risk.

17 Dec 2007

Genetic cause of Kawasaki disease

Researchers from Japan's RIKEN SNP Research Center, collaborating with a team at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), have discovered a new genetic variation that affects a child's risk of getting Kawasaki disease (KD), an illness characterized by acute inflammation of the arteries throughout the body.

17 Dec 2007

Herceptin helps women with multiple chromosomes containing HER2 gene

The targeted therapy Herceptin helps women with HER2+ type of breast cancer independent of whether patients have extra copies of chromosome 17, home to the HER2 gene which produces the HER2 protein that fuels cancer growth.

17 Dec 2007

Evolution with a restricted number of genes

The development of higher forms of life would appear to have been influenced by RNA polymerase II.

17 Dec 2007

Aging gracefully requires taking out the trash

Suppressing a cellular cleanup-mechanism known as autophagy can accelerate the accumulation of protein aggregates that leads to neural degeneration.

17 Dec 2007

Researchers zero in on the tiniest members in the war on cancer

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University have uncovered another reason why one of the most commonly activated proteins in cancer is so dangerous.

14 Dec 2007

Study uncovers clues to cystic fibrosis gene dysfunction and gastrointestinal disease

A new study by researchers at Hasbro Children's Hospital, the pediatric division of Rhode Island Hospital, and Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, offers new insight into the role that the cystic fibrosis gene plays in the development of gastrointestinal disease.

14 Dec 2007

Ingredient found in human semen enhances HIV infection

A plentiful ingredient found in human semen drastically enhances the ability of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to cause infection, according to a report in the December 14, 2007, issue of the journal Cell, a publication of Cell Press.

14 Dec 2007

Same genetic machinery generates skin color evolution in fish and humans

When humans began to migrate out of Africa about 100,000 years ago, their skin color gradually changed to adapt to their new environments.

14 Dec 2007

New research alters concept of how circadian clock functions

Scientists from the University of Cambridge have identified a molecule that may govern how the circadian clock in plants responds to environmental changes.

14 Dec 2007

MicroRNA regulates cancer stem cells

One of the biggest stories in cancer research over the past few years has been, unexpectedly, stem cells.

14 Dec 2007

First view of synapse in real time

For the first time, scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City have observed in real time a cellular mechanism that's crucial to how brain cells communicate.

14 Dec 2007

Male infertility - epigenetics may be the underlying cause

Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) suggest epigenetics, or the way DNA is processed and expressed, may be the underlying cause for male infertility.

13 Dec 2007

DAB2IP gene linked to aggressive prostate cancer

Results from two genome-wide association studies have identified a genetic variant of the DAB2IP gene that is associated with the risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

13 Dec 2007

$1.7 million grant to advance understanding of genetic influences on diabetes

Scientists at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) expect to make big leaps in their understanding of genetic influences on diabetes, thanks to a new $1.7 million grant awarded to Dr. Joanne Curran, the grant's principal investigator.

13 Dec 2007

Reprogrammed human adult stem cells rescue diseased muscle in mice

Scientists report that adult stem cells isolated from humans with muscular dystrophy can be genetically corrected and used to induce functional improvement when transplanted into a mouse model of the disease.

13 Dec 2007

Odyssey Thera granted U.S. patent for animal imaging

Odyssey Thera, Inc. has announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 7,306,914, entitled "Protein-fragment Complementation Assays (PCA) in whole animals: applications to drug efficacy, ADME, cancer biology, immunology, infectious disease and gene therapy.

13 Dec 2007