Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Biologist hopes mosquito can break viral chain

Most people do their best to avoid mosquitoes. But this summer Rollie Clem will play the wary host to his own homegrown swarm of Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito. He's made a room ready for them, and even a menu.

22 May 2007

In some species estrogen plays a key role in aggressiveness

Imagine if a naturally occurring chemical in your body could help make you feel more calm and relaxed ? but it would only work during the long days of summer.

22 May 2007

Decoding gene expression in cancer tumors using noninvasive imaging

By correlating images of cancerous liver tissue with gene expression patterns, a research team led by a radiologist at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine has developed tools that may some day allow physicians to view a CT image of a cancer tumor and discern its genetic activity.

22 May 2007

Chemotherapy drug temozolomide shrinks brain tumors

Cancerous brain tumors appear to respond favorably to the drug temozolomide when used as primary chemotherapy after surgery, and the treatment appears to work best in people missing a certain gene, according to a study published in the May 22, 2007, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

22 May 2007

Genes add up risk of autoimmune disease

Geneticists have identified a link between the number of copies of a specific gene an individual has and their susceptibility to autoimmune diseases like lupus.

22 May 2007

Suicide gene therapy kills bowel cancer cells

An innovative type of gene therapy has for the first time succeeded in making bowel cancer cells commit suicide, according to a report in Cancer Research.

20 May 2007

Left-right wiring determined by neural communication in the embryonic worm

Most animals appear symmetrical at first glance, but we're full of internal lop-sidedness.

18 May 2007

Glucose plays a key role in enabling healthy beta cells

A key aspect of how embryos create the cells which secrete insulin is revealed in a new study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

18 May 2007

First draft of the genome sequence of Aedes aegypti mosquito

Developing new strategies to prevent and control yellow fever and dengue fever has become more possible with the completion of the first draft of the genome sequence of Aedes aegypti mosquito by scientists led by Vishvanath Nene at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and David Severson at the University of Notre Dame.

18 May 2007

Computer science sheds light on animal development

By applying the techniques of computer engineering to a mechanistic diagram describing the development of the Nematode C. elegans, a group of researchers in Switzerland has been able to tease out what laboratory experiments have not how and when the crucial cross-talk between cellular signaling pathways takes place in order to determine the fates of individual cells.

18 May 2007

Circadian clock gene plays role in weight gain

Scientists at the University of Virginia and the Medical College of Wisconsin have discovered that a gene that participates in the regulation of the body's biological rhythms may also be a major control in regulating metabolism.

18 May 2007

AMDL receives Israeli patent for animal model for the evaluation of vaccines

AMDL, Inc. has announced that it has received an important Israeli patent for an animal model for the evaluation of vaccines, which is a part of its unique Combination Immune Therapy (CIT) technology.

18 May 2007

Link between extreme sleep disorder and onset of parkinsonism or dementia

Mayo Clinic researchers and a group of international collaborators have discovered a correlation between an extreme form of sleep disorder and eventual onset of parkinsonism or dementia.

17 May 2007

Important new gene-silencing mechanism

Genes provide the instructions used by the individual cells to produce the many different proteins that make up the body.

17 May 2007

Culture techniques can significantly affect cell growth and function

When it comes to growing cells in a lab, technique matters. A new Brown University study shows that nerve cells grown in three-dimensional cultures use 1,766 genes differently compared to nerve cells grown in standard two-dimensional petri dishes.

17 May 2007

Hair loss may be reversible

Scientists who have helped create new hair cells on the skin of mice say hair loss may be reversible.

16 May 2007

Researchers develop way to calculate rate of gene transfer among bacteria in the environment

Scientists from the University of California-Davis recently developed a mathematical model of the rate of gene transfer among bacteria in the environment.

16 May 2007

Researchers identify genetic markers associated with breast cancer tumor grade and lymph node metastases

Researchers have identified genetic markers on several chromosomes in the tissue surrounding tumor cells that are associated with breast cancer tumor grade and the presence of lymph node metastases, according to a study in the May 16 issue of JAMA.

16 May 2007