Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Low-cost Parkinson's disease diagnostic test a world first

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have developed a cost-effective diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease (PD), which will also assist researchers to understand the genetic basis of PD and to undertake large-scale studies to identify the genes that cause this debilitating condition.

21 Feb 2007

New test identifies suitable lymphoma patients likely to respond to new therapy

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a genetic signature identifying cases of lymphoma that are uniquely susceptible to a newly developed molecular targeted therapy. As a result, physicians organizing clinical trials of the new therapy will be able to enroll patients who'll be most likely to benefit from it.

20 Feb 2007

Cancer cells 100 times more likely to genetically mutate

When cells become cancerous, they also become 100 times more likely to genetically mutate than regular cells, researchers have found. The findings may explain why cells in a tumor have so many genetic mutations, but could also be bad news for cancer treatments that target a particular gene controlling cancer malignancy.

20 Feb 2007

Researchers discover markers that identify breast cancer subtypes resistant to Herceptin

Using gene chips to profile tumors before treatment, researchers at Harvard and Yale Universities found markers that identified breast cancer subtypes resistant to Herceptin, the primary treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer. They say this advance could help further refine therapy for the 25 to 30 percent of breast cancer patients with this class of tumor.

20 Feb 2007

siRNA delivery into human T cells and primary cells with carbon-nanotube transporters

A promising approach to gene therapy involves short DNA fragments (interfering RNA) that bind to specific genes and block their "translation" into the corresponding, disease-related protein.

20 Feb 2007

Genetic tendency toward suicide linked to genome on chromosome 2

A Johns Hopkins-led study has found evidence that a genetic tendency toward suicide has been linked to a particular area of the genome on chromosome 2 that has been implicated in two additional recent studies of attempted suicide.

20 Feb 2007

Genetic mutations make people susceptible to schizophrenia

Gene mutations governing a key brain enzyme make people susceptible to schizophrenia and may be targeted in future treatments for the psychiatric illness, according to MIT and Japanese researchers.

20 Feb 2007

RNAi shows promise in gene therapy

Three years ago Mark Kay, MD, PhD, published the first results showing that a biological phenomenon called RNA interference could be an effective gene therapy technique. Since then he has used RNAi gene therapy to effectively shut down the viruses that cause hepatitis and HIV in mice.

19 Feb 2007

Four genes identified that increase risk of developing type 2 diabetes

This form of diabetes is the most common worldwide and affects nearly 2 million Canadians. In recent years, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes has increased rapidly. This genetic discovery may help stem this rise.

19 Feb 2007

More evidence that inflammation can fuel cancer

As evidence mounts that the body's normally protective inflammation response can drive some precancerous tissues to become fully malignant, UCSF scientists report discovering an apparent trigger to this potentially deadly process.

19 Feb 2007

C-Reactive protein plays a direct role in the onset of hypertension

We have discovered that C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is not merely a marker of the risk of hypertension, it actually induces hypertension.

19 Feb 2007

Results of largest ever genome study of autism released

The genomes of the largest collection of families with multiple cases of autism ever assembled have been scanned and the preliminary results published in Nature Genetics. They provide new insights into the genetic basis of autism.

From The University of Manchester 19 Feb 2007

At last the culprit in Autism is revealed

An international team of scientists have discovered two new genetic links that may predispose children to develop autism.

19 Feb 2007

Kaiser Permanente launches long term project to collect genetic data

California-based HMO Kaiser Permanente on Wednesday announced the creation of a decades-long research project that will collect and analyze genetic information from hundreds of thousands of adult members, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

19 Feb 2007

Genetic variations contribute to a person's risk for nicotine dependence

Americans are bombarded with antismoking messages, yet at least 65 million of us continue to light up. Genetic factors play an important role in this continuing addiction to cigarettes, suggest scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

18 Feb 2007

Enzyme important in fetal heart-cell failure - findings provide new targets for treatment

In almost all forms of heart failure, the heart begins to express genes that are normally only expressed in the fetal heart. Researchers have known for years that this fetal-gene reactivation happens, yet not what regulates it.

18 Feb 2007

Largest collection of autism DNA

Preliminary findings from the largest genome scan ever completed in the history of autism research are being published in Nature Genetics. University of Pittsburgh researchers with a consortium of scientists from across the world contributed to this landmark research endeavor through the Autism Genome Project.

18 Feb 2007

New targets in cancer mutation puzzle

University of Rochester scientists, while investigating the two most frequent types of mutations in cancer, discovered a possible new route to treatment that would take advantage of the mutations instead of trying to repair them.

18 Feb 2007

Shortening chromosomes cause for earlier cancer onset in families with Li-Fraumeni syndrome

In families with a high incidence of Li-Fraumeni syndrome, the ends of individuals' chromosomes act somewhat like a lit fuse, according to researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Their findings detail how telomeres, the ends of the chromosomes, shorten with every successive generation, leading to more severe cancers at an earlier age.

15 Feb 2007

Mechanism driving iron overload in thalassemia identified

Led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, an international group of scientists has pinpointed a specific genetic relationship as the cause of dangerous iron overload in persons with a form of the inherited blood disease, beta-thalassemia.

14 Feb 2007